Weekly Update Friday 5th January
It has been lovely being back in school this week and the children have been really excited to share their Christmas break stories with us. It was great to see so many tickets in our weekly 'Regular Reading Raffle' and congratulations to Walter in Year 1 for winning for the first time. Some of the children found it really tiring being back and I think some were ready for their beds by Friday afternoon. The teachers have been delighted with the children's phonic assessments and the children have been very proud to show how many words they can read. There has also been some interesting discussions in Year 1 about what we could measure in-I still don't think they believed Mrs Moth about hands for horses-they didn't look convinced!
INSET day Staff Training
We had a great INSET day with a guest speaker Laura Kerbey who is an expert on working with neuro-divergent children, especially children with PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance). The day was filled with strategies that can be used with all children and it was reassuring that many of the strategies we were already using. Head teachers and teachers from other schools joined us and it was a good opportunity to engage in professional dialogue with fellow colleagues too.
M and M Productions
Our pantomime this year saw a magic beanstalk, a pantomime cow, a villain and a hero with clever scenery and quick costume changes. M and M theatre did a fantastic job of engaging all our children in a great production of Jack and the Beanstalk. Our children sat beautifully throughout and joined in with the songs, clapping and booing!
OFSTED
We received our draft OFSTED report this week to fact check, and we hope to have our final copy to share with the community soon. There is a pause in inspections at the moment, following the recent enquiry, which I am sure many of you have read about in the news. We had 2 inspectors who inspected professionally with rigour, but also put staff at ease. They were also really lovely with our children, who couldn't wait to talk to them. This helped all staff and governors to relax and be as 'normal' as possible when being interviewed and observed. We will send out the final report as soon as we receive it.
Attendance
Part of our school role is to regularly let parents know what their child's attendance figure is in school. We follow the DFE guidance, that also classifies any child who has attendance less than 90% as being a 'persistent absentee'. We fulfill this role termly, and all parents and guardians will have an email about this today. We know that a lot of attendance is due to illness and we have had some nasty bugs doing the rounds. We need to stress, please do not bring your child to school if they are too ill to attend. If you would like to discuss your child's attendance or need support, please telephone the school office to make an appointment.
Pick up and Drop off
We have had a telephone call from a local resident today who said a parent from our school 'screamed, shouted and continually blasted his horn' at the Sainsbury's delivery driver delivering to her home. Please can I remind all parents to behave courteously to local residents when dropping off and picking up children at school. Existing harmoniously in society can only be for the better for us all, and demonstrating kind, polite behaviour (especially in front of children) is a key part of this. Frustrations will come our way, concerning lots of things through the day, but screaming and shouting will never help the situation. It isn't the first call I have received from the resident, and I said I would pass it on to you all. I have made the suggestion to the resident that a note re school times is added to delivery times when booking a slot to ease congestion and possible frustration during this busy time.
Applications for Year R and Year 3 (juniors)
Lastly, we still have few first choice spaces on our application list for September 2024 entrants. The closing date is on the 15th January, so please make sure you put your application in promptly, to be considered in the first round. Late applicants and their choices are considered afterwards. The closing date for Year 2 applicants for Year 3 is also on the 15th January. From our list, we can see that many parents have not yet applied for a junior school. Please can all Year 2 parents make sure they apply promptly by the 15th January.
Wishing everyone a peaceful weekend (hopefully a lot drier than this week!)
Best wishes
Mrs Riches
