Aspiring and achieving together
Newsletter 9
24 April 2015
01993 881707
Dear all,
Some of you might have already noticed ‘the skip’! We
have taken delivery of a skip in school and, whilst I’m strongly focused on
raising standards, have set about tidying some of the areas around school.
This week the old extraction unit outside Year 1 has been removed to
improve the approach to the school; we have sorted out some of the old
ICT equipment and arranged for it be collected by a specialist company,
and we’ve just really started to give the school an all-round spruce up. I
met with the school council this week and we are in the process of getting
quotes for a new projection unit in the hall so that we can have stereo
sound and use the internet in assemblies. The school councillors are in discussions with their
classes about the outside space and plans for the old chicken coup and pond areas – I’ll let you
know how many votes we get for an all-weather football pitch and swimming pool! (I was thinking
more along the lines of returning it back to grass!!) I’m working at Freeland on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesdays’ all day and Thursday mornings. On Tuesdays I’m working with James Bird, the
SIO, and on Friday’s Mr Andy Hamilton (the EPA CEO) will occasionally be on the playground in
my absence. Please come and say ‘hello’, but please forgive me if it’s taking a while to put names
to faces!
This week we held our first Task Group meeting. This is a group whose aim is to support and
challenge the school in raising standards. Myself, James Bird, Andy Hamilton, Julian Soanes
(Chair), Marilyn Trigg (educational consultant) and a member of the diocese make up the group
and it is their job to ask me all the difficult questions about IMPACT – have the changes I’ve
implemented resulted in improved outcomes for the pupils? So far:
1. The staff have introduced a new system for reported behaviour
problems at break times. If pupils are sent in for some time out on
the playground, this is recorded and I review it weekly. If a child is in
more than 3 times, I will let parents know so that we can work
together so that the behaviour improves.
2. We have also reviewed how we introduce lessons to the children. We have agreed the shared
language of ‘learning objectives’ which will be differentiated at least three ways in the majority
of lessons. This means that the objective for the lesson is the same for all pupils but all
children are able to access it at their level. If you wish to see your child’s books, please don’t
hesitate to ask a member of staff.
3. The staff have also reviewed the staff handbook - which has raised a number of questions
rather than answers – for example, are all children bringing fresh fruit at break times, are all
pupils complying with school uniform requirements, do we really have an ‘open door’ policy,
are we maximising learning time? Some of these are the types of questions we hope the
Parental Group will help us with.
As you can see, there’s a lot happening. All good stuff though, and very exciting times.
PARENTAL GROUP MEETING
Thank you to the parents who are able to join our ‘Parental Group’.
Our first meeting will be on Tuesday 5 May at 2.30pm in the school
hall (we will finish at 3.15pm so that you are in time to collect your
child/ren). Any parent/carer is welcome (don’t worry if you haven’t
‘signed up’ – just come along to the meeting). We would initially like
your feedback and comments on the effectiveness of the school's
communication with parents (newsletter, ParentMail, website etc) what we do well and what could be improved.
We would also like to
hear suggestions/concerns you have in general about the day-to-day organisation of
the school (for example, I would like it if the children had a change of shoes (trainers)
in school so that the children could use the school field more often during the Autumn
and Spring Terms - these could be used for playtimes and PE).
So, I hope you will be able to join us on the 5th.
MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNORS
Dear Parents,
Thank you to all of you that managed to make the meeting before the end of last term
and for those unable to hope that you found the information from the school regarding
the current situation helpful. We are looking forward to the first parent communication
session.
I would like to encourage as many of you as possible to visit Parent View, the Ofsted
website, to complete the survey on our school - it does not take too long and there is a
link from the school website under the ‘Documents and Links’ heading. This
information will help us to measure improvements. On the website you will also find
the procedure for complaints should you feel a particular situation is not being
resolved. The use of this process enables the Governors to be actively involved in
these situations. We are also very keen to hear from you when you feel the school is
doing something well, for this please use the parent communication session or email to
the office.
What do governors do?
The governing body is an essential part of any school and whilst it is the Head
teacher’s role to manage the day to day work, governors are responsible for the
following:
Promoting high standards of education
Helping to ensure the requirements of the Curriculum are met
Planning the school’s long-term future
Setting the school’s aims and values
Deciding with the staff on how the budget is spent
I am pleased to say that we now have a much stronger governing body, with a number
of new governors bringing a wide range of skills and experience.
If you feel that you would like to join the governing body we still have an opening for a
parent governor. Application forms for parent governors are available from the office.
We will continue to communicate through the school newsletter to keep you informed
of what the governors are doing.
Julian Soanes, Chair of Governors
EARLY YEARS PUPIL PREMIUM
From April 2015, schools will be able to claim extra funding from the
Department for Education if your child meets the criteria. I wanted to
write to you to explain what it is, who is eligible and how we can go about
claiming the funding.
Children who are eligible for free school meals tend to do less well at
school. The funding will be used to help your child - £300 per child
per year. It could be used for training staff, investing in areas such as speech and language
resources, providing extra 1:1 support in class.
However, we can’t claim the funding unless you tell us you are entitled. Therefore, please, please
can you fill in the form available at the office - even if your child takes up the offer of a Universal
Free School Meal as all FS/KS1 children are entitled to - because if your joint family income is
below £16,190 and you are in receipt of any of the benefits listed below we can get funding for
your child.
Many thanks.
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Income support
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Income-related employment and Support Allowance
Universal Credit
Support from NASS
The guarantee element of State Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit (with no Working Tax Credit) with an annual income of no more than
£16, 190
Working Tax Credit run-on
Sarah Kerswell
Dates for the Diary 2015
May
th
4
Bank Holiday Monday
th
8
Venus Class EPA sports festival at
Bartholomew School 9-11am
11-15 SATs week
nd
22
Jupiter Class EPA sports festival at
Bartholomew School 9-11am
nd
22
End of Term 5
June
st
1
Term 6
th
11
Class photos
th
16
Festival of Voices
th
17
Sports day 1.30pm
th
19
Mars Class EPA sports festival at
Bartholomew School 9-11am
nd
22
Yr6 IMPs visit
June
th
24
th
25
th
29
July
st
1
rd
3
th
4
th
7
th
8
th
16
th
17
20th
Sports day (reserve date)
Y6 Transition visit to Bartholomew & rest of
school transition morning
Arts Week
EPA Concert Y5
Neptune Class EPA sports festival at
Bartholomew School 9-11am
School Fair – time TBC
Saturn & Neptune Concert 2.15pm &
6.30pm
Saturn & Neptune Concert 6.30pm
Service at St Mary’s Church 10.00am.
End of Term 6. School closes 1.30pm
INSET School closed for training
HAVE A RESTFUL
WEEKEND EVERYONE