Dear Families,
I hope that you have enjoyed the return of the sunshine this week as we have. It is also wonderful to have staff well at last. Long may it continue!
As you may be aware, at the beginning of the school year, the Governors and I agree a set of priorities for school development over the coming academic year, forming the basis for a continuous cycle of improvement. Throughout the year these priorities are monitored by me and subject leaders, as well as members of the governing body. This is overseen by the senior education adviser from the Local Authority and this will be Julie Pattison again this year. Some of you may have met her at the school gate in previous years.
These priorities include:• Taking on board, in practice, the findings from the governments writing framework; focusing on handwriting and spelling in order to improve writing stamina
• Developing strategies to further improve resilience within our school community
• Maintaining the investment made in Art, Music and French last year and further developing these areas
• Implementing the new RE curriculum
• Improving the ‘working scientifically’ aspect of Science
• This is as well as building on any previous areas we have identified so as to ensure sustained improvement for the benefit of all our pupils and the wider school community. We have also decided to embrace the LAB Charity motto into our own to cement the link between us. The Best We Can Be to Learn Achieve and Become.
I would like to thank all the children (and the adults) who went to Eureka this week. What a fabulous time we had. The day seemed to end far too soon and I must share that our children’s good manners were praised by the staff making us all very proud! It was also exciting to take the visit with both schools together, forging links between the children and staff in both settings.
Please could I make a plea around break time snacks and ask that these are healthy choices such as fruit or cereal bars. We are seeing increasing numbers of crisps and chocolate biscuits. I also wonder if these are taken from packed lunches and you are equally unaware that these at being consumed at break times.
Just a couple of reminders re term dates. This half term ends on a Thursday. School closes on Thursday 23rd October at the usual time. However, when we finish each full term, Christmas, Easter and the end of the school year at 2pm. If you are new to the school, this may be something that you are unaware of.
Finally, we know how much our children enjoy learning at home. They are increasingly able to use technology to help practise or understand facts, concepts and mathematical algorithms. Across both settings, we are noticing a growing number of pupils using methods not supported by our calculation policy. While this may not seem to be too problematic if they arrive at the right answer as a result, our calculation policy is aligned with the written methods for the end of KS2 arithmetic test. Taking short cuts can lead to misconceptions
and confusion, or result in not being awarded marks through the strict mark scheme applied to the KS2 test process. While we are pleased about the keenness to learn out of school, if you know that your child is using some YouTube or other method to practise at home, it would be helpful to check the method in school so that this doesn’t complicate learning unnecessarily. Thank you for your understanding.
Have a lovely weekend,
With every best wish,
Beverley Pawson
Headteacher
Sand Hutton and Warthill Federated Schools