Dear Parents
September seems to have absolutely flown by! We are now full swing into blended and online learning.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank parents for their continued support; it is very much valued and appreciated. The new approaches to learning are different to what we have been used to in the past, but we recognise that change is inevitable and we all need to have a flexible, positive approach to the new styles. Whilst parents are at home supporting their children and juggling the demands of everyday life, teachers are in school trying to ensure the learning of all students is considered, be they at home or in school. One of the changes recently has been to the registration system. I am delighted to report that our unauthorised absence % in Primary fell significantly today following parents contacting the Reception desk if their child could not attend the registration Zoom session. It is essential that parents do this as otherwise their child will be marked as being a non-attendee for the day. As a Primary team, we are well aware that parents may have individual concerns; please continue to share them with us so that we can review and reflect on our practices.
This month in Primary we have introduced a new Maths scheme called Power Maths. Staff have all received training and your children have started on the Power Maths programme. Parents can find out more about Power Maths online or by visiting the Power Maths youtube site. In the next few weeks, pupils will be coming home with Power Maths learning books and will also have online access to My Maths and TT Rockstars (in KS2).
As writing is our focus for the year, we invested in intensive training in August for teachers and teaching assistants from the Talk 4 Writing leads in the U.K. Following this, we introduced Talk 4 Writing across the whole of Primary. Talk 4 writing promotes oracy skills and enables students to immerse themselves in re-telling stories before they begin to write their own. Teachers are already sharing that the progress students have made, after the first month, is superb. Parents can find out more by visiting the Talk4Writing website or by asking their child to re-tell the story they are learning in school. Be warned parents, you will have to learn all the actions too!
We are very excited that the student planners have now been delivered to the school. These will be distributed over the next few days. Please spend some time going through them with your children as they are packed full of useful information. Daily reading at home should be recorded in these books.
Over the last month, I have been so impressed with our youngest students who have come into school and settled so well. The Year 1 children especially have embraced their independence and are leaving mummies and daddies at the entrance gate! We are all so proud of you!
This month we have said goodbye to a few members of staff and we have also welcomed some new staff. Mrs. Saeed will be joining the Y2 team along with Mrs. Balani and Mrs. Gallagher-Alagha who will be in KS2.
Finally, I would like to tell you what a pleasure it is to have students in our school building. It is a delight to hear their chatter, see them smiling and engage in conversation with them. It is the people in a building that bring that building to life and the children and adults in school are certainly doing that!
Kind regards
Andrea Smith
Head of Primary
