Dear parents
We are nearly there! Thank you for the amazing support you have given your children through this term. I have been so impressed by the work of the school community in supporting events. I enjoyed observing the fun that was had in the FOHH hamper making – they look amazing! I hope you all manage some well earned rest over the holidays, and that the new variant does not arrive too fast. We are due to escape to Norway to ski on Thursday and suspect that the experience will not be a piece of cake.
I am very much looking forward to the events of the next few days and would like to publicly thank Mrs Mitchell for all her hard work in preparing the concert(s) and being so flexible over the Carol Service. I hope to see many of you there on Tuesday afternoon.
Over the course of this term we have been working at various strategic goals and I wanted to update you with progress.
Support, stretch and challenge:
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Mrs Slater has been working very hard reviewing and developing the Learning Support department’s offering. I want to rename this area to try and break the stigma that Learning Support is about supporting less able pupils. It is about harnessing strengths, growing strategies and giving confidence.
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The Scholars’ group has started up again, meeting each week.
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We have also been reviewing independent study and building a framework to share with you. As part of this I have been looking at various IT tools to provide both a structure and enhanced quality to Independent Study and we will start using Century Tech next term – do watch this video. It uses AI to support and stretch pupils. More details will follow next term as to how you can support your child using this. It will contain English, Maths, Science and reasoning work.
Partnership:
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I hope you have noticed how visible teachers are now to you so you can ask them questions.
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We have been working at metacognition with the pupils, using modelling within lessons so they can take more ownership of their learning.
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Century Tech will allow pupils to get a better grasp of their strengths and weaknesses – and give you a chance to see them in action.
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We want to lay on more parental sessions or webinars – we have at least one planned for next term on ‘online safety’ and another in planning on supporting your child’s reading.
Curriculum Development:
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The new EYFS framework – the Reception and Pre-R areas are unmatched in the local area for applying the new EYFS mandated framework. I have loved watching our team put into practice their high level of skill and observe the development of your children. The progress has been amazing. Click here to see some of the things they have been doing.
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There has been a lot of work put into a review of the pre-prep curriculum so that it fits our goal of having the very best educational offering in the area. We have such experienced teachers so it is no surprise that what they have built has impressed me – taking what they do already and developing it or bringing in new ideas. The goal has been to fit the wider vision of the school developing excitement and interest into learning (Sparking Curiosity and Igniting Wonder) as well developing the very best foundations for all abilities in Literacy and Maths.
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Mrs Ellison-Oakes has been reviewing our Literacy offer through the school, focusing on developing extended writing.
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On the staff training day we will begin the task of backwards mapping the needs of secondary (GCSE) and reviewing our curriculum (what we teach) for Years 7, 8 and 9 in each subject so that what we teach points forward and stretches pupils to the future.
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We have also begun the task of adding more ‘Igniting Wonder Days’ into the calendar. See this video from earlier this term.
Have a great weekend
Edward Bond
Headmaster