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19th January 2012.
We have made sound start to the New Year. The children have really settled well and we are seeing good improvements in all learning. I am running an evening session on Thursday 2nd February at 7pm for parents and carers to explain attainment and progress and what it means for your child. It would be good to see as many of you as possible. I will be sending a letter out with details this week.
I expect you have heard from the children about the two 'skip hop' days we have had in school this week. The children's skills were amazing and a great deal of fun was had by all....including the teachers at their after school training session! I am sure some photographs of the children will soon appear on the website. (We will keep the staff ones to ourselves!)
We are currently making a couple of small changes to the menus, so will be issuing new ones soon, with the correct dates so that you know what week we are in.
You should have received information home regarding what the children are learning this term. There is a whole range of topics going on from World War II to Being Green, Fairytales to Famous People. I am so looking forward to seeing the home learning projects that the children will bring in: our resourcefulness and creativity never fails to amaze me.
A parent has kindly volunteered to help with netball club so we hope to have this up and running after half term.
Please continue to help us with maintaining our improvement in attendance. Our figures for authorised absence have improved from 4.6% in January 2010 to 3.92% in January this year. I cannot emphasise enough how important attendance is and how if a child misses even part of a week it has a knock on effect for the rest of their learning within that unit or series of lessons. Of course, genuine illness cannot be helped and we certainly wouldn't want to share germs.
Being punctual is also very important. As I said in my newsletter, five minutes late a day equates to almost 16 school days over an academic year.
I have been asked to share some information from our PCSO Mandy Kimpton with you...
Are you keeping your family safe? From PCSO Kimpton:
I have recently been contacted by a parent who is very concerned about the amount of overloading of vehicles they are seeing at the school. Your vehicle is your responsibility and that includes the people in it. When you are the driver of a vehicle that is carrying young persons it is your responsibility to make sure they are correctly restrained. If you are found to have passengers in your car that are not correctly seated then this is an offence under Road Traffic Act 1988 Section 40A (c) and you can be fined, given a discretionary disqualification or summonsed to court. Aside from this you are putting your child in danger by not completing this small but very important task. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of those parents and carers who do take the time to ensure the safety of those travelling in vehicles, and for those who do not, you have been given the information and the consequences of not complying.
As always if you have any comments about our school, good or bad, that you wish to share with me I can be contacted direct on headteacher@greatstoneschool.co.uk
Best wishes and keep warm!
Nicola Wood.
Friday 11th November 2011.
Well what a week it has been. I hope you take the opportunity to look at the photographs on the website as they get posted over the next week or so and I think you will be amazed at how much we achieved. The 'Make a line of Coppers' challenge was very exciting and a huge thank you for your generosity. Class 12 had the winning line which measured over 60 metres...Incredible. All the change will go to this week's Children in Need. The winning potato weighed in at over 1.5 Kg (that would make a fair few roasties!) and was 'unearthed' by Duggie in class 1. There were 520 sweets in the jar and we had 3 children guessing 500, Ryan class 12, Rayth class 5 and Riley class 4, who all get a share of the sweetie loot. Our next theme week is planned for the week beginning 27th February 2012 and will be focussed on 'Books'. Watch this space!
Thursday 10th November 2011.
I am thrilled with the success of our 'Coffee and Calculations' morning. Feedback from those who attended included comments such as "I felt extremely privileged to be allowed to go into classrooms across the age ranges and see the work in progress", "I felt it was a brilliant experience to see the children enjoying maths", "great informal morning", "really good to understand the way in which the children are taught". Many people asked for more and this is certainly something we shall be looking at doing sooner rather than later. The children were a credit to the school during the visit and their behaviour was commented positively upon. Maths activities during the day included a Roman Numeral challenge, 'Brain Aching' angle measuring, maths trails, mini Olympics, pizza making, symmetry painting .....and so it goes on! Tomorrow see's the 'Big Potato' weigh in and the longest copper line trail.
Wednesday 9th November 2011.
More 'Happy Puzzling!. This has been a really worthwhile experience for the children: so much team work and application of skills going on. On top of this, highlights of the day have been orienteering, board game making, statistical analysis of birthdays, data, patchwork quilt making.....and more cake baking! The school is awash with maths activities, excited children and exhausted teachers! Don't forget to send in the largest potato you can find and, if you have them, copper coins for Friday's 'Long Copper Line.' I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible tomorrow for our calculations morning.
Tuesday 8th November 2011.
The Happy Puzzle Company has certainly lived up to its name! So many enthusiastic children working together and enjoying their challenges...a joy! More to come tomorrow. The doughnuts were made according to a recipe linked with literacy work on the story Fantastic Mr Fox, and the staffroom oven didn't have a rest all day as tray after tray of cakes and biscuits were baked from various classes. Class 5 had a wonderful time investigating model making with spaghetti (uncooked!) and marshmallows and Class 4 became engrossed in taking temperature measurements...anything from armpits to radiators! Maths week is certainly going down a storm. One child was heard to say as the bell went for lunch, "Oh no not lunch time I don't want to stop!" Long may it last!
Monday 7th November 2011.
Maths week has got off to a flying start and the school is buzzing. After an entertaining assembly which saw the teachers demonstrate their maths skills (?!) against each other in a 'Countdown' style play off (Mr McConnell, Mr Diplock and Mr Morgan John, as the 'Grumpy Old Men' team being victorious) the children went to their classrooms and soon became involved in an extensive range of exciting activities. By 11 o'clock I had seen candle holder making involving accurate measuring and purchasing decorative gems; photograph frame making; shape pictures; soduko; board game inventions; pumpkin soup making; a tessellation hunt; PE timed challenges and... Fractals....look that one up!!
Tuesday sees the Happy Puzzle Company in school, I am promised doughnut making and I think one class has a plan to delve into the world of probability with dice throwing and coin tossing.
Looking forward to seeing as many as you as possible on Thursday morning for what is promising to be a valuable opportunity to see what happens in school and understand the 'maths process' your child goes through. Please let the school office know if you would like to attend.
21st October 2011.
Well, we have made it to the end of a very busy term! It was great to see so many parents at our open evenings this week. I hope you find this a valuable opportunity to spend time with your child sharing work and seeing progress. This is one of the five informal evenings we have over the year, with formal appointments being scheduled for March next year.
Thank you for all the 'Phil the Bags' we received. We amassed a total of 703.4Kg equalling a sum of £351.70 which goes into PTFA funds. The PTFA have recently met and agreed to make some purchases which include a new 'grotto' in case Santa visits this year, the presents for his sack, an opportunity for the whole school to see a professional Pantomime and a complete new school football kit including track suits. The PTFA will be holding it's AGM on Thursday 1st December at 2pm in the school hall. They are actively looking for new members so if you feel you would like to become involved please see the letters which will come home via pupil post in the lead up to this meeting.
I hope you all have an enjoyable break and may I remind you that on our return (October 31st) the children will be wearing their winter uniforms.
13th October 2011.
We had a lovely Harvest celebration at St Peter's Church last week; thank you for all your kind contributions. It was a positive way of encouraging the children to see how lucky they are to have regular meals and to reflect upon those less fortunate than themselves.
Clubs this term have been very well attended and I am sorry that for certain clubs some children were disappointed and had to go on the waiting lists. In the New Year we will revise our system for applying for clubs to make it fairer for all.
We are having the first of our series of 'Open Evenings' next week. Classrooms will be 'OPEN' from 3.30pm until 5pm and you are invited to attend at any time during that period, with or without your child, to see work and have a chat about progress, find out about how to help at home or just enjoy how busy the children have been since September. Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances class 3 and 10 will have open evening on Thursday 20th and class 6 on Wednesday 19th. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. If you are unable to make these rescheduled dates please call in at the school office to organise another appointment.
Finally a reminder and a thank you. Thank you to all parents who are waiting outside of the school fencing to collect their children....and may I remind you that it is in the interest of our children's safety that we ask you to remain outside of the fencing and this includes the sloping path. It's hard for the children to be seen amongst the adults here and they are in danger of going astray!
As always please feel free to email me on headteacher@greatstoneschool.co.uk about any concerns you may have.
28th September 2011.
What a super start we have made to the new school year. Having missed the first two weeks of term recovering from surgery, it is a pleasure to be back and see so many positive things happening in our school. Reception children have settled in well and are gradually learning routines and the rest of the school has really knuckled down to some serious hard work. Let's hope all these good intentions last....and that I am finally free of the ill health that dogged me last year!
I hope you found the meet the teacher evening useful and are aware of expectations of learning within your child's class. I really want to further build on engaging and involving parents and carers in their child's education and aim over the year to ensure that you are kept fully aware of levels of progress and ways to help at home. We shall be carrying out assessments for tracking progress purposes in the week beginning 10th October and will willingly share results of this data with parents and carers either by appointment or at the following open evening (18th October)
We have some exciting events planned for the term ahead one of which is a 'Maths Week'. For those of us who are less than confident at maths this of course doesn't sound that thrilling but I can assure you that Mr McConnell, as maths coordinator, has also sorts of brilliant plans to engage the children and make this a subject they want to learn. During maths week we shall be inviting parents to a coffee and calculations session where we plan to outline how we teach calculations and then give an opportunity to see maths in action in the classrooms. We hope this will be useful way of helping parents to help their child.
Our celebration assemblies this term are being used to focus on important values such as being helpful, being kind, trying hard etc. Each week two children from each class are awarded a certificate in assembly for the chosen theme. The children very much look forward to this special time of the week and sit with bated breath waiting to see who the recipient will be. Whenever I show prospective parents around the school they always comment on the 'feel' of the place, which in effect is its ethos. I firmly believe that assemblies, such as our celebration assembly and the focus that this gives the children contributes to this positive ethos.
We no longer have FLO, Lynn Marston, at school, however she is still able to work with families with whom she had contacts and is keeping the school informed of any events which our families might like to be part of. Lynn did some super work with us while she was here and I know that many of us benefited from her time.
Clubs have begun in earnest and I would like to thank all the staff who, after a very busy teaching day, go that extra mile and provide further learning opportunities for our children.
Our new menu seems to be going down well. There have been a few hiccups that we are ironing out but on the whole school lunches are now excellent value for money.
We are working to reduce persistent lateness from some of our children and I thank you all for your constant efforts to get your children to school on time. It is really important, five minutes late a day totals 25 minutes a week so that by the end of the term a child could have missed two and a half hours of schooling! I know that often Baldwin Road is difficult to get up, however this needs to be factored into morning routines as there is very little that we at school can do about the situation.
As always if you have any concerns, comments or indeed praise about the school that you would like to share I can be contacted direct on headteacher@greatstoneschool.co.uk.
March 25th 2011.
It has been and age since I last 'blogged' and I apologise. I have been on a personal rollercoaster ride this term with my husband's sudden kidney transplant. He has been on dialysis for four years and we have been waiting for a transplant for the same amount of time. We were very lucky that a suitable organ became available, although this was the inevitable result of somebody else's tragedy. As a family we shall be eternally grateful for their generosity. I am delighted to say that progress is good and things are settling back to normal. I cannot thank my staff enough and especially Mr McConnell for the way they have managed the school in my absence. I am blessed with an excellent team.
As I mentioned in my previous blog one of the Governors' most recent initiatives is to establish a 'food in school' committee to look at the whole package of School Dinners and lunch time. This committee will be made up of myself, Mr Sullivan (Vice Chair) Mrs Spink (catering manager) and two parents, Mrs Cayley and Mrs Lee. After our first meeting we agreed certain actions, one of which was to survey parents, children and staff about our current meals. I would like to thank you for your time in completing the questionnaires as this has given us a very useful insight into how we need to make changes. Watch this space!!
Don't forget to sponsor Mr. Sims, parent of a pupil in class 1, who is running the Paris marathon in order to raise money for the PTFA. If you haven't already done so and would like to make a donation there is a form in the school entrance hall.
Also one of our Reception children, Izzi, is going to attempt to water-ski behind a speed boat at the Lyddstock wake up weekender at action water sports in Kent. WOW IZZI!! She is raising funds for a garden to be built at the Ashford Neonatal Intensive Care. Please see Mrs Roberts if you would like to make a donation.
Thank you for your generosity last week with 'Red Nose Day'. In total the children raised £411. Well done!
The PTFA have plans for another Easter event. This time the children are invited to wow us with some amazing creative cards.
The children are very excited about the up and coming trips to Diggerland and Chessington. I am delighted to be able to offer this opportunity free of charge. Never before have we done something on such a huge scale and hope that we get a great deal of successful learning as well as fun from these days. (I shall hold my breath whilst 6 coaches try to negotiate Baldwin Road!)
Finally a reminder that children are not supervised in school until 8.45am and until such time they remain the responsibility of parents and carers. Please remember, for health and safety reasons dogs are not allowed anywhere on the school site.
If you have any comments you would like to make or questions to be answered, please do not hesitate to contact me on headteacher@greatstoneschool.co.uk.
January 26th 2011.
As I said in my latest newsletter, this is one of the most hardworking terms in the year...and that is my excuse for not 'blogging' before now!
The children are well settled back in routine with Christmas no more than a distant memory. As you will know from the leaflet sent home last week we have begun a new initiative in school called 'Big Write'. Our aim is to improve standards of writing across the school by helping every child to be an independent and confident writer. Thursday morning at 10.45am, you could hear a pin drop in the infant department as even our youngest children have an extended session of silent, sustained writing. The only sounds are the quiet strains of Mozart and the occasional teacher prompts to remember VCOP. Friday is the turn of Key Stage 2 and once again the silence in the classrooms is electrifying. As I walk the school, and check out the learning during this time, it is a delight to see such focused hard work and a determined effort by all to improve. Remember, if you would like a copy of the VCOP pyramids, call in and collect one.
We are also getting to grips with our new maths scheme. This is carried throughout the school and really helps to ensure the children are receiving a tailored programme of work to suit their individual needs. There are regular assessment tasks and an opportunity to use specific, related ICT programmes.
Last week we welcomed Chris Knott the Chairman of Starfish Malawi to school. He met with all of Key Stage 2 in assembly and then spent the morning with classes 9 and 10. Starfish Malawi is a Christian organisation seeking to make a difference in education, vocational training and AIDS awareness. The organisation was inspired by the following story:
A father and his son were walking along a deserted beach after a particularly high tide had washed up thousands of starfish on to the sand. The boy started picking them up and throwing them back into the water one by one. The father quizzed his son saying "You can't possibly save them all, there are millions, you can't possibly make a difference". The boy smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one."
Not only was Chris very complementary about our children, the School Council were able to hand over a cheque for over £200 which was raised through our non uniform day in December. The Council continues to seek ways to support this charity with creative fund raising ideas.
It was good to see so many parents at last night's open evening. I hope these are proving a successful method for you to see progress and discuss any concerns, or celebrations, with class teachers. If you have any comments on how we might improve on these please let me know.
I have had a concern brought to my attention that the range of after school clubs on offer this term is not sufficiently varied. We are currently offering Dance, ICT, Art and Craft, Mini Games, Gymnastics, Skipping, Sewing and Story and Drama. As you no doubt appreciate the weather and the dark early evenings at this time of year are not conducive to running clubs such as football, netball and rugby. These will return to our club menu after Easter. It is also difficult to accommodate every child who is interested in a club as indoor space is limited, which is why we run a successful waiting list system. I am very grateful, as are many of you, for the time given by both teaching and non-teaching staff to ensure that our children are afforded the opportunity of an extracurricular activity.
The school Governors are working very hard on evaluating their role, particularly with regard to school improvement. We have had some very profitable meetings and I am grateful to the time they spend on supporting us in school. We hope to have a governor page up and running very soon on our website so that you can be more informed about their work.
One of the Governors' most recent initiatives is to establish a 'food in school' committee to look at the whole package of school dinners and lunch time. This committee will be made up of myself, Mr Sullivan (Vice Chair) Mrs Spink (catering manager) and two parents. We hope to have our first meeting very soon.
Thanks go to Mr Sims, parent of a pupil in class 1, who is running the Paris marathon in order to raise money for the PTFA. If you would like to sponsor him or make a donation there is a form in the school entrance hall.
The PTFA steering committee are meeting this Friday and will no doubt come up with some exciting fundraising and other events for the year.....watch this space.
Finally a reminder that children are not supervised in school until 8.45am and until such time they remain the responsibility of parents and carers.
If you have any comments you would like to make or questions to be answered, please do not hesitate to contact me on headteacher@greatstoneschool.co.uk.