Primary News by Chris Russell, Head of Primary

At the start of our third and final term, I would like to focus on celebrating and sharing successes in the Primary school.

Despite only being at school for a week, we have had some major events in Primary that have provided opportunities for children to share what they have learnt and achieved.

Swimming

One of these was through our annual swimming gala which had some new developments this year.  First, we had a shift in focus so as to allow children to work on achieving their personal bests and winning points for houses. Second,  we ran two separate galas to provide more opportunities for the children to swim. These events concluded with award ceremonies full of suspense as the winning swimmers and house teams were announced. In the Lower Key Stage 2 gala, Calypso house (blue) and in Upper Key Stage 2, Discovery house (green) won the largest number of points. However, all points won by all swimmers will be added to the Primary school totals.  Many thanks to all parents who attended the galas this year. Your support (and endurance of the climate) was greatly appreciated by the children and staff.

Sing and Move

On Thursday we had our greatly anticipated ‘Night at The Movies’ concert from the children in Years 1, 2 and 3 Sing and Move club. This was an amazing event and the children’s enjoyment was clear to see on their faces. One of the many great things about out school is how events such as this help our community come together.  It was wonderful to fill our school with songs such as ‘Try Everything’ that have been integral in Primary assemblies over recent weeks. Once again we were delighted that so many parents could attend this show, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

See-Saw

Children in Years 1 - 6 will come home with a letter today introducing See-Saw. This is a replacement for the e-portfolios that we have been using to present achievement at the end of the year. These online portfolios will continue to grow and develop, just as your children will. They provide a great opportunity to see pictures, videos and audio of the work your child is doing in class and to read their teacher's feedback. This is a very powerful and exciting addition to the way we communicate your child's progress. Please seek out the letter, download the app and switch on your notifications to be updated when new items are added.

Staff News

We have some staff celebrations to share with you. We are delighted to announce that Mrs Caroline Mawdsley is now our new Literacy Coordinator. Caroline has a wealth of knowledge in regard to children literacy developments from the Early Years through to Year 6. One of her first tasks will be looking at our reading resources and the enhancement of our reading breadth and provision.

In addition,  Mr Paul Montgomery and Mrs Louise Russell will be developing our student well-being work. Paul will be responsible for the physical well-being and education while Louise will develop our personal and social curriculum and be a lead in embedding the Restorative Approaches throughout the school. These appointments form part of the school’s strategic plan to increase the structure and organisation within the school and will be of great benefit in helping to enhance the educational provision for Primary students.

Wishing you a restful and fun long weekend.

by Chris Russell, Head of Primary