Primary School - September 2018

It was great to meet the parents who attended the ‘Meet the Teachers’ evening last week. Thank you to the parents who took the time to complete the questionnaire, I will use all comments and suggestions to enhance home and school communication. 

The class agreements were commented on by several parents, who felt this was a great initiative. This is central to the positive discipline approach and they will always be referred to by the teachers throughout the year.
 
 

 

They also align with our 5 high expectations which are; Be Nice; Show Respect; Aim High; Accept Responsibility; Work Hard.



The Houses system organisers Ms. Laura Davis and Ms. Claire Mulcahy have also decided this year, to focus on the High Five, so house points will be awarded to the pupils when they have shown behaviour which is in line with the High Five expectations. Please visit the school website to learn more about how the House System is organised.  All new students will be allocated to one of the houses this week.
 
Workshops for parents to learn more about the positive discipline approach will be set up later this term. All parents will be welcome to attend, and this will further extend your knowledge of this approach and support you if you wish to mirror it at home.
 
Parents also commented on the need to provide more platforms for children to improve speaking and listening skills, as this will help to improve language acquisition of Second Language learners. We will review the teaching and learning to ensure that we provide more opportunities for children to talk and practise the English Language. There will also be a focus on improving reading provision this year, which will have a significant impact on your child’s language skills this year. The approaches will specifically focus on learning new / key vocabulary across the curriculum.
 
One of the major concerns mentioned in several comments was the regularity of homework and the importance of informing parents about the children’s work targets during the week, so that you can support at home.
 
We provide clear curriculum maps, which cover the Fundamental Learning Objectives (FLOs), covered every half term. This map will be distributed to all parents at the beginning of each half term. The teachers also gave a comprehensive detailed summary of all FLOS covered by your child during the year. Each week you child will receive the ‘Home Learning Menu’ this gives you a choice regarding how much work you wish your child to complete at home. However, I intend to review the homework policy in the light of your comments and when completed will circulate to the community. Rest assured, I will make every effort to provide a homework programme that is effective and supportive for you all at home.

Parents also wanted an assessment system that clearly identifies progress children are making in the core subjects of Numeracy, English and Science. We presently provide three reports over the academic year, which will assess your child’s progress against the Fundamental Learning Objectives covered each term.
Next half term, I will run a parents meeting that will help you to understand our assessment practice, so that you can identify the measure of progress your child has made over the year.

Nick Jefferson
Head of Primary School