Next week’s value is Enthusiasm

“Every time you find work, do it the best you can.” Ecclesiastes 9:10

Dear parents/carers

This week’s value is enthusiasm and we have seen many examples of this in school in the last week.  I was approached by two very enthusiastic Year 6 pupils last Thursday afternoon as they told me all about their class getting a mention on Radio 2’s introductory lesson for the annual 500 words story writing competition.  We shared the clip with the school in assembly on Friday morning, and hopefully the enthusiasm has spread throughout the classes with many children eager to write a winning entry.

This term, writing will be a whole school focus, with an emphasis on providing frequent opportunities for extended pieces of writing and continuing to develop independent proofreading and editing skills throughout the school.

From a personal point of view, I have been conducting pupil progress meetings with all teachers this week, wherein we discussed current attainment, progress and set targets for all groups of children. I am pleased to report how well teachers know each individual pupil in their care and how best to support them to reach their full potential.

On a staffing note, Mrs Spong came out of retirement and returned to Y2E on Tuesday morning.  Mrs Spong will be here on Tuesdays to release Mrs Evans to complete her Senior Leadership duties.  The children were delighted to see her and she slipped back into the old routine seamlessly!

On Tuesday, we had our first full governing body meeting of the term, directed by our new Chair of Governors, Mr Brett Freeman following Mrs Caroline Doherty’s decision to step down after 7 years of service to the school. 

Finally, there have been many opportunities for staff training and development this week.  Mr Freeman and myself attended the Heads and Chairs meeting run by Guildford Diocese on Thursday morning, whilst Mrs Newton attended a Science Coordinators network meeting on Thursday afternoon, and Mrs Porter attended an RE course on Wednesday evening. 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Sheila Buckley

Acting Headteacher