This half term the children in Willow, Cedar and Maple are focusing their learning about Castles. This follows on perfectly from their study of Fairy Tales last term. The children in Lilac, Beech and Nursery are basing their learning around the book ‘Biscuit Bear’ by Mini Grey. I’m certain that both themes will give a clear direction to their learning allowing them to continue to make progress.
The children are all making very good progress with their reading and this is due to the fantastic support you give at home in encouraging your child to follow the Homework Policy and read at home at least 4 times a week and in joining your child for Reading Morning every Tuesday.
We are currently learning about good learning behaviour from our ‘Good Learning Team’. The team comprises of eight Disney characters and each one represents a different learning behaviour. The children have explored these behaviours so they know exactly what each one looks like if you are doing it properly. The characters and their learning behaviour are as follows:-
- Mickey Mouse – ‘be curious’
- Minnie Mouse – ‘concentrate’
- Woody – ‘don’t give up’
- Jessie – ‘be co-operative’
- Tigger – ‘enjoy learning’
- Eeyore – ‘have a go’
- Winnie the Pooh – ‘keep improving’
- Piglet – ‘use your imagination’
As part of our collaboration with Beeston Rylands Junior School I will be working very closely with children, staff and governors to develop a continuum of education from 3-11 years; an education that encourages every child to reach their potential both academically and socially while at the same time enjoying their learning. Additionally we have also joined the George Spencer Teaching School Alliance to enhance our professional development we offer to staff and extend the number of schools we are working with.
As a school our priorities during 2016-17 are to continue to raise standards and improve progress in KS1 reading, writing and maths. In reading we want more children to achieve the Greater Depth standard than last year. In writing we want more children to achieve the Expected Standard than last year. Whereas in maths we want more children to achieve both the Expected Standard and the Greater Depth standard. We also want more of our disadvantaged pupils to achieve the Expected Standard and make accelerated progress. This will be supported by improving the quality of the teaching and learning and ensuring all new developments are embedded in all teacher’s classroom practice. We will also be using a new tracking system for the children in F1 and F2 and we hope this will improve the progress they make. Our children who we receive Pupil Premium Funding for, (disadvantaged children), often achieve lower than our other children. We will be measuring the impact of the extra provision we give these children to see if we can further narrow the gap. Finally the governors along with the Senior Leadership Team will be working hard to ensure we achieve the aims of the collaboration with Beeston Rylands Junior School.