October Newsletter

Value of the Month - Self control: I behave myself in school

Dates for your diary:
Half term holiday – 26th October to 30th October
Monday 2nd November – children return to school
Wednesday 4th November - 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Our new web-based communication – “Fronter”
Thursday 5th November – 9.00 to 10.00 – Drop-in health surgery with the school nurse in our medical room
Thursday 5th November – 3.30 to 8.00pm – Parents’ Consultations
Friday 6th November - 2.30 – Parents’ Values assembly
Week beginning 9th November – Recycling week
Wednesday 11th November - 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Learning in Year One”
Monday 16th November – 3.30 to 5.00 – additional Parents’ Consultations
Wednesday 18th November – 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Meeting the needs of children in Reception”
Week beginning 23rd November – Nursery Parents’ consultation week
Wednesday 2nd December - 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Our Core Values and Key Learning dispositions”
Thursday 3rd December - 9.00 to 10.00 – Drop-in health surgery with the school nurse in our medical room
Friday 4th December - 2.30 – Parents’ Values assembly
Friday 18th December
– Non-uniform day – your child can come to school out of school uniform today but should pay £1.00 if doing so. Monies raised contribute to the School Fund, which is used to support educational activities in school.
– last day of term, school closes at the usual times

News and events

1. Gearies Children’s Centre
Building work on the new Children’s Centre is progressing very well. We hope to open the new facility in early 2010. The centre will house our Nursery classes, the RIAE crèche, and our provision for supporting families. We hope to appoint a Development Worker next year to organise the programme of activities, including access to health support, adult training, family support and services to support the local community. We will share news with you as it is being confirmed.

2. New Eco-team
We have elected a new Eco-team for this school year:
Class
L Thabaniya Sritharan, Noor Masood
M Brooklyn Murali-Madhu
N Haaris Yasin, Mya Sehmi
O Meera Ranavaya , Avni Datt
P Afshan Mogul, Kavya Bhat
R Tuhina Rao, Yusuf Shaikh
Their roles include helping the school to save energy and to become a tidier place to learn in.

September newsletter

Value of the Month - Friendship: I am a good friend

Dates for your diary:
Wednesday 16th September – 8.45 to 9.15 Year One Open classrooms
Wednesday 23rd September – 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Common Ailments”
Wednesday 30th September – 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “ The Families Information Direct” service
Friday 2nd October – 2.30 – Parents’ Values assembly
Tuesday 13th October – Individual photos
Wednesday 21st October
- 8.45 to 9.15am and 3.15 to 3.45 – Year Two Open classrooms
- 2.45 to 3.15 – Reception Open Classrooms
- 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Synthetic phonics and how children learn to read”
Half term holiday – 26th October to 30th October
Wednesday 4th November - 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Learning in Year One”
Thursday 5th November – 3.30 to 8.00pm – Parents’ Consultations
Friday 6th November - 2.30 – Parents’ Values assembly
Wednesday 11th November - 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Our new web-based communication – Fronter”
Wednesday 2nd December - 9.00 – Curriculum meeting – “Our Core Values and Key Learning dispositions”
Friday 4th December - 2.30 – Parents’ Values assembly
Friday 18th December
– Non-uniform day – your child can come to school out of school uniform today but should pay £1.00 if doing so. Monies raised contribute to the School Fund, which is used to support educational activities in school.
– last day of term, school closes at the usual times


We would like to welcome everyone back to the new school year and look forward to supporting the children’s learning. We hope you enjoy reading this Newsletter, which includes an extensive summary of recent achievements and relevant news.

News and events

1. Staffing news
At the start of the new school year we have a number of notices regarding members of staff.

The Class teacher allocations are as follows:

Nursery – Mrs O’Driscoll
Reception class S – Mrs Eary
Reception class T – Miss O’Reilly
Reception class U – Mrs Franklin
Year One class O – Miss Razzak
Year One class P – Mr Lea
Year One class R – Miss Barham
Year Two class L – Miss Moon
Year Two class M – Miss Clarke
Year Two class N – Mrs Sharma (currently on maternity leave but covered by Miss Matwychuk until the summer)

Many of you will be aware that Mrs O’Driscoll is expecting her first baby later next month. She will begin her maternity leave very shortly and whilst away, the Nursery will be taught by Miss O’Shea. We expect Mrs O’Driscoll to return to work in March 2010.

During the summer holiday Miss Finch was married, her married name is Mrs Eary.

Reminders:
Mr Drew is currently on part-time secondment for the Local Authority, advising schools on Leadership. This means he is out of school 2 days a week to fulfil these obligations. If you need to discuss an urgent matter on a day when he is not here (usually Tuesday and Wednesday), please ask to speak to Mrs Tomlinson, the school’s Deputy Head. She will be more than happy to listen to your enquiry.
Mr Lea’s teaching status is that of an Advanced Skills Teacher. This means he is committed to working in other classes in the school and in other schools in Redbridge on Wednesdays, each week. On these days his class will be covered by Mrs Billen, our EMAT teacher.
New staff: Miss Clarke has joined us as a permanent member of staff, now teaching in year two, and Mrs Ranavaya changes her job title from Midday Assistant to Practitioner, supporting children with special educational needs. Mrs Bedia joins our Midday team as a permanent replacement.

2. Building news
Since you have all been away, there has been some building and maintenance work undertaken in the school. You will have noticed that the work on the Children’s Centre has begun. We have also had the carpets in our corridors replaced. We have commissioned other works to be undertaken this term, including new ironmongery on fire exits, and the installation of the new Reception shelter.

3. Core school values
Last term we agreed our Core School Values. These help us to remain focussed on our priorities and indicate to you our intentions and educational philosophy. We are committed to realising the following:
1. Potential: everyone in the school has the right to develop their full potential in all aspects of their learning
2. Tolerance and respect: all members of the school community will show tolerance and respect to others
3. Environment: the school environment will support effective learning and all members of the community will accept their responsibility towards it

4. School tagline
After much consultation last year, we have finally chosen a tagline for the school: “Success starts here!” We aim to use this to summarise the emphasis of the school, in documentation.

5. Our Big Ideas - 2009

Our Big Ideas are the main developmental focal point for the current year. They are the most important things we will be doing in school over the next year. We want to achieve the following:
1. We want every child to be successful in their learning.
2. We want all children to become successful learners with good lesson planning.
3. We want to get better at communicating with parents with a “Managed Learning Environment (MLE)” – called Fronter.
4. We want to help children by linking learning between all the year groups.
5. We want to support families with our new “Gearies Children’s Centre”.
6. More senior school leaders will help to run the school.

We are all a part of our school and all agree to take responsibility for making these Big Ideas happen. We look forward to learning new things together, taking risks and enjoying our learning together.

In addition to these priorities, the whole teaching staff will be embarking on Masters Level study over the next 3 years. Many of the teaching staff will be submitting for a Masters’ Degree at the end of that period. This will involve a lot of additional study and reflection that we hope will support our deeper understanding of learning and teaching. Our studies are being supported by the University of East London.

6. Celebrating success 2008/2009
Last year was remarkable for the school. It was a spectacularly successful year in many ways. We thought it a good idea to summarise the school’s achievements for you.

Part A: Children’s standards
• performance against agreed targets (see attached sheet)
• SATs scores
Percentage of children achieving level 2 and higher
Speaking and Listening 99%
Reading 98%
Writing 96%
Mathematics 96%
Science 99%

Part B: School achievements
• Gymnastics team - winners of the Redbridge First Steps Gymnastics competition 2009
• School achieves “2008 Activemark” kitemark recognising commitment to National School Sport strategy
• School achieves 5 star rating for food safety and hygiene management
• Children in class T win Redbridge video competition 2009
• School successfully retains Healthy School status 2008
• School choir is commended in East London choral competition 2008
• School’s assessment procedures were successfully moderated by Redbridge Advisory service

Part C: Teacher achievements
• Bob Drew – OBE for services to education
• Dan Lea – winner of Teaching Award London region 2009 – “Next Generation Learning” category
• Diane Tomlinson – achieves a distinction in her Masters study
• Erica O’Driscoll – achieved Leading Maths Teacher status
• Lucy Barham – completed “Redbridge Middle Leadership Programme”
• Karen Finch and Erica O’Driscoll – completed “Leading from the Middle” programme
• Ruth Franklin – successful “Teacher Learning Academy” Level One

Maintaining standards

It is always a joy to report success in the school. It is really important though for the school to maintain and develop our standards each year. We achieve this in many ways:

Each child’s personal progress is monitored regularly to see he/she makes appropriate levels of progress and if not, that actions are considered to address any underperformance, no matter what the level of achievement. Summary results are used to set targets for individual children and year groups. These are always challenging and focussed on ways of meeting children’s needs. Associated action plans for each year group are drawn up each term when necessary to further ensure individuals’ needs are being met.

Each teacher is monitored by Senior Teachers throughout the year, to review standards and offer support. They are also supported through a system of performance management, where targets on personal and professional issues as well as pupil performance are set.

The general progress of the school is reviewed with a School Improvement Partner (SIP), an independent professional appointed by the Local Authority, who visits the school each term. He writes a report that is viewed by the Local Authority and our Governing Body. Currently the school is graded as Level One, which is the highest grading on standards. The Governing Body also reviews standards each term with its usual meetings and reports. These include committee meetings, individual governor monitoring visits to classrooms, main meetings and reviews. The Head Teacher presents a report each term to the Governing Body on standards and progress. His performance is reviewed annually in a performance review with the Governors and the SIP.

We hope this summary is of use to you, reassuring you of the steps taken in the school to maintain and develop standards.

7. Playground notices
Reminder – children are not allowed to play on the climbing frame in the playground before or after school. Please respect this rule and keep your children from playing on this.
Football – children are not allowed to play football in the playground before and after school. There is a high danger of other people being hit by the ball. Also, playing this game before school does not help the children focus for their learning in the first lesson.
Bicycles – we would encourage children to cycle to school. If your child wants to do this, he/she is recommended to wear a safety helmet. If the bicycle is parked in our cycle shed, it needs to be secured with a chain. Helmets can also be added to the chain or kept on the coat peg inside school. Please do not allow your child to ride their bike around the playground before or after school. This may be dangerous and contribute to an accident in the playground.

8. New Caterer
We handed out a very informative newsletter from the new caterer, ISS Caterhouse, last term. If you would like another copy, spares are available from our reception area. Please remember to send in any dinner monies in a sealed, labelled envelope. The cost of school dinners as of September has been confirmed as £1.93 per day (and £9.65 for a full week). Cheques should be made payable to “London Borough of Redbridge”.

9. Premier Sports
Premier Sports, who provide the coaches for many of our sports clubs, ran a very successful sponsored penalty shoot-out last term. We are happy to report that we raised a total of £698.50 for the School Fund from this event. This will be used to contribute to the costs of the Reception Shelter.

Summer Fun Day photos

Sport week photos