Mr Smith posts regular messages below. Parents will find useful updates, whilst pupils might find themselves playing starring role in one of the posts!
Happy New Year to you all. I hope you have all had a fabulous time off with your family and friends over Christmas and you are fully refreshed for the term ahead. It seemed really strange to come back into school on Tuesday last week with the Christmas decorations still up. Usually, we return to school a little later into January! However, the sooner we are back, the sooner we get back into routine. It was great to see all of the children once again.
Apologies to my blog followers for not posting for a few weeks. We’ve had a really busy few weeks in school getting ready for the Christmas break-up, with some snow and ice thrown in for good measure. This last week especially, has been a really topsy-turvy one with our school closure on Monday and our early finish on Friday. I think that we were all surprised by the road conditions on Friday morning when we arrived for Christmas Dinner Day. However, thanks to Mrs Harris our Caretaker, and her son, we managed to keep the pathways around school reasonably clear. Did you know – this week we have got through 10 very large bags of grit in the process!
Click here to continue reading… “Twas the weekend before Christmas break-up….”
It has been a rather interesting week in school with so much happening away from the normal occurrences. I am of course referring to Classic Book Week.
I want to start by thanking all parents for getting on board and embracing our whole-school dress-up day on Monday last week. There were some superb Victorian costumes and it gave the children a real insight into what life was like to live in Victorian England. A number of children commented on how warm they felt and also how ‘restricted’ the Victorian dress made them feel. Mrs Harris said that she was struggling to smile and that she felt very strict in her Victorian clothes. Whether dressing up is your thing or not, it takes great courage to go out of your comfort zone and move away from the safety of what you know – so thank you everyone. I was extremely encouraged by the way our children embraced their Victorian style lessons and also by the efforts that all parents went to in sourcing a suitable costume so their child could join in.
Last week’s blog was a tribute to the exemplary service and dedication of our armed forces in conflicts around the world, keeping us safe and representing our great nation. This week, I’d like to start by congratulating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh on their extraordinary service and dedication to each other!
Today marks 70 years since Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip got married and I’m sure that they’ll be looking back with fondness on that special day in 1947 where the whole country came out in their droves for their wedding. Clearly much has changed since then – we’ve seen Prime Ministers come and go, fashions change with every decade, new countries formed and many new laws passed. On behalf of everybody at Coton school – have a wonderful day and many congratulations to you!
As we leave another school week behind, the sights and sounds of this weekend’s Festival of Remembrance from the Royal Albert Hall are a timely reminder to us all of the personal sacrifice that so many people make for the good of others. After so many conflicts across the world – the two world wars, the Falklands, Northern Ireland and more recently, the fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq – our school stands in tribute to all the service men and women who gave up so much. Our thoughts are with those families who lost their loved ones through the act of war. Their memory will be live on.
This week, the children in Wise Owls have been doing their bit to keep the memory of those men and women burning bright, selling poppies for a minimum donation of 20p each day. It has been great to see so many children wearing their poppies with pride around school – and let’s not forget about why we wear them! Inspired by Lt Col John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields’, after his sight of poppies growing in a war torn battlefield, the poppy has become a national symbol of selflessness, courage, resilience and hope. All very important qualities to bear in mind.
We talk about the art of resilience every day in school – in order to show perseverance (one of our school words), one needs the resolve and dedication to keep going and not give up, even when we find something tricky. I took great heart when Mrs Mailer texted me on Tuesday evening last week, to let me know how our dodgeball team had got on in the Primary Dodgeball Competition at Greenbank. Not only did our school reach the quarter finals, they did so in real style! I am told that at one point, only Liliah (Wise Owls) was left to defend her team, successfully managing to not get hit and fending off balls from the three remaining players on the opposing team. Also this week, I was most impressed with Gracie from the Funky Foxes, who was working hard to understand how to read timetables in maths. Reading a timetable can be a very tricky skill to master but after asking for help and then listening really carefully – she was able to have a go herself and get her subsequent answers correct. There was ample resilience shown in Year 6 too – Mrs Weston’s class have been mastering the art of fractions this week.
On Wednesday last week, I had real reason to feel hopeful and optimistic after working with Eva Cerioni (a phonics specialist from Derby University). We both popped into phonics lessons and we were really impressed with what we saw. You were doing really well with your speed sounds and your reading of alien words. Remember – this is a big focus for us this year and we want to make sure that you all enjoy phonics lessons and have the chance to get active. Mrs Smith has been really pleased with the results so far –so much so, she has had to rejig the groups already, after only 6 weeks!
Mrs Weston, Mrs Smith and I had a good look at your English books on Monday night last week too. We were really pleased with the presentation and handwriting in your books – I can’t believe the difference that the new writing paper is having in Key Stage 1. There was some super writing from the children in Super Squirrels! There is always so much to remember when you do a piece of writing! I was also really pleased to see that you had been working hard to respond to your teacher’s feedback during ‘please and now’ time too. Many of you have been encouraged to read over your own work in ‘please and now’ time and add in missing punctuation for yourself or improve your use of language. Remember – if you respond to teacher feedback every day, you will go on to make even more progress in your learning. It is really important that the work in your book shows consistent improvement over the year – there should already be a massive difference between September’s work and the work you are producing now. Mrs Smith and I were also checking whether you were producing work in line with your potential and also National Expectations.
Unfortunately, I have had to have a little nag over the last few weeks when it comes to attendance and lateness. Last week I shared some figures with you about lateness and I know that many of you were shocked to hear that 606 minutes of learning time had been lost last term. Well, this week we had another 17 incidents of lateness and this added up to 2 hours and 5 minutes of lost learning time. It is really important that you get yourself to school on time so your teachers can use every minute possible to make a difference to your learning. I am also a little disappointed with our current attendance figures too. After being at the 97% mark for the duration of last year, our average attendance is down to 95% at present. Obviously, we are aware that you are all going to feel ill from time to time and we would never want you coming into school if you are sick but we all need to mindful of making the most of the time we have available to help you learn and work on any areas of difficulty. Remember an essential part of ‘excellence’ is about changing our behaviours and getting into good habits. The Wise Owls have the best attendance this year to date so well done!
A massive thank you to all those parents who attended one of this week’s successful parents consultation evenings. It was great to chat to you all and be on hand to answer any queries or concerns that you may have had. As you will have gathered from the conversations, we are working hard to develop a culture of openness and honesty through the information that we share with you. I know that we still have a way to go on this but hopefully you sense that we are improving and moving in the right direction. I am going to be talking to an SLE (Specialist Leader of Education) in the forthcoming months about how we can visibly show you your child’s academic journey as they progress throughout the school linked to national expectations. We are also going to be making some changes to our Individual Education Plans. Watch this space!
Mrs Farmer and the ladies in the school kitchen did a terrific job on Wednesday last week, as we welcomed an additional 82 grown-ups into school for our annual grandparent’s lunch. This is always such a great occasion and I know that the roast beef went down a real treat! Having visitors into school is an integral part of our ethos – we are really pleased that so many grandparents could make it. We look forward to inviting them into school again, very soon.
I am really pleased with how the Intra School Sport is going at lunchtimes. Last week it was the turn of Key Stage 1 to take part in a range of sports with our Lunchtime Sports Leader, Devon. Tag rugby and dodgeball seem to be the most popular events which are signed up for at present, I am going to be keeping an eye out for those children who are showing good sportsmanship and also good gamesmanship during lunchtimes. There is nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition – so long as remains good natured! I am working with Mr Brown, our Sports Link Governor next week, so I hope to have some interesting figures to show him about how things are going!
Also next week, the Brilliant Badgers are holding their special Viking Day. It sounds like it is going to be a fantastic day of fun filled activities – I think a grand Viking invasion is planned for Coton Woods at some point during the day. Miss Bains – the new class teacher will also be joining the children so she can get to know them further. On Thursday this week, we have the school disco too – so dust off your best frock and your dancing shoes!
Keep an eye out for an important letter going home over the next day or so too, regarding our forthcoming Classic Book Week. We will be encouraging children to come dressed in Victorian dress during the week so they are engaged in the week’s festivities.
Thank you for the 14 entries in last week’s blog box. It would be great if we could top this next week. This week’s blog box question is: How many grandparents attended our special lunch on Wednesday last week?
To finish this week’s blog – I want to leave you with a few poignant lines from Robert Laurence Binyon’s well known poem – For The Fallen
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Welcome back after over a week off. The beard is off, the hair is trimmed and it has been great to see all the children back in school, looking refreshed and ready for the busy term ahead.
The run-up to Christmas is always a hive of activity and there are many exciting extra-curricular events taking place. This term we have the Key Stage 1 Nativity to look forward to, the Key Stage 2 Christingle Service in church, the FPTA Christmas Fayre, a school disco, a Christmas bingo, Grandparents’ Lunch, Classic Book Week, Primary Dodgeball & Primary Gymnastic competitions, in addition to getting started on the Key Stage 2 summer production and preparing for Young Voices. All of these events are really important in offering our children the rounded educational experience for which they are entitled. Many of our staff team always look forward to this term (as do I) and enjoy the opportunity to informally mingle with parents and do lots of the ‘fun stuff’. After all, this is the ‘awe and wonder’ that our children love and it brings our school community together.
At the same time, the challenge for all of us, is to make sure that our school continues to grow and develop for the good of the children’s attainment and academic progress and that our school improvement journey doesn’t stall. We have made such a great start to the new school year, it is important that we build on our achievements from last term and keep up the momentum.
I’d like to start this week by saying a big well done to a few children who have started the new term, in the same way that they ended the last. I was immensely pleased when Ms Challinor sent Aroura (Brilliant Badgers) to me on Thursday morning with some amazing writing. When I was at Primary school, English was my favourite subject and this love has only grown stronger throughout my days as a teacher. It was wonderful to see some beautifully joined handwriting and not only that, but a page of perfectly formed sentences. I’d also like to give Tamsin (Brilliant Badgers) a ‘thumbs up’ for her Viking work in computing too. On the subject of politeness and manners, I’d like to thank the children in Wise Owls for coming into Collective Worship superbly this week. Setting an example is a big part of what is expected from a Year 6 learner. They have had it in spades this week.
I had a great meeting with School Parliament on Monday last week, where we discussed how we could improve Privilege Time. All of the MPs decided that they would like Privilege Time to have a weekly theme from now on. Some of the suggestions included: the setting up of a treasure hunt, cooking, cinema, or a physical circuit being set up in the hall with the PE equipment. I am really looking forward to taking their ideas on board – Mrs Cresswell has been busy making me a laminated poster to display around school, where I can write what the Privilege Time theme is for each week. Keep your eyes peeled so you can decide whether or not to cash-in your Privilege Pass.
It was lovely to see so many parents attend our phonics workshop this week. Mrs Smith had a great time teaching a demo-lesson, with the help of our Year 1 children. I know that there were lots of technical words used such as: grapheme, diagraph, pure sounds, alien words etc. Please don’t worry, we will be issuing an information sheet shortly. Next week, we will be developing our phonics teaching further when we welcome Eva Cerioni (Derby University) into school to give us some more useful pointers. As I have mentioned before, phonics is a big part of our school improvement plan this year; we want to make sure that these vital learning foundations are firmly in place for every child before they begin Key Stage 2.
I was very busy on Thursday and Friday last week, paying close attention to the attendance and lateness figures from last term. I was really pleased to give out a total of 42 certificates on Friday, to all of those children who came to school every day of last term. Even though there were lots of germs and bugs going around, and many bouts of sickness (which cannot be helped) we still managed to get over a third of our school population here 100% of the time. However, it is lateness that still continues to be an issue for our school. I just wanted to share the following interesting facts with you from last term’s figures:
I think we are all late at some point in our working life but please remember that the register closes at 9am and being regularly late has a detrimental impact on rates of progress. Giving your child the chance to socialise on the yard before the start of the school is vitally important to them. Starting the day in calm fashion, without having to rush to get out of bed, sets your child up for the day ahead. Also, many of our interventions and basic skill lessons take place between 9 and 9:15. It is really tricky for your child if they miss the chance to work on these pre-requisite skills that are so important to access other aspects of the curriculum. Mr Evans (our Chair of Governors) and myself will be keeping a close eye on this as the term progresses.
Mrs Christie had a great time last Tuesday, when she visited Moira Primary School to look at how we could develop our use of Numicon in Key Stage 1. For those of you who are not aware, Numicon is a special resource which makes the concept of number much less abstract. It really helps the children to make visual connections when adding, subtracting, learning about fractions and comparing numbers. Your child will be using lots of Numicon resources over the next year so we can secure their mathematical understanding.
I am really looking forward to this week’s Grandparents’ Lunch. It is always such a joyous occasion and great to see the look on a child’s face when they have a special guest with them. Last year we had 86 special visitors joining us and I know we are expecting many more this time around. Mrs Farmer and the team in the kitchen do an amazing job to feed so many people in such a short space of time. The event takes place this Wednesday from 11:30 am –starting with those children in Happy Hedgehogs. At 11:50 am, it is the time of the Super Squirrels, and then the other 3 classes will have their turn from 12:15 pm.
Also this week, we have the first parent consultation evening of the new school year. Your child should have taken their appointment time home with them on Friday, in the form of a paper slip. These were delivered to classes on Friday morning. Please make sure that you check your child’s bag if you haven’t received it. This parents’ evening is all about giving you information on how your child has settled into the new school year. We will be talking to you about a range of generic areas including: attitude, effort, presentation and home-learning as well as giving you a general indication as to whether they are on track to achieve the expected standard by the end of the year in Reading, Writing and Maths. Please be advised that teachers can only give an indication at this stage in the year, based on the child’s class work to date. However, we will be honest with you and shed some light on the areas that your child is finding more difficult, in addition to celebrating individual successes. I am pleased to announce that we have a number of special visitors attending too, in the form of Mrs Sharples (Headteacher from The Pingle Academy), a representative from The William Allitt school and, for those parents with children in Brilliant Badgers, the newly appointed class teacher to take over from Miss Popple – Miss Bains.
In the school hall, we have our usual book fair event taking place too. This runs until Thursday next week. Please have a good look at the cases on display – we are working really hard to encourage all children to read regularly at home. Not a lot of people know but our school gets commission on every book sold at the book fair and we can then reinvest this back into school. Please click on the following link to see how the book fair helps our school: http://coton-in-the-elms.derbyshire.sch.uk/wp-admin/post.php?post=9144&action=edit
Before I leave you for another week, I’d just like to draw your attention to an important safety notice that was sent out last week. We currently have a child in school, who has been diagnosed with an aggressive nut allergy. All of our staff are epi-pen trained but we must make sure that our school environment is safe for everyone who attends it. From now on, we’d kindly ask that snack products which list nuts in their ingredients list, are not brought into school under any circumstances. This includes in lunchboxes or for after school events. Having an allergic reaction of any kind can have very serious consequences and can be fatal. Remember, reactions can not only be caused by physical contact but also airborne allergens too! We’d really appreciate your support in this matter so we can ensure that our school remains a safe place for everyone.
Have a good week and I hope to see lots of brilliant English work when I look at your Literacy books with Mrs Weston and Mrs Smith on Monday!
This week’s blog question is: How many minutes were lost due to lateness last half-term?
It’s been a very busy end to the first half term of the new school year. It has been so eventful that I have struggled to get out onto the yard first thing in the morning this week; this is very unusual for me. I also must apologise for not managing to post my blog last Friday too. I know that some children missed my weekly ‘ramblings!’ However, despite a packed couple of weeks, you can be save in the knowledge that we are continuing to move forward in our mission to give every child at our school the very best and relentless in our desire to improve. No matter how busy it gets – you can rest assured that things are progressing in the background!
This term has seen several new things introduced, all designed to bring about a change in culture and expectation, best supporting our children in their lifelong educational journey. The introduction of home-learning has been a success and I must thank all parents for their support in this. We know there is still a way to go but it is great to see children realising the importance of regular reading at home and the need to focus on the fundamental things which have such an enormous impact like spellings and times tables. Getting the right balance is always tricky when it comes to homework – and we know that opinions will differ as to the amount and type of home-learning that should be set. However, the children have responded well and I know that the Wise Owls really led the way this week – all of the class had completed the 3 tasks! Mrs Weston is now going to be keeping an eye out for the tasks being completed correctly with the correct amount of care next term. As you will have all heard before – if something is worth doing……….
Other changes include the new school uniform. The children are all looking incredibly smart and this will ensure that our children will have a better transition to secondary education. Miss Wordley (one of our retired teachers) visited the school a few weeks ago and commented on how smart and grown up the children all looked!
As regards our changes to teaching, it is always great to walk around the school between 10:45 and 11:10 each day, seeing all of our TAs along with the Key Stage 1 teachers, leading interactive phonics sessions which are motivating and fun. Being able to segment sounds in words and then blend them back together is an integral part of what makes an effective reader. We all know how to read words from sight but what happens when we come across an ‘alien word?’ Reading is one of the many things on our school improvement plan this year. In fact, yesterday, our whole staff team came together for some training on how we could develop our teaching of reading further this year. There are some exciting plans in the pipeline, in addition to the ordering of some more new books. Watch this space.
Continuing the changes to our teaching, after lunch, the children have been working hard at getting into a new routine too – reading is being explicitly taught in tailored guided reading sessions. In maths, every class has been focusing on arithmetic and daily 5 in 5 challenges – this is because of the emphasis placed on developing a child’s ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide efficiently, as part of the national curriculum. I am sure you all enjoyed the Back to School Week sessions that took place last week! Thank you to everybody who attended. I know that the children got a great deal out of it. In Mrs Dyke’s class, many parents had their own go at calculating using the written methods we teach. I believe it got quite competitive! In total, 40 sets of parents came into school to join in the fun. One parent recorded; “It’s brill! My brain is frazzled but it was very useful!” Keep an eye on the diary dates as we have another Back to School Week planned in for later in the year. The next one will have a reading focus.
Don’t be fooled however; With all this focus on learning, there has still been fun along the way! Brilliant Badgers did a fantastic Harvest performance in the church a fortnight ago and there were some individual performances that really caught my eye. I was watching very closely as auditions for this year’s Key Stage 2 summer production are looming! This week, I was immensely proud to invite children from Walton and Rosliston schools to join the Super Squirrels in a Sing2gether event. Mrs Mott, one of our peripatetic music teachers, has been working with Years 1 and 2 over the last 4 weeks, teaching them songs such as my favourite – “The Tiger Tango!” On Wednesday, they all came together to perform the songs to the rest of our school. There were many of our children who really stood out for all the right reasons. I was really thrilled to see Catherine, Ava and Megan leading the way. All of the children did remarkably well to learn so many words in such a short space of time! I look forward to an entertaining nativity performance later in the year! I also have to mention Michaela and the Funky Foxes. They have been working hard to learn some dance routines every week, as part of the PE curriculum. There is nothing so infectious as the sound of ‘Thriller’ blasting out every Tuesday morning. It really lifts the autumnal mood! We do aim to have a performance for parents as we come towards Christmas. It will be great to see you all there once again.
This next term we have lots more things planned for you. You will have already received a letter about our Whitemoor Lakes residential, if your child is in Year 4 or 5 however the Year 6 children will be receiving information about their June Bushcraft residential, after the holidays. Preparations for Young Voices will be gathering pace as we hold a lunch club for any children who wish to practice the songs and actions. Also, we will be making some changes to our sports provision. As you will all be aware, Mrs Mailer and Miss Popple co-ordinate the sporting competitions for the children in our school, but at lunchtime, we will be setting up a host of sporting events that the children can sign up to, led by our sports coach. Our Secretary of State for Playime, Thomas (Wise Owls) will be asking children across the school to sign up each week.
You may already be aware that our newly elected School Parliament has already met twice this term. Next term, they will be working with me to improve break times. I really want to make sure that our children enjoy their break times and they are active and engaged throughout. We will be giving our Chancellor, Owen (Wise Owls), a budget for parliament to spend on new playground equipment. Many MPs have already asked their constituencies, what they would like. So hopefully, money permitting, we’ll be able to meet their requests. Of the ideas so far, we have had requests for music to be played outside, a quiet area and a craft table.
Next term we are focussing on reading in school. We will be holding a Classic Book Week, linked to A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. We will also be setting up a new reading challenge aimed at motivating each class to read regularly. We will be working with the Ministers for Reading and the Secretary of State for Reading, to source new reading books for the children further up the school and we will be re-banding all of our books so that every child gets a greater choice of book, regardless of their ability or reading stage. The use of our school library will also be maximised. Each class will be given a timetabled slot to choose a 2nd book from the selection in the library. These books will be signed in and out by a specially designated School Librarian.
Keep your eye to the ground for some important changes concerning the school office over the next term. We are currently looking into the possibility of an online system for parents evening booking and also an online payment system. This should make it easier for parents to pay dinner money and money for trips and clubs. Technology is rapidly changing on a daily basis, and it is important that we keep up with the most efficient ways of running our school. Having efficient systems in place will be of great benefit to everyone in what is now a very fast paced society.
There are many FPTA events coming up before Christmas that I would like to draw your attention to. These are all on the diary dates. Many of you will not be aware but our FPTA does a very important job for every child in our school, raising vital monies to put towards ‘awe and wonder’ and support us in delivering ‘enjoyment’ and ‘excellence’. At the last FPTA meeting, we decided to allocate some money raised to invest in some brand new child laptops. It is 5 years since we last made a purchase of laptops and as I mentioned above – technology is rapidly improving. It is important that we keep up with the latest resources to teach the curriculum in an engaging way. Our FPTA relies on the generous work of volunteers – if you are interested in getting involved for our forthcoming school disco, Christmas Bingo or the Christmas Fayre then please contact Aisha Mack, Mrs Cresswell or myself. We welcome any help that is available.
Before I leave you to have an enjoyable half-term, I just want to give you a few important notices. First of all, many of you will be aware that we interviewed for a new class teacher this week, to replace Miss Popple when she leaves for a new school closer to where she lives. We had some brilliant candidates and one of them included our very own Mrs Christie. We are delighted to announce that Mrs Christie (who was already temporarily employed to cover Miss Forrest’s maternity leave) was successfully appointed as a permanent class teacher for our school as part of the interview process. She will continue to work with the Super Squirrels. We also appointed a Miss Melissa Bains, to join us temporarily, to teach Miss Popple’s class up until the end of summer term. I am sure that you will welcome Miss Bains warmly, and you look forward to seeing her in school over the next few weeks. Miss Bains has extensive teaching experience from across the primary phase, having been a leadership team member at her previous school, teaching in a challenging school context, in addition to being a Specialist Reading Recovery Teacher. Miss Bains will work with the children and Miss Popple over the next term to ensure a smooth transition and there will be a time provided for you to meet her before Miss Popple leaves us in December.
Also, please can I just politely remind all parents and carers to get their children to school on time each day. Just recently, we have a number of children who are persistently late in arriving and this means that they miss vital aspects of learning. Next term, Mr Evans (our Chair of Governors) and myself will be completing a ‘late gate’ initiative on selected days. This is so that we can monitor those children who are regularly late and then we can offer support to help in any way that we can.
Keep an eye out in the post over the next week or so! I am going to be sending out some Praise Post-Cards to any children who have particular impressed us over the last 7 weeks. This is something that I will be doing at the end of every term and your child could be chosen for a range of reasons. We are really keen to ensure that our children are motivated and encouraged at all times, in addition to saying a big thank you to them, when they have worked hard. Is there one in the post for your child at present?
And finally, thank you to those kind children who have given me lots of encouragement over the last fortnight, supporting me to grow a beard! I have had very few funny looks – which is very reassuring! As many of you know – I am performing in a production of Whistle Down the Wind over half term and I have been looking a little different as of late. I am looking forward to having a clean shave before we start back at school on Monday 30th October! Looking my normal self! Enjoy your break and get plenty of rest,
P.E.A.C.E. be with you!
This week’s blog question: Who is the new teacher for Miss Popple’s class?
A massive well done to the Brilliant Badgers for their wonderful Harvest assembly in church this afternoon. There was wonderful singing and some pretty big speaking voices too! It was great to see the children using good expression whilst reading their lines and the costumes really added to the occasion. It was a very fitting end to a great week in school, and a timely reminder to us all about being grateful for what we have and not taking anything for granted.
Taking things for granted can be very easy in society today. We are all blessed with so many wonderful opportunities and many brilliant things which make our lives so much more colourful. Whether it is the food we eat, the technology that we are blessed with, or perhaps more importantly, our family and friends; those special people in our lives that keep us safe and have our backs!
Taking things for granted is my theme for this week’s blog. Are we right to assume anything in life? How many things are there, that are actually a mathematical certainty? If we are honest about it, there aren’t actually many things that we can safely assume. Whether it is the assumption that food will magically appear on the supermarket shelves ready for us to buy, the assumption that every Monday morning there will be a clean white school shirt for us to put on, the assumption that somebody is feeling okay or the assumption that all that we see and hear is 100% accurate – we are all guilty of making assumptions from time to time.
On Thursday this week, Mr Done (Assistant Headteacher from The Pingle Academy) was to talking to the Wise Owls about just that! The children were having a History lesson as part of our transition work for the Year 6, to ensure that they are ‘Secondary Ready.’ The children were learning all about retrieving solid facts – based on sound evidence and separating facts from the opinions around them. I happen to know that Bart Simpson played a big part in their learning too! It can be quite easy, to be influenced by what we hear sometimes, especially with information being readily available with the 24 hour media and at the touch of a button online. In school, all the staff, in particularly Ms Challinor, work hard to teach our children to be internet savvy and to be careful when looking at information presented online. In the digital age, it is important to use the internet safely and when looking for information, check out the reliability of what is presented. As many of you will know, last year we held a very successful parent workshop into online safety. It sparked some useful discussion about how we can keep children safe whilst giving them the independence to surf the web on their own. We are looking into repeating this workshop at some point over the next year but in the meantime – if you want any further information about staying safe online, we have some booklets (courtesy of the NSPCC) at the School Office. Feel free to take one.
Continuing with my theme of taking things for granted and making assumptions, on Monday this week I went around school to see how many children had done their home-learning. Remember, your teachers are not leaving anything to chance! They are counting how many children have completed the 3 basic skills tasks at home and rewarding 5 Privilege Points when appropriate. We understand that many of our children take part in a range of clubs and enriching activities away from the school gates; finding time can be incredibly tricky, and we desperately don’t want to deny them their right to a childhood. However, we are trying to get our children into good habits that will prepare them well and support them in the best way possible to meet national expectations. More importantly, being a competent spelling, having a sound times tables recall and being able to read effectively is a necessity for the wider world around them and their future within it. The 3 tasks are short, differentiated to the needs of every individual child and above all – fun! I was really pleased to hear that Gracie (Funky Foxes) is so proud of the home learning work that she has already done this year – I know she’s not the only one!
On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, I had a great time popping into your lessons, checking to see how you were progressing with your learning. Remember, this is my biggest job in school, making sure that you are all doing well and getting better with every lesson, in addition to my other important role – keeping you safe! We’ve have had a big focus on learning behaviour over recent weeks and it was brilliant to see you all trying hard to concentrate and follow instructions carefully. I was most impressed with Garth (Funky Foxes) who could tell me anything and everything about our programming software – Kodu! He successfully managed to teach me how to make Kodu move appropriately – Ms Challinor and I were most impressed! Leonard (Happy Hedgehogs) also caught my eye, making great progress with writing his numbers, after working closely with Mrs Mailer and Mrs Smith.
On Tuesday evening at our staff meeting, all of our teachers came together to look at your work in books. Once again, we were keeping a close eye out to see if you had been presenting your work carefully so far this year; not taking anything for granted. Underlining dates and titles, putting one digit in each square during maths lessons, and doing your purple polishing work makes a massive difference; goes a long way in our pursuit of ‘excellence.’ We looked at every English and Maths book from every single class! I was really pleased with some of the presentation that I saw. Tamsin’s work (Brilliant Badgers) and Ava’s writing (Super Squirrels) really caught my eye. They were certainly leading the way – as were Keona and Sophie in the Wise Owls
I had a welcome distraction from my work on Wednesday when I heard some ‘Awe and Wonder’ coming from the hall. All of the Super Squirrels (and the Year 1 children from Hedgehogs) were practising for their ‘Sing Together’ event, due to take place before half term. For those parents who don’t know, our children will be joining with the children from Overseal, Rosliston and Walton to have a good sing-song. Unfortunately, due to logistics, we won’t be able to invite parents into school for this event. However, we do intend to do a special performance to parents at some point after the half-term break. I really enjoyed the Tiger Song! It brightened my day! It almost made me smile as much as when I could hear the radio being played in our school kitchen last Monday. Mrs Farmer was singing along to the ‘Eye of the Tiger!”
The first School Parliament meeting of the new school year took place this week also. This year, the cabinet have decided that they wish to have a ‘Secretary of State’ system of governance in our school, in addition to some Junior Ministers. They have decided that they wish to have Ministers for Reading, Ministers for Healthy Lifestyles, Ministers for Playtime and Ministers for Collective Worship and Christian Life. We are proud of our School Parliament – fitting in with my theme for this week’s blog – we never assume what the children will want for our school! We give them a voice and ask them directly! I am looking forward to putting the names of who holds each position onto our school website in the coming days.
This next week we have the following things happening in school;
Before I leave you for another week, I’d just like to thank all parents and carers for the very generous donations of food to put into our harvest collection. ‘Compassion’ is one of the values that we hold dear in school and I was really pleased to see so many of you bringing food to Reception this morning. Next week, we will be taking the food to the local food bank so we can support those people from the community who are most in need. Also, I mentioned a few weeks ago that I am currently growing my hair ready to take on a part in a performance of Whistle Down the Wind during the October school break. As part of this, I will be growing facial hair. If I look a little bit different over the next couple of weeks – don’t be alarmed! You know why! You can safely assume that I’ll be looking my normal self in no time at all!
P.E.A.C.E be with you!
This week’s blog question is: What was the name of the Pingle teacher who taught our Year 6 children this week?
Our Big Big question in school this week has been one centred around ‘change’ and in particular, the ability for change within people. Does everybody have the power to change? What does it take to change our behaviour? Do leopards really change their spots? I was really impressed to see children contributing to our Big, Big Question board in the library reflection area and, as usual, they have come up with some real gems! Jasmine (Funky Foxes) thinks that in order to change, you have to be in the right frame of mind – happy. Ava (also from Foxes) wrote that anybody can change, provided that they believe they can!
One of the things that can make the change in people much more stark, is the notion of exceeding expectations and disproving false perceptions. In the words of Harper Lee; “People general see what they look for and hear what they listen for!” Education is about giving every person the opportunity to make something of themselves and the chance to change, giving them the benefit of doubt. This is because we know that if the conditions are right and they are receiving the appropriate diet – any individual will thrive. After all, a fish cannot swim out of water – indeed it can’t survive out of water for very long! It needs the right environment in which to live and grow! Georgia (Funky Foxes) thinks that in order for people to change, they have to want to in the first place. This certainly complies with Ghandi’s view – “Be the change you want to see….”
I have been most impressed with the change in some of our learning behaviours around school this week. In rewards assembly last Friday, it was a real pleasure to hear your teachers talking about children who had been concentrating well, listening with their eyes as well as their ears, getting down to work quickly in lessons, looking smart around school and having a positive learning attitude. It may not be a surprise to some that greater concentration and active listening leads to better rates of progress and it ensures that one can have a greater understanding of what is being said to them. I’d like to say a well done to Rosie (Wise Owls) and Jasmine (Funky Foxes) who have been leading the way this week.
It was great to have many knocks at my door this week too, living proof that with the right attitude and the appropriate diet, we can all succeed, if given the chance. I really enjoyed looking at Eve’s writing (Squirrels) – she had been extra busy at home! It was also lovely to see some wonderful writing from the Year 1 children in Happy Hedgehogs. I must remember to order some new Headteacher stickers!
A change of habit can often be the hardest type of personal change to make. We’ve all heard of the sayings; “you can never teach a dog a new trick” and “old habits die hard” but we can easily get into new habits if we are prepared to stick with something long enough and persevere. Much of what we have put in place this academic year has been about bringing about the required cultural change in terms of our expectations, so that we can excel to the best of our abilities. I was one very happy Headteacher on Monday, when I collected the home-learning figures for each class. Every class had increased their percentages and had a greater proportion of children doing their times tables practice, spelling work and home reading. It was great to see the Wise Owls leading the way with 19/21 children being rewarded privilege points for completing their home learning. It will be really interesting to see if the Wise Owls are the best class when I collect the figures next week.
I had a great time listening to readers this week also, checking that home-reading was taking place and asking lots of questions to check understanding. I’d really like to thank both Charlotte (Funky Foxes) and Seb (Super Squirrels), for reading so fluently and sharing their book with me. Getting into the habit of reading every night is a must and will have a massive difference on one’s ability to not only understand the world in which we live, but also to write at the expected standard.
Next week, I’ll be popping into lessons to look specifically at learning. I will be paying close attention to those behaviours for learning that we all hold so dear, in addition to having a good look at the work produced in books. 4 weeks into the new year, it is important that we don’t get ourselves into the wrong habits earlier on. I will be checking to see if you are all making the correct amount of progress that you should. Your teachers are working really hard to provide you with precise and timely feedback on your learning – I will be expecting to see lots of purple crayon work for your ‘please’ and ‘nows’. I will also be looking to see how you are getting on with basic maths and literacy skills. Both Mrs Smith and Mrs Weston had a little nosey of their own this week – I will be following up on their findings to make sure that your work continues to be of the highest standard. ‘Excellence’ is one of our key values and this starts by doing the best that we can, all of the time.
Also this week, I am looking forward to our first School Parliament meeting of the new year. One of the best things about our School Parliament is the opportunity that it provides children to have a voice and for them to grow in self-confidence. Again, seeing children blossom is one of the best things about being a Headteacher – we can all change for the better, if we take up the opportunities that are presented to us. I am really looking forward to working with all of the new MPs and also our newly elected officers – Keona (Speaker of the House), Rosie (Deputy Prime Minister), Owen (our Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Savannah (our newly elected Prime Minister). One of the first items on the agenda will be deciding what ministerial roles we wish to have in our cabinet this year. Remember, for the first time in the history of our school parliament, I will be giving the children a small budget – so they can make the lasting changes that they want to make – giving them real ownership and an active stake in all that we do.
On Friday this week, we have our annual Harvest Festival in St Mary’s Church from 2:30pm. This year, it will be led by the Brilliant Badgers and I am really looking forward to what they have up their sleeve. I really hope that you can all make it. We will reserve the first few rows for relatives and parents of children in Brilliant Badgers. We will be holding a collection within church, but if you wish to kindly donate some fresh produce or items of food, please bring this to Mrs Cresswell in reception by the end of the week. Once again, we will be donating this to a local food bank. One of our school words is ‘compassion’ and I know that many of you will be keen to do all that you can for people who are less fortunate. Thank you to all of those parents and relatives who supported our Macmillan Coffee morning last Friday morning – so far we have raised well over £100 for a very worthy cause. Unfortantely, cancer is an illness which touches the hearts of all of us at some point in our lifetime, so if you still wish to make a donation – please come to reception and donate.
In collective worship this next week, we are going to be exploring the idea of working together in groups and the happiness that this can bring. We are very lucky to have a wonderful team of people at Coton school, working together for the good of all of the children and I include all parents in that. It is widely known that where there is a good and effective line of communication between parents and school, the children go on to benefit greatly, in terms of their development and success. When we all stand together, united, working on a common goal, then we can make the lasting changes that we need to make. Our new school vision, is about giving everybody a chance to change for the better and succeed, to be whoever they want to be and fostering a culture where we believe in the potential of everybody. This is irrespective of their gender, background or social circumstances. I have seen on many occasions during my tenure at Coton school, that when our whole community comes together – there is no stopping us! I look forward to sharing some of our children’s responses on this topic in next week’s blog.
Before I leave you, I have just a few notices. Don’t forget that we have our Back to School week coming up, beginning on Monday 9th October. This is a chance for any parents, carers or family relatives to come into school and see how we teach maths under the new national curriculum. This will be a non-threatening informal session for all parents to sit and ‘soak up’. There will be a chance for you to work with your child and see what goes on in lessons. Secondly, if your child is in Key Stage 2 and they haven’t signed up for this year’s Young Voices, make sure that they get the form in without delay, to book a place.
Have a good week – P.E.A.C.E. be with you.
This week’s blog question: Who is the school’s first ever Chancellor or the Exchequer?
For this week’s blog I urge you to take a close look at the picture below. Look closely – what do you see? Do you see the same thing that I see? What would you read into this?
If truth be told, there would probably be a range of answers that you could come up with and these will depend upon the amount of time taken to focus and keep your eyes set on the picture. Irrespective of your answer, the fact remains – you can never underestimate the power of ‘looking.’
Eye contact is vitally important for us to not only show good manners when somebody is speaking but it is also essential if we are to understand what has been said to us. Often when we listen, particularly when we are busy or pre-occupied, we fail to set our eyes on the speaker and you see – this is where everything goes to pot! If we listen with our eyes and set our eyes on the person who is speaking, we can read so much more into what we are being told or what is being said. We can read emotions and connect better with people, we can retrieve information quicker and above all, we can show common decency and politeness. The art of looking is the theme for this week’s blog and it goes straight to the heart of last week’s message – the small things can make a big difference!
On Tuesday this week, Mrs Dyke and I had a big look at how well you were all concentrating in lessons. It was really interesting to find (and you may not be surprised) that those children who sat still and focused solely on their teacher when being taught were the quickest to grasp what they were being asked to do. Those children who didn’t multi-task and faced the teacher when being taught, made the greatest progress too. I was really impressed with the children in Happy Hedgehogs! What great listening skills and superstar sitting! The children may have only been in school for 2 short weeks, but already they are having great success and following instructions well. Also this week, I notice that Mrs Christie’s Phonics group has really developed their looking skills too. By Friday, all children had their eyes clearly fixed on Mrs Christie and this meant that they were much quicker with their speed sounds. Over the next few weeks, I am going to keeping my eyes out for any children who are looking and concentrating well in lessons – it really does help you with your learning!
On Wednesday morning, the whole school did lots of looking or ‘active listening’ as Mrs Christie puts it, when they sat and listened to our 4 candidates for Prime Minister. Rosie, Owen, Keona and Savannah had all prepared a fantastic speech each and I know (from my powers of observation) that many children were not only taken by what was said in terms of manifesto promises, but also how they were said. It takes a great amount of courage to stand up in front of your peers and deliver a set of promises! All of the speeches were read with sincerity and passion and our visitor Heather Wheeler MP was really taken by how well the children did. I would like to congratulate them all for their hard work and for representing our school with such class! I was one proud Headteacher! Our first School Parliament meeting will take place over the next week.
The lunchtime supervisors have been doing lots of looking this week too. They have been making sure that all the children are tucking their shirts in when walking around at lunchtime – remember the small things really do matter! I have given Mrs Billings permission to give the children a gentle reminder if they are not keeping up with their smart standards. On Tuesday, Miss Wordley came back into school to teach the Hedgehogs and she couldn’t believe how smart the children looked in their new sweatshirts and in their ties. She could really sense that many children had grown up since her last visit.
On Friday this week, I was really pleased with the turn-out for my Cuppa and Cake session for parents. In total, I had 11 parents who attended and we had some great discussion about how the start of the year has gone. We chatted about the new Home-School Learning Logs and the recent welcome meetings. All parents, were positive about the changes that we have made but I was quick to inform them that we won’t be resting on our laurels. As I said in the meeting, we know that there is still much more to do if we are to develop our school further and it was great to get some thoughts on what we needed to do next, so thank you! A number of parents appeared unsure as to what day the Home-Learning Logs are to be handed in. We apologise if we have caused some confusion. I am going to chatting to all the staff about this over the next week, but logs will be collected in on Monday. We will then award 5 Privilege Points to every child who has done their home-learning.
Continuing the ‘looking’ theme, Mrs Smith and Mrs Weston will be having a little nosey of their own over the next week or so. Mrs Weston will be popping into classes to see how the children are getting on with their arithmetic and times tables. This year, every maths lesson across the school starts with ‘5 in 5’! Or ‘3 in 5’ in the younger classes. The children are presented with 5 age-appropriate arithmetic calculations to solve as quickly as they can. This is part of our drive to nurture a new generation of competent and efficient mathematicians, in line with the expectations of the National Curriculum. Mrs Weston will also be looking at those ‘small things’ too – how work is presented and how well the children are responding to teacher feedback during ‘Please and Now time’. Mrs Smith will be having a little look at how Guided Reading is going across the school. I was suitably impressed with the Eager Elms on Friday, they all got down to work super quick after lunch and there was some good reading behaviours observed. I have already picked up that Miss Popple’s Badgers have quickly settled into the Guided Reading routine. Well done Brilliant Badgers!
Aside from individual classes, there are a number of children who never fail to impress me around school at the moment. I was most impressed with Sydnie, Georgia, Natasha and Tristen from the Funky Foxes, for getting on with their work in lessons last week, to Dillan and Fraiser in Badgers and to Kiera for getting her pen license. I was also pleased to take a look at Keona’s beautiful handwriting and presentation! In Squirrels, It was great to see Eve’s wonderful writing on Friday too. Oliver looked very smart on his way into worship on Wednesday, Heather Wheeler MP was most impressed! I love seeing high standards – it all matters! Remember, ‘excellence’ has to start somewhere.
If you are doing lots of looking for yourself at the minute, you will notice that my hair is getting awfully long! It may seem a strange thing for me to mention on here but you know how important I think it is, to look smart at all times – practising what we preach to the children! Just to make you all aware, in 3-4 weeks’ time, I will be starring in a production of Whistle Down the Wind, and I am growing my hair to match the character that I am playing. I will be playing the part of ‘The Man’. Just before half-term, I will also be growing some temporary facial hair for this part. Rest assured, I will endeavour to look as smart as I can over the coming weeks, including on those wet and windy days! I know that I am not the only member of our school who is attempting to grow their hair at present! Maybe we can give each other some moral support Alex!
Don’t forget to get your child’s name down for Breakfast Club if you haven’t already done so. Mrs Billings and Mrs Mailer do an amazing job to ensure that the children kick-start their day in the best way possible. We have a number of children attending each day from across the school and many of these children prefer to get into school from 8am so they are more settled in time for lessons beginning at 9am. A Breakfast Club is useful for those parents who need to get to work early in a morning too. It can be quite a ‘juggle’ first thing in the morning! Please contact Mrs Cresswell in the office if you are interested.
In line with one of our school values, compassion, don’t forget that this Friday we are holding our Macmillan Coffee Morning to raise vital funds for charity. We’d love to see you all there, feel free to bring your friends and relatives between 9 and 10:15. This is a charity that means a great deal to our school population so we really hope you are able to support us.
We have some more special visitors in school this coming week. Rev Bill Moore will be joining us for Collective Worship on Monday and Mrs Sharples (Headteacher, Pingle Academy) will be in school to chat to the Year 5 and 6 children on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, we will also be having another visit from the NSPCC. They will be leading a whole-school assembly on how the children can keep themselves safe.
I’d like to take this time to say a fond farewell to Margarita from Brilliant Badgers, who is leaving us to start a new school on Monday this week. Margarita has been an amazing pupil during her time at Coton; so well-mannered and polite. We will miss her and the family a great deal. We wish them all the best and hope to see them visit us very soon.
I was one very happy Headteacher on Friday, when I saw that 15 children had posted an entry into our blog box. It really made me smile and restored my faith. Remember, I did say in rewards assembly on Friday that If I got 20 entries this week, I would draw out two winners this week. So here’s hoping!
This week’s Blog Box Question: What is the name of the production that Mr. Smith is starring in at half term?
Have a good week and P.E.A.C.E be with you!
