Headmaster’s Roundup 14 April 2016
Dear Parents
Oh me of little faith! Having commented in my pre-term letter about the cold weather, and having recommended Winter uniform for now, as soon as the term began, Spring began too. Not only were the children happy to be back in school with their friends, enjoying the exciting activities the teachers had prepared for them, but they were also able to enjoy the school grounds, particularly the bund and, now that the scaffolding has been taken down, the additional playground space as well.
The first day of term saw the return of Captain Considerate and Sergeant Safety, our two RSM Super Heroes. They were reminding the children about patience and particularly about not running down the path to the lunch hall, as this can be dangerous. With Patience as our value for this half term, we did spend a bit of time in our first Assembly talking about interrupting others and not waiting patiently. Therefore, if like most parents, you find that your children struggle with this concept you can remind them that it is something the School promotes as well as their parents, and that it would make Captain Considerate and Sergeant Safety very proud.
Reception, Year 1 and 2 started the term with an exciting theatre workshop, with a Peter Pan theme, and Year 3 went to Rome (nearly!) …. lucky things …… Year 4 will be out in the woods a lot this term and were delighted to have the weather to get their Combined Humanities topic off to a flying start.
Those of you who come on to the playground to drop off or collect your children may have noticed the design for the new outdoor learning area, in front of the flag pole. This additional space is being built during the Summer holidays and is being funded by FOSMA. It will provide a calm break time space for chatting with friends, reading etc. away from the busy football, netball, handball and chasing games. It will provide an additional outdoor learning space, including an outdoor classroom. It will also be furnished with our very own solar panel and wind turbine power generation system, helping to educate the School about renewable energy.
Something which was raised at the Lower School Form Reps meeting last term was the terminology that is used to describe different sections of the School and it was suggested that some parents can get confused. Therefore I hope the following is helpful.
EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage)
This term refers to our Green Shoots, Kindergarten and Reception age groups.
Lower School
Lower School includes Green Shoots, Kindergarten, Reception, Years 1 and 2.
Key Stage 1
This refers to Years 1 and 2.
Key Stage 2
This refers to Year 3 through to Year 6.
Middle School
Our Middle School refers to Years 3 and 4.
Upper School
Our Upper School refers to Years 5 and 6.
Currently our Middle managers (MMT) and Senior leaders (SLT) overseeing the different age groups are: Mrs Selkirk: Head of Early Years (SLT) Miss Shear: Key Stage 1 Phase Leader (MMT) Mrs Gibson: Middle School Phase Leader (MMT) Miss Trenner: Upper School Phase Leader (MMT) The Phase Leaders and Head of Early Years should be your next port of call after your child’s Form Teacher if there are any concerns or problems which your Form Teacher is unable to resolve or may need sup-port in discussing with you.
Finally, this term we welcome 9 children into Green Shoots and one pupil into Year 3. I am pleased to report that they have all settled well
