Dear Parents, Governors & Children

NEWSLETTER

No. 6 17thFebruary2017

Dear Parents, Governors & Children

The School Ethos

Many of you will be aware of some of the key features of our school ethos, either from our website or from the school prospectus. A governor pointed out, however, that while we regularly articulate the different elements of our ethos with the children and the staff, we have spent less time sharing it with parents.

You may notice that the top of this letterhead has changed – we have removed our old strapline and replaced it with our school motto. We thought you might appreciate some background as to how this motto came about.

Several years ago we asked the staff to come up with a school motto that summed up our purpose as a team. The end result of that process was an agreed motto: “Inspiring learners for tomorrow’s world, today.”

We shared that motto with the children and asked them to provide us with three words that summed up how we prepared them for their future. We then selected the most common words that the children offered us: these three words were “Quality,” “Creativity” and “Enjoyment.”

They told us that the word “Quality” was important to them for the following reasons:

• Our teachers always ask the children for their best quality work.
• Our teachers always give the children good quality lessons.
• Our school has a “Quality Mark Award” that recognises high standards in Reading, Writing and Maths.

• Our school is a “Quality” school because of the behind-the-scenes teams that keep it successful (the children, the parents, the teachers, the support staff, the office team, premises team and the governors.)

They told us that the word “Creativity” was important to them for the following reasons:

• Our teachers encourage creative thinking – thinking outside the box is just as important as getting the ‘correct’ answer.
• Our school values and promote the creative subjects, such as art, music, dance and drama. We find time for them within the curriculum, and offer additional opportunities through clubs and enrichment activities.
• We are given opportunities to develop our creative skills within lessons throughout the curriculum.

They told us that the word “Enjoyment” was important to them for the following reasons:

• Our teachers make lessons fun by giving us activities that interest and engage us.
• Our school is a happy school because we care for and support each other.
• We can choose to take part in the things we most enjoy, whether that is a sports tournament, a dance or drama festival, a club or a production.

Spring Term Dates

1st March6pm Year 6 SATs Evening

2nd March9amWorld Book Day Parade

10th MarchamFlapjack Friday (Bring 50p)

16th/23rd March Parents’ Evening

24th MarchRed Nose Day (Details to follow)

29th March6pmCurriculum Evening for Parents

31st March8pmFoSS Auction of Promises

7th AprilLast day of Spring Term

24th AprilSchool Closed (Training Day)

25th AprilSchool re-opens

Yours sincerely