18th March 2016
LETTER FROM THE HEADTEACHER
Dear Parents and Carers,
What a great day we had yesterday, with the children all taking an active part in “Sport Relief 2016”. Thank you for the effort you all put in to getting the children into their Sports Kit and giving them some money for the Cake Sale, which went down really well. Most of all, it was just wonderful to see so many parents and children staying to support the Penalty Shoot-Out /Teacher soaking at the end of the day. Thank you so much for your support with this and for your generosity. We raised £300 for Sport Relief; the children had a fabulous time and all in a good cause. Please have a look on our school website for details and photos from the day.
We really look forward to seeing you on Wednesday evening too at our Family Quiz Evening from 6.00 – 7.30pm; do please come along if you can! If you still haven’t entered your team, forms are available from the school office to do so.
The main purpose of this letter is to let you know about some changes which will be happening after Easter and to begin to make the preparations for some further, more significant changes which we will be making in September. All of these changes are being planned in order to continue to improve our school and I am greatly looking forward to working with you on creating something very special at Ark Dickens.
Background to the changes: This is all about raising the expectations of anyone and everyone who has any involvement in the education of the children at Ark Dickens Primary, including Teachers, Leaders, Parents and the children themselves. I often talk to the children about the fact that this time last year Leicester City Football Club were at the bottom of the premier league fighting relegation. As I write this, they are currently 5 points clear at the top of the league; what a transformation! We are now striving hard for a similar transformation in our school so as to make it one of the very best schools you can attend in the city. It is my belief that there is absolutely nothing stopping us from making that happen, IF we all work together to achieve it. I have been a Headteacher and teacher for the past 35 years and I can genuinely think of nothing better than investing in our children so that as they grow up into teenagers and adults, they have the greatest number of choices in life that they could ever wish for; freedom to do exactly as they wish, because of the foundations we have together given them.
So how will we achieve this? How can expectations be higher? What has to change?
1) Attendance and Punctuality: Being at school, on time every day is essential and we need to get better at it. Whenever a member of my staff is off sick they have to call in and give a very good reason for being absent. When they return they have to have a meeting with their line managers to ensure their absences are kept to a minimum. It is important that your children attend school every day, unless they are running a temperature or vomiting. It is also essential that all of the children arrive at school on time, no excuses, no lateness. In September, we are planning for the school day to begin even earlier, with the expectation that the children will be here by 8.40am, because every minute of learning matters.
Following the Easter Break, any lateness will be recorded straight onto our computer system and discussions with me, as Headteacher, will follow for those parents who appear unable to get children to school on time. Thank you for your active support with this increased expectation.
2) Correct Uniform: Again, a huge thank you to the parents who every day ensure their children are correctly dressed in our very smart uniform. Leicester City again would be a great example here or indeed any high quality team. We are making every effort to support parents with uniform through vouchers, financial support when needed and loaned uniform where daily, children forget some items. This week for the first time this term, we had 100% of children in correct uniform including ties; they looked very proud and very smart. So after the Easter Break we are going to maintain that standard and focus our attention too on socks, shoes (not trainers) and PE Uniform. So please can I ask that after Easter ALL socks and tights are either black, white or grey. I am aware that I have said to some parents that this would be acceptable as and when you need to buy new socks, but I am asking for this to be in place for all children after the Easter Break. Please do come and see me if you have any issues about what I am asking you to do here and we will help you as much as we are able. The PE uniform is equally as important as the main uniform and again we will be chasing up any children who are not correctly dressed for PE, after the holiday.
3) Behaviour: I am delighted to let you know that the behaviour of most of the children around the school, in classrooms, on the playground and across the school generally, is very good. Most children do as they are asked first time, every time and for that I want to thank you for your support and co-operation. However, ‘most’ is no longer enough. At Ark Dickens we now expect 100% good behaviour with no excuses or exceptions. Unfortunately, we still have some children who feel they do not need to do as they are asked and can behave as they wish. In any school it is essential that every child is supported to behave well, every day, without excuses, so that everyone has the best possible opportunity to achieve well and to have those all-important choices in life that I spoke of earlier. At the same time as picking up on the children who are unable to behave well, we are going to increasingly recognise and praise those who do, something which I know we need to get better at as a school. Thank you for your active support on this increased expectation for ALL children.
Improvements planned for the school: It is my deeply held view that our children deserve the very best in terms of what we are able to offer them at school. So because of that we are planning the following improvements to the school environment and resources.
· A brand new Library: with brand new reading stock to add to what we have already. Designs for this are being considered at the moment.
· Replacement of the ICT suite and the purchase of class based computer equipment: The children at Ark Dickens need to keep pace with the modern world and learn to live safely in it. The current equipment needs to change in order for them to do that.
· Improved Playground and Playtime Resources: We are going to provide more resources and a little more structure at break-times. We are going to provide some new resources to help with this and we will show you some photographs of the playtimes as soon as we can.
· Re-decoration and modernising of the inside of the school: We are currently looking to re-decorate and re-carpet large areas of the school so that the children are able to gain outstanding teaching and learning in an outstanding, modern environment.
· Improved facilities for parents: We want you to feel increasingly welcome in school, so we are planning some improved facilities for you where we can run workshops, coffee mornings, more drop-ins and whatever YOU feel would help you with aspects of life at home and us with aspects of life at school. More news on that in coming weeks.
Thoughts on September: There will be many exciting things to share with you as September approaches. There is a great deal to enjoy before we even think too much about that. However, I do need to give you plenty of notice and warning that the school day at Ark Dickens will be longer from September. There is currently not enough time in our school day to do all we need to and an extension to the school day is the only way to address this. We will give you plenty of detail as the time draws nearer, but for now just to say that the intention is that school will begin at 8.40am (gates will open at 8.30am) and the day will end at 4pm. With all of the other minor adjustments we will be making to the timetable this will gain us an additional hour of teaching and learning time and provide greater opportunity for the creative and sporting side of our curriculum.
We will be arranging some discussion opportunities after Easter so that you can come in and share your thoughts with us about the school and the improvements you would like to see but I trust this letter gives you an idea of the improvements we are planning and the reasons for them.
Finally, just a reminder school finishes on Thursday 24th March at 3.00pm as we break up for the Easter holidays. We have an Inset Day for the staff on Monday 11th April and school will re-open for the children on Tuesday 12th April at 8.40am.
With very best wishes
Joy Waelend
Interim Headteacher