We have come to the end of a very busy week at Little Heath and as I type this I can hear laughter coming from the hall as the children are watching ’Jack and the Beanstalk’ – a Christmas treat from the school. Although the Carol Service and all the shows and parties means a lot of extra work for the staff it is effort that is well rewarded and we certainly appreciate all the positive comments and thanks that we have received from parents this week. I would also like to personally thank all the people who have sent me in gifts and cards this week – if I look a little heavier in the new year it is because I have eaten all the delicious chocolates and biscuits that I have received but that is partly what Christmas is all about.
As some of you know we have links with the Fawe School which is in Freetown Sierra Leone. We have this connection as one of our parents is involved in raising funds for the school. As the school is short of materials she has asked if anyone has any old pencils, coloured pencils (even if they have been used) or reading books that they do not want then to send them into the school and she will take them with her when she visits. Any items will be appreciated as they are short of everything.
Finally, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you all enjoy the holiday and I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday, January 5th.
Friday 16 December 2011
Friday 9 December 2011
At Little Heath we are all caught up in the madness that is Christmas. Preparations are in full swing for our Christmas productions and Carol Service and the children are all very excited about performing in front of their parents next week. They have all just enjoyed their Christmas dinner today. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents who volunteered to supervise the playground while all the staff ate their Christmas meal together after serving the children their meal.
On a less cheerful note we have had more parking issues this week with parents either parking on the zig- zag yellow lines or parking their cars in the middle of the road while they wait for their children to come out of school. This is unacceptable and parking wardens have been up to the school again and some parents have received parking fines. My main concern though is the safety of the children and we do not want an accident in front of the school because somebody cannot be bothered to walk a short distance.
I look forward to seeing lots of you at our Christmas Fayre tomorrow. A lot of hard work has gone into preparing this event and for it to be a success we need lots of people to turn up. Remember that all the money raised benefits your children.
On a less cheerful note we have had more parking issues this week with parents either parking on the zig- zag yellow lines or parking their cars in the middle of the road while they wait for their children to come out of school. This is unacceptable and parking wardens have been up to the school again and some parents have received parking fines. My main concern though is the safety of the children and we do not want an accident in front of the school because somebody cannot be bothered to walk a short distance.
I look forward to seeing lots of you at our Christmas Fayre tomorrow. A lot of hard work has gone into preparing this event and for it to be a success we need lots of people to turn up. Remember that all the money raised benefits your children.
Friday 2 December 2011
I am afraid I am starting my blog this week with a bit of a moan as we have had a few problems with parking this week. More and more people have started to park on the zig-zag yellow lines while waiting for their children to come out of school. Firstly, parking on the zig- zag yellow lines is illegal and somebody has been caught by a traffic warden this week but, more importantly, it also increases the chance of one of our children having an accident as they leave the school. Somebody has also reported that while they stood on the ‘Keep Clear ‘ sign with their dogs somebody pulled up in their car and was ‘hooting’ at them to get out of the way and was quite abusive when they did not move immediately. This also does not set a very good example in front of children. Please respect the parking restrictions outside of the school. Let us not have to wait for an accident before we start to do this.
On a more positive note I am glad to report that our maths curriculum evening appears to have been a great success. It was well attended and all those that were there said that they learnt a lot and that it was really useful for them in supporting their children’s learning. Deborah Mulroney promised some parents that she would e-mail her guidance sheet to me so that parents could have a copy and as soon as she does this I will get it put on our website so that everyone has access to it.
I would also like to thank everyone who has kindly sent in donations for our Christmas Fayre today. They are much appreciated and every item sent in goes towards making the Christmas Fayre a great success. I hope to see lots of you there on December 10th and if you can spare some time to help out I know the PTA would appreciate it as they are still short of a few volunteers for some stalls.
I am afraid I am starting my blog this week with a bit of a moan as we have had a few problems with parking this week. More and more people have started to park on the zig-zag yellow lines while waiting for their children to come out of school. Firstly, parking on the zig- zag yellow lines is illegal and somebody has been caught by a traffic warden this week but, more importantly, it also increases the chance of one of our children having an accident as they leave the school. Somebody has also reported that while they stood on the ‘Keep Clear ‘ sign with their dogs somebody pulled up in their car and was ‘hooting’ at them to get out of the way and was quite abusive when they did not move immediately. This also does not set a very good example in front of children. Please respect the parking restrictions outside of the school. Let us not have to wait for an accident before we start to do this.
On a more positive note I am glad to report that our maths curriculum evening appears to have been a great success. It was well attended and all those that were there said that they learnt a lot and that it was really useful for them in supporting their children’s learning. Deborah Mulroney promised some parents that she would e-mail her guidance sheet to me so that parents could have a copy and as soon as she does this I will get it put on our website so that everyone has access to it.
I would also like to thank everyone who has kindly sent in donations for our Christmas Fayre today. They are much appreciated and every item sent in goes towards making the Christmas Fayre a great success. I hope to see lots of you there on December 10th and if you can spare some time to help out I know the PTA would appreciate it as they are still short of a few volunteers for some stalls.
I am afraid I am starting my blog this week with a bit of a moan as we have had a few problems with parking this week. More and more people have started to park on the zig-zag yellow lines while waiting for their children to come out of school. Firstly, parking on the zig- zag yellow lines is illegal and somebody has been caught by a traffic warden this week but, more importantly, it also increases the chance of one of our children having an accident as they leave the school. Somebody has also reported that while they stood on the ‘Keep Clear ‘ sign with their dogs somebody pulled up in their car and was ‘hooting’ at them to get out of the way and was quite abusive when they did not move immediately. This also does not set a very good example in front of children. Please respect the parking restrictions outside of the school. Let us not have to wait for an accident before we start to do this.
On a more positive note I am glad to report that our maths curriculum evening appears to have been a great success. It was well attended and all those that were there said that they learnt a lot and that it was really useful for them in supporting their children’s learning. Deborah Mulroney promised some parents that she would e-mail her guidance sheet to me so that parents could have a copy and as soon as she does this I will get it put on our website so that everyone has access to it.
I would also like to thank everyone who has kindly sent in donations for our Christmas Fayre today. They are much appreciated and every item sent in goes towards making the Christmas Fayre a great success. I hope to see lots of you there on December 10th and if you can spare some time to help out I know the PTA would appreciate it as they are still short of a few volunteers for some stalls.
Friday 25 November 2011
It has been an exciting week in school this week with all the anti - bullying activities. Most of the children will be bringing home the tee shirts they made and although I could not attend the show myself the children all seemed to enjoy the anti - bullying show that was put on for them. It has been a fun week for the children we run this event so we can get across the important message that we do not accept bullying in this school. Sometimes we do have incidents of unacceptable behaviour and we do deal with these as soon as we find out about them. However, some children feel unable to report incidents when they happen so could I please ask you as parents to encourage your children to report any incidents as soon as they happen rather than waiting until they get home or wait until a few days after it has happened. Leaving them makes issues so much more difficult to resolve.
Next week we have another ‘Mufti Day’ on Friday. This time the children have to bring in something for the Christmas Fayre eg toiletries and sweets. This event is a great money spinner for the school and the more we raise the more your children benefit. Teachers will also be asking you via their blogs to send in items for the class Christmas hampers. I would like to thank you all for your efforts last week for ‘Children In Need’. Even though it was only planned at the last minute we managed to raise an impressive £237.50 for a very worthy cause.
Our chair sent out the timeline this week for getting the action plan out to parents in response to the Ofsted. It is going to take a little longer than we anticipated but you will receive it before the end of term.
I am glad to say that we have had a good response to our maths evening so the event will be definitely going ahead. If you have not yet returned your letter and would still like to attend then there is still time to do so. I look forward to seeing lots of you there – it should be a good night!
Next week we have another ‘Mufti Day’ on Friday. This time the children have to bring in something for the Christmas Fayre eg toiletries and sweets. This event is a great money spinner for the school and the more we raise the more your children benefit. Teachers will also be asking you via their blogs to send in items for the class Christmas hampers. I would like to thank you all for your efforts last week for ‘Children In Need’. Even though it was only planned at the last minute we managed to raise an impressive £237.50 for a very worthy cause.
Our chair sent out the timeline this week for getting the action plan out to parents in response to the Ofsted. It is going to take a little longer than we anticipated but you will receive it before the end of term.
I am glad to say that we have had a good response to our maths evening so the event will be definitely going ahead. If you have not yet returned your letter and would still like to attend then there is still time to do so. I look forward to seeing lots of you there – it should be a good night!
Friday 18 November 2011
Thank you very much to everyone who donated money to ‘Children in Need’ today, especially as we only gave people short notice about the ‘non-uniform day’. We originally were not going to do anything for this day since we will be asking for contributions for our own ‘Christmas Fayre’ in a couple of weeks but there was so much in the media about the event that I thought the children would feel left out if we did nothing. The appeal also supports some very worthwhile causes.
I am sure that some of you have been wondering what is going to happen in school on November 30th. You have probably heard a lot in the news about all teaching unions taking industrial action because of the government s decision to alter their pension provision. The hope is that the government will see the strength of feeling through the amount of people that have voted to take action and that they will change their mind about the changes to teachers’ pensions. As soon as I know what is going to happen on that day I will let you know.
I hope that we will see lots of you at the ‘Mathematics Evening’ on December 1st. We are holding this event as so many parents told us in the summer that they would love an event about maths because calculation methods are so different from those they learnt at school. Deborah Mulroney, who will be presenting the event, has been a maths consultant with Hertfordshire for many years. She is working with our school at the moment on a maths research project which involves schools that have had consistently high maths attainment over a number of years. During the evening she will be demonstrating a number of different calculation methods and strategies that are used to help solve mental maths problems. Then after a short Q & A session pupils will be demonstrating some of the maths calculation methods they have learnt in class. Apart from the pupils involved in demonstrating calculation methods this will be an evening for parents only.
I am sure that some of you have been wondering what is going to happen in school on November 30th. You have probably heard a lot in the news about all teaching unions taking industrial action because of the government s decision to alter their pension provision. The hope is that the government will see the strength of feeling through the amount of people that have voted to take action and that they will change their mind about the changes to teachers’ pensions. As soon as I know what is going to happen on that day I will let you know.
I hope that we will see lots of you at the ‘Mathematics Evening’ on December 1st. We are holding this event as so many parents told us in the summer that they would love an event about maths because calculation methods are so different from those they learnt at school. Deborah Mulroney, who will be presenting the event, has been a maths consultant with Hertfordshire for many years. She is working with our school at the moment on a maths research project which involves schools that have had consistently high maths attainment over a number of years. During the evening she will be demonstrating a number of different calculation methods and strategies that are used to help solve mental maths problems. Then after a short Q & A session pupils will be demonstrating some of the maths calculation methods they have learnt in class. Apart from the pupils involved in demonstrating calculation methods this will be an evening for parents only.
Friday 11 November 2011
I feel like I have not been in school a lot this week so I find it hard to believe that it is already Friday. As I explained last week I had many meetings which meant that I have been out of school quite a lot. Something that I am really disappointed that I missed was the Year 4 assembly which I am told was excellent so congratulations to everyone involved with that.
This was the week that our Ofsted report went home. I would like to remind people that the Ofsted inspection gives a snap shot of the effectiveness of the school, with particular emphasis on the statistical analysis of results etc. Each term our SIP [school improvement partner] also visits the school to gauge our effectiveness. Our SIP recently graded the school as a good school with some outstanding characteristics.
Even in the best schools there are always areas for development and we will be publishing an Action Plan soon that will address these. As we continuously monitor the school’s effectiveness many of those areas already feature in our School Development Plan.
Progress and achievement [which is purely driven by the SATs results] were deemed to be satisfactory due to slightly lower scores being gained in 2010 than in previous years. This judgement however is already out of date as this year’s results were much improved and show better progress but the Ofsted process looks at results from a three year period. In fact in the Potters Bar area we were joint top for our SATs results.
As we wrote in the letter that accompanied the report if you have any comments to make regarding the inspection or the report please address them to our chair of Governors who will share them with all the governors at our next meeting which is on the 22nd of November. We will be publishing the action plan after it has been agreed with governors at this meeting.
As the Ofsted report showed the children enjoy their learning at Little Heath and I would like to thank all those parents who have taken the time to show their continuing support for the school.
This was the week that our Ofsted report went home. I would like to remind people that the Ofsted inspection gives a snap shot of the effectiveness of the school, with particular emphasis on the statistical analysis of results etc. Each term our SIP [school improvement partner] also visits the school to gauge our effectiveness. Our SIP recently graded the school as a good school with some outstanding characteristics.
Even in the best schools there are always areas for development and we will be publishing an Action Plan soon that will address these. As we continuously monitor the school’s effectiveness many of those areas already feature in our School Development Plan.
Progress and achievement [which is purely driven by the SATs results] were deemed to be satisfactory due to slightly lower scores being gained in 2010 than in previous years. This judgement however is already out of date as this year’s results were much improved and show better progress but the Ofsted process looks at results from a three year period. In fact in the Potters Bar area we were joint top for our SATs results.
As we wrote in the letter that accompanied the report if you have any comments to make regarding the inspection or the report please address them to our chair of Governors who will share them with all the governors at our next meeting which is on the 22nd of November. We will be publishing the action plan after it has been agreed with governors at this meeting.
As the Ofsted report showed the children enjoy their learning at Little Heath and I would like to thank all those parents who have taken the time to show their continuing support for the school.
Friday 4 November 2011
Half-term seems a long time ago as we settle back into school life.The main excitement in school this week has been the anticipation for 'Bonfire Night' which is tomorrow night. You may have seen the picture of Ella Sperni - Clark with her winning entry for the Fireworks Programme cover in the local paper. I would like to thank in advance the PTA, the Rotary Club and all the volunteers who help to make the night such a big success.It is always a great night but it takes a lot of preparation to make it so and would not be the success that it is if so many people did not give up their free time to help organise and run it.
Apart from the preparation for Bonfire Night it has been quite a normal week in school which has been rather nice. I have a lot of meetings to attend next week so you may not see a lot of me but I am still working!
I look forward to seeing lots of you at the Firework Display.
Apart from the preparation for Bonfire Night it has been quite a normal week in school which has been rather nice. I have a lot of meetings to attend next week so you may not see a lot of me but I am still working!
I look forward to seeing lots of you at the Firework Display.
Friday 21 October 2011
I cannot believe it is half term already! It does not seem like two minutes since the beginning of term and now our thoughts are turning to Christmas! It was lovely seeing so many of you this week at the parent consultations. I have received lots of positive feedback from the teachers which is always good to hear. The refreshment stall that the PTA ran was very popular and I would like to thank all the people who helped either by serving at it during the evening or making cakes to sell. If we can get enough volunteers we will certainly have another refreshment stall at our parent consultations in the future. The next big event that we will be having at Little Heath is the ‘Bonfire Night ‘on November 5th. Do not forget to buy your tickets as it is always a great night. I also believe that the PTA are still looking for volunteers to help with the running of the event so if you are able to help out for an hour or two on the Saturday please contact any member of the PTA and let them know when you are available.
I hope you all have a great half term and I look forward to seeing you all again on October 31st.
I hope you all have a great half term and I look forward to seeing you all again on October 31st.
Friday 14 October 2011
First of all I must apologise for not ‘blogging’ last week but I was unable to open the system from home due to technical difficulties. As you will all know we have had OFSTED in this week. As I type this I do not know what the final outcome will be. I know as parents you will all be very eager to find out the result but we will not be able to make the result public until the report is officially published so please do not ask me next week as I am not allowed to answer the question. As with all OFSTED inspections I am sure they will have found things for us to work on and when we get the report we will certainly consider their advice if it will help to move the school forward.
I know that I will be seeing a lot of you next week as it is ‘Parent Consultation Week’ and I am looking forward to that as I feel that I have been missing from the school community recently and I have lost touch with a lot of people. For those of you coming on Thursday evening there will be refreshments provided by the PTA in the dining hall and I will be spending some of the evening in there. The teachers will be trying very hard to stick to their schedule so please do not get too upset if your appointment is a little late. Can I also ask you to stick to your 10 minutes and do not try to keep the teacher for longer than that. If there is an issue that you feel you need to discuss with the teacher in more detail ring the school after parents evening to book an appointment with the teacher on another occasion. Mrs Nixon will also be around so if you would like to book an appointment with her please contact the school office.
I know that I will be seeing a lot of you next week as it is ‘Parent Consultation Week’ and I am looking forward to that as I feel that I have been missing from the school community recently and I have lost touch with a lot of people. For those of you coming on Thursday evening there will be refreshments provided by the PTA in the dining hall and I will be spending some of the evening in there. The teachers will be trying very hard to stick to their schedule so please do not get too upset if your appointment is a little late. Can I also ask you to stick to your 10 minutes and do not try to keep the teacher for longer than that. If there is an issue that you feel you need to discuss with the teacher in more detail ring the school after parents evening to book an appointment with the teacher on another occasion. Mrs Nixon will also be around so if you would like to book an appointment with her please contact the school office.
Friday 30 September 2011
I am just sitting down at my desk after a very busy morning. It was our Harvest Coffee Morning and once again it was extremely well attended. I would like to thank everyone for their fabulous donations of cakes and biscuits - the hall looked like an episode of 'Britain's Best Baker'. At the moment the total raised comes to £384.70 but as I write the Year 6 are going to go into the playground to sell the leftover cakes so perhaps the amount raised will exceed £400. All those parents who attended seemed to enjoy themselves - the children singing harvest songs was a particularly popular addition and we will certainly be keeping that in for next year.
You may not see a lot of me next week because I have a lot of meetings and courses to atttend. However I will be monitoring what is going on in school. If you need to see me you can make an appointment for when I am around but if you urgently need something sorting out Mrs. Zegallo will be in charge in my absence.
You may not see a lot of me next week because I have a lot of meetings and courses to atttend. However I will be monitoring what is going on in school. If you need to see me you can make an appointment for when I am around but if you urgently need something sorting out Mrs. Zegallo will be in charge in my absence.
Saturday 24 September 2011
There have been a lot of things happening in school this week. It was lovely seeing so many parents attend our 'Meet the Teacher' evening . We had many positive comments and although there were one or two concerns I am confident that I will be able to sort these out and ease parents’ worries. I would recommend though that if your child tells you something that you are unhappy about that you should discuss your concern with a member of staff so that you can check the validity of what your child has told you. Very often children misinterpret something and although it appears real to them the actual truth is a little different.
On Wednesday we had a visit from Brookman's Park Rotary Club to highlight 'World Peace day ' which is celebrated on the 21st September every year. 'World Peace Day' is dedicated to peace, and specifically the absence of war, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone. It is observed by many nations, political groups, military groups, and peoples and, for the first time this year, members of the Little Heath School community. A selection of children from the school released white balloons into the sky and enjoyed the event very much. Photographs were taken and hopefully they will appear in the local paper soon.
Next week is another busy week in school. We are having the individual photographs on Monday and the older children will be taking part in netball and football tournaments. On Friday we are having 'Harvest Festival Coffee Morning'. This has become a very popular and successful event and that is all due to to the generosity of our parents who donate lots of cakes to be sold at the event and are then very generous with their donations for charity. This year , as I explained in my newsletter , we will be singing some autumn songs at the event so hopefully it will be an even more enjoyable occasion than normal. I look forward to seeing you all there.
On Wednesday we had a visit from Brookman's Park Rotary Club to highlight 'World Peace day ' which is celebrated on the 21st September every year. 'World Peace Day' is dedicated to peace, and specifically the absence of war, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone. It is observed by many nations, political groups, military groups, and peoples and, for the first time this year, members of the Little Heath School community. A selection of children from the school released white balloons into the sky and enjoyed the event very much. Photographs were taken and hopefully they will appear in the local paper soon.
Next week is another busy week in school. We are having the individual photographs on Monday and the older children will be taking part in netball and football tournaments. On Friday we are having 'Harvest Festival Coffee Morning'. This has become a very popular and successful event and that is all due to to the generosity of our parents who donate lots of cakes to be sold at the event and are then very generous with their donations for charity. This year , as I explained in my newsletter , we will be singing some autumn songs at the event so hopefully it will be an even more enjoyable occasion than normal. I look forward to seeing you all there.
Friday 16 September 2011
The big news in school for us this week was the birth of Mrs. Richardson's daughter Amber. She was obviously impatient to make her entrance as she arrived two weeks early, and indeed, Mrs. Richardson only came to visit us the day before so when Mrs. Richardson rang us the next day I thought she was going to say she had left something rather than announce the birth of her child. I believe both mother and daughter are doing well and I am sure we will be seeing them both in the coming weeks.
In the rest of the school everything is returning to its normal pattern as clubs have recommenced and the Nursery children have joined us. It is lovely to have them in school and even though they are so young they all appeared to have settled very well into Little Heath. Let's hope they all continue to do so.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you next week when we have our ' Meet the Teacher' evenings. These evenings are an opportunity for parents to find out the about the expectations of their children for the coming year. They are also an opportunity for parents to ask the teacher any general questions about classroom routines. There is a possibility that I will not be able to attend the Year 6 meeting on the Wednesday night but if I cannot be there Mrs. Zegallo will take my place. I know some parents are not happy that children are not allowed to come but the focus for this evening is on the dialogue between the teacher and parents. In the past some parents have chosen to ignore this request and bring their children into the school but if that happens this time parents will be asked to take their children home and will have to miss the meeting. It is also not acceptable to leave children in the school playground or parts of the school building because there will be no-one to supervise them. I know that this can be an inconvenience for some people but this is why we let you know about this meeting in plenty of time so that you can make alternate child care arrangements for what is a short period of time.
In the rest of the school everything is returning to its normal pattern as clubs have recommenced and the Nursery children have joined us. It is lovely to have them in school and even though they are so young they all appeared to have settled very well into Little Heath. Let's hope they all continue to do so.
I am looking forward to seeing many of you next week when we have our ' Meet the Teacher' evenings. These evenings are an opportunity for parents to find out the about the expectations of their children for the coming year. They are also an opportunity for parents to ask the teacher any general questions about classroom routines. There is a possibility that I will not be able to attend the Year 6 meeting on the Wednesday night but if I cannot be there Mrs. Zegallo will take my place. I know some parents are not happy that children are not allowed to come but the focus for this evening is on the dialogue between the teacher and parents. In the past some parents have chosen to ignore this request and bring their children into the school but if that happens this time parents will be asked to take their children home and will have to miss the meeting. It is also not acceptable to leave children in the school playground or parts of the school building because there will be no-one to supervise them. I know that this can be an inconvenience for some people but this is why we let you know about this meeting in plenty of time so that you can make alternate child care arrangements for what is a short period of time.
Friday 9 September 2011
Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a great summer holiday and are looking forward to the new term. I know we have only been back for a week but my holiday already seems a dim and distant memory. However, as usual, all the children have settled back into school extremely well and have all been enjoying 'Multi media' week. We decided on this theme because our brand new computer suite is now up and running and although there have been a couple of glitches with logging on the new computers appear to be very popular with the children. I would like to thank the PTA again for raising the money so that we were able to purchase our new computer suite. The difference it will make to the pupils' learning will be significant.
The Year 6 are holding the elections for house captains next week so have been hot on the campaign trail this week - I have even seen some cakes and brownies been given out so obviously our candidates are not above bribery! The election takes place next Friday and so I will let you know the results after that.
We have also had our 2 new members of staff join us this week. Mrs. Penny May in working in Year 1 and is covering Mrs. Richardson's maternity cover. Ms. Diane Simoneau is also joining us for the year in nursery.
Both have told me they have really enjoyed their first week and feel very fortunate to be part of such a lovely school community. I would like to thank everyone for making them feel so welcome.
The Year 6 are holding the elections for house captains next week so have been hot on the campaign trail this week - I have even seen some cakes and brownies been given out so obviously our candidates are not above bribery! The election takes place next Friday and so I will let you know the results after that.
We have also had our 2 new members of staff join us this week. Mrs. Penny May in working in Year 1 and is covering Mrs. Richardson's maternity cover. Ms. Diane Simoneau is also joining us for the year in nursery.
Both have told me they have really enjoyed their first week and feel very fortunate to be part of such a lovely school community. I would like to thank everyone for making them feel so welcome.
Friday 22 July 2011
I cannot believe that another year has passed and we are at the end of term. The long cold winter seems a dim and distant memory as we prepare for our long summer holiday (not that you would know from the weather). This week activities have been dominated by Year 6 as they prepare to leave us. Although it is a sad time we try to make it a celebration for them for all the enjoyable times they have had at Little Heath. Their 'Dragon's Den' event was a huge success, their performance of 'School Daze' was enjoyed by everybody and was followed by a great Leavers' Party. As always the 'Leavers' Assembly'was an emotional time but there was plenty to celebrate and I hope that everyone that was present left feeling uplifted by what they saw. The school is at the moment preparing to give Year 6 a big send off so we can all wish them well in their new secondary schools and then we can all go home and begin to enjoy our holiday.
I hope you all too have a great summer break and I look forward to seeing you all again in September. I hope that the next school year is as successful and enjoyable as this one has been.
I hope you all too have a great summer break and I look forward to seeing you all again in September. I hope that the next school year is as successful and enjoyable as this one has been.
Friday 15 July 2011
Later in the week we had the induction sessions for the new reception and nursery children. They all appeared to find their time here very enjoyable and exciting and are all looking forward to coming here in September which is the main thing. It was also good for me to meet all the new parents who will be joining our school community in the autumn.
It was also nice to see many of our existing parents at 'Open Evening'.The staff told me that they received many positive comments about the work that the children have done over the last year and I was also happy that a larger number of parents than normal attended the presentation at the beginning of the 'Open Evening'. although I would still like to have seen more. The presentation was on how we teach the pupils in the school and the reasoning behind it. From the questions we were asked at the end there seems to be a desire for a curriculum evening on how mathematics is taught in the school and we will certainly consider this in the autumn term. A lot of questions were also raised about the home learning and although we are not going to change this we will certainly consider some of the comments that the parents raised about it.
Friday 8 July 2011
It has been another full and exciting week at Little Heath this week. We managed to complete both our sports events this week (despite the weather) and it was a closely fought contest with Osborne becoming the eventual winners. However the main point to a school sports day is that all the children are involved and enjoy taking part and we all believe that our children did. A couple of parents appeared to be taking it a little too seriously becoming a little upset at the composition of some of the teams and how the rules were being followed but we are slightly more laid back in our approach to Sports Day with enjoyment being the key factor. I had to follow Sports Day with our last full Governors meeting of the year so I must admit that I slept well that night.
Unfortunately our cricket teams were not so lucky with the weather. For the second week running they tried to complete the Potters Bars schools cricket finals but unfortunately the persistent rain made it to unsafe to play. The organisers tried to decide the winner by holding a 'bowl off' but nobody managed to hit the wicket so in the end they decided to settle the result by pulling names out of a hat. Fortunately, Little Heath's name was the first name to be pulled out so we were the official trophy winners! It is not the way we like to win a competition but I would like to thank all the competitors who kept turning up at the different venues wanting to play and all the parents who kept rearranging their lives so they could help with transport. I would also like to thank Mr. Mills for his efforts in rearranging the times, teams and the travel arrangements. The rain also stopped the Rounders Tournament taking place but this has been re-arranged for the last week of term. Let us hope that the summer finally arrives by then.
We held our Summer Music Concert this week. As the maypole dancers could not perform at the Summer Fayre because of the rain (this blog is beginning to have a common theme running through it) they also took part in the evening and an enjoyable time was had by all. I am constantly amazed at the amount of talent that we have in school and since I have very little music ability I am even more in awe of people who are able to do this. I would like to thank all the staff who contributed in making this evening such a success and to the PTA for providing us with delicious refreshments.
As I write this blog I know a lot of the children are all probably feeling a little nervous because today is the day the reports go home. I do not think that they really have too much to worry about and in fact the majority of comments are very positive and encouraging. I hope that you all find our reports helpful and imformative but I would ask that if you do have any queries about them that you book an appointment to discuss it with the class teacher. We write the reports so that you have an honest picture of how your child has performed and what they need to do to move forward and although that does not always make for comfortable reading I do think it is better to know the truth.
I look forward to seeing many of you at our Open Evening next Thursday. I will be in the hall at the beginning of the evening for the presentation on how we teach the children in the school but then I will be wandering around the school so do feel free to stop and talk to me.
Unfortunately our cricket teams were not so lucky with the weather. For the second week running they tried to complete the Potters Bars schools cricket finals but unfortunately the persistent rain made it to unsafe to play. The organisers tried to decide the winner by holding a 'bowl off' but nobody managed to hit the wicket so in the end they decided to settle the result by pulling names out of a hat. Fortunately, Little Heath's name was the first name to be pulled out so we were the official trophy winners! It is not the way we like to win a competition but I would like to thank all the competitors who kept turning up at the different venues wanting to play and all the parents who kept rearranging their lives so they could help with transport. I would also like to thank Mr. Mills for his efforts in rearranging the times, teams and the travel arrangements. The rain also stopped the Rounders Tournament taking place but this has been re-arranged for the last week of term. Let us hope that the summer finally arrives by then.
We held our Summer Music Concert this week. As the maypole dancers could not perform at the Summer Fayre because of the rain (this blog is beginning to have a common theme running through it) they also took part in the evening and an enjoyable time was had by all. I am constantly amazed at the amount of talent that we have in school and since I have very little music ability I am even more in awe of people who are able to do this. I would like to thank all the staff who contributed in making this evening such a success and to the PTA for providing us with delicious refreshments.
As I write this blog I know a lot of the children are all probably feeling a little nervous because today is the day the reports go home. I do not think that they really have too much to worry about and in fact the majority of comments are very positive and encouraging. I hope that you all find our reports helpful and imformative but I would ask that if you do have any queries about them that you book an appointment to discuss it with the class teacher. We write the reports so that you have an honest picture of how your child has performed and what they need to do to move forward and although that does not always make for comfortable reading I do think it is better to know the truth.
I look forward to seeing many of you at our Open Evening next Thursday. I will be in the hall at the beginning of the evening for the presentation on how we teach the children in the school but then I will be wandering around the school so do feel free to stop and talk to me.
Thursday 30 June 2011
I am posting my blog a little earlier this week as I will be out on Friday. I am still on a high from yesterday after watching Little Heath win the Potters Bar Primary Schools District Sports at Mount Grace School. It was a great event and all the competitors represented the school very well. We did win it comfortably so I would like to thank Mr. Mills for all his work in preparing the team for victory. We even managed to win the raffle they held during the event as Mrs . Beadle successfully guessed the number of sweets in the jar so the children all had a little sugar to celebrate their victory with.
I followed watching the Districts Sport by attending the Foundation Induction Evening at school where I
met all the new parents that will be joining our school community. This year is slightly different in that there will only be one intake into both reception and nursery and we will be offering flexible provision in the nursery so parents can choose when their children attend between the times of 8.45am - 3.00pm. It was great meeting all the new parents and they all seemed very excited by the changes that we are introducing and that is always good to know.
The end of term is drawing close but there is still plenty going on in school. Next week we have both School sports events on Wednesday and a music evening on Thursday. We also have 3 cricket teams taking part in some cricket finals on Tuesday so it is certainly going to be an exciting time. I look forward to seeing many of you at the school sports day. Let us all pray for sunshine so it can all go ahead!
I followed watching the Districts Sport by attending the Foundation Induction Evening at school where I
met all the new parents that will be joining our school community. This year is slightly different in that there will only be one intake into both reception and nursery and we will be offering flexible provision in the nursery so parents can choose when their children attend between the times of 8.45am - 3.00pm. It was great meeting all the new parents and they all seemed very excited by the changes that we are introducing and that is always good to know.
The end of term is drawing close but there is still plenty going on in school. Next week we have both School sports events on Wednesday and a music evening on Thursday. We also have 3 cricket teams taking part in some cricket finals on Tuesday so it is certainly going to be an exciting time. I look forward to seeing many of you at the school sports day. Let us all pray for sunshine so it can all go ahead!
Friday 24 June 2011
When I wrote my blog last week the PTA were deciding whether or not to have the Summer Fayre inside or outside. Those of you who attended will have found that the majority of it was inside but that I was outside on the Bouncy Castle. Unfortunately I did get soaked through (along with many others) but the weather did not appear to dampen the enthusiam of all the those who attended and we still managed to raise over £2000 so I would like to thank all the people involved with the Summer Fayre who helped to make it such a success and to everyone who turned up even though it rained.
The rain has continued to come down this week but we have not let it dampen our spirits in school . 'Health and Fitness' week has proved to be mosrt enjoyable.There have been lots of activities going on in school to help the children understand how to take care of themselves but the most popular seems to have been the Zumba sessions which proved to be a great way of having fun and keeping fit at the same time. Some of you may be getting demands from your children to sign them up for Zumba classes.
We were very proud of our children who took part in the 'Hertfordshire County Sports Finals' last Friday. Both our netball and hockey teams were representing the Hatfield and Welwyn District in this event and we managed to reach the finals in both events. Congratulations to all those who took part and many thanks to Mr. Mills, Mrs.Eales and Mrs. Parkinson for all their hard work in coaching and preparing the teams.
I hope that next Thursday does not prove too much of an inconvenience for you. The teachers do not wish to disrupt the children's education but feel they need to make their feelings felt about the changes the government are trying to implement that will have a big impact on their future. I do thank you for your understanding in this matter.
We have had a parent questioning our pricing of a school trip which they say another school did at a much cheaper rate. This is not the first time that a parent has questioned us about this and so I would just like to reassure all parents that when we set a price for a trip we divide the cost of the transport and entrance fee to the venue by the number of pupils in the class and that is the price we charge per head. It is possible that some schools subsidise the cost of the trip with school money but we do not do that in this school. Instead we may pay for some of the shows and people that come into school to enrich the curriculum and charge the parents nothing for these. An example of things that we have paid for this year are the Christmas show, the dance teacher that came into school for 2 days after Easter, the artist that has been working with the whole school this year and, more recently, the zumba teacher that we had this week. Schools all choose their own way of supporting the children's learning and this is the way we prefer to use our money.
The rain has continued to come down this week but we have not let it dampen our spirits in school . 'Health and Fitness' week has proved to be mosrt enjoyable.There have been lots of activities going on in school to help the children understand how to take care of themselves but the most popular seems to have been the Zumba sessions which proved to be a great way of having fun and keeping fit at the same time. Some of you may be getting demands from your children to sign them up for Zumba classes.
We were very proud of our children who took part in the 'Hertfordshire County Sports Finals' last Friday. Both our netball and hockey teams were representing the Hatfield and Welwyn District in this event and we managed to reach the finals in both events. Congratulations to all those who took part and many thanks to Mr. Mills, Mrs.Eales and Mrs. Parkinson for all their hard work in coaching and preparing the teams.
I hope that next Thursday does not prove too much of an inconvenience for you. The teachers do not wish to disrupt the children's education but feel they need to make their feelings felt about the changes the government are trying to implement that will have a big impact on their future. I do thank you for your understanding in this matter.
We have had a parent questioning our pricing of a school trip which they say another school did at a much cheaper rate. This is not the first time that a parent has questioned us about this and so I would just like to reassure all parents that when we set a price for a trip we divide the cost of the transport and entrance fee to the venue by the number of pupils in the class and that is the price we charge per head. It is possible that some schools subsidise the cost of the trip with school money but we do not do that in this school. Instead we may pay for some of the shows and people that come into school to enrich the curriculum and charge the parents nothing for these. An example of things that we have paid for this year are the Christmas show, the dance teacher that came into school for 2 days after Easter, the artist that has been working with the whole school this year and, more recently, the zumba teacher that we had this week. Schools all choose their own way of supporting the children's learning and this is the way we prefer to use our money.
Friday 17 June 2011
It has been another busy week in school. As I type this the PTA are all busy preparing for the Summer Fayre. They are still trying to decide whether to have it indoors or outdoors but regardless of the weather I will be outside as I am helping to run the 'Bouncy Castle'. I must take note of the stalls that are moved indoors if it rains because I will volunteer for that stall next year.
Working at the Summmer Fayre means that I will have spent three evenings at school this week. On Monday we had our Governors committee meetings and on Tuesday the Rotary Club held their presentation evening for all the people who took part in their sponsored swim event back in March. I felt very proud watching this event because they raised over £5000 and a large proportion of this money came from people at Little Heath. I would personally like to thank all the people who took part and I hope that even more people take part next year so even more money is raised and then donated to worthy causes.
Nursery invited me over this week to watch them do some face painting but, typically, you are not allowed to be an observer in nursey for long and soon they were painting me. They could not do my face as I had to meet some visitors that day so I agreed to them painting my hands. However ,as you can see from the picture, they also painted my arms and I counted myself very lucky to escape without been given a full body paint.
As you have probably heard from your children next week is 'Health and Fitness'week in school. Extra activities that we will be running for the children are obstacle courses, Zumba classes and meditation sessions. Lets hope the children ehjoy them whilst learning how to take better care of themselves.
I must go now and change in readiness for my stint on the Bouncy Castle. I hope next week that I can report that the fayre was very well attended and lots of money was raised for the school. I hope we do because the PTA really do work hard to raise funds for resources for all the pupils at Little Heath and these resources really do have a positive impact on their learning.
Working at the Summmer Fayre means that I will have spent three evenings at school this week. On Monday we had our Governors committee meetings and on Tuesday the Rotary Club held their presentation evening for all the people who took part in their sponsored swim event back in March. I felt very proud watching this event because they raised over £5000 and a large proportion of this money came from people at Little Heath. I would personally like to thank all the people who took part and I hope that even more people take part next year so even more money is raised and then donated to worthy causes.
Nursery invited me over this week to watch them do some face painting but, typically, you are not allowed to be an observer in nursey for long and soon they were painting me. They could not do my face as I had to meet some visitors that day so I agreed to them painting my hands. However ,as you can see from the picture, they also painted my arms and I counted myself very lucky to escape without been given a full body paint.
As you have probably heard from your children next week is 'Health and Fitness'week in school. Extra activities that we will be running for the children are obstacle courses, Zumba classes and meditation sessions. Lets hope the children ehjoy them whilst learning how to take better care of themselves.
I must go now and change in readiness for my stint on the Bouncy Castle. I hope next week that I can report that the fayre was very well attended and lots of money was raised for the school. I hope we do because the PTA really do work hard to raise funds for resources for all the pupils at Little Heath and these resources really do have a positive impact on their learning.
Friday 10 June 2011
It has been a slightly quieter week in school because Year 6 have been away on their school journey to Kingswood. As I type this they are on their way back and by all accounts have had a fabulous week. It will be nice to see them back in school next week though. Year 5 have also had a different week as the majority of them have been doing their cycling proficiency award. All of them have passed and their instructors thought they were the best group of children that they had ever taken.In fact the instructors were very impressed with the whole school and they said that whatever we are doing here we should bottle it up and take it to other schools. They even asked if our catchment area could stretch as far as Buckinghamshire so their grand - daughter could attend. It is always good for me to hear things like that because pepole like them visit a lot of schools and it is nice to know we stand out from the crowd for all the right reasons.
Next week was supposed to be a'Health and Fitness' week in school but Mr. Mills is out for a lot of sporting events next week and we have the 'Summer Fayre' so since there is so much going on we have decided to do it the following week.
I hope to see you all at the 'Summer Fayre'next week. At the moment we are still a little short of volunteers so if you could spare a little time to help out the PTA and the school we would greatly appreciate it. With all the cuts and changes that are going on with local government at the moment schools are going to have to become a lot more self sufficient financially so these fund raising events are going to become a lot more important for schools to buy essential resources rather than just luxuries.
Next week was supposed to be a'Health and Fitness' week in school but Mr. Mills is out for a lot of sporting events next week and we have the 'Summer Fayre' so since there is so much going on we have decided to do it the following week.
I hope to see you all at the 'Summer Fayre'next week. At the moment we are still a little short of volunteers so if you could spare a little time to help out the PTA and the school we would greatly appreciate it. With all the cuts and changes that are going on with local government at the moment schools are going to have to become a lot more self sufficient financially so these fund raising events are going to become a lot more important for schools to buy essential resources rather than just luxuries.
Friday 27 May 2011
You may not have seen me a lot around school this week. This is not because I have been having time off but it it is because I have had to attend a lot of meetings and courses to ensure that we are up to date with our practice and legislation which thankfully we are. The SLT also interviewed this week for Mrs. Richardson's maternity cover and for a teacher to cover the nursery while Mrs. Robinson goes on study leave.The interviews were successful and when the candidates have confirmed their acceptance in writing I will be informing the parents of their names. Although both teachers will only be with us on temporary contracts as Mrs Richardson and Mrs Robinson will be returning to Little Heath I am sure that they will both be an asset to the school while they are here. We will actually still see a lot of Mrs Robinson around the school next year because part of her study will involve her working in the school.
Next week is half term and I know we are all looking forward to the break here. On the first Monday back I have a head teacher's seminar to attend in the morning so I will not be back in school until the afternoon. I look forward to seeing you all then.
Next week is half term and I know we are all looking forward to the break here. On the first Monday back I have a head teacher's seminar to attend in the morning so I will not be back in school until the afternoon. I look forward to seeing you all then.
Friday 20 May 2011
May 20th
I have had quite a busy time at school this week. There was a governors meeting on Wednesday night and on Thursday night I attended a PTA meeting. There we began planning the Summer fayre and we agreed on some new purchases for the school.The PTA have agreed to buy a new grass covered tunnel for the nursery and they are going to also buy a brand new set of computers for the school as some of our present ones no longer work.The children will benefit massively from these purchases and I cannot thank the PTA enough for all the hard work they put in to make this all possible. The extra money raised by the PTA is even more important now that our school budget has been cut and I hope that we will all continue to support the events organised by the them so that we are able to provide the children with the best resources possible to aid their learning.
This morning was the Oakmere marathon and a great time was had by all that attended. I myself did not run the whole course as I had to be an official at the finishing line but I did run about a third of it before I took my position at the finish line. A lot of the other staff though did run the whole course and I am glad to say that all the children managed to finish as well. I was proud of all their efforts but I am particularly proud of Ben Harrison and Dylan Grice who finished 3rd and 8th respectively in the Year 5/6 race. Thomas Stanbury finished 1st in the Year 3/4 and he was closely followed by his cousin Ernie Crowe in 4th place. Mia Bracher also was second girl home in the Year 5/6 race. I will have to train very hard if I any chance of matching their achievements next year.
This morning was the Oakmere marathon and a great time was had by all that attended. I myself did not run the whole course as I had to be an official at the finishing line but I did run about a third of it before I took my position at the finish line. A lot of the other staff though did run the whole course and I am glad to say that all the children managed to finish as well. I was proud of all their efforts but I am particularly proud of Ben Harrison and Dylan Grice who finished 3rd and 8th respectively in the Year 5/6 race. Thomas Stanbury finished 1st in the Year 3/4 and he was closely followed by his cousin Ernie Crowe in 4th place. Mia Bracher also was second girl home in the Year 5/6 race. I will have to train very hard if I any chance of matching their achievements next year.
Saturday 14 May 2011
Welcome Everyone
I have decided be like the rest of the school and have my own personal blog. I thought it would be a good idea so that I could keep you up to date with all that is happening in the school. We are all very happy at Little Heath at the moment because we are enjoying a large amount of success.
Firstly we have been awarded the ‘QiSS’ quality mark. This is in recognition for the good work that we do in the provision that we provide outside of the normal school curriculum. This award is important to us because it has been proven that good provision in a school’s extended curriculum has a positive impact on attainment which can only be a good thing. Now that we have achieved this award we are going to go for another one. This time we are hoping to be awarded the ‘Primary Science Quality Mark’ (PSQM) which is given in recognition of the quality of the science curriculum. Over the coming months I will keep you informed of our progress.
We are also celebrating a double sporting victory. Our boys have won the Hatfield and Welwyn Primary Schools football tournament and our girls are champions again of the ‘Le Gros’ netball tournament. This victory was made sweeter by the fact that our’B’ team finished third. Unfortunately for me these two victories have meant extra work because I promised the children that if they both won their respective tournaments I would make them cupcakes so I have been spending my recent evenings baking and decorating cakes. Let us hope that they enjoy the end result.
I have decided be like the rest of the school and have my own personal blog. I thought it would be a good idea so that I could keep you up to date with all that is happening in the school. We are all very happy at Little Heath at the moment because we are enjoying a large amount of success.
Firstly we have been awarded the ‘QiSS’ quality mark. This is in recognition for the good work that we do in the provision that we provide outside of the normal school curriculum. This award is important to us because it has been proven that good provision in a school’s extended curriculum has a positive impact on attainment which can only be a good thing. Now that we have achieved this award we are going to go for another one. This time we are hoping to be awarded the ‘Primary Science Quality Mark’ (PSQM) which is given in recognition of the quality of the science curriculum. Over the coming months I will keep you informed of our progress.
We are also celebrating a double sporting victory. Our boys have won the Hatfield and Welwyn Primary Schools football tournament and our girls are champions again of the ‘Le Gros’ netball tournament. This victory was made sweeter by the fact that our’B’ team finished third. Unfortunately for me these two victories have meant extra work because I promised the children that if they both won their respective tournaments I would make them cupcakes so I have been spending my recent evenings baking and decorating cakes. Let us hope that they enjoy the end result.
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