Friday 15 February 2013

As I predicted last week it has certainly been a busy week with lots of events and meetings for me to attend which means that I have not been seen around school as much as I would like although I can assure you that I have been working. It is also the reason that I was not at the Foundation and KS1 disco until the end as I had to attend a meeting outside of school.


On Tuesday I spent the day in school with our Hertfordshire Improvement partner Martin Tuck. He comes in every term to help us assess how the well the school is progressing and to help us set targets for ourselves to ensure that we continue to improve. He was very pleased with what he saw and was extremely happy with the progress the school has made since the Ofsted inspection so, hopefully, Ofsted will be equally impressed when they return to visit us. I do not know when they will arrive but since 5 schools in the Potters Bar area have been inspected in the last 2 months (and 4 of those were in the last 3 weeks) I do not think that it will be long but you never know with Ofsted.

As some of you may know Mr Berridge had his retirement party this week although he does not officially retire as site manager until February 28th. We will still see him every day as he is going to continue with his role as midday supervisor. I have yet to appoint a permanent replacement for him and will be re-interviewing for his position first week back – he is a very difficult act to follow. A temporary caretaker will carry out the role until I find a permanent replacement.

When we return after half term we are having a writing week in school. As part of this week the children’s author Dan Freedman will be visiting KS2 on Tuesday 25th February. A letter telling you about this in more detail has been sent home to KS2 parents today but at the end of the day after his visit he will be selling signed copies of his books which all cost £5. All his books have a football theme. All parents and children are welcome to go into the hall and have a look at his books and meet him – there is no obligation to buy anything.

All that is left for me to do is wish you all a great half term and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday 25th February.

Friday 8 February 2013

We have had quite a quiet week in school this week. Tuesday was E-safety Day so everyone did some work in class on the importance of keeping themselves safe whilst using the internet. We think this is a very important aspect of the children’s education and we will be organising an open night for parents soon to give them a better understanding of how to keep children safe when they are using the internet at home.


I have been a little disappointed this week with the uniform that some of the children have been wearing. A number of KS2 children have been coming to school without ties and too many girls are wearing earrings to school. If a child has just had their ears pierced they are allowed to wear stud earrings to school as long as they are covered with tape. After their ears have healed though which takes a maximum of 10 weeks they should not be wearing earrings for school at all – even if they are covered with tape. Please ensure that your child follows the uniform code.

Next week is a busy week in school. On Tuesday some of the Year 5 and 6 pupils are taking part in an indoor athletics tournament. Then on Wednesday hopefully lots of parents will be able to come and look at their children’s books so they can see what they have been learning this half term. Some of the girls will also be taking part in a football tournament organised by Arsenal Ladies and this will take place in the Arsenal training ground in London Colney. On Thursday we have the Valentine Discos which have been kindly organised by the PTA. The children always enjoy these events but to be a success we do need some parents to volunteer to assist with the organisation. I know that the PTA still need volunteers to help with both discos but in particular with the Foundation and KS1 disco. We finish this busy week on Friday with one of our sharing assemblies and you will be informed by letter if your child is taking part in this.

After all that I think we will all be looking forward to our half term break. School will finish at the normal time next Friday.

Friday 1 February 2013

I am speaking to you this week after the school’s performance at the 02 and I have to tell you I am feeling pretty elated. It was a wonderful experience for the pupils involved (and me) and for a short time we got to experience what it must feel like to be in a rock band. Although we all felt tired the next day everyone involved agreed that all the effort had been worthwhile. We had some super support at the 02 from friends and families and I would like to thank everyone involved who helped make it a fabulous day. As I said last week most of the credit must go to Mr Hill and Mrs Richardson for all their hard work in preparing the choir and praise must also go to the children who performed - they were a credit to the school.


We have also experienced some warmer weather this week (thank goodness) and it is good to see more children walking and coming on their scooters and bikes to school. However I must remind all children who use scooters or bikes that they must dismount them before they come on the school premises. I have had a couple of complaints from parents this week about children riding their scooters in front of the bike shed while they are waiting to come into school. This is extremely dangerous and I want this to stop. It has also come to my attention that some children are on the school premises at about 8.15am in the morning. We do not open the school gates until 8.40am and pupils (apart from the Year 6) should not be arriving on the premises much before this time. We will be contacting the parents of children who persistently arrive before this time.

Let us hope that the better weather lasts with us through February. We have managed to complete a few football fixtures and hopefully the netball programme will be able to start soon. I will probably see some of you at these events soon.