HEADTEACHER'S NEWSLETTER

Welcome Back to a New School Year.

 

On behalf of everyone at John Hellins Primary School a warm welcome to a new school year – especially to those of you who are new to our school. We think that all the children have made a very good start to the Autumn Term and that our new pupils, particularly those joining Class 1 seem very settled and happy. We look forward to talking to you about your children in more detail when we hold our first Parents Evenings of the year on 3rd and 4th November. If however, you have any  queries before then, please don’t be slow in coming forward. We welcome your thoughts and are anxious to ensure that the children make the very best start possible.

 

Can we also take this opportunity to welcome our new Deputy Head Teacher, Mrs Jodie Matthews.

Apart from doing a host of other jobs, Jodie is teaching Class 4 this year and has settled into her new role with ease. We believe she will be a great asset to our school and look forward her time with us.

 

Every year we reflect on what has been achieved at the school; we wonder what the coming year will hold and how we might “top that”. Last year saw the completion of our wonderful tile mural and our work with an artist in residence. We also had some memorable sporting success when we won the Small Schools County Soccer Tournament and took our rugby team to Twickenham to play before a crowd of 80,000 people! Who knows what this year will bring? We already have draft plans to publish our own collection of children’s stories and stage a mass exhibition of their paintings – all professionally framed. I have no doubt more high profile events will turn up… they always seem to. Watch this space.

 

Your thoughts

 

Once again, many thanks for your comments and suggestions in the annual parent survey carried out last year. The results were so encouraging and we were heartened by your response. The areas that you did feel we should address are listed below and we have already begun to look at some of these: "The school gives me a clear understanding of what my child is taught." From now on we will attach to each newsletter a separate news update from your child’s class teacher, outlining what the children will be doing in their class. In most cases this will cover one term’s work e.g. September – December, although Class 1, who have already sent out their resume, have only dealt with the period up to our half-term break in October. We hope this keeps you all better informed and if there are any items or activities that you feel able to assist us with, don’t hesitate to contact us. "I am satisfied with the activities that my child is expected to do at home." 

 

The issue of homework is always something that evokes mixed reactions from parents. For every parent who would like to see more, there is an equal number who feel that if the children have worked hard all day they should not be burdened by too much extra work in the evening or at weekends. We believe in setting some regular home learning tasks and these become more frequent as the children get older. Tasks such as reading or discussing what they’ve read is crucial at every age – even 11-year-olds who read well, need to have the chance to read quietly and discuss what they have read with an adult. In the light of your comments we will be reviewing our homework policy and we will share our thoughts with you in this process. Any other comments or thoughts are, as ever, valued.

 

 

Holiday Requests 

 

As a number of you have discovered, if you have been to see me about Holiday Request Forms, that there are changes afoot!  We are awaiting a directive from the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCFS) about schools giving parents permission to take their children out of school during term time for an annual holiday and recording this as an authorised absence. It is likely that this arrangement is going to be changed and that all holiday request forms will disappear, along with the authorisation of absences for holidays.

 

We met with our local cluster schools (including Kingsbrook Secondary School) to discuss this at the very end of last term and came up with an agreed joint statement: " Research shows that high levels of attendance in school lead to improved attainment and progress. As a cluster of schools, we urge our parents not to take holidays and occasional days out during term time. It is likely that from September 2009 the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) will be issuing new national guidelines about this issue and we will keep you informed. Should you wish to book at holiday during the new school year please note that schools in the local cluster will not be issuing Request for Holiday Forms. We would urge parents to come and discuss any possible planned absences with the Head Teacher.  As soon as further guidance from the DCSF is available we will make this available to you."

I hope that clarifies the situation but if in doubt simply come and talk to us.

 

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