Headteacher’s Report September 2015 Factual information about our school We have 106 children on roll. Class 4 Lucy Martindale 1.0 (+ Katharine Charter and Adam Hill ) 28 children 15 Year 6, 13 Year 5 Class 3 Alison Cotton 0.8 Katharine Charter 0.2 Amy Miles covering PPA ( Louise Clarke ) 29 children 16 Year 4, 13 Year 3 Class 2 Maddy Allen 0.5 Nerys Steeds 0.6 (Isabelle Wheeler) 30 children 15 Year 2, 15 Year 1 Class 1 Amy Miles 0.4 Lorraine Patterson 0.6 (Clare Baess ) 19 children (Reception). Maddy is doing an extra morning teaching Computing on Wednesday. Lorraine works on Thursday doing French ,PPA and SEN . Gwen is on maternity leave: having had a baby boy, Monty, in June . We have several children with greater needs in Class 2 so we have increased the teaching assistant support to include every afternoon. We have 5 children on our Inclusion Register for Special Needs and no children who receive free school meals or qualify for pupil premium (we have one child who receives pupil premium plus.) Characteristics of school At the end of term we said goodbye to 13 children in Year 6: ten went to Tring School, one to JFK Catholic School , one to Aylesbury High School, and one to Ashlyns School. Six children left the school in other years – one went to Lockers Park School, two to Beechwood Park School, one went to Potten End and two to Berkhamsted School 25 children joined our school in September 19 in Reception and 6 in other years – in the first week of term we had continual phone calls for places but unfortunately we were not able to accommodate them . Leadership and management Our role this term is to digest the new expectations from OFSTED .The expectation is that “leaders and governors have created a culture that enables pupils and staff to excel.” This means that governors have a clear understanding of the school and are quick to question when they want to learn more. For our school it means that we are expected to “extend the sharing of leadership and outstanding teaching skills with other schools, as identified in development planning ” and we need to achieve this without threatening the quality of what our children receive . At the moment Lorraine and Nerys are working as leading teachers and I am a Professional Partner to two local Heads .We also have visitors from other schools and other environments who come to our school to help and observe. Next Steps We need to reflect on how our Governing Body works so it is ready for the future challenges. We have invited two external advisers to help us with this –our SIP Rebecca Roberts and Kathy Dunnett from School Governance (I am hoping you have those dates in your diary .) Quality of teaching, learning ,assessment We are very fortunate because we have staff who enjoy teaching and are eager to improve their skills and children who are ready to learn. In classroom observations this term, all the lessons I have seen I have rated as “good” or better. It is very evident that staff have high expectations for each child. We employ people to assist the staff in developing our children’s potential : Tiffani Vineyard teaches ukuleles and drumming to our KS2 and Mary –Ann Morton, a speech therapist , works with a number of children with speech and language difficulties . Observation of teachers this term will concentrate on aspects of the School Development Plan. Teachers now in a management position will be formally observing others. A significant amount of transition work was done at the end of term. Lorraine and Amy went on home visits for new Reception children, teachers met to discuss new children, and staff spent time with teachers from Tring, Aylesbury and JFK passing on information. Pupil Premium Progress 2015 There were two children in the school who received pupil premium and pupil premium plus last summer. They both made good progress in all subjects. One of these has now left SEN Although we have less children with SEND needs this year we do have a couple of children in Class 2 who are being externally assessed this term who have Speech and Language related needs. For this reason we have extended Isabelle Wheeler’s hours so that she can assist Class 2 in the afternoons so there are always two adults in the class. We continue to have support from The local SpLd Centre , now based at Thomas Coram Junior School . Staff training – Lucy –MAST maths training ,New Assessment for Year 6 Amy - PE Leadership Qualification Level 6 Nerys and Lorraine –Leading Teacher training Charis –Introduction to the New OFSTED Framework, Maddy- e-safety , Computing for KS2, teaching PE to KS1 Izzi – ELKAN training Nick ,Lorraine and Charis are attending the WRAP training (preventing people being drawn into terrorism.) Next Steps We need to improve our results in Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling at the end of KS2. We need to develop a greater confidence using the new Herts system of assessment. We have signed onto the EYFS pilot called Early Excellence and we need to be prepared to provide the environment that our 19 new Reception children need.. Personal development ,behaviour and welfare and Social ,Moral ,Spiritual and Cultural Development (SMSC) PE –Sports Funding We are part of the local Sports Partnership again with the money provided by the government. Through this we will have access to even more sports opportunities for the children. We have appointed two sports ambassadors and two health ambassadors ( Year 6 children) who are going to a training day in Hatfield, to ensure that every child has every opportunity to enjoy being fit. We are in the GameOn league for football . Arts Links Last year we ran a very successful culture challenge, in which all children took part. We recently went to see the ballet “Romeo and Juliet” in the Royal Opera House . We have estabilished a link with the Tring Arts Educational School who will be coming to work with our KS2 children for 4 sessions. We have two Arts Ambassadors. Other Links with Parents “ hands-on sessions” for parents of Class 1 “Meet the teacher” for Class 2,3 ,4 parents’ consultations class and whole school assemblies parents supporting Spelling Tuesdays , reading with individuals ,going with Class 3 swimming etc We are very fortunate that our PTA, the Friends are so successful at raising money for the school. Extra sports activities taught by outside coaches: Monday: Game On Class 3 Football; Class 4 Football Tuesday: Class 3 Swimming at Hemel Hempstead Sports Centre Clubs : Monday - lunchtime football KS1, after school football KS2, gardening club, French club (guitar) Tuesday – before school dodgeball (pm piano ) Wednesday – before school streetdance (pm recorder) Thursday – after school art club,Netball club (pm violin, drums ) Friday – before school running club Links with our village Church : The Revd John Russell (Vicar of Little Gaddesden) takes assembly once a week .We will have our Harvest Celebration on Monday 5th October at 9.15 in the Church. Other visitors to work with the children : David Russell (Minister of Berkhamsted Baptist Church , Sophie Ayres (visited for 2 weeks pre-PGCE ) Rachel Willacy ( on placement for 2 years studying for Level 2 Childcare ) Visitors to see adults: Rebecca Roberts (SIP ), Lucky Khera, EYFS Advisor Clare South ,Head of Long Marston , Andrew Morris ,Head of Potten End School , Nicholas Read,Head of Gaddesden Row to work with Charis Next steps We need to do more training of children , parents ,staff and governors of e-safety .Maddy will be working with children in KS2 but we have also invited an Advisor from HfL to help us with this. Because this is an issue for all schools at the moment he cannot visit until April . Outcomes for pupils (Results Summer 2015 for EYFS , can be seen in excel attachment) Early Years Provision A new canopy has been installed outside Class 1. Staff would like to extend the surface as far as the path, particularly as we now have more children. We also need to provide storage outside which the children can access. Charis Geoghegan September 2015 Questions Signed : Appendix 1 OFSTED Descriptors for a rating of “Outstanding” for the effectiveness of Leadership and Management Leaders and governors have created a culture that enables pupils and staff to excel. They are committed unwaveringly to setting high expectations for the conduct of pupils and staff. Relationships between staff and pupils are exemplary. Leaders and governors focus on consistently improving outcomes for all pupils, but especially for disadvantaged pupils. They are uncompromising in their ambition. The school’s actions have secured substantial improvement in progress for disadvantaged pupils. Progress is rising across the curriculum, including in English and mathematics. Governors systematically challenge senior leaders so that the effective deployment of staff and resources, including the pupil premium, the primary PE and sport premium and SEN funding, secures excellent outcomes for pupils. Governors do not shy away from challenging leaders about variations in outcomes for pupil groups, especially between disadvantaged and other pupils. Leaders and governors have a deep, accurate understanding of the school’s effectiveness informed by the views of pupils, parents and staff. They use this to keep the school improving by focusing on the impact of their actions in key areas. Leaders and governors use incisive performance management that leads to professional development that encourages, challenges and supports teachers’ improvement. Teaching is highly effective across the school. Staff reflect on and debate the way they teach. They feel deeply involved in their own professional development.