Headmaster’s Report to Governors – Spring Term 2019

Academic Year 8 pupils have taken entrance exams, with a number of the 37 children in this cohort applying to more than school.

Year 8 pupils have received the following number of offers:

Norwich School – 19 High School – 12 – 4 Gresham’s – 4 Langley – 3 College – 2 – 1 Forest School (London) – 1 Stowe – 1 (conditional) Oundle – 1 (conditional)

In addition, two pupils have applied for local state schools.

The following offers have been received by pupils in Year 7 or below:

Year 7 – 6 applied for places (3 successful, 2 taking up the place), 2 applied for Norwich High School, 1 for Oakham, 1 for College, 1 for Gresham’s, 1 for Langley (all taking up these places) 7 definitely leaving with 1 more possible

Year 6 – 5 applied for Norwich School places (3 successful and taking up places), 1 for and 1 for Gresham’s (both taking up places) with a number of other pupils considering options like , Langley, Gresham’s, Culford and state schools. 5 definitely leaving with 8 more expected

Year 5 – 1 applied for Norwich Junior School (offered and accepted place). 1 leaving

Year 4 – 3 applied for Norwich Junior School (two offered places). 1 definitely leaving with 1 more possible

Year 3 – No applications to other schools made. 0 leaving

Year 2 – 2 applied for Norwich Junior School (both offered places) 1 definitely leaving with 1 possible

Year 1 – 1 applied for Norwich Junior School (offered place) 1 leaving

Reception – No applications to other schools made. 0 leaving

Nursery – 1 applied for Norwich Junior School (declined). 0 leaving

The numbers applying to Norwich School from Year 5 and below are considerably lower than in previous years. Numbers applying to Norwich School from Year 6 continue to be low, with most leavers being for financial reasons, academic reasons or to apply for state schools at 11. The Year 7 leave, by contrast, is higher than usual, with more applying to Norwich School at this stage than usual for this non-standard entry point.

Scholarship Results 2019 This has been a record-breaking year with 24 Year 8 children being offered an amazing 34 scholarships or other awards between them as below:

Culford School Oscar Hing - Music Scholarship Norwich School Catherine Burton - Academic Exhibition Daisy Clabburn - Headmaster’s Award Edward Cross - Sports Scholarship Ella Cunningham - Headmaster’s Award Benedict Dernie - Academic Exhibition Madeline Greenly - Headmaster’s Award Ava Gulliver-Jary - Music Exhibition Benjamin Hastings - Sports Exhibition Oscar Hing - Academic & Music Scholarships Zara Hunter - Headmaster’s Award Charlie Hutchinson - Sports Exhibition Eve Kelleway - Music Scholarship Nora Østergaard - Music Scholarship Krishna Patel - Sports Exhibition Joseph Philpott - Sports Exhibition Forest School, London Oscar Hing - Music Scholarship Framlingham College Eloisa Ford - Sports Scholarship Harry Ford - Sports Scholarship Gresham’s School Oscar Hing - Britten Music Scholarship Krishna Patel - Headmaster’s Award & Hockey Award Rosie Wharton - Sports Scholarship Langley School Oliver Rudling - Sports Scholarship Norwich High School Sophie Bush - Sports Scholarship Madeline Greenly - Academic Scholarship Ava Gulliver-Jary - Music Exhibition Madeleine Harries - Academic Scholarship Zara Hunter - Academic Scholarship & Music Exhibition Eve Kelleway - Academic & Music Scholarships Nora Østergaard - Music Scholarship Hannah Possener - Music Scholarship Rosemary Stuart-Sheppard - Academic & Music Scholarships Erin Wilcox - Sports Scholarship Royal Hospital School Daisy Clabburn - Academic & Drama Scholarships Senior School awards offered to pupils in Year 6&7

Framinglam College Oliver Ford (Year 6) - Sports Scholarship Norwich School Ella Cunningham (Year 7) - Headmaster’s Award Charlie Hutchinson (Year 6) - Sports Exhibition

All Year 8’s not taking part in external entrance exams did internal trial entrance exams. There are no other formal assessments in the spring term.

Admissions

There is still uncertainty about the exact position for September with a number of pupils we believe to be leaving still to confirm this and others we believe to be joining yet to complete the admissions process.

There looks to be an unusually large Reception next year and this may well need extending to four classes (for which we have space) and Year 3 also looks very healthy, in the year group where we previously had four Year 1 classes. Year 1 looks particularly small. This is the year group where a number who had been in our Nursery left for the new Norwich Junior School Pre Prep when it was announced. This has also left our Year 2 looking small, while Years 4 & 5 are also below target, again in year groups where groups of pupils have previously transferred to Norwich Junior School. Nursery admissions are running below last year, partly because we have had no room in this year’s full cohort to take rising 3s. It is likely that empty places will be filled as next year progresses as we will be able then to take rising 3’s.

Overall, the trend of lower volumes of enquiries, seen since 2016/17 seems to be continuing. However, much better retention than in previous years has allowed overall numbers to remain stable. Currently the figures look as below, though they have yet to settle.

Current New Total Current New Total Boys Boys Boys Girls Girls Girls Total Nursery 0 15 15 0 11 11 26 Reception 24 13 37 15 4 19 56 Year One 22 0 22 17 1 18 40 Year Two 23 1 24 22 0 22 46 27 0 27 29 2 31 58 Year Four 27 0 27 21 1 22 49 Year Five 26 0 26 20 1 21 47 Year Six 29 0 29 23 0 23 52 26 0 26 20 1 21 47 Year Eight 24 0 24 12 0 12 36 TOTAL 228 29 257 179 21 200 457

Staff

The following staff appointments have been made this term:

 Mark Woods – Deputy Head Pastoral (replacing Keith Parker from September – also Acting Deputy DSL since last term undertaking some of Jenny Pritchard’s duties)  Sarah Laing – Acting Deputy Head (undertaking some of Jenny Pritchard’s duties)  Anna Linsmith – Assistant Bursar (new post, starting in June)  Amy Jones – Admissions and Marketing Manager (replacing Keri Ford from April)  Rebecca Alexandre – Acting Deputy DSL (covering during Jenny Pritchard’s absence)  Louise Guymer – Pre Prep TA - started January 2019 (maternity cover for Tanya Slater)  Jackie Robinson – Prep Admin Assistant (replacing Kate Smith who left last term)  Tom Marris – Appointed Head of Grounds from January (replacing James Hermitage)  Thomas Newenham – Appointed to the Grounds Team in March

The following staff have tendered their resignations this term:

 Keith Parker – Retires as Deputy Head in August after 34 years at Town Close  Jenny Pritchard – Retired from Deputy Head Pre Prep role in March  Diane Tanner – Retired from Housekeeper role in March  James Hermitage – Resigned from Head of Grounds role in January  Keri Ford – Resigns from Admissions and Marketing Manager role in April  Diane Hamment – Retires from Bursar’s Secretary and Facilities Administrator in April  Maxine Rushton – Resigns from teacher post in August

Communication of Future Development Plans and Fundraising

Following a recent meeting where school staff, Nicola Ovenden, David Bolton, Alistair Fish, and Sarah Anthony, met an external PR specialist, Clare Haylett, a strategy to communicate planning permission for the new project to parents, press, alumni and other interested parties and to seek fundraising was written. The strategy is as below:

The strategic objective is to communicate the project as soon as possible, with planning permission having been granted in the autumn and being in the public domain. We need to be mindful that the project has already been trailed and promised by the School (in Clare’s words, we are pregnant with it). However, it will only be doable if the school roll stays sufficiently high and there is some support from elsewhere, both factors that may be determined by economic conditions as well as things within the School’s control.

The fund needs to have a name and be launched with confidence. The messaging to parents, other stake-holders and potential donors needs to carefully thought through and the fund needs to have a logo and visual identity, allied to the School’s. The focus is communicating with parents, assuring them that most of the funding is in place and that the School is approaching trusts, charities and other organisations at this stage, looking for additional support. Engagement with parents might be along the lines of encouraging those with contacts who might be able to help to come forward – a softer way of also encouraging any parent who wishes to help to do so.

Once the project is communicated, our Admissions and Marketing office needs to be ready to deal with any enquiries, with information ready to send out, and arrange meetings with the Head or Chair. We will convene a meeting of governors specifically to talk about fundraising and any contacts they might have, agreeing who might be approached by governors or senior staff with the information already drafted. We will also contract a researcher (e.g. Rachel Dawson) to look into organisations who might offer support for a project, completing applications to as many as possible, tailoring the basic information and letter (drafted by Clare) to the specific organisation concerned.

We will assess progress prior to the summer governors’ meeting to consider the progress being made and whether any additional resources might be needed, such as a professional fundraiser, albeit probably with significant cost.

A proposed timeline was set out as below:

March 2019  Engage Clare Haylett to draft communications announcing plans for the project to parents and other stakeholders, including potential donors  Head to meet Nicola Ovenden, governor with responsibility for marketing, to review draft communications and strategic plan  Brief new Admissions and Marketing Manager on Monday 18th March  Present plan to F & GP committee 25th March for feedback and approval

April 2019  Present finalised communications and strategic plan to governing body on April 5th for approval, including a name for the fund and information that can be shared with potential donors  If approved, send communication to parents that day (Friday of the final week of term – with children finishing on Wednesday) and release to local press as advised by Clare Haylett  Brief front office staff and Amy Jones to respond to any enquiries with information that can be sent immediately and appointments made with NB or Chair of Governors

May 2019  Convene special meeting of governors and senior staff to brainstorm contacts they may know, for example trustees of charities or well-disposed alumni potentially in a position to support, and agree on any personal approaches to be made  Engage a researcher on a contracted for services basis, for example Rachel Dawson, to look into potential trusts and organisations to apply to and tailor applications to these organisation, using communication material already produced as a starting point  Any follow-up meetings that come from these contacts to be coordinated by Admissions and Marketing office

June 2019  Headmaster to convene meeting of marketing group plus Chair of Governors to assess reaction to campaign so far and consider issues such as whether to engage fund-raising expertise or to commission other further work  Produce additional communications, for example update to parents, appeal page  Update governors with revised plan for second half of the year for approval

The March actions have all taken place and updated versions of the draft communications already shared with the F&GP will be circulated to all governors in advance of the meeting.

Complaints and Concerns

There have been no formal complaints since the last report. There have been two concerns recorded, both in relation to swimming.

Spring Term events

Prep Department

Year 3, 4 and 8 Parents’ Evenings Storytelling Week – Visiting authors SATIPS National Quiz (selected pupils) F24 Electric Racing Car Club Year 8 Mock CE Exams Year 5, 6, 7 and 8 Interim Reports Year 5 and 6 teams entered for Maths Challenges at Norwich School World Maths Day World Book Day – dress as a character from literature assembly STEM Science Week for Years 1 to 4 Year 5 Artist Day Year 6 Girls’ Puberty Talk Year 6, 7 and 8 Vocab Express Language Challenge Spring Variety Performance House , hockey and cross country

Productions and Concerts:

Year 4 production – Rock Bottom Senior production – Beauty and the Beast Year 4 Soloists Concert Year 3 Class Assemblies County Music Festival Performances – Single Reeds

Outings and Trips:

Year 3 visit Norwich Castle Year 4 visit to Year 4 trip to Norwich Synagogue Year 6 Humanities trip to France

Pre Prep Department

Nursery key person meetings with parents Parents’ Evening for Reception, Year 1 and 2 Pre Prep Spring Activity Morning Storytelling Week World Maths Day World Book Day – dress as a character from literature and author visit Reception trip to Norwich Castle Museum ‘Bear Hunt’ Year 1 Indian Dance Workshop Year 2 visit to the Bridewell Museum Year 2 Choir perform at Norfolk County Music Festival Year 2 Class Assemblies Reception Easter Production Chloe Inkpen author Visit Happy Puzzle Company Day Music Coffee Morning

PTA: Movie Night Easter Activity Morning

Commentary

There have been a number of notable occasions and successes this term. The Senior Production, Beauty and the Beast, was a triumph thanks to the effort of a fabulous cast and large team of staff and volunteers. Year 4’s production Rock Bottom was polished and entertaining, with an amazing amount achieved by comparatively young children. Reception, meanwhile, produced The Hungry Caterpillar, which was an extraordinarily professional effort considering the children are all four or five years old. The spring variety show is set to be one of the biggest ones yet with close to 100 children being involved.

In music, our Year 2 choir was Highly Commended in the Norfolk County Music Festival, while Single Reeds achieved Highly Commended Plus. A number of individuals took part in the Festival too. Each week, Prep pupils listen to one or two musical performances from pupils, which provides a great platform for developing musicians. A highlight this term was Ava Gulliver-Jary’s vocal performance of I Dreamed a Dream in front of the entire school. The Year 4 soloists’ concert showed impressive progression from these young pupils.

World Book Day was a colourful whole-school event enjoyed by all. Storytelling week was celebrated and John Harries came to tell stories to Years 3-7. Years 3 & 4 had a visiting author, Alex Milway. Year 8 went to Norwich High School to hear author Holly Bourne speak about mental health and her latest book. Caroline Lawrence will be speaking to Years 6-8 about her new books on Tuesday. Finally, rehearsals are underway for Year 6’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Our F24 racing club has been busy preparing for the new season with races planned for next term including a new event at Lotus’ track at Hethel, inspired by Mr Buck. Driver training is due to start shortly.

We entered the Vocab Express Global Challenge this term and were third in the world in the Piccolo section for schools with fewer than 150 competitors registered. Children attempted 13 of the 14 languages on offer. In particular Teddy Bowyer was first place in the world for Mandarin and Awaab Raja second for Urdu.

Two Town Close teams took part in the national SATIPS general knowledge quiz. The senior team finished a respectable 10th in the country with Katy Burton and Erin Wilcox winning prizes for being in the top 50 individual entrants. The junior team finished an impressive 4th in the country, our best ever team performance. Contributing to this brilliant result were: Harry Wells, Sophie Millington, Mihir Sangrajkha, William Turner and Edward Brightwell. William and Edward both received individual prizes for being in the top 50, with Edward’s marvellous 4th place finish being the best Town Close individual result ever.

All of Year 5 will visit the Centre for Computing History on Monday. The trip closely links to the Year 5 curriculum in terms of learning to code and learning how computational thinking can then be applied to real world problems.

Last week two pairs of Year 5 and 6 pupils attended the Norfolk Schools Maths Challenge. Our Year 5's performed particularly well with both pairs placing within the top 8. Our highest scoring pair were delighted to receive a mathematical prize for their outstanding performance. This half term we have also hosted World Maths Day. All pupils in Pre Prep and Prep were actively involved in a diverse range of mathematical enrichment activities. Pupils in the Prep were also invited to take part in a World Maths Day Sumdog Challenge. Collectively pupils answered an impressive 42,522 correct questions within a week.

In sport, the school finished third in the whole region at the east Anglian cross-country, one of our highest ever finishes. Cross-country as a whole has seen success at numerous events, for example at Woodbridge and Norwich Lower School. In boys’ hockey, 98 matches have been played from Under 9 to Under 13, including 5 county/national level tournaments. The boys’ U13 team finished 7th in the Nationals, while the U11 boys won the plate competition at the Nationals, having narrowly missed qualifying from their group. In netball, our U11 team were winners of an Hockey twilight tournament at Easton. The U13 netball team qualified for the plate competition at the IAPS nationals, the best we have done for a few years. Every girl in Year 4-8 has represented the School in matches and one third of the Year 3's have too. Two Year 8 girls have been selected to play County Netball (Erin Wilcox and Sophie Bush).

EYFS Report for the Governors – March 2019

EYFS events for the children Since the last Governors’ report, the following events and activities have taken place.

Trips and visits Friday 23rd November 2018 – Reception children went to Norwich Playhouse to see The Snail and the Whale and to Christ Church Eaton to see the Christmas Angels. Friday 18th January - Reception classes visited Norwich Castle museum for ‘bear hunt’ workshops. Thursday 22nd March - Little Acorns (Nursery) went to the Playhouse to see We’re going on a Bear Hunt. Friday 8th February – The Happy Puzzle Company visited and provided workshops for children in Reception to Year 2, which encouraged and developed collaboration, problem solving and thinking skills.

School events Wednesday 5th December 2018 – The Nursery nativity took place in the Pre Prep hall. Thursday 6th December 2018 – Reception Christmas production took place in the Read Hall. Friday 1st March 2019 – Early Years Spring Activity morning was held in Pre Prep, for registered and non-registered children. Tuesday 5th March – Reception children watched Rowan class assembly. Wednesday 6th March – Pre Prep celebrated World maths day, with a range of practical maths activities. Thursday 7th March – World Book Day – the whole school celebrated this day by dressing up and completing book-based activities. Tuesday 12th March – Reception children watched Cherry Class’ assembly. Friday 15th March – Author visit from Chloe Inkpen, who led story tellings and workshops for Nursery and Reception children, as well as book purchases and signings. Tuesday 26th March – Reception children enjoyed Silver Birch class assembly.

Training 7th December 2018 - First Aid – two of our TAs (one Reception TA and one ASC and cover TA) updated their Paediatric First Aid training. 5th/6th December 2018 – Rebecca Alexander undertook DSL training in order to become one of our Acting Deputy DSLs. 21st January 2019 – Sarah Laing undertook the Educational Visits Coordinator training 7th/8th March – Melanie Harries attended the Pre Prep Heads’ Conference

Parental information events Key people meetings for Nursery parents – 25th/27th March and 1st/2nd April. Each key person and Mrs Hampsheir met with their key colour groups. Parents’ evening for Reception parents (to Year 2) took place on Thursday 28th March.