Turner Road Tel: 023 9282 6514 Portsmouth [email protected] Hampshire www.arkdickensprimary.org PO1 4PN

8th January 2016

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am absolutely delighted to be writing to you as the Interim Headteacher of Ark Dickens Primary Academy. I am very grateful for the welcome I have had from the staff, the children and the parents I have so far been able to meet. The children have been delightful and most are rightly very proud of their school. I am looking forward to getting to know them all much better over the coming weeks as I am getting to know yourselves as parents, hearing what you have to say and asking your views on the improvements you would like to see at our school.

I thought in this my first letter to you, I would introduce myself to you properly, give you a little bit of my background and experience in education as well as sharing with you the things we need to do, quite quickly, in order to further improve our school.

I have worked in education since 1981, beginning my teaching career in Worthing. Between 1981 and 1993 I was a full-time teacher who taught children aged between 5 and 13 years in two schools in the Worthing area, which was also my home. In 1994 I became Deputy Headteacher at Barnham Primary School and was appointed to my first headship in 2000. Since that time I have worked as a senior school improvement officer in Hampshire, worked as an Independent Education Consultant, worked for a central government curriculum development agency and been an Executive Headteacher on two occasions. For the last 5 years I have been Headteacher at St Jude’s CE Primary, just across the city, also a two form entry Primary School.

Throughout my career thus far, the most important thing that I have tried to do is make a difference to the children in my care and to help others to do the same. Here at Ark Dickens, my aim will be just that; to make such a difference to the lives of each of the children that as they grow and develop as young people they will have as many choices open to them as possible. When I met the children on Wednesday I told them very clearly that I had four things I wanted them to do for me. I am sharing them with you so that you can encourage them at home whenever discussion about school arises.

1) Work really hard: This links directly with our value of EFFORT

2) Be kind to each other: Fitting with our value of RESPECT

3) If you are going to say you can’t do something, you have to say “I can’t” about something in school (e.g. reading, writing, speaking a foreign language) then you have to change it to say

“I can’t do that YET”. This fits with our value of RESILIENCE.

4) Help each other and support each other, fitting with our value of CHALLENGE. If we are there to support each other, even the toughest challenge is achievable. Turner Road Tel: 023 9282 6514 Portsmouth [email protected] Hampshire www.arkdickensprimary.org PO1 4PN

Contd/……. 2

I know there is a great deal to do here and there will be a need to make some changes quite quickly to the way things work. Please be assured I will keep you informed of all of these as the days progress and that I look forward to working with you over the coming few months.

With very best wishes

Joy Waelend

Interim Headteacher