Dear Parents and Carers,
Unbelievably, we have already reached Spring half term and what a half term it’s been!
Last weekend, the Youth Speaks teams went to Barnstaple for the semi-finals of the competition. It was a very tense and nail biting morning, but the children all did brilliantly well, demonstrating such courage and confidence that we couldn’t fail but be very proud of every one of them. Sadly, we didn’t get through to the finals in Bodmin but the children were an absolute credit to the school and to Mr McCutcheon and Mrs Davey and parents who supported them.
I have been delighted to welcome two of our Governors to school in the last week. Rev’d Kevin Chandra spent a morning with me looking at books, talking to children and observing lessons. We were very impressed with how well the children were able to articulate their knowledge and their understanding of what they are learning and I was incredibly proud of the creative, nurturing and dedicated support that was evident from staff in every classroom.
Mrs Brooker is our Safeguarding Governor and she was very thorough in her investigations into how we are ensuring the well being of all our cohort. Her visit came in the same week as our External Safeguarding Audit which looked in great depth into all our safeguarding procedures including attendance. Visits such as these, ensure that our reports and actions are appropriate, our site secure and staff and children have an understanding of what staying safe looks like.
Mrs Brooker and Rev’d Chandra, also attended our LSC meeting where I reported on the progress made in our School Improvement Plan and which gave me the opportunity to explain the main items that I would like to focus our efforts on.
I have run a second attendance monitoring and am delighted that persistent absenteeism (anyone under 95%)has reduced by almost half. This is very encouraging and will make a very positive impact on the children’s learning and attainment. Thank you for being so understanding of the importance of this.
As you are aware, we have had a full time SEND Teaching Assistant position advertised since September and have not been able to recruit. We have now decided to channel the funds that were available for that role, into a Fixed Term teacher role. This will give us the opportunity to have an additional fully qualified teacher on the staff team to support SEND needs across the school. Interviews will take place on 22nd February.
Many thanks to parents who have come forward as volunteers for clubs, reading, trips and other activities. If you would be interested in volunteering in school, we still need a few more, please do ask in the Office for a volunteer form or look on our website https://alumnismat.org/download/volunteering-application-form/. We still require reading support in school and will need Lifeguards (with specific training) for the pool once that is being used again.
I am delighted that Primary Sports providers will be coming into school on a Tuesday to enthuse our children with a variety of sports including a lunch time Orienteering Club and an after school Club. The After School Club will be parent paid directly to them and will be for KS2 in the first instance, I just need to firm up what sport they will be providing for the club and will let you know as soon as possible.
After half term, I will be adding posts to our Facebook Page which has been out of use for some time. Marlene has been double checking all the photo consents for me and there are a few anomalies. If you have changed your thoughts on allowing or not allowing your child’s pictures to be used on social media or on our website for marketing purposes, please do let Emma or Marlene know. Once our Facebook page is up and running again, please do share our news – it is always good to show off what our children have been so successful in.
Finally, I would like to invite you to a Parent Power day on Saturday 25th from 9.30am – 1.30pm to help us revive some of the parts of the grounds that need a little resuscitation. Jobs will include:
Clearing leaves, rebuilding the greenhouse and the fruit cage, cleaning up the Minion and Basketball hoops, cutting back some of the overhanging branches from trees over the playground, rebuilding the raised beds and securing the posts in the outdoor classroom to name but a few! You will be amply rewarded with cups of tea and coffee and bacon baps. If you are able to come along and help – even if it isn’t for the whole morning, please do let me know.
I wish you all a very happy and relaxing half term break.
Best wishes,
Lully Newman
Head Teacher
Bampton 10.2.23 Newsletter
