Headteacher's Update 27th February

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back! I hope you and your families have had a restful and enjoyable break. It has been a real pleasure to see the children returning to school with such enthusiasm, energy, and readiness to learn. There is always something special about the start of a new term - a fresh chapter ready to be filled with opportunity and continued growth.

What I have loved most about this week is popping in to see the children in their classrooms calm and settled, fully engaged in their learning. There has been a gorgeous, purposeful atmosphere across the school. It has been a pleasure to see such consistency in routines and expectations.

Our staff training continues to build momentum around our writing developments, expertly led by Miss Davies and Mr. Gaston-Nash. Teachers have taken part in high-quality professional development focused on a new approach that we are now working towards implementing consistently across the school. Teaching assistants will be receiving the same next week. There has been a genuine buzz amongst staff, with colleagues visiting one another’s classrooms to observe practice and draw on the expertise we have within our own team. This collaborative approach reflects our shared commitment to continual improvement and to ensuring that we give our very best to every child.

Alongside this, we have tightened our expectations for presentation across the school, and all children are now familiar (or should be!) with the language of ‘The 4 Ps’ - Posture, Pencil Grip, Paper and Pressure - to support neat, legible and joined handwriting. We are hoping to see greater consistency and pride in written work with consistency amongst the whole school. There has been real excitement from the children about the impending change in the pens we will be using for handwriting. Why not start a conversation with your child about The 4 Ps at home? They should certainly be able to tell you all about it!

Because we know that many of our children use Roblox, we want to ensure that parents feel well informed and confident in the decisions they are making about their child’s online activity. In our previous newsletter, we shared guidance to help you navigate the platform and understand the parental controls available. As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting you in this ever-evolving digital world, we feel it is important to share further information about potential risks. Reports have highlighted that, alongside age-appropriate games, there is also content on the platform that is not suitable for children, including games that reference highly inappropriate themes and others that may appear innocent in title but contain concerning material. In addition, as with many online platforms, there is the possibility of children being contacted by unknown adults through chat functions or being encouraged to engage through in-game rewards.

As always, decisions about online access remain with you as parents and carers. If you feel confident in the parental controls and boundaries you have in place, you may simply wish to continue as you are. However, if you would like to be as informed as possible about the platform and wider concerns that have been raised, you may find the following article helpful (please note this article contains some hard hitting facts):
https://www.thetimes.com/article/0e1b793b-4528-4be0-8ab8-dbf3bc049f5b?shareToken=15e57d8c0095f5c018d9644752f0ed95

Yesterday saw our dance group take to the stage at the Feet First Festival at the prestigious Cheltenham Town Hall. The whole school had the privilege of watching the performance in assembly on Tuesday, and we were absolutely blown away by what the group and Miss Pearson had choreographed. This non-competitive festival is just the most wonderful experience for our children. We couldn’t be prouder - they truly stepped up to the challenge, smiling all the way through! A huge thanks to Miss Pearson for making it all happen, along with Mrs. Thompson and Mr. Holdaway for attending the event too.

And finally, that just leaves me to say - have the most wonderful weekend when it comes!

Warmest Regards,

Mrs. Beccy Andrews