Learning Walk Focusing on Inclusion

Last week I did a learning walk with Mrs Comer and Mrs Jessop. We visited each classroom for a short time, giving us a snapshot of the learning throughout the school. Our focus was ‘Inclusion’ in its broadest sense; making sure that all pupils are participating fully in the learning.

For example, we looked at whether the work was suitably challenging for all pupils, whether there were props to promote learning through doing, and even whether the physical layout of the classroom meant that all children could take part in the lesson.

I was very impressed with what I saw: there was a really positive attitude to learning throughout the school. The children were all working hard, but having fun and working really well together. The children were also incredibly polite and articulate, confidently telling me about their lessons.

Thank you to the teachers and pupils for making me so welcome, and sharing their lessons with me.

 

Alison Wilkinson

 

Pupil Survey - what do the pupils really think????

The school governors are always interested in finding out what the pupils think. We want to try and make our school even better and more enjoyable. Last week Mrs Comer, Mrs Wall and Ms Edwards met with 3 pupils from each year to find out what they like or dislike about their school. They were very helpful and informative. They not only told us whether they enjoyed school and learning but also told us why! We discovered that School trips are helpful to learning as well as enjoyable. Some pupils like a practical task to help fix things in their minds. Making a model of the digestive system can help you remember the word Oesophagus! Older students like to work to targets and goals. Small group learning is popular but sometimes, the year sixes said, you just have to work alone and focus. We got a lot of information from the thoughtful responses of our pupils which gave us ideas for future lessons and activities. Thank you to you all. My best response was the pupil who said he enjoyed school and learning because we are the best school in the world with the best teachers in the world!

Full Governing Body Meeting - 10th November 2014

On Monday 10th November we held our second Full Governing Body Meeting of the term.

I am delighted to welcome two new Foundation Governors to our team:

Mike Tonge is a local Water End resident whose teenage daughter used to attend the school
Carli Wall is a current parent with two young children at the school

I am really looking forward to working with Mike and Carli.

The Agenda for the meeting was very full and varied.

We received the termly update report from the Headteacher focusing on the School's progress in the Ofsted areas of Pupil Achievement, Teaching & Learning, Behaviour & Safeguarding and Leadership & Management. This is a very detailed report (called a School Self Evaluation) which looks at where the school is currently, and what are the next steps for making further improvements. The Governing Body asks many questions about the report, and Mrs Comer always answers with great honesty and clarity.

Other agenda items included:
-reports from the Sub Committees (Curriculum & Standards and Finance, Personnel & Premises);
-approval of policies (including Admissions and Behaviour)
-discussion about potential future projects to improve the school buildings and playground

The Governing Body meetings are an important part of our work, but Governors also support the school on a more regular basis. The purple Governors' Book records all of our visits to the school, and it is very satisfying that in the Autumn Term so far there have been many contributions from all Governors including accompanying children on school trips, running after-school clubs, attending Local Authority training sessions, carrying out small maintenance projects on the building and doing 'learning walks' in the school.

Alison Wilkinson
Chair of Governors

Remembrance Day Service

The Parish News article for November featured a wonderful poem about Remembrance written by Oscar in Year 6.

The Service of Remembrance at our Parish Church of St John the Baptist was led by Gill Moore, who chose to finish her address to the congregation by reading Oscar's poem. It was very moving to listen to the poem, and I was delighted that one of our pupils was able to contribute directly to the life of the Church in this way.

We hold Collective Worship in the Church every Friday morning. It is wonderful to see that the children enjoy being in the Church and clearly feel that it is an important part of their week. Family members are also very welcome to attend this Collective Worship.

 

 

Alison Wilkinson

Chair of Governors

Parish News November 2014

The School Council plays an important role in our school : six children of different ages who meet weekly to discuss issues of importance to the pupils. The School Council recently visited the Houses of Parliament to see how democracy works on a national level. We were then delighted to welcome local MP Mike Penning to the school to tell us about his life as an MP and to answer questions.  The children’s questions were equally as challenging as those from the floor of the House. For example:

-          How do you raise money to keep the Houses of Parliament running?

-          As an MP, how do you feel about troops being sent to War?

We hope that these types of experience will encourage our children to be ‘confident, respectful and successful citizens of the future’.

 

Recently five of our children attended an ‘Able Maths Day’ at George Street School, using Art to inspire the budding mathematicians. Tasks included working out how many assistants Damien Hirst would need to make Spot paintings of various sizes and making Anthony Gormley figurines from plasticine and estimating how many would be needed to fill the school hall (252,000!!!). Certainly a different approach to mathematics with plenty of practical activities. Children will also be attending an ‘Able Writers Day’. These events are an excellent way of enriching the curriculum and giving children the opportunity to work with pupils from other local schools.

 

On National Poetry Day children throughout the school wrote their own poems. There are some beautiful examples of their poems on our website. Year 5&6 wrote poems inspired by the First World War and I would like to share a poem written by Oscar in Year 6:

 

The trenches are dirty

The trenches are wet

The trenches are our homes

Covering our silhouette.

 

Violets are blue

Poppies are red –

Representing the blood

that we shed;

 

We wear our poppies

with love and respect

We will never forget

We must never forget.

 

Leaving our families

Holding hands with our future;

Bravely marching, we the British warriors

We will never forget

We must never forget.

 

The oceans of poppies,

Blood and sweat

We must never forget

 

Please don't forget.

 

 

Alison Wilkinson

Chair of Governors

Parish News October 2014

Great Gaddesden CoE (VA) School

The new school year has arrived! We welcome twenty new children to the school, primarily in Nursery and Reception, and hope that they will all be very happy in our village school. We also welcome Mrs Jessop as our Senior Teacher in the Year 3&4 classroom. There is a real buzz of excitement in the classroom and on the playground.

War Horse

The year started with a bang for children in Years 5&6 as they headed into London by train to see the acclaimed play ‘War Horse’. The trip supports the literacy work in the classroom, but is also consistent with our ambition to provide the children with inspiring experiences beyond the curriculum.

‘War Horse is an amazing show directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris; it stars Jack Loxton as Albert. It is based on the book written by Michael Morpurgo.

It is about Joey, the horse, and his magnificent journey through World War 1. You meet many different characters along the way: funny ones, weak ones, evil ones, serious ones, strong ones and all sorts of ones!’ By Henry (Year 6)

‘The storyline was about a horse; he was born and trained to be a racehorse, but after a farmer bought him, he became a farm horse, and learnt to plough the field. He was sold to the war for £100 and everyone on the farm was upset. Joey, the horse, got to experience both sides of the war.’ By Callum (Year 6)

‘Albert and Joey are the main characters. The horses moved slowly and carefully and all of the actors had good facial expressions and acted really well.‘ By Dylan (Year 5)

‘Joey and Albert build a friendship that can’t be broken by anything. They are special because they have a bigger bond than anyone else in the story.’ By Oscar (Year 6)

 ‘War Horse at the New London Theatre was brilliant! It’s full of humour, sadness and show stopping moments.’ By Kayleigh  (Year 6)

As a school, we were also delighted to receive the following message from a member of the public:

 

'I am sitting on a train with a dozen or so of your pupils and three of your staff en route to London.

This is just to say what an absolute pleasure it is to see such bright, cheerful and interested boys and girls, in full flow, yet with manners and due deference to their surroundings and others.

They are all a great credit to your school, and I hope they all go on to great things.’

New Curriculum

The staff have been working hard to make sure that the School is ready for the new, more challenging national curriculum. Our small staff numbers and mixed-age classes mean that each teacher is responsible for leading several curriculum areas and for planning the curriculum on a two-year-rolling basis. The plans look very exciting and inspiring: we hope that the children are inspired to love learning.

Clubs

Finally, I would like to mention the range of extra-curricular clubs that are on offer this term: Art, Cooking, Coding, Dance, Science, Gardening, Maths, Football and Knitting. This is quite a remarkable offering for such a small school. Our daily Breakfast Club is also very popular. We are extremely lucky to have such a dedicated staff who want to offer opportunities above and beyond the set curriculum.

 

Alison Wilkinson

Chair of Governors

Maths Day

Five of our able mathematicians attended a special maths inspiration day at George Street School today. It was a great experience to work with children from other schools, exploring maths through art.

 

We looked at Damien Hirst’s Spot paintings to investigate square numbers and factors, and to estimate how long it would take to do a real spot painting. Did you know that Damien Hirst uses assistants to do the actual paintings? Or that every spot is a slightly different colour? Our group created their own Spot design

 

 

 

Then the work of artist Carl Andre was used to inspire us to work with Dominoes to create 3 dimensional shapes.

 

 

 

Finally, the sculptures of Anthony Gormley were used to investigate weight, density and volume. Everyone made a small plasticene figure and then we had to think carefully about how to estimate how many of our tiny figures would be needed to fill the hall at George Street School. Our estimate was that 252,000 figures (or a quarter of a million!) would be needed.

 

 

 

We also learnt about the Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco who made a ball of plasticine the same weight as his own body weight and then rolled it through the streets of New York to symbolize the impact that everyday life has on us. Can you guess how big a ball of plasticine is needed the weigh the same as a grown man? Tennis ball sized? Football sized? Spacehopper sized?

 

If you want to know the answer then please ask Callum, Dylan, Max, Ollie or Willow!

 

Andrzej Gaudyn and I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying the children on their Maths day.

 

Alison Wilkinson