Last Day

Just a reminder that we finish at 2pm tomorrow.
Have a wonderful summer holiday.
We return to school on Thursday 5th September.

Last Week

                                               

The children will meet their new teacher today.

Tuesday 23rd July will be the Year 6 leavers assembly at 11am.

We will break up for the summer on Wednesday 24th at 2pm.

BBQ

Street Dance Demo for Year 4 and 5

Year 1- Seaside Day

Important Dates!

This Friday is the Summer BBQ- Don't forget to buy your tickets!

The children will meet their new teacher on Monday 22nd July am.

Tuesday 23rd July will be the Year 6 leavers assembly at 11am.

We will break up for the summer on Wednesday 24th at 2pm.

Year 6 - Leavers Celebration

Year 6 Bikeability- Day One!

Leeds Castle WOW Presentation

Two children from Milky Way Class, went with Mrs Green to Leeds Castle, to receive an award for being the Summer Challenge Day Winners for the Gravesham District.

Horton Kirby Trip - Year 5

Coming Soon- Summer BBQ

19th July- Dress down day-bring in either a bottle or some chocolate for the BBQ stalls.

Don't forget to get your tickets!

Summer reading challenge at your local library.

Creepy House: Summer Reading Challenge 2013

The Summer Reading Challenge, aimed at children aged 4-11 years, inspires children to read in the long summer break when their reading skills can decline without the regular reading activity at school. Research shows that taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge can contribute towards preventing the 'summer holiday dip' in reading motivation and attainment.

Children can join at any Kent Library from 13 July to 14 September - it's FREE!

This year's theme is Creepy House (steering clear of ‘dark’ ghostly paranormal/Halloween connotations!). A whodunit mystery to solve in a creepy house. A gang of young detectives investigate clues and follow a trail through 3 different zones: the dusty secret passage, the batty attic, and the chills that lie in store in the cellar. Children read 6 books on this scary reading journey and they will get stickers and a fantastic medal and certificate. Children really do treasure the medals and they can be given out at special awards events in libraries, schools or other venues.

Athletics Competition- Year 5 and 6

Gravesham Inter-School Competition

Parents' Questionnaire Response

Parents’ Questionnaire Response

Dear Parents,

Following the parents’ questionnaires, which were returned this term, I am very happy to say that the majority of responses were both encouraging and full of praise for the school, recognising all the hard work that is put in. Obviously there were a number of areas where we wish to improve and I have summarised these in this letter. It is not possible to answer each individual questionnaire but this addresses the main issues raised by the responses.

The main areas were:

A.         The school deals effectively with unacceptable behaviour

As teachers, we understand how it can appear to some children that when others are very badly behaved they get a lot of attention and do appear to be getting away with things that they themselves would never ever do. It is an important job of all professionals in this school to ensure that every child feels valued and is encouraged to do their best regardless of ability, background and behaviour. We are teaching a wide range of personalities and some children need a little more educating about ways to behave than others. This is carried out in a number of ways, but our behaviour policy has rewards and sanctions, which ensures that, in the main, everyone is treated equally. There are some occasions where children need Educational Behaviour Plans. These dictate to the staff how these children should be managed and encouraged to behave positively. I will be looking at giving additional training for the Mid-day Supervision staff working along side Craig Stone, our Learning Mentor, in September.

B.        Some parents commented that they did not feel that they were well informed about how well their children were doing in school.


We currently fulfill statutory requirements in the information given to you. Schools are requested to meet with parents and to produce a written report at the end of 
the year. We have Parents’ Meetings in September and also in the Spring Term. Reports are given out in the Summer Term. I have plans to develop a system which will give you “mini-reports” at the end of 
the Autumn Term, hopefully just before the Christmas holiday. It is hoped that this will begin next academic year. It must also be noted that teachers are always available to discuss your child's progress after school if you feel you need more information.

C.        Further to some comments on improving communication between the school and parents.

At present we do use the text service, the school blog and school website, newsletters are sent home once a term, curriculum letters from your class teacher once a term and Parent Forums were also offered but due to poor attendance they were phased out and I am looking at re-introducing these meetings, probably in the morning once children have been dropped off, to try to encourage more participation. We have recently introduced suggestion boxes for the children and the parents too. If there are any other ideas you may have, please use the link office@wrotham-road.kent.sch.uk

D.        In response to developing additional strategies for parents to use at home to support their child’s learning.

A new Learning Platform for Maths has been purchased to support home learning and will be implemented in September. Miss Robson will inform you of the new purchase soon.

E.         In relation to being comfortable about approaching the school.

In September there will be a restructure of teaching roles and responsibilities, and new staff will also be joining the school. This is an area I am keen to improve and therefore it will be something that I will be adding to the School Improvement Plan and implemented in both Key Stages 1 and 2.

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who returned the questionnaire. As you can see it has been very useful to me. I hope this document answers the main issues, but please note; we are addressing many other concerns raised within the responses.

In September I will be taking on the role of Acting Headteacher while the Governors run the process for appointing a new Headteacher. I will be implementing most of the above in September ready to be fully embedded and developed further once that appointment has been made.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah Green