News

Your views matter... 4

This is the fourth in a series of news articles about your views, as expressed in the end-of-year annual reports, the annual reports and (article five) in person to me. The content of this page comes from the Newsletter we sent home earlier this page, along with a few additional points.

Thanks to all of you who returned a survey before the holiday. We received 82 responses this year (a lot more than last year – thanks). Of those who agreed or disagreed, here is the summary of the responses:

Obviously, we’re delighted that so many people who expressed an opinion were so positive – that‘s wonderful news. Thank you for your continued support – it’s this level of enthusiasm for the school that makes Moortown such a happy and healthy place to be.

There was quite a high level of ‘unsure’ responses (not included in the data above). On average across the statements, 7.5% were ‘unsure’.

This is particularly the case for the statement about bullying, where 21 respondents were unsure. However, as one parent notes (and many others commented in a similar way): “selected ‘unsure’…because we’ve had no experience of this”.

Nine respondents were also unsure about supporting their child at home and knowing how well their child is doing. As a result, we’ve planned more learning workshops and we’re repeating the open morning initiative, where you can actually observe the teaching and learning taking place. Parents last year said they found this helpful. (Don’t forget: every Class Newsletter features suggestions to help at home, too – these practical suggestions will engage your child in active, relevant learning!) This year, we’re going to have two of these. We’re also introducing a termly ‘traffic light’ system to let you know how your child is doing – you’ll receive the first at parents’ evening. Because of this response, and because of one parent’s suggestion (see Your Views Matter… 5), we’re also about to subscribe to Mathletics which we hope will enable you to support your child quite easily at home.

There were also nine more of you who were unsure around how well we develop children’s child’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills. rather like bullying, we think this has a lot to do with not communicating enough about this important aspect of school life. Over the course of the year, we do feature homework which specifically relates to elements of spiritual, moral, social and cultural  development – look out for these. We also plan, later in the year, to develop a page on the website which explains more.

Your views do matter. I hope you can see that we do listen and we do respond as much as we can. In the next news article, read about how we listen to individual parent concerns and questions, too.

Your views matter... 3

In the previous two news posts, I’ve presented a summary of the end-of-year annual reports and your responses on the subject of behaviour and our ‘warnings’ system. Your views on homework were far more mixed…

The creative homework is good, rather than too much learning by rote.

We feel there’s too much creative homework and we would be in favour of more talk time and practice makes perfect.

On the whole my children enjoy homework (especially creative)…

I am happy with the practice and talk-time homework but feel the creative homework should be reduced.

As you can see from the quotes above, your views vary considerably, even about just one aspect of homework. Of those who put forward a particular opinion, around a quarter were completely positive; a third had mixed views, usually positive but with some suggestions for improvements; and just under a half wanted our homework policy to change in some way. You might think this presents a clear case for the need to revise the policy, but the problem is that the suggestions put forward differed quite a lot. Two broad areas of agreement are:

• many wanted to see the amount of homework increase in Year 5 and Year 6 – this is something we’ve already put in place
• quite a few of you wanted the homework to be more structured / less open-ended / more Practice Makes Perfect – this is something we will look into, perhaps through a subscription to software to enable more practice of skills at home

Look out for two more news articles about your views…

Research findings

Did you take part in the Leeds Beckett University packed lunch parent survey?  Today the findings are published, revealing parents’ choices in providing children’s packed lunches.

Your views matter... 2

I’ve already described how we listen to your responses to the end-of-year annual reports. In this and the following two news articles, I’ll talk through the findings of the annual surveys. Here, I’ll describe the feedback we received on the subject of behaviour and our ‘warnings’ system.

One respondent pondered why we were asking this, and wondered whether it was because warnings and our policy overall wasn’t working. Not the case! We have a Relationships Management Policy (other schools might call this a Behaviour Management or Discipline Policy, but we place relationships at the heart of what we do) and it works really well, including the warnings system. We actually asked the question because we always want to review what we do – a chance to step back and reflect on whether we can do even better – as part of a continual cycle of self-evaluation. (It was also prompted by some remarks by the then Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, who suggested last year that schools return to using lines as a form of discipline – more on that below…)

Another parent wondered whether we should have positive consequences, too – we do! Each classroom teacher has their own system(s) in place. In Year 3, for example, Mrs Keatings rewards teamwork as well as individual effort, using team points and stars respectively. In Year 6, Mr Owen favours ‘golden tickets’ whilst Mr Wilks is partial to ‘fuzzies'(!). And don’t forget we have our weekly certificate assembly, where teachers acknowledge especially impressive learning and SEAL skills, as well as the coveted Cool Class Cup, awarded to the class whose individual pupils have earned the most Cool Class tokens.

Unlike the question on homework (more about that in a later news article), your views on our behaviour systems were almost all very, very positive: the vast majority of you supported the warnings system as a way to manage bad choices in school and most of you did not want any changes made, whether this involved lines or some other consequence. Many of you were adamant that we should not allow writing to be seen as a punishment, and a sizeable minority took the opportunity to criticise the views of Mr Gove – a ‘dinosaur’ with little expertise in the area of education sums up a significant number of your comments. Whilst I don’t wish to comment directly on Mr Gove’s ideology, or that of any Secretary of State for Education, I am pleased that you do support what we do around relationships and behaviour.

(Incidentally, one parent did say that they had reinforced the five warnings consequence that his/her child had received at school by issuing lines at home. First, it’s really encouraging to know that home treats poor behaviour choices as seriously as school does, and that we will be supported in this way; second, it was great to also read that the mix of consequences at both school and home worked; and third, it shows that a sort of mixture of traditional and modern strategies can work, as long as the overall message about behaviour choices being good/bad is consistent and clear for the child.)

Thank you for your views. Some specific points – like two requests to know more about the consequences at each stage of the warnings system – can be acted on really easily. All the comments will be passed to the Pupil Support sub-committee of the Governing Body for further consideration.

Look out for more news about your views…

Your views matter... 1

Towards the end of the school year, you’ll have received your child’s annual school report.

Just after receiving the report, parents / carers have a third scheduled parents’ evening to discuss its contents. One of the Year 1 teachers (Mrs Taylor) attends this, too, so the transition to Year 1 can be as smooth as possible – it’s a good time to reflect on the year and to ask questions and raise any concerns as the Reception children move up school.  Many of you who have a child in an older class also met with your child’s teacher (either the current or next one) to discuss the report, although this was done on a more casual basis in that you were encouraged to arrange a meeting if you wanted one.

We also asked you to complete a brief response about the report and the school year: what went well, what we could have done better and what questions / comments / concerns (if any) you have for the next year.

Well, we’re in ‘the next year’ now and I have passed the small number of points you raised (typically two or three in each class) to your child’s new teacher.  They have begun to act on the points you noted, and will respond directly to some of them at parents’ evenings (Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 October).  As always, if you’d like to talk sooner, please call in before or after school – teachers are usually available for a short chat (although longer discussions are best left to a pre-arranged meeting).

Incidentally, there were very few points to improve on (just two or three in the entire school), and lots of praise in the report responses.  Teachers have asked me to pass on their thanks for your very positive and appreciative comments.

Look out for some more responses to your end-of-year feedback (the annual surveys) over the next day or two!

We have a new Chair of Governors

Over the summer holiday, Mrs Janice Rush stood down from her role as Chair of our Governing Body.

Mrs Rush became Chair at the same time as I started at Moortown: in the autumn term of 2007-2008 school year.  Having put in seven years as Chair (and some time on our governing body before that), we will miss her a great deal and are extremely grateful for all her efforts.  She has worked tirelessley and tenaciously to help the school move from ‘good’ to the outstanding school we are today.  She provided the right balance of support and challenge to me and to a governing body which has become even more integral to our school and the processes we have in place.  In recent months, she was especially proactive in attempting to secure the best possible outcome for the field, and for this we are also grateful.

Mrs Becky Lawrence, our former Vice-Chair, has been voted in as the new Chair to replace Mrs Rush.  Currently on maternity leave, Mrs Lawrence works for Children’s Services and brings a wealth of experience and skills, especially statistical expertise.

Mrs Rachel Greenhalgh, mother of Y3 and Y1 children, is our new Vice-Chair.  Like Mrs Lawrence, Mrs Greenhalgh has a great deal of useful skills, with a particular passion around the teaching and learning of Maths.

Smile for miles on the St Gemma's sponsored walk

One of our chosen school charities, St Gemma’s Hospice, is holding their first ever Happy Walk on Saturday 20 September. This is a good opportunity to support our school charity but also to take part in a great morning with your family while walking 3.5 or 5.5 miles around Roundhay Park. The event starts at 10am.

We’ll be co-ordinating registration for the event and registration forms are available now from the office.

Entrance for this event is £5 (children under 12 walk free) and each walker will get a free hot drink and cake. All participants are asked to raise sponsorship money. It is also a pram and wheelchair friendly route so the whole family really can get involved.

There will be an activity pack that children can take with them on the walk where they can look out for wildlife and take some tree rubbings. Before the walk starts there will also be a face painter, a chance to meet Olaf from Frozen, and time to make your own Happy Loom band to wear and keep.

St Gemma’s are also encouraging all walkers to wear what makes them Happy on the walk – whether that’s a silly hat, fluffy socks or a brightly coloured t-shirt.

We hope you are able to join in with the St Gemma’s Happy Walk.

KS2 fruit tuck shop

The KS2 fruit tuck shop returns next Tuesday 16 September with prices remaining at 20p per item.  Open to Years 3 – 6, children can come to the tuck shop at playtime to purchase items from a selection of fresh and dried fruits.  There is an option to pre-pay so your child doesn’t have to remember to bring money to school.  As an extra incentive, you get one week free if you pre-pay for this term.  Please return the letter to the office or ask in the office for more information.  The Year 5 class will be receiving their training this week to run the tuck shop and look forward to lots of new and regular customers next Tuesday.

Teaching as a career

Are you thinking about becoming a teacher?

Know someone who is considering a career in teaching?

Are you (or someone you know) looking for a work-based route into primary teaching? If so, School Direct may be what you are looking for. Come and find out more at an information evening for the Leeds Bradford School Direct (LBSD), held at:

• Pudsey Primrose Hill, Leeds (LS286AB) , on Tuesday 07 October from 6pm – 7.30pm
• Westbourne Primary School, Bradford (BD8 7PL) on Thursday 09 October from 4pm – 6pm.

Please confirm your attendance by ringing the school office on:

• 0113 257 4129 (Pudsey Primrose Hill)
•  01274 483138 (Westbourne Primary School)

Need help with packed lunches?

Aldi have teamed up with change4life to create a new app with lots of ideas for lunchboxes.