Blandford St Mary Primary School Newsletter Headteacher: Mr Paul Lavis Deputy Headteacher (on secondment): Mrs Lauren Houlston
March 2012 Volume 4, Issue 18
Contents:
Dear Parents
Book Day
2
Wellington Boots
2
School Nurse Drop In
2
Dogs
2
Lost Property
2
Bake Sale
3
Hello All! The sun is shining! What’s going on? Is it spring or is it false promise? Who knows?
Anyway, I trust this newsletter finds you well and that life is good for you at the Parent Carer Council Event 3 minute. Vacancy
3
Local Vacancy
4 I’m going to take the opportunity over
Celebration Assembly Dates 9th March - Year 4
16th March - Year 3
23rd March - Enterprise whole school
30th March - Year 2
Keeping You Informed the next few newsletters to share some information with you all about various aspects of school life and the goings-on behind the scenes of Blandford St Mary Primary School that you might not always get to hear about. In the latest parents survey a small percentage of those who responded suggested that we didn’t keep parents informed enough about school—so this is an effort to put that right. Progress At School For those of you who attended our Parent’s Workshop in the Autumn Term or indeed anyone who has spent time discussing their child’s learning in school—you will remember the emphasis that we put on ‘next steps’ and children working towards targets set for them. These targets are set in what’s called: The
Zone of Proximal Development!
Look at the triangle below—the tip of the triangle is where we want the children to go—the base of the triangle is your child’s existing knowledge and skill. If we keep moving our children into the tip of the triangle then they will make excellent progress.
This requires an attitude that accepts that learning is a challenge though and we are working on developing the mindsets of our children so that they are always ready for this challenge. I’m pleased to report that 100% of the parents who answered the most recent survey said that they agreed (or strongly agreed) that their children were making such progress at our school. Teaching & Learning The figures mentioned above also complement the results of the part of the survey relating to the quality of teaching at school. 100% of parents who answered the survey either agreed (or strongly agreed) that their children are taught well at Blandford St Mary Primary School. We agree—over the past 2 years here, the vast majority of lessons we have observed have been adjudged ‘good’ or better. I look forward to sharing more information over the coming months.