19 Oct 2007 - Newsletter - Autumn (1) 2007

It has been a very busy start to the academic year, with this half-term going very quickly, and it was lovely to see so many parents and governors in attendance at the Open Day and Parents Evening this last week. 

Pupils from all classes have accessed a range of opportunities this term.  We have had our first and second set of ACORN Days, where the pupils have been developing new skills. Initial feedback from parents and pupils has been overall very positive about these as a learning experience.  Beech Class visited Goodrich Castle as part of their study unit that they have been focusing on this term.  Oak Class have been on a trek in the Brecon Beacons, Geo-caching and have been involved in a sports cluster afternoon at                 St. Weonards. Year 4 & 5 pupils have had their Cycling Skills training, whilst year 6 have visited Crucial Crew in Bosbury.

At the beginning of October we   welcomed the Herefordshire School Improvement Service who conducted a systematic review of the school, which lasted a full day. This review involved 1 local authority inspector and 2 advisors who conducted: lesson observations of all our teaching staff; interviews with pupils about their learning opportunities and a scrutiny of pupils work. They were pleased with the progress that the school continues to make and this provides us with additional evidence of an improving school and is a further indication of where we are following our OFSTED monitoring visit and the significantly improved performance data of our pupils. 

We know how far we have come as a school in the last academic year and we know our next steps.  The credit once again must go to the hard work and dedication of a very committed staff, who continue to work tirelessly for school improvement.

In addition the school was visited by an Early Years Advisor in the middle of October who was very complimentary of the curriculum being offered to Class 1 pupils and the skills of Miss. Evans in taking our Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 forward this year. 

The School Improvement Plan has been put into place for this academic year and will run initially alongside the Post-OFSTED Action Plan. The key priorities for this document are highlighted in the entrance hall and are on the display outside the School Office. 

The School Council have updated the School Rules for 2007-2008 to be in line with where they consider the school to be now. They are currently completing an environmental questionnaire, along with Mrs Dean as part of our drive for Eco-schools status.  A part of this was looking at whether classes turn off lights when classrooms are not in use, which they said confidently that they do.  A couple of School Council members did point out that my office often had the lights on when I wasn’t using it, so I have assured them that I will work hard on this over the course of next half-term!  I was pleased that our new interactive whiteboard in the hall along with the new playground markings are perceived by them to be good improvements to the school and they have canvassed plenty of positive feedback about the introduction of both of these.

Can I take this opportunity to ask parents/carers to inform the school if there is to be any change in the person who will be picking up their child at the end of the day or if there is a change in terms of the routine of a child on the school bus. This helps staff with the collection process at the end of the day and would be really appreciated.

As part of our strive for Eco-schools status we are looking as a school at parking at the start and the end of the day.   We have held discussions with the village hall who will be happy for people to park on their site opening up the opportunity for parents to walk their pupils to school from there.  This links in well with our travel plan, where we are encouraging pupils to walk to or part of the way to school, which we obviously appreciate is difficult in our location and setting.  Similar arrangements are in place in other local schools and we would like to offer yourselves this opportunity as well.

Mrs. Amanda Morris after over nine years of service at Llangrove Primary has stepped down in her role as a teaching assistant in the school.  We wish her well with all that she does in the future and thank her for the time that she has given the school. We also continue to wish her well following a period of recovery from a knee operation.  The hours of teaching assistant time that Mrs. Morris was providing are now being delivered through our current teaching assistants.

We warmly welcome Robyn who has joined Miss. Evans class this half-term.  A big well done to all the Reception pupils for settling in so easily into school life.  We also welcome back Mr. Huw Evans who has become Llangrove’s School Improvement Partner.  I look forward to working with Huw in taking the school forward this academic year.

Mr. A. J. Best Headteacher