School News 146 - Headteacher Update, January 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

IMPORTANT SCHOOL UPDATE

This letter will replace the usual school newsletter for this week.

Nursery Developments
Sandie Gordon (Assistant Head) sent a letter today to all families who have a child in the Nursery.  It outlines some new arrangements regarding drop off and collecting, as well as Key Worker news.  Please contact the school office if you have not received this.

Year 6 Targets, Study Plan and SATS
The Year 6 team, alongside senior leaders, have devised a plan to enable additional support lessons and smaller groupings. 
The teachers will give you more information about this, and the upcoming May SATS, during the Family Learning Session that
is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 23rd January from 8.30 – 9.30 am.  The PPT will be uploaded to the Year Group section
of the school website for those who are unable to attend.

Aiming High for Every Child
After analysing the end of Autumn Term assessment data, teachers have revised targets for the end of the school year.
The targets are aspirational for every child. Where needed, teachers will implement revised plans to support children with their learning.  You will hear more about how your child is progressing during the Spring Term parent meetings.  In the meantime,
do not hesitate to get in touch with your child’s class teacher should you have any queries or worries – no matter how small. 
The best way to do this is through the school office.

Monitoring the Quality of Teaching Across the School
A revised schedule for evaluating the quality of education across the school has been implemented. An aspect of this involves leaders watching lessons to check that children are engaged, that they understand the lesson content and that there is an appropriate challenge.  In addition, care is taken to check that relationships are respectful, that every child is valued in their uniqueness and that children feel safe and confident to make mistakes.  The quality of work in children’s books is also audited.  Information we gain from these on-going evaluations feeds into specific actions for improvement.
Our most recent whole school review of teaching took place this week.  Senior leaders were joined by 3 colleagues from the GLF Trust; Claire-Louise West (Primary Regional Director), Kelly DeSantis (Strategic Curriculum and Pedagogy Lead) and Michelle Kennedy (Cluster Curriculum and Pedagogy Lead). 
Being part of a Trust brings many benefits including ease of access to a broad range of expertise and we were grateful for their input and continuing support as we strive to be the best that we can be.

Action Plans for Improvement
We are now finalising our action plans for improvement based on 4 key areas: -

• The Quality of Education (curriculum and standards)

•  Personal Development

•  Behaviour and Attitudes

•  Leadership

We will share a summary of our areas for development once we have had time to discuss everything with
the School’s Standards Boards.

Interviews for Permanent Headteacher
You will be pleased to know that 4 candidates have been shortlisted for interview.  The interviews will take place on Thursday 18th January with the panel including senior members of the Trust, the new Chief Executive Officer and representatives from the School Standards Board, including 2 parents.  The 2 Assistant Heads from FMP, Pupil House Captains and members of the new School Council will also be involved in aspects of the process.

Moving Forward
As you know, I will be leading the school until the end of this academic year.  I am so enjoying the role and want you to know how impressed I am with the team here, the care for the children and willingness to adapt when needed.
Alongside this, I am getting to know your children more and they are just an incredible group of articulate, creative and often determined young people.  (There are certainly many aspiring leaders and prime ministers!)
The staff team at FMP, and the GLF Trust family that we are a part of, completely understand the need for ensuring that developments taking place now will be built upon in the coming years.  Everything that we are focusing on is in line with the Trust and DfE expectations and, in partnership with you, we will keep the needs of the children and the school, at the heart of this next transition of leadership. 

School Council
Children have been asked to share a few sentences orally with the rest of their class saying why they would be a good school counsellor.  The rest of the class take part in a secret ballot, and we will let you know the names of this new group at the end of next week. 

Queries or Worries?
A reminder again to talk to a member of staff if you have any queries or worry.  We would rather small worries didn’t build, and your feedback gives us important information about how we are doing.
The usual process for contacting a member of staff will be through the school office but senior leaders are usually available outside at the beginning and end of the day.  For any kind of worry or concern the first point of contact is always the class teacher. Should your worries continue, please see a member of the senior leadership team (Sandie Gordon, Charlotte Chamberlain or Liz Felsing).

Have a lovely weekend everyone and keep warm!

Best wishes,

Liz Felsing