Highs, lows and T-Towels

Highs and lows over the last week.Our numbers continue to grow through moves from other schools.8 pupils have joined us this term after transfers from other local schools. Moving schools can solve or create problems for families but it is reassuring that the movements give us a net gain in numbers. Visiting parents tell us they like the happy and relaxed atmosphere of the school, they see pupils working hard and enjoying positive relationships. Currently our number on role stands at 154, close to its highest ever level.
Sadly we have had to close yesterday and today due to flooding.The water was running straight off the fell and though the KS2 cloakroom before exiting onto the playground. We have wet carpets and a lot of debris to clean up. The closure came due to the difficulties of staff getting through flooded roads, some travelling significant distances. Many parents asked for the maximum notice in the event of closure so we took the step of announcing it last night, following advice from the Environment Agency and discussions with other local schools. Almost inevitably today has been less wet despite awful forecasts.
Throughout the school the sense of Christmas is upon us. Play lines being learned, songs being sung and that tangible sense of excitement beginning to build.

Autumn Days

This week we sang Autumn days for the first time. We have been back at school for four weeks now and the first hint of Autumn has arrived. The leaves are falling, early dew and hints of frost. Before long the fallen leaves will block the road drains and with the next heavy rain staff will find it difficult to get to school due to the flooding. We had 12 children join our reception class and another three into other year groups bring us to the largest number on roll for some time. This week sees the start of a very exciting project in school. We are working with four other local schools to give our most able children the chance to work with others from different schools. On Wednesday we have a launch day at Rydal Hall to start the project off. The team of children will create a website that will feature reviews of Lakeland tourist attractions written by children for children. Last week we also saw a milestone as the 800th entry was posted to our pupil blog - Making the News. We have more posts than any other school in the country.

Court Cases

All the recent news seems to involve courts getting involved with schools and parents. it would seem that we will be expected to take parents to court if their children misbehave and they will be able to take us to court if their children fall behind and do not get 1:1 support. This way chaos lies, not to mention chronic waste of time and money.
Whatever happened to just talking to one another like adults and sharing reasonable expectations? One the positive side it seems as though the Numeracy and Literacy frameworks will go. Once they were the answer to everything, how times change. Few of us will lament their passing I suspect.
The school is very busy with trips and events at present and far from 'winding down', the end of the term seems to get busier with every passing year.

They think it's all over...

The drama that is the story of SATs reached the end of another act today. We have finished our KS2 SAT's and said goodbye (we are told) to the Science tests for ever. As ever our children made the best of it and we did all we could to make the week less stressful. We held our customary SATs breakfasts filling the school with the delicious smell of toasting bread. Afternoons were fun filled and all admit to the week being less awful than they had feared. We can now get back to our core purpose of educating children to become considerate, thoughtful and kind adults.

The DCSF have announced that they plan to put the SATs back next year to prevent our Y6's have time to once again enjoy schooling. They seem to have forgotten that many schools will have booked residential and similar activities for June next year. Many of these opportunities have to be booked well over 12 months ahead. One senses that the DCSF may have to re-think that hasty decision. We formally opened our EYFS Playhouse this week, the youngest children seem delighted with their new place to play.

Another first is the introduction of our new text messaging service to parents. This is proving to be a great success and is being used both to send information directly and also to point to paper letters or prompt returns. We expect to add an email copy in the near future. A wish would be to eliminate paper correspondence altogether.

We hope that we both provide a more effective communication and also help parents to be more involved with the day to day life of the school.

Many tired eyes point to the fact that we are nearly at half term and all will benefit from a break in what we dream will be sunshine.

Pandemics

Today we have been in receipt of the first batch of helpful advice regarding responses from schools in the event of a Flu Pandemic. We are all no doubt filled with dread at such a prospect and yet have to turn our minds to thoughts of measured and logical responses that aim to improve the safety of our children. Schools will be creating or revising their emergency planning and parents will be wondering how to manage having their children's schools closed for potentially long periods. With regard to any attempts to maintain an educational provision under such circumstances thoughts will turn to remote learning in it's various forms and also systems to allow rapid communications. Perhaps this will act as a spur to all of us to improve the opportunities for pupils to benefit from our Learning Platforms.
I hope above all else that when strategic decisions are being made, the safety of children and others is placed above logistical considerations.

Two heads better than one?

Friday 13th, Red Nose Day was memorable for two reasons. Firstly it was our most successful charity fund raising event ever, beating our previous best by over 100%. The money is still being counted but we are already beyond the £500 mark. I am so proud of the pupils for the way in which they showed such commitment to the events, joined in the fun and yet managed to carry on with learning and behave so sensibly throughout the day. The second reason was our novel idea of allowing a child to be 'Head for the Day'. Pupils had to write letters explaining why they should be chosen; the competition was so hard to judge that we ended up with a head and a deputy. The two new appointments rang the bell, blew the whistle, inspected lessons, answered the phone, dealt with emails, telephoned the Westmorland Gazette and were photographed by the newspaper. We will certainly repeat this successful idea.

One other highlight of the week was the receipt of an Excellence in ICT award for the school website. This was announced at the Cumbria ICT Conference at Rheged. The website is providing more and more information for parents, helping them see the work of the school, offering a route for engagement and contribution and also providing a window on the school for prospective parents. he statistics also show that the website is being viewed right across the world.

In like a Lion

March arrived this week and today we have another light sprinkling of snow; there are some decidedly fed up lambs in the fields around. Much is happening in the school at the moment - we have lost one pupil with a family move to Grasmere and gained one so our numbers stay constant. We are getting ready for World Book day on Thursday and red Nose day the Friday of the following week. Our most exciting news is that the School has won an Excellence in ICT award for the best Cumbrian school website. Despite the huge amount of time the website takes up it is an essential part of our work and fulfills three main aims:

• It allows us to display and celebrate the work our children produce
• It allows us to share the work and life of the school with our parents and allows them to see more of what goes on.
• It acts as a showcase for future parents who may be choosing a school for their children. Our web statistics show that the site is being looked at all over the world and all over Britain. More often than not when parents enquire about places for their child, they have already done their 'homework' and looked at the school site.

The school is in a very positive frame of mind and all are working hard. A boy in Y1 brought me his writing book yesterday showing the improvement since September, it was breath taking and moved from two indecipherable squiggles to half a page of writing that could easily be read - those are the great moments!

Let it snow...

Heavy snow again today, the third major fall of the school year. Many staff and children were unable to get to school. The weather has changed from blizzard to bright sun in moments. Throughout the school, teachers are taking advantage of the excitement to focus learning on activities to do with the weather. One class is keeping a log and publishing to the school website as the day moves on. Many schools are shut today but we have managed to stay open. If the snow continues however, we may not be able to keep going.

New Year 2009

The year has started for us as it finished with snow, ice and bitter days. 4th December saw a rare event for us with the school forced to close due to snow. Many staff could not reach the main roads to travel.The Christmas productions of the Nativity and Dick Whittington were an enormous success but are now a distant memory. The Christmas holidays gave our contractors the opportunity to replace carpet in Class 2 and also to complete the fitting of a dividing door between class 1 and 2. The effects are very positive indeed. We admitted a new child yesterday and true to form he has settled in well already. We also appointed Mrs parsons to provide temporary cover for a maternity leave in the reception class.