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.
