Dear
Parents/Carers,
This
week has been a strange one, with the children in the building for three of the
five days… A school is just a building without the kids so it was wonderful to
have them back today!
Rocking and Rolling…
On
Wednesday, the whole school was literally rocking as we welcomed the Artforms
Brass Band into school. The sound really was immense and several of the
children – and staff – were up at the front showing their moves! Senorita
Castero really can rock it! Thanks to our wonderful Mrs Fletcher for organising
all of the musical performances this year – a great addition to the music
curriculum, fully appreciated by us all.
Standards Report
This
week, we finally received back our Y6 SAT results and I am now in a position to
share with you the key headlines of our achievements this year. I’m going to
get statistical for a while, so bear with me….
ü Our
end of Reception outcomes are up 20% on last year’s outcomes at 72%, and up 20%
from our starting points in 2011, despite the introduction of a more
challenging Foundation Stage Curriculum and Assessment Framework introduced
last year….
ü Y1
Phonics Screening Test outcomes are an astonishing 98%. This is a test which
was introduced in 2012, and we have consistently performed above all schools nationally
(around 70%) in this test. This incredibly strong performance in this area
underpins our rapid improvements in KS1 reading and writing outcomes....
ü Our
Y2 outcomes are phenomenal. 98% of pupils secured a national expectations (2b+)
in reading and maths, and 91% in writing. Again, this is significantly above
national outcomes and a 100% improvement on our position before 2011, when
broadly 50% of pupils secured national expectations. We are also thrilled that
an incredible 37% of pupils have secured the higher benchmark of L3b+ in
reading, and 21% in maths. The proportion of pupils securing these higher
outcomes has therefore increased by around 20% during the past three years….
ü Progress
in Years 3, 4 and 5 is consistently good in reading, writing and maths. Higher
proportions of pupils than ever before are operating comfortably at L3 and L4
and continue to make good progress towards higher L5 outcomes. Our Y6 2015
outcomes are therefore predicted to be above 90% L4+ for the first time ever….
ü Our
Y6 outcomes are also astonishing. 83% of our pupils secured L4+ outcomes in the
reading test, with 21% at Level 5, 81% secured L4+ in writing, with 24%
securing L5+ and 79% secured L4+ outcomes in maths, with 33% securing L5+. AND that’s not all….. Last year, we secured
our first ever Level 6 outcome in maths (equivalent to GCSE Grade ‘C’). This
year, FIVE pupils achieved this
phenomenal feat in maths, and we also secured our first two Level 6 outcomes in
the Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar test. These outcomes are remarkable
and reflect the incredible tenacity of this very fine bunch of Y6 pupils. At
the end of their Y2, just 42% achieved national expectations in reading, 32% in
writing and 53% in maths. This cohort’s collective achievements, then, mark the
kind of transformation that school is all about - with staggering progress
between Y2 and Y6. We are obviously immensely proud of them all and cannot
commend their temerity highly enough…. Having taught Y6 pupils for around 10
years – I can honestly say I have never met a finer bunch of young people.
It
is obviously important to recognise the collective achievements of a staff team
whose team work, determination and stamina during the past three years has led
to a great story of success for individual pupils. This is not about the school
headlines – this is about the fact that our pupils walk taller for their
achievements, and truly believe that they have the world at their feet. That is what makes this job the best in the
world. Thank you to everyone who has given their all this year (staff, pupils,
parents…) and long may this story continue…
Reports
Whilst
the above headlines are all about the achievements of cohorts, this evening you
have received your child’s report which details their individual journey this
year. During the past week, I have enjoyed reading every one of the 320 reports
painstakingly crafted by our teachers – I hope that you enjoy them half as much
as I have! Please share them with your child and be sure they know how proud
you are.
Staffing Vacancy
Pinnacle are looking to recruit a kitchen
assistant to begin work in September. The role is Monday to Friday TTO 11.30am
to 1.30pm. If you are interested – please contact Mrs Chappel via the
school office.
BOOKS PLEASE!
Can
I please appeal to you all to have a good scout around the house to locate any
books belonging to school. At this time of year, we begin collecting and
sorting book stock for the coming year and would therefore appreciate it if you
could return all books to the building as soon as possible.
Next Week…
Is
our last full school week together before the summer holidays! There is something exciting happening every,
single day!
Monday 14th
July
BIKE
TO SCHOOL WEEK.
Y5/6
LIGHTWATER VALLEY DAY.
|
Tuesday 15th
July
Rec/KS1:
Elsa’s
Summertime
Ball
event
– REC/KS1
PARENTS
WELCOME.
|
Wednesday 16th
July
‘B
Brilliant for the Brownnutt’s’ event
|
Thursday 17th
July
The
Railway Children – theatre production (pm).
|
Friday 18th
July
Sports
Day.
|
Don’t forget ‘B Brilliant’ Wednesday! Remember:
® Bring
spare change for the buckets
® Bike
to school for the week
® Bring
£1 and wear ‘B’ themed non-uniform
® Bake
buns and donate them to a massive bun sale (don’t forget to bring your
pennies!)
® Cheer
on the biking events – how far can we go in the hall bike-athon? How will YOU
do on the ‘Bumbling on Bikes’ cycling course?
® Enjoy
your ‘B’ themed lunch!
Sports Day is next Friday. Parents/carers
are warmly welcomed to cheer us on! Reception and Key Stage 1 Sports Day is to
be held during the morning with a 9:00am start. Parents/carers can drop
their child of as usual and then make their way to the field to find a good
seat! Key Stage 2 Sports Day is to be held in the afternoon with a 1:00pm start
time. Parents/carers should arrive from 12:45pm and use the side gate to gain
access to the field.
Garden ‘Drop-in’
Mrs Holmes continues
to do a wonderful job in the garden area: the difference between Easter and now
is simply staggering. She invites parents/carers to bob in to the allotment for
a walk-about at hometime next Friday. If you’ve never seen this area of our
school – you should!
Coffee Morning
I’m
having a final fandango for my loyal coffee morning attendees over the years! I’ll
put the kettle on at 9am on Monday 21st July – if you have an hour
to spare for an old friend, please come along to the hall… All staff who are
leaving at the end of this school year will also be there so if it’s not only me
you want to say your farewells to – please take this opportunity to wish our
fabulous staff well!
Have
a wonderful weekend,
Sam
Bailey
