First Week Back
First full week helps to settle everyone in.
It has been a truly positive week where everyone has really settled and become more very at home with their new adults and classes. I have been mightily impressed by the efforts from all children to work hard, to be polite and to allow their wonderful characters to shine through with confidence.
I enjoyed teaching in Dragonflies earlier in the week. Who doesn't love a bit of "Shuffle Time" when doing Little Wandle Phonics? I have to say the Teachers and Teaching Assistants all do an amazing job with the Phonics sessions. They are a credit to the school and the pupils ae truly lucky to have such enthusiastic staff.
One thing we encourage parents to work with their children on is: independence. Giving your children tasks to complete on their own and setting the expectation that these tasks are for the child to complete will really aid them in the long run. Getting dressed, putting shoes on, tidying toys away, hanging their coat up and even mark-making, letter formation or writing simple sentences are all things children can do independently. We want all our pupils to know that they can do things themselves and that they can rely on their own abilities to do them. This will be our focus this term, so practise this at home too. If the child is not used to this approach, they will look straight to an adult to do it for them, so be prepared to stay true to those expectations of independence and encourage them to persevere.
Slowly but surely, the school is getting a face lift of improvements. We have had some fresh paint in the Hall, some new carpet laid, and we are preparing for corridors to be painted also. At the Junior School our Immersive Learning Environment is just awaiting the state-of-the-art technology to be installed soon, and this unique provision will be readily shared with the Infant pupils. I really hope it is as amazing as I think it will be.
Next week, I hope the efforts from pupils continue, and I get to go into lessons to see how well everyone is doing more closely.
Have a great weekend everyone!