Headteacher’s response to specific concerns raised by parents

After School Activities – what’s available?  Why isn’t there a club for every age-group or every day of the week?

The number and type of after school club varies between different age groups.  Currently Sherston offers clubs in gymnastics, running club, bird-watching, fencing, tai-kwondo, football (boys’ and girls’), netball, tennis, chess, two choirs, art club and music lessons including piano and brass.  Some clubs are only available at certain times of the year, for example, cricket is only a summer after-school club.

It has to be said that not all clubs are suitable for all age-groups.  While we try to offer as many clubs as possible, after school, teachers have meetings to attend and preparation to do.  Most teachers offer one club per week, some are during dinner hour. 

 For Reception and Year 1 pupils, Choir and Tai-Kwondo are available, with more on offer from Year 2, such as gymnastics and chess. For older children, we have to balance after school clubs with the demands of homework.

Settling In Arrangements

 Some parents queried our part-time introduction to Sherston school for Reception class pupils. 

We don’t set our own admissions policy but have to follow the Wiltshire County admissions policy.  However from September 2011, arrangements will change, this is under discussion at the moment.  We’re going to work to a single intake in September 2011, from which date there will be a pattern of part-time to start with.  This means that rising 5s will be in full-time education earlier than in the past.  We’re working with other area schools to ensure the policy works for every child. 

 From this year, all children will be able to take part in the Christmas dinner.  In the past this hasn’t been the case.  At Christmas Dinner time we serve over 170 meals – we felt that for children who weren’t used to having a school lunch, having Christmas lunch as their first experience would be a bit overwhelming!

Pupil Progress and Special Educational Needs

Parents can commit their views to paper at every parent’s evening when we ask for their views on their child’s progress.  I read every response slip received after parents’ evenings so it’s worth using the space to raise any issues you have. Plus, I am always available for meetings to discuss individual issues such as SEN. 

 The school SEN policy is on the school website (under policies and administration).  There are county SEN groups – a Wiltshire Dyslexic group for example.  We have a county scheme called Westford which is in place to offer classroom diagnosis of dyslexia.  We’ve also got access, on the basis of that, to the LETs team (Local Education Team), some of whom have specific dyslexia qualifications.  We’ve recently appointed a teaching assistant who is taking a dyslexia qualification at the moment.  If parents have concerns, the first step is to make an appointment to see me and discuss your child’s requirements. We hold a register of SEN and School Action Plus children in the school and we have intervention groups to support those children within the school.

Homework…Too much? Too little?

Parents have different requirements over homework – it’s difficult to get the balance right.  The homework that’s set is what we feel is appropriate to the children’s age and stage.  The school recognises that the children have many other outside activities that they get involved in and that are really important to them.  Some outside activities and groups give children opportunities that they wouldn’t have in the classroom; the chance to work with people from outside school with specific skills (eg sport), to learn new skills and strategies.  All of these are a useful addition to what’s learnt during school hours. 

Playground Rules; Age-Group Mix

 Parents shouldn’t be concerned to know that children across all age-groups play together at play-time.  We actively encourage the older children to engage in constructive play with the younger ones.  Year 1 children are asked to ‘buddy up’ with one named child in Reception and to help them through dinner times.  Our older children (Year 6) are currently doing a playground leaders course, and at breaktimes they run games for Year 1 pupils.  We’re doing everything we can to encourage healthy play.

Outdoor and Indoor Sport

 Some parents queried the fact that occasionally we have cancelled sport due to inclement weather. 

This does happen from time to time, but doesn’t mean that we’re anti-PE. I’ve seen running club going on in the snow and football club in the rain – our policy is that PE and sport has to be safe.  If the field is waterlogged, we can’t use it, and don’t forget that we don’t have shower facilities for children, so we need to aim to keep children safe and dry where possible.  In Reception class children go out for welly walks, irrespective of the weather.

At other times in the winter months our PE lessons are restricted due to staging. We operate a multi-use hall, and sometimes part of the hall is given over to staging for school productions.  In the summer it’s not a problem because we can use the field for sport.  It’s hard to run PE whilst staging is up – sometimes it’s not safe to run a PE lesson in a restricted space.  What staff do is try to ensure that they do some outside activities instead. 

 In year 3 and 4 there are swimming lessons – this school promotes swimming for 2 year groups (when we actually only get funding for one year group).