Week Ending 14th January 2022
The national average for attendance in primary schools has always been approximately 96%. During the pandemic, attendance has fallen nationally. However, the latest national figures, for England, show that attendance is slightly increasing.
“Attendance in state-funded primary schools was 91.0% on 6 Jan, up from 88.6% on 16 Dec”.
I am proud to share that our whole school attendance is currently way above the current national average at 94.72% and only slightly below the ‘norm’ of 96% pre-Covid.
All 14 classes, from Reception to Year 6, are above the current national average of 90.7%, and the classes currently in-line with historic national averages (96%) are as follows:
Red 2, Yellow 1 and Blue 2
Head Teachers’ Awards this week have been awarded to:
Arthur – Red 2 – For his super map drawing skills. I loved seeing his map of the Gruffalo trail and the different adventures along the way.
Lyla – Red 1 – For amazing independent writing, where she was able to write a list of all the animals that she loves. She also had a great attempt at the word ‘cheetah’.
‘Elvis’ the chipmunk (with his wonderful sweeping brush) has awarded the cleanest classroom award this week to:
Violet 2 – I know that Miss Marvin will be incredibly excited :)
I have to say that despite the Covid cases this week, I have loved covering some classes; being involved with the teaching and learning and getting to work with the children. I have spent time this week with Indigo 1 and we have been loving the English work planned by Mr Khan. We have been reading a great book called ‘The Island’ and we were all shocked today by the ending! Such a tragic book, which concentrates on how our actions can make others feel and how some people are not accepted into a society because of their differences. Thank you to the class for making me feel so welcome and working hard. I have really enjoyed the week with them.
Several parents, since January, have started to ask us questions about the behaviour ladder we have in school. This is nothing new and has been in place for the last three to four years (with only minor tweaks along the way). Please feel free to have a read of our policy on the website, which shows the ladder on the last few pages, using the following link: https://www.greasleybeauvale.co.uk/key-policies/
We pride ourselves on dealing with behaviour in a fair and productive way. We have a ‘firm but fair’ approach and if we need to challenge behaviours and choices then we do so in a very consistent way across school.
The children have been through a tough time with the pandemic, and we are very aware that many children have needed support and ‘recovery’, which is why we took a slightly different approach when children first returned to school. We are into the third academic year of the pandemic and schools have been fully open now for many months. We do expect the children to behave responsibly, respectfully and safely and where this does not happen, this will be challenged.
I hope that you can support us with our decisions and discuss behaviours at home with your child when the ladder is used. Ofsted praised our behaviour process and the behaviours they saw in school. However, we want to make behaviour and attitudes even better with consistency and high expectations. If anyone has any questions then please do get in touch with myself, Mrs Barrowcliffe (behaviour lead) or Mrs Parnell (behaviour team).
Keep safe and keep vigilant following the rise in cases this week. Please refer to the WEDUC letter from myself yesterday with advice on what to do about isolation periods, LFT testing and when to book in for a PCR.
We hope that you all have a great weekend.
Warm regards,
Mrs Bates