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• Head Teacher's Blog!

  Sat 28 Jan 2017

  Week Ending 27th January 2017
  This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
  Leah – Year 3 – Methodical work when solving maths reasoning problems with accurate calculations
  Ella Ryley – Year 3 – Methodical work when solving maths reasoning problems with accurate calculations
  Toby – Year 2 – for consistent use of adjectives in his animal fact file
  Joshua – Year 5 – for excellent understanding of parenthesis
  James – Year 4 – for fantastic Maths reasoning and use of halving and times tables
  Charlie – Year 4 – for a fantastic descriptive paragraph using fronted adverbials, ambitious vocabulary and top punctuation.
  Neive – Year 4 – for a fantastic descriptive paragraph including accurate use of fronted adverbials.
  Alice – EYFS – for writing a super sentence all by herself
  WILF will be spending time with class 2 for 100% attendance this week and Jessica will be visiting class 7 for 98.7%.
  Diary of the week:
  What a great start to the week with the ‘Parent Partnership event’ where I was able to tell you the story of my research into the impact of parental engagement in the child’s learning. There was a fantastic turn out and it was great to see so many of you there. You asked some great questions and I enjoyed the challenge with one or two more tricky questions! Thank you to everyone who has agreed to be part of the research process, I look forward to interviewing you. If anybody else would like to be involved, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

  In class 5 and 6 this week, it has been very exciting due to new class pets. The year 2 topic is ‘Secret lives of Pets’ and introducing their new fish to the classroom has allowed the children to explore the responsibilities of looking after pets and the needs of animals. ‘Daisy and Bubble’ are currently enjoying their life in class 6 and ‘Rose and Freddie’ are swimming around happily in class 5.
  We have had a considerable amount of staff absence this week as a number of bugs and viruses have swept through the building. We are expecting Miss McKellar back in school on Monday, alongside Mr Fuller. We are not expecting Mrs Henshaw back in school until Thursday, Mrs Tantum will be covering in her class to ensure continuity.
  
  I am delighted to say that my intensive training is now complete and apart from the odd day here and there carrying out inspections, I am back in school. I have to congratulate Michelle Bates and the team for their super efforts in my absence. Mrs Bates has now raised the bar for the weekly blog, and I will attempt to meet her high expectations.
  
  Due to pupil pressure, we have reinstated the weekly singing session. Many children have missed this and asked if it could return (we have only missed 2 weeks). It was great to have them all together on Thursday afternoon, when we didn’t learn anything new but enjoyed a good sing of our favourites. From next Monday we will be introducing some new songs and I am very much looking forward to it, it’s great to be able to spend some time with them all again.
  
  The unveiling of the new ‘Buddy Bench’ on Friday morning was lovely. Mrs Joan Slack was Great Grandmother to Keira Dakin and Adam Gill, and Great Great Grandmother to Finley Campbell. In her will she gifted money for the school and we chose to have a ‘Buddy Bench’, where children could sit if they had no one to play with, so that this could be addressed. The unveiling took place as part of the Gold Book assembly, with representatives from the family present. We are grateful to Joan and the family for this super gift.
  
  Have a lovely weekend.

• Deputy Head Teacher's Blog!

  Fri 20 Jan 2017
  Week Ending 20th January 2017
  This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
  
  Ruby – Year 3 – for fantastic writing using accurate speech punctuation.
  William – Year 3 – for his brilliant version of ‘Cops and Robbers’.
  Liam – Year 5 – for fantastic effort in his homework.
  Warren – Year 2 – for his detailed and informative fact file about a snake.
  Liam – Year 4 – for his detailed advert for a house from Harry Potter.
  Elise – Year 4 – for her detailed and emotional diary entry about Harry Potter’s trip to the zoo.
  
  WILF will be spending time with class 8 for 100% attendance this week and Jessica will be visiting class 14 for 99.5%. Great percentages for this time of year and with so much illness.
  
  The ‘Golden Dustpan’ award goes to Mr Leyshon’s class for the tidiest classroom. Well done!
  
  Diary of the week:
  
  Well, another busy week in school where the children and adults have been working incredibly hard. The week started very wet and drizzly and ended very chilly and crisp but we have all managed to keep high-spirited throughout our learning journey.
  
  We’ve had some fantastic comments from visitors recently. On Monday, Mrs Chambers invited some of her training colleagues into school to show what we are about and what a fantastic school we are. They commented on the buzz of the place and what a fantastic learning environment we provide for the children. We had comments from Dougie and Jim this week (who visited last week to present the memorial cup for the Poppy Appeal) and they said what a fantastic group of children we have in school. They commented on their manners, behaviour and general inquisitive nature. Mr Christie, the supply teacher in year one, also said what a great bunch of children we have and how engaged they are in their learning. Following Anna Soubry’s visit to school last week, she wrote in her weekly newsletter that, “It’s always a pleasure to visit schools in the constituency and none more so than Greasley Beauvale. Their excellent Pupil Parliament gave me a suitable grilling. I was particularly impressed to hear details of how pupils are encouraged to care and support each other and get involved in the local community.” She also commented on the “inspirational” work of Mrs Chambers and her work on involving families with school life. We are very proud of everyone involved with Greasley Beauvale community!
  
  In addition to this, we have been looking at sharing ‘best practice’ across school and thinking about our journey to outstanding. This week, and over the next few weeks, staff are taking part in learning walks where they go and observe their colleagues in action! Teachers have relished this opportunity and found so much that they can then take back to their own class as a way to develop the practice they already use. We teach children how to ‘magpie’ constantly and that is now what we are all doing in school.
  
  Excitingly, this week Pupil Parliament met to discuss the weather station competition entries. They were impressed with both the number of entries and the quality. Antony Pailing, our link governor for science, also viewed all of the entries alongside the pupil parliament feedback. 5 winning entries have been chosen. Each of the winning entries contain key elements that will be incorporated into the final school weather station design, funded by Rolls-Royce. The winners in each category will be announced soon in assembly. VERY exciting news.
  
  Another exciting opportunity for some children has been the ‘Spaghetti Maths’ after school club, which is run independently by a company…it has gone down a storm. Only this week, I observed children counting, using resources brilliantly, being engaged with the subject, passionate about numbers and problem solving…truly brilliant! Maths is fun and can be done by all!
  
  I also wanted to say a huge well done to our year 6s, who are now fully into their SATs revision. This week, I ran the maths reading booster session after school and was blown away by the children’s passion to want to do well and get the right answers. True perseverance and determination…I loved it!
  
  A reminder that Mrs Chambers will be hosting her ‘Parent Partnership Event’ on Monday 23rd January at 9.15am and 6pm. She will be sharing her research with you and discussing descriptors. Please let the office know if you would like to attend.

  Another busy week…but so many positives!
  
  Have a super weekend and see you all very soon.
  
  Take care,
  Mrs Bates

• Deputy Head Teacher's Blog!

  Fri 13 Jan 2017
  Week Ending 13th January 2017
  This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
  Ashton – Year 4 – for fantastic persuasive writing using AFOREST techniques.
  Matthew – Year 6 – for exceptional effort in Maths and conquering fractions.
  Lexi – EYFS – for trying so hard with her writing.
  Dylan – EYFS – for achieving ‘Awesome Accomplished Author’

  WILF will be spending time with class 14 for 100% attendance this week and Jessica will be visiting class 12 for 98.9%. Great results for such a cold and wintery time of year.

  Diary of the week:

  Well, following the first full week back at school, I am pleased to report what a productive and busy time it has been. The children are now getting stuck into their topic work and working hard to make the improvements they need to reach their targets. We are so proud of all the teachers, TAs and children as everyone is working to their optimum. School has a great feeling at the moment and everyone is being so positive!
  
  On Wednesday, we had a surprise visit for the children from two gentlemen, Jim and Dougie, from the Eastwood District of the British Legion. During the assembly, they talked about the purposes and benefits of the ‘Poppy Appeal’ and the fact that we raised the most amount of money in the Eastwood District. We even beat the secondary schools in the area and we are very proud of the impact that we have potentially made to the soldiers and their families. Logan, from Pupil Parliament, was presented with the ‘Memorial Cup’ and this will be displayed (along with our certificate) on the trophy shelf in the entrance.
  
  Pupil Parliament also had an important meeting with Anna Soubry this morning, who is a Member of Parliament for Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire. Together they discussed current agendas in school - what they have been working towards and what they plan to do in the future. They were also provided with time to talk to Anna about her work as a Member of Parliament. This was a great opportunity for the children and was enjoyed by all.
  
  From myself, Mrs Chambers and all the teachers, we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who donated over the Christmas period to the ‘Just Giving’ page which was set up by Miss Busby. We were raising money for the ‘Action Medical Research’ charity for children and their families by singing the well-known ‘Band Aid’ song. This can still be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6xqlhFCsyI  if you would like to view. We are delighted to say that we have excelled our target of £400 and have currently raised £600 (which is fantastic!). Thank you to everyone that donated over the Christmas period and beyond. Any further donations can still be made at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Charlotte-Busby1 . Thank you so much.
  
  After the snow flurry this morning, I hope that you have a warm weekend and continue to keep safe. Take care,
  
  Mrs Bates

• Head Teacher's Blog!

  Fri 06 Jan 2017
  Week Ending 6th January 2017
  This week, the following children have received a Head Teacher’s Award:
  Louie – EYFS – for fantastic independent writing.
  Tilly – EYFS – for amazing writing and independent use of diagraphs.
  Isaac – Year 2 – for excellent focus in maths when investigating money.
  Diary of the week:
  Happy New Year to you all!
  
  It was great to see the children back in school on Wednesday looking great and full of stories about the Christmas holidays. Our theme of the week is ‘turning over a new leaf’ and it was lovely to hear about the new things the children were going to try to do in 2017. We have decided as a school to simply make the best of every moment!
  We start the year with a celebration, as Mr Leyshon became a father to a beautiful baby girl, who they have named Taylor. I am sure that you will join us in sending our very best wishes to Ryon and his wife Dee. Mr Leyshon will be returning after his paternity leave during the week commencing 15th January.
  Yesterday we had ‘spaghetti maths’ in to do assembly – they run after school clubs and the children really enjoyed their presentation! This is run independently of the school, but might interest some of you. Have a super weekend and I will see you all next week.