Hoylake Holy Trinity CE Primary School

Newsletter February 2015

Dear Parents and Carers,We are now nearly half way through the year and I am pleased to share some good news with you!• The building works in the Infant department are still running to schedule and are due to be completed on time – Easter, excellent news!• We have had visits from 4 Primary Schools to visit our F2 setting which is being recommended as a

model of good practice by the Local Authority. We have also received requests to visit from other schools. Well done to all staff in our F2 team, keep up the good work!

• Miss Harper has been leading the school though Holy Trinity’s Key skills with a focus on ‘Behaviour for Learning’. The first key skill we have focussed on is self drive. The children have really embraced this in school and hopefully can talk to you about what it means. Watch this space for the next key skill!

• Our current whole school theme Frozen Planet is really engaging children who are actively enjoying their learning. This has inspired a range of writing as well as other activities covering all subjects in the curriculum.

• F2 have run a workshop this term and ran a Mum’s stay and play and phonics workshop just before Christmas – all of these have been well received and we look forward to involving parents further in the future.

Can you help?We are seeking to improve our classroom reading areas throughout the entire school based on the

‘Communication friendly Spaces’ theory which uses neutral colours to create a calming environment for children to learn in. If you have any of the following to donate to school we would be very grateful: Neural colours (white, beige, cream, browns) – Duvet covers - Blankets - Cushions – Rugs - Large sheets fabric/ Voile - Wicker baskets - Fairy lightsThank you

St Hildeburgh’s ChurchA reminder that Messy

Church is on Saturday 14th February 4-6pm.

Family service will take place on Sunday 22nd Feb 10am,

the choir will not be singing at the Family Service

however, all are welcome!

Staffing Update• Mrs Leake is currently absent from work due to illness. Her class will continue to be

taught by Mrs Wright on a Wednesday as normal and we are pleased to welcome Mrs Graham to our teaching team. Mrs Graham will take Mrs Leake’s class during the rest of the week but has previous commitments on a Tuesday afternoon, therefore Mrs O’Neill Edwards is looking forward to teaching Mrs Leake’s class on a Tuesday afternoons.

Date for diaries

.

Mrs O’Neill Edwards

Many thanks to all parents for your continued support to the school.

Pupil QuestionnaireWe have been seeking the views of pupils to see how we can further improve the school. The junior children took part in an online survey which asked them the following 10 questions:

We are pleased that many of the children's responses were positive however, we always strive to improve and we now want to do further work with the children to address the areas with highest % of disagreement: Bullying, behaviour and homework. Firstly we plan to do further investigation with the children and we will keep you informed of children's views, developments and improvements as they progress.

Strongly Agree/ Agree

Disagree/Strongly Disagree

Don’t Know

Are you happy at this school? 71% 9% 19%

Do you feel safe at this school? 74% 10% 17%

Do you make good progress at this school? 79% 3% 17%

Are you well looked after? 81% 4% 16%

Are you taught well? 83% 2% 15%

Is your homework appropriate for your age? 67% 13% 20%

Does the school make sure children are well behaved? 72% 15% 13%

Does the school deal effectively with bullying? 66% 16% 18%

Is the school well led and managed? 73% 4% 22%

Would you recommend the school to a friend? 71% 9% 21%

Thought for the dayGalatians 6:9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

A note from the Governors This term, in addition to working to finalise the School’s Development Plan ready for publication, Governors have been involved in a number of activities to support development of the school’s financial, premises and ICT strategies, as well as continuing to monitor the Ofsted Action Plan. This has involved attending regular project meetings at school, keeping an overview of progress on the infant refurbishment and working alongside the school leadership team and local authority to ensure these actions meet the needs of the school. Chris French, Lead Governor for Premises and ICT has worked with our pre-school partners to examine options to extend the available outdoor space. We are also working to produce an ICT strategy for the school, that will help to renew the schools ICT provision and examine new ways of utilising this rapidly changing and critical area. Our Church Governors have been in school regularly supporting collective workshop. New members who joined us this year have also been undertaking training to develop their skills and knowledge about the work of the Governing Body and many Governors also attended a Tea Party at school last week to meet with and get to know new (and existing) teaching staff. This was a great way of Governors and staff getting to know each other and will assist in developing relationships between individual Governors and staff who work closely on key issues.Important note After half term, our front door entrance will be hung the other way around to enable the new door in the infant department to be used effectively. This means that the front door will be accessed by the door on the left, not the right.A reminder that the next Parent’s Forum meeting is to be held on March 3rd 6:30pm, everyone is welcome.On Monday 9th February, the school underwent a Local Authority inspection, this went well and the school is making recognisable progress with a clear improvement in the quality of teaching – thank you to all the staff for their hard work.