February 2019

Every child has the right to an education (Article 28)

Our pupils are passionate about all children receiving their rights. Our school will be supporting Comic Relief next half term. Our school councillors will be selling red noses and have arranged a Red Nose themed ‘dress up day’ to help raise money for charities that support children in poverty across the UK and internationally. Look out for the posters and information after the half term break.

Sometimes it is easy to look back and forget where you came from and how far you’ve come. Because education moves so fast, it is even more important we take the time to reflect. Both, as a school and a community, we have lived though some interesting and challenging times, but find ourselves in a better place. We are always looking to improve further, but are very proud of the curriculum and opportunities we offer at Lea Forest and rightly proud of our recent successes over the last few years. The strength and reputation of Lea Forest continues to grow and this is due to a wide range of contributing factors, including: teaching and learning that is second to none, community cohesion and the desire to want the best for our children. I would like to say a huge thanks to many of our parents for supporting us on this journey to success. I am particularly grateful for the efforts to improve attendance across school.

This week has seen our children in Years 1-6 sitting their ‘stop the clock’ assessments. We are not the type of school that bangs on about assessments and testing as we like to provide an enriched curriculum that the children enjoy and thrive upon. However, there is a place for assessments (if done in the right way). As a school, we use them to show us how much the children have learnt and retained. This week has been a reflection of how strong the children’s attitudes to learning are and that, without exception, every child in school wanted to achieve their best. I spent a morning teaching in 1HM and did some maths assessments with them and was completely blown away by their knowledge, ability and independence. I would like to say a big well done to all of the children for being so resilient and for always doing their best, particularly our Y6 children who have sat actual past SATS papers in preparation for their SATS tests in May. I know the Y6 tea are really pleased with the most recent results. We are certainly moving in the right direction! On that note, our Y6 children were given 4 SATS revision books each this week - a gift from our wonderfully dedicated PCAB. These are to support their revision as they approach their SATS.

I was delighted to welcome a record number of parents for our parents’ evenings this week. It was great to speak with parents and to hear so many positive comments. We also held a parent survey, which provided useful feedback.

We also had huge success on the football field this week, where our mixed boys/girls team beat St Mary’s 5-0 in the HMNS Shield. They now qualify into the next round of this competition.

Today sees the end of the half term with our Valentine’s discos which have been arranged by our school council and PCAB.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a very HAPPY and RESTFUL half term week. I’m sure you’d agree, it’s been very busy since Christmas, as we never stand still at Lea Forest. We can all use this time to re-energise our batteries ready for the next half term ahead as we approach Easter. We return to school on Monday 25 February at normal time.

See you all then!

Mr Clarke

This Week

WOW! What a week! We opened our doors on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week to over 56 other head teachers, deputy head teachers and class teachers from schools far and wide. On Tuesday, we held two Cornerstones events which was an opportunity for us to showcase our new exciting curriculum. This involved looking at children’s learning in books, in classrooms and speaking to Mr White and Miss Oliver, our curriculum leads in school.

On Wednesday we held a whole day event through SSAT which focused on ‘impact and innovation’, exploring how we have developed our vision and looked in detail at the opportunities we provide for our children at Lea Forest. I am always very proud showing visitors around our school as it really is a great place to learn and work.

Here’s an example of comments from some of our visitors:

“ I had a great time at Lea Forest, thank you so much. The thing that stood out the most for me was the relationship between staff and children, as well as the enthusiasm, pride and passion the staff have towards the school and children.”

“Lea Forest is an inspirational place to visit - it must be great to work there.”

“The learning environment is designed to bring the children’s learning to life.”

“The school environment and ethos fully embraces the vision.”

We continue to drive our new vision of inspiring our children to choose a remarkable life. The new values are being used across the whole school and it’s great to see our children fully embracing them. Here’s a reminder of our values:

· Pushing their limits

· Being big hearted

· Discovering what’s possible

· Being unusually brave

Reminder, if you haven’t listened to our staff reading bedtime stories, you really must. Click here or scan the QR code to access these.

Finally, a HUGE thank you for doing better with attendance this week - we’ll crack it by working together. Thank you for another REMARKABLE week. Have a great weekend!

This Week

We were off to a remarkable start to the week on Monday when our girls’ football team represented Lea Forest in a nail biting competition. Also on Monday, our Y6 team and Mr Haw met with some of the Y6 parents, after school, to discuss the forthcoming residential experience.

I have managed to spend some time in every classroom this week and it always makes me feel so proud to see how well the children of Lea Forest enjoy and achieve.

We continue to drive our new vision of inspiring our children to choose a remarkable life. The new values are being used across the whole school and it’s great to see our children fully embracing them. Here’s a reminder of our values:

· Pushing their limits

· Being big hearted

· Discovering what’s possible

· Being unusually brave

Finally, if you haven’t listened to our staff reading bedtime stories, you really must.

We are uploading at least three stories a week, so these can be shared at home. We’ve received some really positive feedback so far. Click here or scan the qr code with your phone or tablet to visit the website.

Thank you for another REMARKABLE week. Have a great weekend!

Miss Hadfield and our school council have been working hard on gathering evidence to gain the SILVER Rights Respecting School Award. The Rights Respecting Schools Award puts children's rights at the heart of our school. Unicef works with us to create safe and inspiring places to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive. The Rights Respecting Schools Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens. I will be sharing a different right with you each week…

This week’s right of the week is Article 14, which links beautifully with Mrs Newbold’s wonderful assembly all about the Holocaust.

Article 14: Every child has the right to think and believe what they choose and also to practise their religion, as long as they are not stopping other people from enjoying their rights.

I have some very exciting news to share with you all this week…

Our Academy sponsor, Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) , have been very impressed with our performance of late and are very keen to make Lea Forest the school of choice in the local area. One way of doing this would be to improve our main entrance. I have been in negotiations for a while now and can finally announce that AET have agreed to fund a brand new entrance for our school. I’m sure you will all welcome this great news. We will be looking at relocating the main entrance to Hurstcroft Road where the link corridor currently stands, we aim to keep you all informed as plans progress with this exciting project.

Please ensure that you contact the school absence line on 0121 675 3984 which is manned from 8am to 4pm on the day of absence. Parents can also leave a message on the answerphone or send a text with your child’s name and the reason for absence to 07860041834.

Please note: Failure to provide a reason will result in your child receiving an unauthorised absence mark.

We are reminding all parents and carers that any medication must be bought into school via the main office and should be clearly marked with the dosage, child’s name and instructions. Parents must collect the medication from the office at the end of the school day.

We will endeavour to keep school open, but in the event of a school closure, we will alert you via text, ClassDojo, Twitter, FaceBook and on the school website banner.

Closures will also be announced on Free Radio and BBC Radio WM