Willington News

This week I'm afraid that I have been out of school at the IAPS Head's Conference in Brighton, so have missed all the fun at Willington. The hot topics at this year's conference were how AI is being integrated to reduce teachers' workload successfully, and to monitor pupil wellbeing. There was an interesting discussion around outdoor education and technology use. It appears, from the discussions I have been having with other Heads, that our pro-balance stance is the correct way to do it. Everyone acknowledges that we need to limit the use of smartphones to almost zero in a primary school, and if possible, beyond that. As we look at ways to expand our outdoor learning this year, it was pleasing to listen to one of the keynote speakers talking about the correlation between mental wellbeing and being outside. To be honest, though, the amount of time independent schools spend on sport already has a very positive impact on their wellbeing and future health outcomes.

After the conference, it would have been nice to remain by the seaside on such a warm day, especially as it had been blowing a hooley (as we say back home) for the previous two days.

Now that the children have settled into the routines of school life, it is pleasing to report that we have a 94% participation rate in the after-school enrichment programme across the year groups. This is averaging out at around 3.5 clubs per child. This is fantastic to see, and I hope that when you and your children made your choices, you identified a good spread of clubs covering not just physical activity but something that, perhaps, will push them out of their comfort zone a bit.

As we continue to find ways to make improvements to everything we do at Willington, please look out for exciting news coming out next week to connect the Willington community to an even greater extent. Please take a moment to read the reminders page as we have a polite request for everyone who picks up and drops off by car. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, wherever that may be. KB