Thursday 30 October 2014

Our current School Improvement Priorities

Below are the school’s current aims for the rest of the year, headed by OFSTED targets. We expect an HMI (lead inspector) visit in the half term before Christmas, as well as Babcock (Surrey) monitoring and support visits.

Although the quality of teaching in the school is consistently good or better - in my opinion - our data from the last two years at Year 6 is below a ‘good’ level. This may affect the OFSTED judgement in the coming year, depending on the timing of it and the standard of work that is evident in books, supported by information from occasional testing. The next full inspection is due this academic year; the HMI visit is an interim one in advance of that. 

Ultimately, the quality of teaching and learning (target 1) will be reflected in the standards that are achieved and the degree of progress that pupils make over time (2), supported by strong leadership (3). 

The priorities highlighted below are similar to those that can be found in most schools and are already evident here to greater or lesser degrees; we have to ensure that they are done consistently well and that they impact on children getting better.




Priority 'Headlines'
(click on more detailed document below)

OFSTED 1. Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or better

  • Marking is a consistent & part of ongoing assessment
  • Well pitched and appropriately challenging lessons. Pupils are taught what they need, at the right level.
  • Adults work regularly with ‘guided groups*
  • Teachers adapt lessons, where necessary


OFSTED 2. Raise achievement and accelerate progress in reading, writing and mathematics

  • A focus on getting key writing skills in place: sentences and punctuation, as well as handwriting.
  • Spelling: clarify what we teach, how we respond to mistakes in work, which words to learn & test.


OFSTED 3. Improve the leadership of teaching

  • A rigorous monitoring schedule reflects school priorities






Sunday 26 October 2014

Parent Consultations: feedback

Please take a little time to complete this short survey. Only a few questions are 'required' to be answered but there are opportunities for you to expand on your answers.
All responses are collected and collated automatically when you click 'submit'.

Thankyou for taking the time.


Saturday 25 October 2014

Happy Half Term!

We hope you have an enjoyable and restful half term in the coming week. Everybody has been working very hard, children and staff, in the last eight weeks and the collection of work on show during parents' evening showed that. I think you've all earned a rest!

Thankyou to you all and, in particular, to two members of staff who are moving on at this time. Mrs Manvell is leaving Year 6 after being with Bushy for four years and Mrs Leary is moving on from her School Business Manager position to work for Babcock (Surrey LA). It is sad to see two great team members go and we wish them all the very best for the future.

Emma Manvell
Caroline Leary on the left of other Goddesses, Becky Zimmerman and Tracey Steer
In the next couple of days, there will be posts about our current school improvement priorities and also a brief survey to gauge your views regarding the recent Parent Consultation meetings.

Friday 24 October 2014

Headteacher's Awards

Many congratulations to our wonderful children who have been picked out by staff for special recognition at the end of the first half term. Headteacher's Awards are given out at the end of each half term and the recipients have all made a great impression on their teachers.

Some of the qualities that have been demonstrated by our gallery of super stars are:
  • being organised and independent;
  • always helping others and doing the right thing; 
  • being polite, considerate and supportive to others;
  • working hard to improve and get better;
  • being cheerful; putting a smile on the faces of classmates;
  • having a positive and enthusiastic approach;
  • contributing in class; producing great work.
Whilst we can't do all of those things all of the time, these children have set out the expectation for others. Very well done to them all!








Tuesday 21 October 2014

Parenting Puzzle: evening course of workshops

Following on from the success of the workshops that we ran this half term, we are offering an evening course of parenting workshops starting Wednesday 5th November. Places are limited so please email to book your place ASAP!

Kind regards

Nicky and Karn

click to open

Monday 20 October 2014

Parent consultation meetings and survey

Please find below details of the arrangements and organisation of this week's meetings. 

  • Tuesday 21st 5.30-8.10pm and Thursday 23rd 3.30-6.00pm
  • Parents enter the building through front entrance (security door inside reception area will be unlocked)
  • Consultation appointments will take place in classrooms
  • Children's books will be found on a table in the corridor
  • Chairs will be in corridors for parents to wait on
  • Parents are advised not to bring their child and/or siblings, if they can make alternative arrangements for them.
  • There will be no formal supervision throughout the school for children who need to attend. Parents should keep their children with them when waiting for appointments; they may, perhaps, read in the book corner during the appointment. Children should not be allowed to roam freely in or outside of the building, unsupervised.
Appointments
  • Each appointment is 10 minutes long. Teachers and parents should, please, try to stick to time as parents may have siblings in another class - and other parents will also be waiting
  • If a parent needs additional time or is running over time, they will be asked to make another appointment for an after school slot
  • Teachers will comment on how the pupils have settled in - socially, playtimes, academically
  • Teachers will notify parents of any behaviour concerns/forms that have been filled in
  • Teachers will give parents an indication if the pupil is working above average/below average/ average for their age
  • Teachers may discuss any informal maths targets and will share current writing targets
  • It will also be an opportunity to mention if home-learning is not regularly being handed in


Although the main purpose of these initial meetings is to discuss how your child is settling in and to get your perspective about this, we will also be sharing information with parents during the year about the progress children are making academically and their areas to work on. We want you to be partners with the school in your child's development and will provide home-learning tasks that are intended to enable you to support their progress.

We will also be keeping you up-to-date with the school's progress towards being OFSTED 'good' or better and will be sharing our current priorities with you shortly.


How well does the school keep you informed?

On the theme of progress for both children individually and the school overall, I would appreciate it if you could complete the following short survey. Please don't expect to be able to answer all of the questions or be concerned about that; we hope to improve your knowledge of these areas over the coming weeks and months.
You will see that only a few questions are compulsory: your answers will be collated automatically when you press 'submit.'


Sunday 19 October 2014

Harvest assemblies

Thankyou very much to all of the parents, family and friends who were able to join us for Friday's assemblies and for all of the many Harvest gifts that have been contributed. We had a very full hall of visitors and a huge amount of gifts!

These will be distributed to some of the elderly residents in our local community this week. It was good for us all to reflect on our duty to support those who may be lonely and less well off than ourselves, as well as being thankful for the food that we often take for granted. 

A selection of our choir will be performing to the congregation at the Methodist Church on Tuesday and we are very grateful to Helen and Asif from the church for joining us and leading the assemblies.

Many thanks also for the PTA members who supplied refreshments to our visitors.



Thursday 16 October 2014

Fireworks Extravaganza: Thursday 6th November


This year’s Firework Extravaganza will be on Thursday 6th November. We do hope you can join us as we are anticipating another spectacular fireworks display. Advance tickets are £3.50 for adults and £2.50 for children. Tickets can be bought on the night, adult tickets will cost £4.

All ticket request forms were sent via book bags last Friday. Spare copies are available in the office if any went missing along the way! Please return ticket requests to the office by Friday 24th October. Your tickets will be sent home with your child after half term.

To ensure the safety of everyone during the show we are required to close the gates just before the display at 7pm and keep them closed until after the event has finished. Once the gates are closed, there will be no further admissions. Please make sure you arrive before 7pm, allowing a few minutes in case there’s a queue.

Gates will open at 6pm. Refreshments will be available to buy and will include hot dogs, soup and mulled wine. Glow sticks will be also be available to buy.

If you can help at this key fund raising event for the school, please let Fiona know via the ‘Where can you help?’ sheets or torichardandfiona@ntlworld.com.

We are really looking forward to welcoming you all at this fun and busy night.



Bushy PTA


Tuesday 14 October 2014

Cross Country Champs!

Congratulations to the children who participated -very successfully - in last week's races, and thankyou to staff and parents for their support. Please see the report below.

Hello everyone, our names are Louise and Aimée. We are going to tell you about the cross country race we participated in on Wednesday the 8th. 

It was a tiring race and we were puffed by the time we had finished. We had to go to St. Joseph’s for the race and, oh my word, was it hard! We ran 1.5 miles and at the end of each lap awaited a really steep hill with the only way to the finish line.

In the boys race, we were so happy when Alfie Spear busted everyone and came first - with Matt D in close pursuit! Bushy 1st and 2nd! 

We came 7th and 27th in our race because of the great support given from parents, Mrs P-B, Mrs Kale and the one and only Miss Furze. We thank everyone you made that event a day to remember. 



Sunday 12 October 2014

What is your favourite book?

Hopefully, you will be aware that the Guildford Book Festival is running this week. Follow the link to see if there is anything from a very interesting line-up that appeals to you or your family: http://www.guildfordbookfestival.co.uk/

We have many new books on display in our fabulous library at the moment - thanks to Mrs Fewell - and we would like to invite you to make recommendations for your favourite children's (or other) books.


Please double click to add your suggestions, perhaps with an idea of the age that they might be best for. 
Do not be afraid - you can't make any 'mess' that can't be undone!

PTA Newsletter

You should already have received the latest PTA newsletter (click below) by ParentMail. It sets out the main PTA team, who have already made great strides to organise the events listed for this term.

Thankyou to them all and particularly also to Tracey, Jill, Fiona and Julie for their valuable time and energy in leading last year’s committee events.


Saturday 11 October 2014

Bushy's Got Talent! Charity Fundraising

We were all amazed and in awe of the passion and presentational skills of Year 6's Louise and Megan in assembly on Friday. They see it as their mission to help others and are both creative and persuasive in their wonderful efforts.

Please find details of their scheme for this year below: 'Bushy's Got Talent' to support Children in Need, taking place after half term. How fabulously impressive to have young people who care so much for others and who can present their ideas so confidently to a large audience.

Brilliant girls! Please support them.



click for presentation



Friday 10 October 2014

Stars of the Week

Does this show that boys are best?! Previous weeks don't suggest so but well done to all of you boys this week!

                                          


Monday 6 October 2014

Walk on Wednesdays

We were visited today by David Graham from 'Living Streets', along with the mascot 'Strider', to launch an initiative to get more children and families walking to school. The children should be aware of the five main reasons why walking to school is a good idea and you could test them! For a reminder, click on the presentation further down the page.


The presentation also gives more information about the project, which involves children earning badges each month for walking on a given number of days. This month, we will focus on 'Walking Wednesdays', when we would ask that you make a special effort to walk to school.

If walking all of the way to school is impractical, we'd ask that you try 'Ride and Stride': drive part of the way and walk the rest, avoiding parking on Sheeplands Avenue.

Let's see which classes get the most walkers and who can be proudly wearing their badges at the end of each month!

Could we also remind parents not to park opposite the school at any time and never across the drive of anybody, including our neighbours. In addition, please ensure that children aren't arriving at school too early; our gates open at 8.40 and yet there are some children waiting around from before 8.30!

Whilst we are glad that people want to be prompt and not late, we'd ask that you aim not to arrive before twenty to 9. Thankyou.