Author Archives: d.railston@swsf.org

The start of 2018 academic year is upon us and we are looking forward to an exciting year. We have some great work planned!

We have a couple of big areas to focus on this year. Thecurriculum, spelling, continuity in maths imagery and Sea Schoolto name but a few. I have also spent a considerable amount oftime working on our approach to behaviour management.

The behaviour at CMPS is generally very good. The children areengaging very well in our Super Learner strategy and this isessential to be the best learner that each child can be. The workwe will be undertaking, which we will share, takes our approach tobehaviour deeper into understanding why children respond in theway they do. I will be looking to work with parents to develop thisapproach through school – so please watch out for the opportunityto get involved. There are three rules which form the basis of theapproach; be safe, be ready and be respectful. Please introduceyour children to the words below… they are draft at present butwon’t change much.

Be ready…

School is a place where we learn. We choose to be ready to learn.We are ready to make mistakes. We arrive with a can do attitudeand knowing if we can’t do it we can’t do it YET. We are ready tolisten, to think and to challenge reason. We are ready to help andbe helped. We are ready to struggle and ready to grow.

Be respectful…

Respect is earned but we can give it for free. At CMPS we showrespect because we aspire to be good citizens. To be respectedwe must respect others. We can all learn something fromeveryone. We respect the effort put into learning and know thatwe all face challenges that are different to our friends andcolleagues. We must respect the value of our environment; ourlocality, our community as well as the physical resources thatmake up our school and classroom. We treat all and everythingwith respect.

Be safe…

CMPS is a safe place to learn – if we choose to be safe in ourschool. We will think carefully about actions that will risk our safetyor the safety of others. We will always make sure adults know if wedo not feel safe and they will listen to us. We know that to learnwell we must feel safe to make mistakes. We know that someonewill help us make sense of those mistakes so we can learn well.

In the last few days of holiday, please begin to remind the childrenof the purpose of school and your expectations. Have a sit downand do a bit of writing and reading and reaffirm the positive.Please make sure that the children have their uniform organisedright down to the correct colour hair bands and shoes.

On Monday the children aren’t in school, but, please come out tosee the Tour of Britain ride through CM. The children have madebunting and there will be bikes decorated! The official time theriders will pass through is 2.20pm but we are advised to be outearly. In school we will be looking at one of the riders, NicholasDlamini, who will be riding for Team Dimension Data, as a positiverole model and inspiration for life. One of our parents hasorganised a signed jersey for school! Huge thanks!

Continuing the health thread… we will be undertaking the ‘DailyMile’ at school. This is part fitness and part mental health related.All too often children in school work hard without a ‘brain break’and exercise is a proven release for stresses and strains in life.Everyone will do it (including the teachers) and they will do it attheir own pace! So, if your child is not a ‘runner’ they will be able towalk with the aim of getting quicker as the year goes on. Pleasemake sure that your child has an appropriate PE kit and trainingshoes in school every day. if you are buying trainers for the schooluniform please make sure they are BLACK with no coloured orwhite detail.

The school dinner menu is on the website and the office will beworking hard to get everything organised for you. Please come into see them if you have any administrative issues.

Finally, we are continuing to work with the DfE to complete thetransfer to Alumnis Multi Academy Trust. There are details beingworked out across the schools involved but we hope to completethe change for the 1st October. Mrs Zoe Batten is going to beworking with all of the schools from the 3rd September and we willbe having a whole MAT training event on the 4th September toensure all staff are safeguarding trained.

If you have any issues or concerns about your child, their class,their friends or home life that will have an impact at school pleasemake an appointment to see the teacher or myself.

We look forward to a great year of hard work and great learning for all.

Don’t stop until you are PROUD of YOURSELF! We recently have launched the ‘PROUD’ certificate in school. Everyday we produce work in school… but are we proud of it? This coming term we will be looking at what it means to be PROUD of YOURSELF and when you should be!

Important information for all Parents

I fully expect that we will be open Tuesday as the temperature rises. I am sorry for the inconvenience this will cause but hope that an early warning will help you plan for your day. I have been told that travel by 4×4 is essential and that some families in the outer reaches of the village will not be able to travel – so please be careful if you intend to try and get to work yourselves.

I have been watching with interest the decisions of the schools around CM and the ones I know in Barnstaple. I have also listened to parents talking about the school closures in the last couple of weeks. It is obviously a difficult decision to close a school. The over-riding factor is child safety but we also have to consider everyone involved with school. Child safety includes who will look after your child on the premises. So while you may be able to get your child to school our ability to ensure safety is a factors we have to put first. As you know all of the teachers live outside of the village. If it was only one or two then it would be different I’m sure. Interestingly the other schools around us reached the same decision last night and the Academy is partially open for older children who are safely able to travel. So, we all came to the same decision.

The main problem parents seem to have isn’t closing for safety reasons – it is the notice they get and a definite decision quickly so they can plan for their family. The response that I got from my quick poll from parents on closure was 80/20 early on and then 75/25 (to close) just before I made my decision. The information from parents was fantastic and the insight it gave me as to the conditions in the village was very helpful. Being able to decide the night before, for me as a Head Teacher, was very positive. There is not much that can happen overnight to completely change a decision!

I did not decide to partially open for several reasons. I cannot guarantee staff being able to get to work. I could not provide food for the children. Partial opening in the afternoon would still have disrupted your day and work. A partial opening in the afternoon – To drop off and pick up from school in the space of 2 hours – would still cause disruption to your day, possibly more so than closing. I have just been informed that Mullacott is closed and the surrounding roads due to crashes. I am very pleased that no one from our school is stuck as they were trying to get to work in very difficult conditions.

I am still working and have meetings in accessible places from 11. I hope this gives you a little insight into what is quite a ‘busy’ evening deciding what to do!

See you tomorrow. Any further comments can be emailed to d.railston@swsfmail.org

Again, sorry for any inconvenience caused.

This term we will be building our learning power by concentrating on the 4Rs…

Resilience: When you come to something challenging think of how to keep going!

A Super Learner will use their resilience to keep thinking of strategies to meet a challenge!

Resourcefulness: Can you find a different way to explain or try to solve your challenge?

Being resourceful is very important when you are thinking of how to explain your thinking. If you can use a model to help you explain your thinking then you are well on your way to mastering the learning journey you are on!

Reflectiveness: I can describe what I have learned and why I was successful.

Thinking back to why something worked is essential. You need to be explicit in your understanding of what worked and why. That will help you to refine and improve even further.

Reciprocity: I can talk about the ideas we have shared in our learning.

Talking about learning is a great way of challenging yourself as well as others. Joining in conversations about learning show that you have an understanding and can adapt and develop your understanding as you learn.

The children will be given a weekly challenge in assembly and then they have a week to show their teacher how their work is improving. The child in each class who shows the most improvement will be awarded the Super Learner certificate on Friday.