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Category Archives: Mr Railston’ s blog

See you on Wednesday 5th September…

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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.

School is closed 19th March

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Important information for all Parents

School will be closed on the 19th March

I have had a lot of information from parents and staff in CM and I have decided that we will close tomorrow.

The MET office have extended the Amber warning into Monday and snow will continue overnight with low temperatures into the day tomorrow.

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.

Be a Super Learner at CMPS

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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.

Do you love reading?

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Our own journey through the infants at Lucas’s school has come to an end. He’s off to Junior school now. One of the biggest contributions we made as parents was our daily reading. We have been very careful not to be ‘teachers’ at home and we do things for the love of our children… not because we have a particular expertise. In fact… at infant age, neither of us have a particular expertise! We do what any ‘good’ parent would do. Mostly READ with our children. Lucas didn’t get a Good Level of development at Reception (he’s a summer born and was prem). He developed a good attitude to learning as he grew up and he finished off at Infant School with an assessment of ‘working beyond the expected level’. He’s had good teachers and reading with them once a week. So, how did he do it? Quite simply, we have shared our love of reading with him.

As a school leader I want all children to have a successful education. The cornerstone is the ability to read! A school can come up with a million and one different enticements to ask parents to read with their children BUT in the end it is up to them! Do you value your child enough to sit down every night and read with them? I would hope that you do! If you can’t speak to us! We can help.

So… to the enticement… we have a new section on our ‘love reading’ web page! HAVE A LOOK

We’d love to know what your child is reading over the summer… Take a picture of your child and the cover of the book and post it mentioning @combemartinPS and adding the hashtag #cmpslovereading to the text. It will put their picture on our webpage! Your few minutes of fame! Let’s see how many children can post over the Summer (a time notorious for a decline in reading ability due to lack of practice).

Let’s LOVE READING!

A re-focus…

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I have been very impressed over the last couple of years with the way our children adapt to a new challenge. As with all things, we need to reinvigorate our approach to learning. The GROWTH MINDSET idea has faded a little and doubts have been cast on how accurate the YET message is… HOWEVER (it’s a big however), we never saw growth mindset as a isolated approach. We look at barriers to learning, building learning power, talk expectations, learning dispositions and individual needs when planning our learning at CMPS. This means that we can use the ‘BUILDING LEARNING POWER’ approach to identify and impact on our children where we need to the most. Getting ready for September and the new academic year we are starting by looking at concentration. As you see on the front page and on DOJO, the children have been set a challenge. It will be interesting to see how they interpret that challenge over the week and what they feed back to us. I will let you know!

New beginnings…

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The mind is everything. What you think you become – Buddha

After Easter we look to the new. This is a little out of our educational timeline but we do love to jump on any passing train (of thought) and speed into the new and brighter future grasping firmly onto our rediscovered positive aspirations. We have a lot to look forward to and a lot to be mindful of. With this term come SATS and assessments for the children. this can be viewed as the end of our Y6’s journey at CMPS or the beginning of the next stage in their lives. I much prefer to look on it as the next stage. We know we are doing our jobs when we send young children who are ready to leave us to their next class or school. This need to move on to the next challenge is natural and shows that the child has developed and a love of learning that needs to be continued. New beginnings.

Recently I had a long discussion with a family member who is very dissatisfied with the school her son attends. It got me thinking quite deeply about the role of the parent in education and the changes that we are going to be forced to make here in CM. Budgets are decreasing and they are going to have quite a large impact – however, as parents, we still need to see the best happening for our children. This cannot be done alone. Neither school or home can educate children to their potential in isolation. We have a very good relationship with a lot of parents but hardly see others. I see children immersed in reading and sharing their love balanced against children openly upset because their parent won’t read with them at home. I have parents asking how they can help and give their children the best possible start and parents who we cannot reach. Everyone has their own life and circumstance but when we all come together there is only one possible outcome – the best chance for YOUR child possible. I post as few pictures of my children on Twitter not to show off but to create an opportunity for discussion. My child did not get a good level of development at Reception (putting him in the lowest 20% of his school). He is a summer born child and he was 5 weeks prem. At the last parents meeting we were told he’s on-track to achieve age related (he’s in Y2). This is great to hear but I get more of a buzz from him picking up a book at 6 years of age, sitting in the garden and reading to himself. Unprompted and completely enjoying himself (after he’s played in his tree house, been out on his bike, played with his sister and been out for a ‘coffee’ with the family around town).

We will again be looking at how we can provide this at school and I will be reaffirming the message with the teachers that they must engage with the parents to make this happen. Thank you to all the parents who are there – making it work. To the other parents – how can I / we / school help you? We will be looking at new ways of getting information out to you. I will be asking to see you to talk about your children. It is really worth re-reading some of the material on growth mindset. How we speak to children and each other. What we are trying to achieve. I like to think we are trying to achieve happiness. This video really spoke to me… happiness-v-fun! The key message (and this video is for grownups) is choice. How can your choices make you a bit happier everyday. Obviously, we would be happier if your children were doing really well at school. Education unlocks opportunities and creates chances…

Easter is a time for regeneration… for everyone.

 

What’s in a vision?

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You might have noticed this on the front page… Over the next few posts I’m going to have a go at making it a bit more real…

In our school journey we believe… belong… become…

we believe that…

we should all love learning / we should inspire a passion for learning

the best learning is achieved through the provision of broad and stimulating experiences

that only through taking risks and making mistakes can we reach our full potential

we should always reach beyond our own aspirations and we will encourage others to do the same

we should always expect high standards

 

in belonging we…

are all the heart of our community – local and global

are a community that values the individual first

work hard as a team to improve the outcomes for all

recognise that we are all leaders and seek to develop the capacity to lead in everyone

seek to understand, respect and celebrate the differences of our world (while educating ourselves in and seeking explaining ion for ideals which we cannot reconcile in our community)

 

we  will become…

independent and autonomous lifelong learners

valued members of our communities who have the highest aspirations for ourselves and the highest regard for others

successful, educated, confident and caring individuals

 

When you read something like that it’s often hard to cut through the words to the actual meaning of the them! Every school has discussions like this. We all want the best for the children and communities that come to our school. All the children. This is when words like this really hit their true meaning. We want to instil these ‘words’ into the life of the school. I often stand in front of the children in assembly and talk about a love of learning. The fact is that this comes from life and the experiences around us. How many questions does your child ask and how do you answer? Is learning a journey you share together? If you all don’t know – do you find out? Together? Children learn from all their experiences. This is why at school we search for the best way to stimulate. The BIG experience is – more often than not – the best option. Going and seeing something is FAR more interesting than looking at a picture or listening to someone telling you about it. This love to find out is something that has it’s roots in a question. Personally I love questions in 3s. More than that and you are into a bit of a problem area. The first question – to clarify something that’s happening. “Dad, why is the sun so hot today?”. What do you answer? Do you state the obvious? Do you push through the question because actually, at the moment, you are doing some really important grown up activity? Do you stop and wonder? The quality of your response (note response – not answer) then sets the bar for the following discussion. If you choose to spend some time and ponder then you are going to have some fun! If you relay the obvious – “It’s summer!” Then you are in for some more questions. Children will ask questions until they understand. Why not take a different approach? “Let’s find out!”. That throws the ball back into learning’s court! Is there a way you can experience why the sun is hotter today than yesterday? Are there other factors your child has noticed? How do you even feel the heat from the sun?

With an eye on our end goal… we will become… how will the approach we take to our children’s questions help them become life long and successful learners. Remember (as I do with my children every day), the adults in their lives are the role models for their future. Those who know no different will not be different.

Be unique… think differently!

Have a happy holiday. Maybe I will get another chance to post on our school vision soon… or… if you have any questions?

Getting ready for the new year…

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roald-dahl-day

Mrs Railston and I have been hitting the charity shops! Planning our Roald Dahl costumes! Don’t forget that we are celebrating his 100th on the 13th September! Fancy dress as one of his book characters!

Have a look at the calendar. More to come but you can see a lot of the year here!

Don’t forget to check with the office if you need to update your email as the newsletter is done via email or can be found via a link on the school ‘news’ website.

We are back on the 5th September. The teachers will be at Woolacombe on the 1st September training and then in school on the 2nd. We will be able to give uniform out on the 2nd if you haven’t collected it already.

See you soon.

Off on travels!

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This has been a busy week! I have attended the Board Meeting of our ‘Core Group’ of schools in the Teaching School Alliance, worked with Mr Guyler on our ‘variation project’ with the Institute of Learning and on Friday I will be at the Local Learning Community meeting. Next week I am very pleased to be taking part in the Future Senior System Leaders Programme – the only programme I have had to interview for! This is in Bristol over Monday to Wednesday and then I am back in school Thursday.