☰ Guest Blog: Mrs Ellison - 20th September 2013

Guest Blog: Mrs Ellison - 20th September 2013

Posted on: September 20th 2013

Welcome back!

Ms Habgood has given me the weighty honor of writing the first blog of the year! Whilst we’re only a few short weeks into this academic year, everyone has settled in extremely well; our Reception children, new pupils and new members of staff already feel part of the Norfolk House family. As always, life at Norfolk House is busy. Somehow Pre-Prep have already managed to fit in a Toy Focus Day – the children (and staff) seemed to be having great fun dressed up as some of their favourite toys!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the KS2 Student Council Elections. On occasions like these, I am always tremendously impressed with how articulate and confident our children are at public speaking. Listening to the speeches, I am sure that we can look forward to some thoughtful and original initiatives being launched this year. Many of the Form 6 children have hit the ground running, sitting exams right at the start of the year. As always, I am proud of the focused and mature manner in which our children approach this challenge, proving themselves a true credit to our school. I’ve also been enjoying my Form 4 History lessons on the Victorians. The children got to see a different side to me this week when, without warning, I took them back in time to a Victorian lesson – from drill through to strict gender segregation and even an appearance from the dunces cap, we entered into a different world. I think everyone was glad to get back to the 21st Century!

Ripples of excitement spread across the KS2 assembly when Ms Habgood announced that we had purchased a bank of iPads. Walking into the buzz of Miss Williamson’s Form 5 English lesson the other day, it was delightful to see the children immersed in their group activities, using the devices to pool their responses to the Chronicles of Narnia. Through carefully selected educational apps, Forms 3 and 5 will be experimenting with programming and streaming directly to the whiteboard, so everyone can share in their ideas. You may have also spotted the odd QR code appearing on homework, giving direct links to online resources to support children with their learning. We also see great potential in using this technology to share the children’s learning with you at home. There are even rumours of Miss Joyce producing phonics videos and Mr. Ashton releasing a series of Maths podcasts following on from his highly acclaimed Maths evenings! Norfolk House is also now on Twitter - check out our feed to keep up-to-date on events and news as they unfold.

It’s been a great start to the year and with all of this happening already, I’m looking forward to seeing what else the year brings...

Mrs Ellison

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