Posted on: September 30th 2016
It has been an exciting fortnight at Norfolk House which has seen a few of the important changes that I shared with you in the School Development Plan presentation last week. As you will read our first buddy sessions have taken place that now involve children in six year groups with the aim to develop a long-term supportive relationship that will support the transition as the younger children move up through the school and provide opportunities to develop greater responsibility for more of our older students.
We have elected the new School Council for the year which is a more inclusive model to develop pupil voice throughout the school with children from Forms 2 to 6 being invited to stand. We had some great speeches, many including the Core Values that have been introduced over the last four weeks, which is an excellent example of how the children are adopting and promoting these already. The staff would like to thank all the children who put themselves forward for election and praise their courage and creativity. We would like to congratulate the following children who were chosen by a democratic vote to be representatives for their class:
2S Toby Priest
2C Iselle Rifat
3H Milo Thompson
3JH Lola Thompson
4C Leonard Stocker
4S Alanna Forbes
5H Oliver Osler
5O Caitlin Alpert
6A Alex Sergeant
We look forward to the impact that the School Council will have and will hear more from them next week after their first meeting. Special thanks goes to Deborah Gormley for developing the structure for the new School Council, organising the elections and taking on the role to lead the children through the year ahead.
As part of improving communication, we have launched our new school planners that are tailored to the different ages across the school and we are already receiving positive feedback from children and parents. Special thanks goes to our Heads of department Julie Bolton, Phil Smith and Jaye Cannon who have worked incredibly hard to lead the development of the new planners from scratch.
Our Core Values that have been introduced to the children over the last two weeks are:
Open-minded
We appreciate and seek to understand the ideas, views and values of others. We are willing to make changes and recognise the benefits of compromise and collaboration.
Communicator
We express our ideas confidently, clearly and purposefully. We listen thoughtfully and interact with others in a polite and mindful manner.
Please take the time to read the definitions and talk about the language with your children at home and share examples of how you model the Core Values within your family.
Finally, I must mention the wonderful ladies from the Friends of Norfolk House: Natalie Saffer, Mumta Gandhi, Nichola McKerrow and Emma Wolanski for arranging the welcome back drinks at the Clissold Arms last week. The evening was really well attended by parents and teachers from across the school and was a well-needed opportunity to socialise in a less formal environment after a very busy first three weeks.
