Posted on: October 14th 2016
As we approach the end of the first half term this academic year (time has really flown!) I would like to reflect on some of the important achievements around the three core areas of our 3-year school development plan: Core Values, Parent Partnership and Providing the Best.
In the short time since the start of the year we have made significant improvements to our Sports programme and appointed Emily Patten to Head of Sport, who is also overseeing After School Clubs. At Norfolk House we believe in empowering teachers and helping them utilise their strengths and talents within the school community; Emily is no exception. She has a real passion for Sport (read more about her recent sporting endeavour in our Celebration Corner) and has great ideas to develop Sport at Norfolk House. She is leading the development of clubs and we will soon be in a position to share with you the range of After School Clubs that will be available on the Prince Avenue site for Pre Prep in the spring term.
Alice Smith is our new Head of Assessment and is continuing to develop formative assessment across the school and is focussing on the creation of a new reporting system that will be in place by the end of this academic year. Alice was heavily involved in assessment at her last school in her role as Head of English and is a brilliant addition to Norfolk House. Her energy and enthusiasm will help us to achieve our goal of ensuring we continue to provide the best possible education for our children and share their progress with you in a clear, concise and informative way.
Our new morning run clubs are a real success and, now the children will have the opportunity to run all year, we hope to see even better results this year and a growing enthusiasm for sport and fitness. Special thanks to Jo Charman, Jane Harman, Haylee Howson, Alice Smith and, of course, Katie Embleton (who kindly volunteers her expertise every week) for committing to running early in the morning on Wednesdays and Thursdays with the children in Fun Run and Cross Country clubs.
Looking ahead, we have our first ever parent focus groups that will be held the week after half term. Mercedes Fabrega has kindly offered her expertise and experience in market research to providing the school with in-depth qualitative data. Thank you to all the parents who have applied to be part of a focus group and for giving up their time to share their ideas about our school. We look forward to the outcome of the focus groups, which I will summarise and share with you in the weeks after the meetings have taken place.
Finally, we have almost completed rolling out the Core Values across the school. The two that the children have been focussing on over the last two weeks are:
Thinker
We are curious and inquire into the world around us. We use critical and creative thinking skills to develop our powers of deduction, reasoning and problem solving.
Principled
We understand the difference between right and wrong and act with integrity, honesty and fairness. We recognise and respect the beliefs and opinions of others, whilst remaining true to our own values. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.
Your support in taking to your children about these and modelling/encouraging them at home is highly appreciated.
