Posted on: January 20th 2017
The staff and I would like to wish all our families a happy new year and welcome you back to school for the new term. It is fantastic to see all the children running into school, ready to learn. It is great to welcome some new families and pupils to Norfolk House: Azzura Malfatto and Alyssa Khomenko (Nursery), Daniel and Ella Bice (Reception and Form 3) and Michael Pagano (Form 4).
The Form 6 children have entered the final furlong in the senior school admissions process with many having completed their exams and interviews and eagerly await the results in a few week’s time. The way they have risen to the challenge and kept their cool in incredibly pressured exams and interviews is truly impressive. This is no mean feat and has been the result of a collaborative effort between the Prep team, children and parents.
When touring recent prospective parents around school, many have commented on the natural and confident way that children participate in lessons and, as when I visited the school for the first time back in February 2015, knew immediately that this is the right school for them. I look forward to my second term as head and to working closely with the staff and parents to ensure the service we provide is the best it can be. As you know Mercedes Fabrega kindly offered her services to help me run the very first parent focus groups at Norfolk House just before the Christmas holiday and I am currently summarising the findings and will share these with parents in the coming weeks. I would like to personally thank all the parents who gave their time to support the school and I am especially grateful to Mercedes for the many hours that she sacrificed to meet me and run the groups. My initial impressions are the feedback from parents seems to align closely with the school’s three-year development plan and this will be incredibly useful in identifying not just what we can develop, but how we can achieve this.
The data from the focus groups helped to inform the training sessions during the January INSET days. The staff focussed on a range of important issues that directly impact learning and pupil experience; for example: the school’s behaviour policy, reporting to parents, Core Values, supporting children with speech and language needs and assessment tracking. Over the coming two terms we look forward to implementing changes that will ensure we are providing the best for the children at Norfolk House.