Author: Mr Roundtree

The primary league tables have been published.

The Department for Education site publishes the percentage of children at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6) achieving Level 4 or more in both English (reading and writing) and Maths together.  It shows at Moortown Primary, this percentage has gone from 78% in 2009 to consistently over 90%.  In 2012, 94% of children achieved Level 4 or more.

What the league tables don’t show is the stories behind the data.  We’re proud of this figure: 94% continues to place us amongst the highest in the country.  But it’s a little lower than 2010 and 2011.  One child missed out on a Level 4 by a couple of marks in Maths but achieved Level 4 in English – this is shame, especially since Ms Hazell reports that the pupil was working quite securely at Level 4 for much of the year (perhaps SAT nerves or test technique let this pupil down on the day…?).  Another much-loved child has very specific special needs meaning he could not do the tests at all, but is included in our school results – parents and carers are often surprised to hear even pupils with quite extreme special needs are included in the league tables.

The BBC version of the league tables publishes the percentage of pupils reaching Level 5 (the level of a typical 14 year old) or more in both subjects.  Our percentage is 45%.

Again, it’s useful to put that figure in a context.  First of all, it’s very good, although not quite as high as some other high-performing schools.  Our data for this particular class of children shows 61% of pupils achieved Level 5 in English and 52% in Maths.  It can be a lottery of a kind to find out which of those children achieved Level 5 in both.

Additionally, the BBC describes this aspect of the league tables as ‘high-achieving pupils’.

However, we like to think that children who make lots of progress as high-achieving – and many of our children exceeded average progress expectations.

Moreover, in Maths, we have a high percentage of pupils who achieved not just Level 5 but Level 6: 13%.  This is a result of their hard work at home, in class and at supplementary sessions – our Tough Stuff Maths club!  (Very few pupils nationally achieved Level 6 in English – most teachers and headteachers were struck by just how hard the test for this was.)  This year, we continue to challenge and support those with potential to work towards this very significant level.

Well done to all our pupils in the 2011-11 cohort.  You achieved well socially, emotionally and academically.  We’re proud of you all.

This week, we sadly say goodbye to one of our pupils, whose family are re-locating.

We’re very grateful to have received a letter informing us, with the following comments:

It has been a privilege for my child to attend Moortown Primary.  Since her first day, she has enjoyed every single day at school… We will always be grateful for the school’s nurturing environment and excellent education standards.

Around this time last year, Ofsted inspectors visited school.  Whilst we were very happy with the school’s overall judgement of ‘outstanding’, we were disappointed that our Reception class was singled out as an area to improve.  Parents tell us (and told the inspectors) that they are happy with their child’s progress in the first year at Moortown Primary, but inspectors were less enthusiastic.

Since the inspection, we have thought hard about the next steps.  We didn’t want any knee-jerk reactions which would lead to only superficial improvements, if any.  Here’s how we’ve responded to the inspection so far.

This year, staff in the class are participating in a year-long project with a private, Early Years specialist, Early Excellence.  Six other primaries in the area are joining us.

Part of the project involves a visit from an Early Years specialist.  We’re delighted with the feedback so far; below are some extracts from her report.

• The staff team work extremely well together and support children’s interests sensitively.
• The staff were very tuned into the children and responded with useful ideas and possibilities that they could think about.
• Children are encouraged to share their work with each other and to celebrate good learning together at the regular plenary sessions.
• Staff were observed through the session pointing out and reporting to each other things that were happening all around the room and outside.
• Organisation of provision in the indoor space is challenging.  It is surprising how much staff have managed to fit in and are offering a good range of provision areas.
• There is a lot of encouragement for purposeful writing and mark-making in the areas – I like the writing wall in the role play area.
• The light and friendly ethos enables the children to feel secure and to take risks as they learn new skills and techniques.
• The headteacher is very supportive of development in the Early Years.
• The school clearly has a close-knit team that operates well together.

The report also praises the children in Reception, who ‘were observed working collaboratively together and talking spontaneously about their activities’.

As well as this project, we’ve invested in a lot of new furniture to help meet pupils’ needs even more, and new resources for children to play with and learn with.  Ofsted inspectors also advised that the school’s leadership team (the assistant headteachers and me, the headteacher) should improve their evaluations in Reception; with this in mind, a range of external experts will observe provision and evaluate it alongside the school’s leaders, and the headteacher will visit Reception classes in other schools to evaluate alongside other school leaders.

We believe the provision in our Reception class matched the good and outstanding teaching and learning elsewhere. Nevertheless, we are keen to move forward positively, and take the Ofsted recommendations as a constructive prompt to get even better.  We’ll continue to invest in training and resources to ensure the best provision and the best outcomes.

We’ve always taken your child’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural development seriously – and we’ve been successful, too.  Ofsted (November, 2011) judges us to be outstanding in this area, noting:

Their outstanding behaviour, together with their maturity as members of the school community, is reflected in their respect for different cultures. This leads to outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. A typical comment from pupils is that, ‘in this school we are all equal. We treat each other from different religions equally’. 

But what do the terms ‘social development’, ‘moral development’, ‘spiritual development’ and ‘cultural development’ mean?  When I seek your views on this area of our work in the annual survey of parents and carers, we typically get fewer responses for this question – I wonder if it’s because of the slightly mysterious nature of of terms!

Here’s how the Department for Education define the four aspects, and some comments (in italics) about how we’re promoting them at Moortown Primary School, especially through the homework tasks we set.

Social development

Pupils’ social development involves pupils acquiring an understanding of the responsibilities and rights of being members of families and communities (local, national and global), and an ability to relate to others and to work with others for the common good. They display a sense of belonging and an increasing willingness to participate. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to make an active contribution to the democratic process in each of their communities.

It’s wrong to think that the best learning happens in a silent classroom!  At Moortown Primary, our classes are often buzzing with talk – talk for learning, that is.  We believe that lots of speaking and listening between pupils is vital – it’s a life skill and a great learning tool, too: it can help children develop their thoughts, check their answers for reassurance, embed their own learning… Linked closely with SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning), especially the current theme of Getting On, social development is happening all the time at Moortown Primary.  Teachers often set homework based around the SEAL theme; at the time of writing, for example, Mr Wilks and Mr Redfearn have asked the Year 3 and 4 children to do some Talk Time on different ways to get on with friends.  Next week, children in all classes are asked to consider bullying: what it is, what types of bullying there are, and how we can stop and prevent it.  Again, this stems from our SEAL themes and promotes social development.

Moral development

Pupils’ moral development involves pupils acquiring an understanding of the difference between right and wrong and of moral conflict, a concern for others and the will to do what is right. They are able and willing to reflect on the consequences of their actions and learn how to forgive themselves and others. They develop the knowledge, skills and understanding, qualities and attitudes they need in order to make responsible moral decisions and act on them.

Talk Time homework is the perfect way to have a healthy debate about a moral issue, and recently all the teachers in school set a moral question to consider at home: older children considered whether everyone should be paid the same wage (fitting in perfectly to their Big Topic, Rich and Poor); Y3 and Y4 children considered if households should have more than one car (linked to the All Aboard! Big Topic); and children in Key Stage One pondered whether animals should perform in circuses (which stems from the Roll Up! Roll Up! Big Topic).  As always with Talk Time homework, opinions which children have heard and considered at home (and hopefully some rich language, such as words like ‘Nevertheless,…’ and phrases like ‘I agree with most of what you say, but…’) are then a central part of class discussions.  Theses sorts of discussions, at both home and school, promotes social development, too! 

Spiritual development

Pupils’ spiritual development involves the growth of their sense of self, their unique potential, their understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and their will to achieve. As their curiosity about themselves and their place in the world increases, they try to answer for themselves some of life’s fundamental questions. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to foster their own inner lives and non-material wellbeing.

As well as the obvious ways to promote this through Religious Education and assemblies, we recently asked children to respond to what a religious festival means to them. This was a creative homework: I can show what Eid or Diwali means to me and my community.  Teachers were very impressed by the quality of the homework.  Later in the year, we’ll repeat this homework task for festivals from the Jewish and Christian faith.

Cultural development

Pupils’ cultural development involves pupils acquiring an understanding of cultural traditions and an ability to appreciate and respond to a variety of aesthetic experiences. They acquire a respect for their own culture and that of others, an interest in others’ ways of doing things and curiosity about differences. They develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to understand, appreciate and contribute to culture.

We value and respect children from all faiths.  Importantly, we value and respect children with no particular faith, too.  As an alternative to the homework described above, children might have chosen to respond from a cultural prompt: I can respond to a book I’ve recently read.  Again, the quality of the homework was great.  Later in the year, there will be an opportunity to respond to a film or television programme (your child’s chance to become a film or TV critic!) and to a work of art. 

 

As always, if you’d like to know more about this or any other aspect of the teaching and learning at Moortown Primary, please do contact me.

In the last newsletter, there was an updated list of key dates for the year ahead.  The new dates included two PTA cake sales.

Following this, someone questioned whether we, as a healthy school, should hold such cake sales.  This is a good question – the more prompts we have to reflect on our practice, the better.  And the more prompts for parents, carers, pupils and staff to reflect on our diets and lifestyles, the better, too.

I like to think that it’s better to think about healthy and unhealthy diets rather than healthy and unhealthy foods.  Broccoli is a healthy food, but if we were to eat it all the time at the expense of other vegetables, our diets would be missing out.  The same goes for all food – a broad and balanced diet is what’s needed.  You can learn more with your child about the food pyramid, the eat well plate and look at our own guidance for healthy packed lunches for more advice.

So… My thoughts are that yes, cakes aren’t particularly healthy, but as an occasional treat, for most people, they’re fine.  After all, food containing fats and sugars do feature in the food pyramid and the eat well plate – just in a small amount.

That’s why the PTA’s two cake stalls are held with my full approval.  (At the same time, don’t forget, you’ll also have the opportunity to view some of the children’s work.)