Headteacher Blog 14th July 2023
The minibus tyres will have been red hot this week as they have been to Malham twice with Y5 (geography), Skelton Grange with Y2 (science), Armley Mills with Y6 (history), a girls’ football tournament, swimming and Rawdon Tennis Club (PE), John Charles Centre for a samba performance (music) and The Alhambra on Thursday evening for the show ‘Annie’ (cultural experience). This week clearly demonstrates how having our own minibuses enhances the wider curriculum.
Last night’s trip to see Annie was the final ‘Show Time’ event of the year. Another 50-odd Y5/6 children enjoyed the performance – their fifth of the year. The ‘Show Time’ project goes from strength to strength and provides the children with cheap or free access to a range of theatrical or other cultural events over the year. There are some absolutely stunning shows being lined up for next year’s programme.
“Another great evening at Showtime for xxxx, and sadly her last. Thank you to everyone involved for organising, transporting and giving our children these great experiences.” Parent feedback last night
On Tuesday schools received their KS2 SATs results. Once again, our children did well with results at or above national averages. Official progress scores come later, but our in-house analysis suggests progress is good too. Well done to the children and the staff, all of whom have worked hard to do as well as they could. The graph below shows that our school does consistently well, with national averages represented by the dotted line.
Finally, we may have a resolution to the teachers’ dispute. The 6.5% offer is 2% more than we were offered previously and is a permanent increase without any one-off elements. No one is doing cartwheels – this is still another pay cut in real terms, those of us who have gone on strike have lost lots of money this year and children and families have been negatively affected by the dispute – but it is more reasonable and will probably be enough to avert any further industrial action. If this offer had been made earlier, a lot of painful disruptions could have been avoided.
A fabulous effort and curriculum spread, thanks all!