Newsletter - Spring Term - 2011
Dear Parents/Carers
Mostyn Site
Swimming lessons will begin on the Mostyn Site for the three oldest Reception classes, Year 1 and Year 2 classes from Monday 7th March. The delay in starting lessons was due to a leak in the pool, which has now been fixed. The children will swim each week, rather than the previous every other week, which will ensure they have the same amount of lessons this year as they did last year when on the Durand Site.
There are still some snagging issues to be completed inside the building over the next few months but we are pleased the children are now enjoying the excellent facilities on the site.
Parent Mail
I am pleased that over five hundred and twenty parents have signed up for ParentMail so far. By using ParentMail we can communicate more effectively with you and ensure you receive all correspondence via email. In doing so the large amount of paper used will also be significantly reduced which will save both administrative time and produce savings for the school.
Parents who have still not signed up can do so by obtaining a form from the office.
School Awards
Durand has received two external awards this term.
The first one is the National Healthy School Status Award. This award recognises Durand's whole school approach to learning, particularly within Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) and in promoting the health and well being of children.
The second is the ISO 9001 accreditation. This award recognises the excellent standard of training of Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) and Graduates that takes place at Durand.
Academic Progress
A number of curriculum competitions took place last term and I would like to thank all the children who entered them across the school. In all competitions the standard was very high and below is a list of winners for each competition.
Autumn Term - Junior Art Competition |
Winners |
|
| Year 3: | Iona Lee-Wardell (3F) |
| Year 4: | Ezo Sarici (4F) |
| Year 5: | Lazaro Munoz (5D) |
| Year 6: | Deniz Allen (6C) |
Runners Up |
|
| Year 3: | Nirvana Gajudhur (3F) |
| Year 4: | Toluwalope Dawodu (4B) |
| Year 5: | Fatima Bouraoui (5E) |
| Year 6: | Jeorgia Anderson (6C) |
Autumn Term Accelerated Reader |
| Year 3: |
Macailah Gordon (3A), Sean Ugbana (3B), Mahfouz Ajibola (3C), Sarah Suleman (3D), Belinda Oguntimehin (3E), Desha Wallace (3F) |
| Year 4: |
Lamar O Connor (4A), Desrick Hird (4B) Dylan Cevallos (4C), Rania Moussaoui (4D), Saeeda Raschid (4E), Rashad Jasir (4F) |
| Year 5: |
Aisha Begum (5A), Hibaq Haji Ali (5B), Tye-Reece Weaver-Newell (5C), Oliver Brooks (5D), Kie Douglas (5E) |
| Year 6: |
Caroline Veiga (6A), Hibaq Elmi (6B), Calvin Cunningham-Ricketts (6C), Yusuf Bal (6D), Zayed Martin |
Parent Governors
The school has two parent governors: Ms Victoria Robinson and Ms Samantha Campbell. The parent governors represent all stakeholders in the school including children, parents, staff etc.
In order to make it easier to identify your parent governors in the playground, I have enclosed photographs of them below.
If you wish to discuss any issues with them please feel free to do so.
I would like to congratulate Ms Victoria Robinson on recently becoming the Chair of Governors and Mr Kevin Craig who is now the Vice Chair.
Concerns
Last year we had several incidents in the playground where parents directly confronted a teacher about issues they were upset about. Could I ask all parents to refrain from such confrontations in the playground as some of these incidents resulted in arguments taking place in front of children and other parents.
I appreciate during the course of any year parents may have certain concerns and will wish to resolve them as soon as possible. In order to do this we have a clear structure in place for parents to have their concerns addressed promptly.
I am happy to see any parent concerning any issue. However, with a school roll of over 920 children it is not always possible to see me when you would like to. A quicker way of resolving a concern may be to see either the class teacher, Team Leader or Assistant Head Teachers depending on the nature of the concern.
Just before school starts is difficult for teachers to discuss issues at any length with parents as they have their classes with them and are ready to teach. A quick word with the class teacher before school is fine, but where a parent wishes to speak at greater length I would ask you to make an appointment either with the teacher or in the office. Thankfully most issues are relatively minor and can be resolved in this way.
If this is not appropriate and you wish to talk to somebody other than the class teacher, then you can talk to the relevant Team Leader. Again, an appointment can be made with Team Leaders at the office and they will be happy to speak to you. If the issue has still not been resolved the next step is to see one of the Assistant Head Teachers, Ms McDonald (Mostyn Site) or Ms Lynch (Durand Site). They will be happy to meet, listen and help resolve issues.
However, if any parent does not wish to see any of the members of staff and do not feel it would be quicker or better to do so, then of course they can make an appointment to see me.
On occasions we have had parents confronting each other in the playground and even confronting other parents' children. In extreme examples of such confrontation, although regrettable, we have had no option but to ban parents from the site in order to ensure the children are not subjected to such incidents. I would ask all parents to refrain from such action and if they do have any concerns to follow the above structures.
Mobiles
I would like to remind all parents that children are not allowed to bring mobiles to school.
Mobiles are not permitted because they cause considerable disruption to the children's education. This disruption includes mobiles going off during lesson time and mobiles going missing, which requires staff spending valuable time trying to locate them. A further potential difficulty caused by mobiles in the school is the storage of them. With up to five hundred junior children at Durand this would present a significant problem if mobiles were permitted on site.
Lateness
The whistle is blown at 8.55 am each morning and it is important children are punctual and ready to line up with their class on time. We find where children
are regularly late to their class they can miss the introduction to lessons which can affect their understanding of the whole lesson. In addition, where a number of children in one class are late each day the lesson is disrupted several times.
Medication/Inhalers
Due to the number of children in school, members of staff do not administer medicines. If a parent wishes their child to administer their own medicine, please send in a note authorising them to do so.
Any parent requiring an inhaler to be stored in school should ensure the inhaler is clearly labelled with the child's name and class. All inhalers are stored in a central place which is the administration office of each site.
Questionnaire
At the end of the Autumn term all parents were sent an Ofsted style questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire are useful for us to gather parent's opinions and to make improvements in areas where there are weaknesses.
I would like to thank all parents who completed the questionnaire and the results are shown below:
Dates for the Diary
Friday 8th April - School closes for the Easter break
Tuesday 26th April - School reopens for Summer Term
Monday 2nd May - Bank Holiday School closed
Thursday 5th May - Local Elections (Durand Site Closed/Mostyn Site Open)
Monday 9th Friday 13th May - Year 6 SATs
Thursday 26th & Friday 27th May - School Photographs
Monday 30th May Friday 3rd June - Half Term
I am very much looking forward to the rest of the Spring Term and the forthcoming Summer Term and I am sure all the children and staff will have a successful and productive term.