Headteacher Message 

Hello all,

I hope you are well.  As you may or may not know, I am lucky enough to be in charge of our Twitter account.  Sharing the excellent experiences that our children have is a great part of my job. They are usually high quality pictures, but yesterday I received one that I believe is worthy of a wider audience. To put it into context, Year 2 visited St Paul's Cathedral and, to me, this picture embodies what education should be; new experiences, awe and wonder, expertise and engagement.  What was really nice was that the staff at St Paul's took time out to comment on the superb behaviour of each one of the children on the trip.  They are excellent ambassadors of the school.

I would like to talk about behaviour.  Not your behaviour because you are very well-behaved.  It is the school’s approach to behaviour across the school.  Once again, you may or may not know earlier in my career I worked as the teacher in charge of a Pupil Referral Unit.  A centre that children came to if they were at risk of or were excluded from school.  It was emotionally draining work, but it helped shape the Headteacher I am today. One of the mantras I used when working there was ‘clear and fair and show them that you care’. The clear aspect relates to boundaries.  Children need to understand that there are very clear and consistent boundaries that the school implements and that there will be consequences if these are overstepped. It is really important to understand that behaviour is communication and to pursue a very child centered approach to behaviour management. Nurturing values underpin what we do at Darell; however, it is also important to recognise that clear boundaries and consequences enable our children to feel safe in school and that is always our first priority.  Today, I am going to share our updated behaviour policy with you.  I think it is really important that you feel that you have some input on this so, before sending it to the governing body, I would welcome any feedback you may have. The school council has read through and contributed to this document, and now it is your turn. 

I would also like to say that if you would like to discuss anything relating to behaviour at this school then I would welcome your feedback.  Please ring and ask to speak to me.  No concern is too small to be aired.

I am going to finish on some exciting news, our amazing site manager Michael is taking part in the London Marathon this year. By all accounts it is a long way.  If you see him, wish him luck with his ongoing training.  I am also doing the London to Brighton bike ride this year. If you see me, tell me to get on my bike as my training regime is as yet non-existent.  Please have a lovely weekend.  

Communications

Sent Home

• Whole school - Behaviour policy

• Whole School - Wellbeing February Newsletter

Stars of the Week!

Early Years Star of the Week

Wonder Class

Callie-Grace - for being ready to learn and for always bringing

great ideas to busy learning.

KS1 Star of the Week

Peake Class

Lusine - for always being a great friend to the children in Year 1 and making thoughtful contributions to class discussions. Well done, Lusine!

Weir Class

Whole Class - for demonstrating fantastic historical knowledge, helping each other up the 376 step climb and behaving impeccably on our class trip to St Paul’s Cathedral. You are a credit to our school! Well done, Year 2!

Walker Class

Whole Class - for following instructions, good listening and turn taking during PE.  Well done, everyone!

KS2 Star of the Week

Newton Class

Whole Class - for being resilient and understanding on the strike day & for having a positive attitude.

Thunberg Class

Sofia - for taking responsibility for her learning and practising handwriting at home. She now has beautiful cursive handwriting.

Darwin Class

Sienna - for aspiring to remember the names and locations of the world’s oceans.

Attenborough Class

Kole - for his thoughtful contributions in our history workshop at The National Archives, speaking clearly and sharing his enjoyment of historical enquiry.

Parks Class

Ashton - for such a great improvement in his confidence and for asking for help!

Rashford

Fiach - for being a kind friend to everyone in class, always willing to help and taking pride in his work!