Headteacher Message

Dear all,

I hope you are all well.  It has been an extremely busy week and I have some good news for you.  As of today, we have our complete staff structure in place for September.  Darell is not a school that has a big turnover of staff, but this year there are a couple of departures.  I will be writing an email next week to outline the changes, but I can tell you that we have excellent replacements in place.  Why are these excellent?  Well, they sought us out, they wanted to work here, and their values matched the school ethos.  Recruitment can be tricky, but this year everything has fallen into place and the school will continue to move from strength to strength. 

Next week we will be trialing a positive behaviour initiative across the school.  We are going to ask class teachers to record positive behaviour on Arbor so that you will see this when you use the system.  We will be emailing the parents and carers of those children who have been commended and signposting them to Arbor where they will see the reason for this recognition.  I have to thank Laura Gavin who has devised this system.  It had to be workable and that means very easy for our busy teachers to use. From next week please ensure that you check your emails as good news could be on it’s way.  

I have to go now and support our Eid event, so please have a lovely weekend with your families.

Thanks, 

Joe Porter   

Office Updates

We aim to respond to all emails and telephone calls within 2 hours.

Communications

Sent Home

• Nursery & Reception - Kew Gardens trip
• Year 3 & 5 - Swimming payment reminder
• Year 4 - Wider opportunities letter from RMT
• Year 5 - Walton Foirs Residential payment reminder
• Year 6 - Orange Tree Theatre Workshop and Performance reminder

The Reading Corner

Welcome to our weekly section of the newsletter all about reading. Every week, we will share a question (or two) with you about the book your child is reading in school. Please use these questions to help you find out a little more about what your child has been reading in school and continue to develop their love of reading.

Wonder - In Jack and the Beanstalk, do you think Jack made a good choice in swapping Daisy for the beans or a poor choice? 

Peake - Can you remember some of the places the river took the girl in her silver boat? (city, farms, waterfall, jungle, mangroves, ocean)

Weir - Have you ever seen a giraffe? What was it like?

Thunberg - Why do you think Hogarth's family reacted the way that they did? Do you think they have seen him before? Why?

Darwin - How would a person growing up in the prairies in Kansas (like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz) be different from a person growing up in a city?

Attenborough - What is your favourite verse so far of the poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes?  Why?

Parks - How did Prince Florian survive? What was Prince Otto's original plan?

Stars of the Week!

Early Years Star of the Week

Wonder Class

Clay - for living our value of aspiration and making a fantastic model of a spider with 8 movable parts!

KS1 Star of the Week

Peake Class

Max - for showing great enjoyment in learning about mountains and rivers in geography, and creating a beautiful map. Well done, Max!

Weir Class

Danielle - for working so hard in phonics and using your voice. You have a lovely voice and it is wonderful to hear it!

Walker Class

Olly - for working really hard and showing a big improvement with his blending and reading skills. Well done, Olly!  

Newton Class

Mio - for her engagement & enjoyment in our Science lessons. Well done, Mio!

Thunberg Class

Sam - for his fantastic use of similes in his description of the Iron Man. Well done, Sam!

Darwin Class

Niki M- for giving 100% of her attention to her studies and constantly aspiring to do better with her work.

Attenborough Class

Tyrese - for his engagement and enjoyment in our Food Tech and Science learning.

Parks Class

Omer - for working hard in English lessons and learning new vocabulary.

Attendance

Overall, school attendance this week was 91%. Our target is 97%.

Well done to Peake Class for the highest attendance of 97% this week. 

Let's do our best for next week!