Latest posts by Mr Johnston

Fortnightly Review

Skill of the week for next week

Working hard to overcome challenges in class to make accelerated progress.

Learning Highlights

Over the last two weeks there have been some amazing learning opportunities in school.

On Monday 9th December the children took part in a fantastic Aspirations Day organised by Mrs Gibbs. The day began with an assembly and a number of workshops run by local Transformation Coach, Sarah Bramall. She talked to the whole school about the importance of being resilient even when times are tough and then worked with each class in Key Stage Two about areas that they could improve in their own lives.

In the afternoon, 22 visitors from a variety of careers and backgrounds joined the children in the hall to talk to them about what they do day-to-day and how the children could achieve their own goals. There was an officer from the British Army, a midwife from the NHS, the owner and chef of The George Street Canteen, the owner from a local performing arts academy, a digital sports journalist, an emergency ambulance technician and many more. Even Key Stage One had their own exciting afternoon. They took part in workshops run by Phoebe Shergold-Willis, owner of a local Performing Arts School. The children had great fun!

Back in the classrooms, the children were involved in thinking about their dreams for the future and how they could achieve these. In the school there are aspiring police officers, swimming teachers, artists, musicians, café owners, army officers, footballers and many more. The children enjoyed the day enormously and all of the visitors enjoyed attending too.

On Monday 2nd December the children in Year 2 Emperors were involved in an African themed day to consolidate and extend their learning about life in Africa. The following Monday the children also had the afternoon with our Vice-Chair of Governors, Val Male, sharing resources and stories about her experience of life in Kenya. Opportunities such as these are fantastic and enjoyable for the children.

On Tuesday 10th December we had our first Spelling Bee Celebration Assembly for the year. It was great to see so many children achieving their personal best in order to make good progress in spelling.

I have also had the opportunity to visit a number of classes over the last 2 weeks to complete observations of Teaching Assistants. Being in the classroom regularly gives me a good insight into what is happening in every class. I have been very pleased the see the children putting a great deal of effort into the challenges they have been given.

Special events

On 19th and 20th November Ofsted visited the school. A copy of the inspection report and letter to parents has been sent to families today and will also be available on our school website. Ofsted will publish the report on their website on Friday 20th December.

Thank you to our hardworking PTA for organising a fantastic Christmas Film Slumber event last Thursday night. It was a nice way to lead into our Occasional Day. Today we have the Festive Fun event taking place in the school hall after school.

Year 1 Moonbeams and Year 6 Monarchs have also had their rescheduled Parents Evening. Thank you to those families who made the effort to attend their appointment. Thank you to the class teachers (Miss Saunders and Mrs Rigarlsford) for preparing for these important updates for families.

Year 2 Emperors also had their Family Fortnight class workshop yesterday which was very well attended. Thank you to the families who were able to attend this.

This morning after Celebration Assembly a working group of parents met to look at the some changes to statutory guidance, policy and resources for Relationships and Sex Education. There will be some changes next academic year which I will communicate with the wider community closer to September 2020. Thank you to those parents and governors who were able to attend this important meeting.

Reminders

The school day has been concluding at 3:15 pm and clubs have been concluding at 4:15 pm for the past half term. The staff and children are benefiting from the regular communication between one another to plug gaps in children’s learning in order to plan for the next day. Thank you to the families who consistently arrive on time to collect their children from school at the end of the day in order to make this happen.

Precious Little Seeds have been very helpful in accommodating care for children who may have been collected late for a range of reasons. They have commented positively on how well-mannered and polite the children are. If parents collect their children from Precious Little Seeds it is essential they cover the cost of the care they provide in a timely manner. The cost for after school care if parents are running late is £5.

Our Christmas Concerts are taking place next Wednesday 18th December at 2:30 pm and 6:00 pm. Parents are welcome at both. It is essential that children return to school at 5:45 pm, meeting at their own classrooms through the outside doors in order to start promptly at 6:00 pm. Please wear Christmas Jumpers to school on Wednesday and keep these on for the evening performance.

Big Up Your Book

Elliott in Year 2 Emperors recommends “I Know a Rhino” by Charles Fuge.

The story is about a little girl and her teddies. She imagines that the teddies are real African animals and she does lots of different things with them. It rhymes and the illustrations are really good. Elliott recommends the book for children in every class.

Learner of the Week

Firetips (Reception) – Sam

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Millie

Emperors (Year 2) - Duchess

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Scarlett

Cardinals (Year 4) – Issa

Admirals (Year 5) – Arlen

Monarchs (Year 6) – Nikola

Playground Star of the Week

Firetips, Moonbeams and Emperors (Early Years and Key Stage 1) – Zara

Tortoiseshells, Cardinals, Admirals and Monarchs (Key Stage 2) – Zander

Golden Expectations Award

Firetips, Moonbeams and Emperors (Early Years and Key Stage 1) – Jay

Tortoiseshells, Cardinals, Admirals and Monarchs (Key Stage 2) – Rosieann

Give Me Ten

25 times

Emperors (Year 2) – Coralie and Alexis.

50 times

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Ilyas

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Sofia H and Zahra.

Admirals (Year 5) – Mehmoon  

Monarchs (Year 6) – Louis

75 times

Firetips (Reception) – Gisele, Becca and Zaheera.

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Adam, Jay, Max, Niamh, Millie and Kayden.

Emperors (Year 2) – Alyssa, Evie, Drake, Teah, Stanley, Aizah, Duchess, Zaki and Anaya.

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Sofia T, Ruby, Amal and India.

Cardinals (Year 4) – Sebastian, Tia, Morgan, Rosa, Sofia, Kiya and Roma.

Admirals (Year 5) – Subhan, Akeem and Oscar.

Monarchs (Year 6) – Isaah, Nikola and Aleeyah.

Terrific Times Tables

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Layton and India.

Cardinals (Year 4) – Finn, Kiya, Chloe, Rosa, Issa, Hannah and Amber.

Admirals (Year 5) – Shane.

Monarchs (Year 6) – Rosieann, Oyedapo, Hila, Aleeyah, Sadia, Summerm Chloe and Nikola.

House Point Winners

Whitlock Whites

Active Travel Award

Cardinals (Year 4)

Attend to Achieve!  

We need the support of all families in school to achieve our ambitious attendance targets. Unauthorised time off school results in missed learning across all areas. Let’s work together to improve attendance and punctuality!

Firetips (Reception) = 95.6% this is below our school target. It would be great to see this improve next week.

Moonbeams (Year 1) = 95.8% this is below our school target. It would be great to see this improve next week.

Emperors (Year 2) = 96.9% keep this amazing attendance going!

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) = 94.7% this is well below our school target. A toast party with Mr Johnston will be awarded if everyone in the class is in school for the whole week.

Cardinals (Year 4) = 97.5% - WOW!

Admirals (Year 5) = 97.4% - WOW!

Monarchs (Year 6) = 93.8% this is well below our school target. A toast party with Mr Johnston will be awarded if everyone in the class is in school for the whole week.

Dates for your diary

DECEMBER

Tuesday 17th – Foundation Stage Christmas Production, Swimming Celebration Assembly.

Wednesday 18th – Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumper Day, Christmas Concert

Thursday 19th – Whole School Pantomime

Friday 20th – School Closes at 1:30 pm

JANUARY

Tuesday 7th – Children return to school at 8:40 am  

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our families a happy and safe Christmas. 

Mr Johnston

Fortnightly Review

Skill of the week for next week

Reading for enjoyment and pleasure and shares ideas about their reading with others.

Learning Highlights

Over the last two weeks I have visited the classrooms on numerous occasions to see what the children have been learning in class.

Skippers have been working incredibly hard on their physical development, riding bikes and using a range of apparatus to develop strong gross motor skills.

Firetips have been focusing on writing their tricky words in so many different ways. They have produced some amazing writing on the animation of The Snowman.

Moonbeams have been engaged in the learning about the Great Fire of London and have made some fantastic model houses which they are looking forward to burning in a controlled, safe environment.

Emperors have been able to talk about their learning about Africa with great clarity, using a range of technical vocabulary.

Tortoiseshells have worked hard to develop a range of strategies to answer subtraction calculations with confidence.

Cardinals have thoroughly enjoyed trialling the use of Times Tables Rock Stars to help them with their rapid recall of key multiplication and division facts.

Admirals have been producing some amazing learning in a range of key learning areas which they will be ready to share with their families and the rest of the school in their Sharing Assembly next week.

Monarchs are fully immersed in their learning about World War 2. They are fantastic at recalling key facts about the war and have used a range of historical enquiry skills to analyse propaganda.

Special events

This week we have commenced our class workshops for Family Fortnight. We have had excellent attendance at these workshops so far.

All of our Nursery parents were present for their Share and Learn morning, Year 1 had excellent attendance in their focused morning on reading, Year 3 looked at strategies to improve problem solving skills in Maths, Year 5 also focused on Maths in their session which was very well attended.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, an Ofsted inspection was carried out at Margaret Wix. It had been approximately three and a half years since Ofsted last visited the school. The staff and children welcomed the opportunity to demonstrate the journey that the school has been on since the last inspection.

The report for parents will take roughly a month to publish and until then, staff and governors are not permitted to discuss the outcome in terms of judgements or specific details.

Many thanks to the parents who took the time to complete the Ofsted Parent View.  

Big Up Your Book

Will be back in my next fortnightly review just in time for Christmas.

Learner of the Week (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips (Reception) – Ella and James

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Ilyas and Eliza

Emperors (Year 2) – Ed and Drake

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Jessica and Lydia  

Cardinals (Year 4) – Tia and Roma

Admirals (Year 5) – Taylor and Ellia

Monarchs (Year 6) – Hila and Grace

Playground Star of the Week (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips, Moonbeams and Emperors (Early Years and Key Stage 1) – Drake and Alyssa

Tortoiseshells, Cardinals, Admirals and Monarchs (Key Stage 2) – Summer and Lily-Rose

Golden Expectations Award (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips, Moonbeams and Emperors (Early Years and Key Stage 1) – Zaheera and Yaqub

Tortoiseshells, Cardinals, Admirals and Monarchs (Key Stage 2) – Ramana and Felicia

Give Me Ten (for the past 2 weeks)  

25 times

Firetips (Reception) – James, Jeremi, Alia and Lily-Mae.

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Eliza and Kayla-Grace.

Emperors (Year 2) – Christopher.  

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Scarlett, Lexi, Mia-Rose, Maliha, Idris and Lydia.  

Cardinals (Year 4) – Finn.

Monarchs (Year 6) – Oyedapo and Lacey-Leigh.

50 times

Firetips (Reception) – Alex.

Emperors (Year 2) – Ed, Aaron and Arisha.  

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Jessica, Felicia and Maya.  

Cardinals (Year 4) – Eashan and Harry.

Admirals (Year 5) – Yousaf, Ibrahim and Ellia.  

Monarchs (Year 6) – Nikola, Oyedapo, Summer, George, Amirie and Anoosha.

75 times

Firetips (Reception) – Eli

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Annabel

Emperors (Year 2) – Elliot, Carys and Arthur.

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Poppy and Skye.

Cardinals (Year 4) – Hollie, Brody, Issa, Hannah, Emily, Daya, Dylan, Scarlett and Chloe.

Admirals (Year 5) – George, Shane, Daisy, Arlen, Max, Ryan and Eleanor.  

Monarchs (Year 6) – Chloe, Dorian, Holly, Kristian, Tayyibah, Rosieann, Diane, Hila and Summer.

Terrific Times Tables (for the past 2 weeks)  

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Skye, Amal, India, Maliha and Mustafa.  

Cardinals (Year 4) – Rosa, Finn, Saeed, Emily, Esme, Ramana, Sebastian and Morgan.

Admirals (Year 5) – Eleanor, Mehmoon, Akeem, George and Noah.

Monarchs (Year 6) – Millie, Nikola, Isaah, Dorian, Isaiah, Chloe, Diane, Layla, Sadia, Louis and Grace.

House Point Winners (for the past 2 weeks)

Whitlock Whites both weeks  

Active Travel Award

Cardinals (Year 4) both weeks

Attend to Achieve!  

We need the support of all families in school to achieve our ambitious attendance targets. Unauthorised time off school results in missed learning across all areas. Let’s work together to improve attendance and punctuality!

Firetips = 95.8% - work hard to be in school every day up until Christmas.

Moonbeams = 95.9% - work hard to be in school every day up until Christmas.

Emperors = 96.4% - keep up the good work!

Tortoiseshells = 95.1% - I am looking forward to our Toast Party when we have completed 100% attendance for the whole week!

Cardinals = 97.4% - amazing attendance and punctuality!

Admirals = 97.8% - leading the way! Admirals love being in school! Great work!

Monarchs = 94% - it would be great to see Monarchs achieve 100% attendance in the lead up to Christmas.

Dates for your diary

DECEMBER

Monday 2nd—Year 2 Africa Day, Year 6 class workshop

Tuesday 3rd—Year 4 Parent Workshop

Wednesday 4th – Year 1 and 6 rearranged Parents Evening

Thursday 5th—PTA Christmas Film Night

Friday 6th—School closed (Occasional Day)

Monday 9th – Aspirations Day

Friday 13th – Relationships and Sex Education Parent Group Meeting

Tuesday 17th – Foundation Stage Christmas Production, Swimming Celebration Assembly.

Wednesday 18th – Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumper Day, Christmas Concert

Thursday 19th – Whole School Pantomime

Friday 20th – School Closes at 1:30 pm

JANUARY

Tuesday 7th – Children return to school

 

 

 

 

 

Skill of the week for next week

Always being kind with words and actions.

Learning Highlights

A number of learning highlights in and out of school over the last two weeks. Year 6 visited RAF Hendon to support and consolidate key knowledge they have learnt about World War Two.

The children have been learning about the importance of observing Remembrance Day and have developed an excellent understanding of the need to respect and honour this important day in the calendar. The way the children observed the minutes silence on 11th November was a credit to the school community.

On Wednesday of this week the children had the opportunity to take part in a No Pens Day. The teachers planned a range of motivating and interesting activities designed to develop the speech, language and communication skills of all children across the school. 

Special events

Over the last two weeks we have celebrated two special events in school. Children in Year 4 and 5 took part in “The Big School Swim” today during their swimming lessons. Thanks to Mrs Ison, Mrs Clinch and Mrs Jubb for leading this.

Our School Council also organised a cake sale and the opportunity to wear something spotty for Children in Need today. Huge thanks to our School Council, Miss Saunders and Miss Giddens for organising the drive to support those who are less fortunate than us.

Thanks to all parents who attended the Autumn term Parents’ Evening on Tuesday and Thursday of this week. It is important for all parents/carers to have important updates throughout the year on the progress of their child.

Big Up Your Book

Felicia in Year 3 recommends Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It is one of the best loved books ever written. Alice has some exciting adventures and meets some amazing, fun characters along the way. She meets the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Mock Turtle. I recommend this book for all children in from Year 2 to Year 6.

Learner of the Week (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips (Reception) – Evie and Treyvon

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Adam and Kayden

Emperors (Year 2) – Alexis and  Aizah

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Skye and Maliha

Cardinals (Year 4) – Zander and Emily

Admirals (Year 5) – Oscar and Noah

Monarchs (Year 6) – Louis and Rosieann

Playground Star of the Week (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips, Moonbeams and Emperors (Early Years and Key Stage 1) – Jeremi and Eliza

Tortoiseshells, Cardinals, Admirals and Monarchs (Key Stage 2) – Zahra and Kenzie

Golden Expectations Award (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips, Moonbeams and Emperors (Early Years and Key Stage 1) – Niamh and Sam

Tortoiseshells, Cardinals, Admirals and Monarchs (Key Stage 2) – Katelyn and Musah

Give Me Ten (for the past 2 weeks)  

25 times

Firetips (Reception) – Noah, Luke, Alex, Austin, Mohamed.  

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Ilyas, Joshua.

Emperors (Year 2) – Shakeeb.  

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Zahra, Mustafa, Scarlett, Jibran.  

Cardinals (Year 4) – Secret, Zander.

Admirals (Year 5) – Noah, Taylor, Mehmoon.

Monarchs (Year 6) – Holly  

50 times

Firetips (Reception) – Becca. Eli, Frankie, Evie, Zaheera, Gisele.  

Moonbeams (Year 1) – Jay, Millie, Niamh, Max, Annabel, Adam, Kayden.

Emperors (Year 2)  - Anaya, Alyssa, Stanley, Carys, Elliot, Teah, Evie, Arthur, Zaki, Drake, Duchess, Aizah.  

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Skye, Poppy, India, Ruby, Amal, Sofia T.  

Cardinals (Year 4) – Daya, Hollie, Emily, Hannah, Kiya, Scarlett, Morgan, Saeed, Roma, Chloe, Dylan, Sebastian, Brody, Issa, Rosa, Tia.  

Admirals (Year 5) – Max, Eleanor, Ryan, George, Daisy, Arlen, Shane, Kyle, Oscar, Akeem, Subhan, Fiona.  

Monarchs (Year 6) – Isaah, Aleeyah, Dorian, Kristian, Rosieann, Tayyibah, Hila, Chloe, Diane, Millie, Bobby, Isaiah, Holly, Layla, Sadia.

Terrific Times Tables (for the past 2 weeks)  

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – Layton, India, Skye, Zahra, Felicia.   

Cardinals (Year 4) – Ramana, Emily, Amber, Brody, Finn, Eashan, Rosa, Dylan, Saeed, Esme, Katelyn, Hannah, Jayden, Morgan, Scarlett, Sebastian.  

Admirals (Year 5) – Daisy, Max, Shane.  

Monarchs (Year 6) – Millie, Kristian, Layla, Diane, Louis, Isaah.  

Active Travel Award

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) both weeks

Most House Points Collected

Brownlee Blues both weeks

Attend to Achieve!  

We need the support of all families in school to achieve our ambitious attendance targets. Unauthorised time off school results in missed learning across all areas. Let’s work together to improve attendance and punctuality!

Firetips (Reception) – 96.8% - Fantastic Firetips!

Moonbeams (Year 1) – 96.3% - Moonbeams need to keep working hard to get closer to 97%

Emperors (Year 2) – 97.1% - Excellent Emperors!

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) – 95.7% - Keep working hard Tortoiseshells to get to 96%

Cardinals (Year 4) – 97.3% - Cardinal’s attendance was excellent last year and continues to be excellent this year.

Admirals (Year 5) – 97.9% - Amazing Admirals making the most of every opportunity for learning.

Monarchs (Year 6) –95.7% - Keep working hard Monarchs as we need you to set the example.

Dates for your diary

NOVEMBER

Friday 15th —Year 4 and 5 The Big Swim

Monday 25th —Year 5 Parent Workshop

Tuesday 26th —Year 3 Parent Workshop

Wednesday 27th — Open Day for prospective parents

Thursday 28th —Year 1 Parent Workshop

DECEMBER
Monday 2nd —Year 2 Africa Day, Year 6 class workshop
Tuesday 3rd —Year 4 Parent Workshop, Year 5 Sharing Assembly
Thursday 5th —PTA Christmas Film Night
Friday 6th —School closed (Occasional Day)
Monday 9th – Aspirations Day

 

At the end of last term I had a fascinating discussion with our House Captains on the need to do little things to help save the planet. Following this discussion I have made the decision to communicate with families via a blog rather than distribute hard copies of my fortnightly newsletter. Next week I will be filling in the template below which provides parents with all the important information that is currently included in our newsletter. Do take the time to read it.

Fortnightly Review

Skill of the week for next week

 

Learning Highlights

 

Special events

 

Big Up Your Book

 

Learner of the Week (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) –

Playground Star of the Week (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips, Moonbeams and Emperors (Early Years and Key Stage 1) –

Tortoiseshells, Cardinals, Admirals and Monarchs (Key Stage 2) –

Golden Expectations Award (for the past 2 weeks)

Firetips, Moonbeams and Emperors (Early Years and Key Stage 1) –

Tortoiseshells, Cardinals, Admirals and Monarchs (Key Stage 2) –

Give Me Ten (for the past 2 weeks)  

25 times

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) –

50 times

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) –

75 times

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) –

100 times

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) –

200 times (Reading Champion)

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) –

275 times (Reading Ambassador)

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) –

Terrific Times Tables (for the past 2 weeks)  

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) -

Attend to Achieve!  

We need the support of all families in school to achieve our ambitious attendance target of 97%. Unauthorised time off school results in missed learning across all areas. Let’s work together to improve attendance and punctuality!

Firetips (Reception) –

Moonbeams (Year 1) –

Emperors (Year 2)

Tortoiseshells (Year 3) –

Cardinals (Year 4) –

Admirals (Year 5) –

Monarchs (Year 6) -

Dates for your diary

NOVEMBER

Friday 15th—Year 4 and 5 The Big Swim

Monday 25th—Year 5 Parent Workshop

Tuesday 26th—Year 3 Parent Workshop

Wednesday 27th— Open Day for prospective parents

Thursday 28th—Year 1 Parent Workshop