Two weeks gone...

More rain! When is it going to stop - the school is full of wet children! The poor kids must think that we have banned them from playing outside. Having a good run round at playtime is so important to the learning process and the absence of this exercise limits the powers of concentration of some of the children.

This week I have spent a lot of time showing round prospective parents and children. Some of these are children due to start school in September and some wish to transfer from other schools. I enjoy this contact and relish the opportunity to talk about the school with people who seem to not know that the school existed until they visited. Almost all of the visitors are very impressed by what they find - complimenting us on the behaviour of the children and the commenting on the atmosphere that they find in the school. It is impossible to describe "atmosphere" - people seem to feel something when they go around school and they are always positive about what they "feel".

Next week I will be holding "progress" meetings with the teachers. At the meetings we will be looking at how well the children in their classes are progressing in the two core subjects of English and Mathematics. We will share details about the successful pupils, those who are doing as well as expected and those who are not doing as well as they should. After discussing this aspect we will then look at ways in which we can improve progress for all pupils but especially those that are not progressing as well as they should. We will set targets and then agree to review them again at the beginning of the summer term. I will enjoy these meetings - I'm not sure that the teachers will enjoy them in the same way!

Horrible Day

My goodness what a horrible day! The rain is pouring and the wind is blowing a gale. Standing at the door greeting the children this morning was not a very pleasant experience. Umbrellas, wellingtons and wet coats featured heavily this morning - and the aroma of damp clothes and hair is everywhere! There are many nice features of winter weather - sadly this morning none of them are present!!

This term has stared well in many ways. The teaching and other staff ave returned refreshed as a result of the Christmas and New Year break and the children have returned with their boundless energy and enthusiasm. On the third day back at school we entered an indoor athletics competition at a local special school and had to challenge three of the largest schools in the area in a range of events. To our great delight we were the overall winners of the event by a clear 15 points and the children all performed wonderfully well. In addition to that we were informed by the Southend Road Safety team that one of our children's designs had been chosen to be the illustration for the "Drink/Drive" campaign over the Christmas and New Year period. Her picture has featured on beer mats, posters and apparently in adverts at the cinema. So not only are we producing great athletes and competitors but also we are nurturing some artists and designers!

We are trying to recruit new governors to join our current board. This morning I will be meeting a member of the Southend Youth Council who is very interested in the position and will also be discussing the role with one of our parents. The role of school governor is a very important one and often undervalued. We are very lucky to have a group of very interested, supportive but challenging governors who take their role very seriously. I hope our potential new governors like what they see and hear and decide to join up!