Mr Cheek school visit

This is my first entry onto the Governor’s blog and I am gradually easing my way into the new role at the School and learning what it entails. Firstly, I would just like to say thanks to those who supported my nomination and hope I can do justice to the role and be part of the school’s ongoing progress.

As part of my new role I was invited to an Initial Induction Day at the School. So on Wednesday 4th February 2009 I visited the school for my first visit in my new official capacity.

I was given an introduction to my role by Miss Jennings and we discussed some of the school’s current issues, such as the current curriculum and proposed improvements, the current school buildings and plans for the futures and also the general improvement of the school over the past 4 years. I was very impressed with what the future could hold.

I visited all the classes briefly and observed a small snapshot of each class. The immediate thing I noticed was that the children were well behaved and engaged in a plethora of varied activities, all of which were well planned and enjoyable for the children. I was shown the school’s ICT suite and I could not help but be impressed by the set-up and there was no resemblance to my school days when we made do with a couple of BBC Basics and the odd RM Nimbus. The opportunity to develop computer literacy, an important life skill in my opinion, was clearly evident by the facilities available to the children.

After this initial tour I spent some time in three different classes.

I initially spent time in Class Y5E, where a class full of children and two adults taking part in Aerobic exercise greeted me! I was impressed by the participation level of the children and also with the effort put in by the teacher! We then went to the ICT suite and I watched as the children demonstrated their skills and knowledge and was shown an excellent PowerPoint presentation. I was impressed with the children’s knowledge of PowerPoint applications and the use of Hyperlinks. I was also impressed with the way the teacher dealt with a challenging class and still managed to deliver the lesson in a way that was both informative and interesting.

I then moved to class Y3G where the children were learning about Music Appreciation. I was able to observe the Interactive whiteboards in action, which are massive improvement on chalk and a blackboard! The children again were attentive, interested and seemed to enjoy the opportunity to listen to Classical music and describe how the music made them feel.

Finally, I went into Class Y1A where I was treated to a rendition of the class song for their next sharing assembly. I was very impressed with the effort put in by the class.

Overall this was a visit well worth making, I was impressed by what I saw:

1. The children all appeared happy, content and genuinely interested in what they were being taught.
2. The style of teaching was constructive and innovative, but still managed to deliver the objective of the lesson.
3. I was impressed with the way the behaviour of the children and the way they interacted with their peers and the teacher.

This visit has given me an insight that I would not normally have got and it has only reinforced my view that this John Bramston Primary School is a good school yet continues to seek new ways to improve further and move forward.

Thank you all for having me today.