Mr Cheek Link Governor Visit

As part of my role as a school parent governor and also link governor for Assessment for Learning, I spent the 8th October 2009 at the school. This enabled me to take the opportunity to spend some time in the classes and witness for myself the current excellent standard of teaching and see how much the children have been progressing during the Autumn term.

I initially went into Class Y3E and witnessed the use of the interactive whiteboards and children learning about different parts of a book, such as the glossary and the index. I was pleasantly surprised just how much they knew and it was clear that the use of the IT made this an enjoyable and interesting lesson for the children and having this lesson on a large screen in front of them provided a far better learning aid then just sitting at desks looking at a book.

From here I attended a school assembly, the theme of the assembly was Black History Month. This consisted of a Powerpoint and verbal presentation from Mrs Ehsan. I was impressed with the Children’s knowledge of Mary Seacole and Charles Drew, the latter I must confess that I was not aware of!!!! I was impressed with how well behaved and attentive the children were.

I then had the opportunity to witness Mrs Cheek at work in Class Y2C. I was again impressed with the endeavour of the class, the pupil management and the standard of teaching. I have consistently been impressed with the level of teaching and pupil behaviour across the school.

From here I visited the Reception and Nursery. I have a vested interest in the Nursery in particular with my 2 year old daughter hopefully starting here next September. I witnessed the children in Miss Fresco’s Reception class learning their sounds and then engaging in play based learning. I then moved to the nursery and got to listen to a story being read to the children by Mrs Creasey, I was impressed with how well the majority of children just sat and listened and also with the way the other staff managed the children who did not want to just sit down. My short time in the nursery has left me with a very positive view of the nursery and from a purely selfish point of view the way that it will benefit my little girl.

I then got to sample a school dinner, which I believed is now being provided by a new contractor. I can remember school dinners when I was at school and the stodgy, bland food that they used to serve up. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and variety of the meals available and enjoyed the pasta and meatballs.

After this I had the opportunity to sit down with the School’s Assessment for Learning lead, Mrs Abela and have explained the current and future plans. For those of you unaware, examples of this involve the traffic light marking system that you may have seen in your children’s books, amongst other tactics to raise learning standards. This is an area constantly under review and development and I can see real benefits for both the children and the school as the school develops its own policies for Assessment for Learning.

All in all, I had an enjoyable day at the school and would like to thank the staff and children for making me feel welcome and included and I look forward to my next visit.