Stanmore Post - 16 October 2020
As you will be aware, we have had a week of external visits to the school to check in on various aspects of our school improvement journey. We had a planned Local Authority Monitoring Visit on Tuesday. Usually this would be a termly visit. However, due to the restrictions on visitors we have not had a visit since December 2019. Although they were not able to fully interact with the children, the Inspectors noted significant improvements since the last visit. In particular they commented on how calm the school felt and how engaged children seemed in their lessons. They agreed that the work in the books show that the children have been working really hard since the beginning of term.
Yesterday we had a visit from OFSTED. This is part of a series of visits by OFSTED to a variety of schools nationally. The information that they gained will be used to gain a national picture of the affect the pandemic is having on schools. During the day the Inspectors met with all of the leadership team. This included a virtual meeting with Mrs Kempson in Stubbington. The lead Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI) will now write a short letter. The letter will not contain any judgements but will summarise briefly the discussions the inspectors had with our school leadership team. This is to provide parents with information about what the school is doing to help children back into full-time education and will be published on the OFSTED website. You can read more about the purpose of this visit at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/interim-phase-maintained-schools-and-academies
Both visits this week felt very positive and we were able to share a range of examples of our ongoing work. What came across was the pride that we all feel to belong to Stanmore School.
Yesterday Year 6 had a really successful trip to Stubbington Study Centre. Before lockdown we had planned a residential to Stubbington later this term, intending to make this an annual Year 6 event. I am really pleased that we could still offer a very full day’s experience, despite the restrictions. It was a pleasure to hear how much the children and staff enjoyed the trip. They experienced a range of activities including a beach visit, den building and a game of Stubbington Fox. They were lucky enough to spot badgers at the Badger watch. It was lovely hearing younger children tell me that their brother or sister had gone to Stubbington. Our Enrichment Curriculum is carefully planned to give children experiences throughout their school journey that they can look forward to.
You can see photos of the trip at https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/10/16/year-6-big-day-out-to-stubbington