School Improvement - Parent Survey November 2020
The results of our parent survey are out.
See how we are improving - https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/parent-view
Stanmore Post - 17 July 2020
This week we have welcomed children from Year 4 and 5 as part of their transition back into school. It has been important to us to ensure that children and families retain a sense of belonging to our school. From talking to parents, it would seem that these brief visits have helped towards reducing anxiety about the return to school. I hope that this has been your experience. If you believe that there is more the school can do for your child to ease transition back in September please contact the school office.
This has been an extraordinary term and one that will last long in the memory. I am so proud of the whole school community and the way in which we have all adapted. Thank you to every single person who has played a part in keeping both a positive mind set, and learning going, either in school or at home. We would like to hear from you on how you feel we have responded to this highly unusual situation. By giving us your feedback, you will help us in our future preparations, planning and decision-making, should the need arise.
Please follow the link to leave your comments - https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/covid-parent-feedback
September Opening
In the guidance issued by the Government at the beginning of July, it is stated that all pupils, in all year groups, will return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term. We are making plans for this to happen safely. Our overall aim is to give pupils as full a curriculum and as ‘normal’ an experience as we can, while keeping everyone safe, by adjusting school routines. Our plan for safety follows government advice closely and includes:
Making sure that people who are ill stay at home
Making sure everyone practises good hygiene techniques
Cleaning the school even more intensively
Active engagement with NHS Test and Trace arrangements
Adjusting school routines to reduce contact amongst those on site
Further guidance will be issued to parents on Friday 28th August, prior to the start of term. However, I would like to draw your attention to the following key points:
All children will return to school on Friday September 4th
School attendance will be compulsory and we will follow our usual absence procedures in the case of non-attendance.
Children will work in a class ‘bubble’ of 30 with limited movement around the school and there will be staggered break and lunchtimes.
All children are expected to wear their full school uniform.
Children can bring one bag to school – not a rucksack, please - containing a packed lunch (if needed), a coat, hat and sun cream (if needed) and a water bottle. For children in Year R the Stanmore book bag will be provided by the Friends of Stanmore Primary School
Children must not bring their own pencil cases etc. All school equipment will be provided by the school.
There will not be a staggered start or end to the school day.
Children will be able to arrive from when the gates open at 8.30am. The gates will be locked at 9.00am. The day will finish at 3.10pm for KS1 and 3.15pm for KS2
Parents should make preparations in the event of an emergency closure of a ‘bubble’ or year group. Parents may be notified at short notice of children not being able to attend. Notification will be via text, email and the website.
For individuals or groups of self-isolating children, remote learning will be in place.
There will be no school run clubs for at least the first half term, and possibly the whole term.
We are intending to re-open our breakfast and after school club from Monday September 7th. www.creativekidz.org.uk
Reports
All reports will be sent home with children in school today in years R, 1, 5, and 6. If you have not received a report for your child, collection times from school are available next week on both Monday and Tuesday.
9.30am – 9.45am Year R and Year 4 parents can collect their child’s report
10.00am – 10.15am Year 1 and Year 5 parents can collect their child’s report
10.30am – 10.45am Year 2 and Year 6 parents can collect their child’s report
11.00am – 11.15am Year 3 Final Collection
Classes
You should have received an email with information about your child’s class for September. For ease of reference, the structure is as follows:
Year Group |
Class Name |
Teacher |
Support staff |
| Year R | Catkins | Miss Day | Mrs Spencer-Clark and Mrs Head |
| Year 1/2 | Maple | Miss Williamson | Mrs Bullock and Mrs Johnson |
| Year 1/2 | Rowan | Mr Read | Mrs Bullock and Mrs Johnson |
| Year 3/4 | Birch | Mrs Jones | Miss Anderson and Mrs Stanley |
| Year 3/4 | Sycamore | Miss Evers | Miss Anderson and Mrs Stanley |
| Year 3/4 | Willow | Mrs Joyce | Miss Anderson and Mrs Stanley |
| Year 5/6 | Oak | Mrs Laver | Mrs McGovern |
| Year 5/6 | Elm | Mrs Kempson and Mrs Hauman | Miss Elkins |
| Year 5/6 | Juniper | Mrs Atkins and Mrs Fenton | Miss Kelly, Mrs Scarr, Mrs Griffiths |
| Ready to Learn | Mrs Mason, Mrs Petts and Mrs Mitton | ||
| Additional Support | Mrs Askwith and Mrs Horkan | ||
| Admin Team | Mrs Sanderson and Mrs Eagle | ||
| Site Manager | Mr Foard |
Virtual Sports Day
Thank you to everyone who took part, sent photos and their scores. The children in school enjoyed themselves. More information can be found at: https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/6/12/summer-term-2020-work-and-house-points
The winning House Team is: Lark
Congratulations to all of the children in Lark and well done to everyone for taking part!
There is no expectation to complete work during the summer holiday. However, if you do wish to continue with home learning then please look for work on our website at:
Year 1 and 2: https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/6/11/year-1-and-2-home-learning-summerholidays2020-48w42-d3shn
Please send work to:
Your new teacher will look at your work in September.
We can provide printed versions of the work on line. Please contact the school office to arrange collection before the end of term.
Farewells and thank yous
I would like to congratulate all of our Year 6 pupils as they come to the end of their years at Stanmore Primary School. I am sure they are taking away many happy memories. They are a super year group and we all wish them the very best for their future at Secondary School and beyond.
I would like to wish all of our leavers: Miss Norris, Mrs Lowy and Mrs Riches, every success in their new roles in September. They have all made a significant contribution to the school and we will miss them.
Finally, I would like to thank children, parents, and grandparents, Governors, Friends of the School, volunteers, especially Demi Eagle, as well as each and every member of staff, including our HC3S kitchen team, who are all committed to strengthening our values of Belonging Excellence Support and Trust.
I hope that you all enjoy a peaceful, happy, healthy and sunny summer!
Best wishes,
Sharon Taylor
Stanmore Post - 10 July 2020
Dear Parents,
We are enjoying welcoming children back in to school for their morning visits. Next week, children in Year 4 and 5 are joining us and should arrive between 8:30am and 9:00am wearing school uniform and trainers. All parents and children should follow the one-way system and be dropped off and collected at the middle door on the KS2 playground. They can bring a water bottle, a snack and sun cream but no other bags or belongings. Children should be collected at 12 noon. Miss Norris and Mrs Horkan will greet the children in Penguins. Mrs Laver and Miss Norris will greet the children in Zebras.
Year 4 Penguins
Monday July 13th
Tuesday July 14th
Year 5 Zebras
Thursday July 16th
Friday July 17th
Reports
We are in the process of sending home children’s end of year school reports. They are being staggered to line up with the days that the year groups are returning to school for their morning visits. Year 4 reports will be sent home on Tuesday and Year 5 reports will be sent home on Friday. Year R, 1 and 6 will also receive their reports on Friday.
Classes
On Friday 17th July, the date that the last reports will go home, we will send an email informing you of your child’s class next year. This means that everyone will receive information about next year’s classes at the same time. The class structure is as follows:
Year Group |
Class Name |
Teacher |
Support staff |
| Year R | Catkins | Miss Day | Mrs Spencer-Clark and Mrs Head |
| Year 1/2 | Maple | Miss Williamson | Mrs Bullock and Mrs Johnson |
| Year 1/2 | Rowan | Mr Read | Mrs Bullock and Mrs Johnson |
| Year 3/4 | Birch | Mrs Jones | Miss Anderson and Mrs Stanley |
| Year 3/4 | Sycamore | Miss Evers | Miss Anderson and Mrs Stanley |
| Year 3/4 | Willow | Mrs Joyce | Miss Anderson and Mrs Stanley |
| Year 5/6 | Oak | Mrs Laver | Mrs McGovern |
| Year 5/6 | Elm | Mrs Kempson and Mrs Hauman | Miss Elkins |
| Year 5/6 | Juniper | Mrs Atkins and Mrs Fenton | Miss Kelly, Mrs Scarr, Mrs Griffiths |
| Ready to Learn | Mrs Mason, Mrs Petts and Mrs Mitton | ||
| Additional Support | Mrs Askwith and Mrs Horkan |
Virtual Sports DaY
I hope that you had the opportunity to participate in our Virtual Sports Day. Thank you to everyone who took part and sent photos and their scores. The children in school enjoyed themselves. Photos of the event can be found at: https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/6/12/summer-term-2020-work-and-house-points
The winning House Team will be announced next week.
Leavers’ Service
This year the Year 6 Leavers’ Service will also be a virtual experience. If your child is not at school and would like to take part, then please send in a 5 – 10 second video of them holding up a ‘Goodbye’ poster ( A4 or A3) waving goodbye – Landscape view please. You may also like to send any written memories of their time at Stanmore. Please send all contributions to year5and6@stanmoreprimary.com by Monday 13th July.
HOME LEARNING
There will be special activities for each year group to mark the end of term and more details of these will be shared by the class teacher. If we can help your child to access work in some way, please get in touch.
Please send work to:
We can provide printed versions of the work on line. Please contact the school office to arrange collection.
Work submitted and house points:
https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/6/12/summer-term-2020-work-and-house-points
Year 1 and 2: https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/6/11/year-1-and-2-home-learning-13-july-2020-48w42
Year 3 & 4 https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/6/11/year-3-and-4-home-learning-13-july-2020-6ye2f
Year 5 & 6 https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/news/2020/6/11/year-5-and-6-home-learning-13-july-2020-nrerl
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Stanmore Post - 28 February 2020
Dear Parents,
As part of our Curriculum Work we have been thinking about the experiences that children have at lunchtime. We are excited to share our Lunchtime Changes with you. These have been designed by the children and staff and include themes such as ‘Mindfulness Monday’ and ‘Would you rather?’ Wednesday. Our House Captains have been wonderful ambassadors for our school, including speaking to the Hampshire Chronicle about their role in school improvement earlier this week. They have designed a presentation on the lunchtime changes which they would like to share with you here.
As you will be aware, Mrs Kempson has started her maternity leave. The children have had a successful week with Mrs Atkins as the lead teacher for Elm Class.
In the lead up to SATs, Miss Evers will be providing some additional booster sessions in Elm during the afternoons. These sessions will help the children who are about to undertake statutory assessment and give the Year 6 pupils the best opportunity to be successful. When Miss Evers is providing booster during the afternoons, Mrs Stanley will work in Sycamore Class. Mrs Stanley is well known to Sycamore as she teaches in this class every day and knows all of the children. Year 3 / 4 began rehearsing for their Ancient Egyptian Play that they will perform later this term. Miss Evers is fully involved in the production and remains the lead teacher for Sycamore.
As a school, we are now fortunate to have a strong KS2 team who are able to work together for the best interest of the children. This includes supporting Mrs Nutt in Aspen Class as she temporarily stands in for Miss Norris.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Stanmore Post - 14 February 2020
Dear Parents,
Your support this half term in making our school the ‘BEST’ that it can be has been really appreciated. This half term we have seen an increase of parent participation in events like KS1 ‘Bedtime Stories’; Year R curriculum meetings and the SATs meetings in Year 2 and Year 6. This week Mrs Fenton, our inclusion leader has met with parents of children with special educational needs in order to review their personal learning plans.
The recent home learning as part of the Ancient Egyptian topic has also enhanced learning at school. I have really enjoyed seeing the work that children in Birch, Willow and Sycamore have brought to show me. Your children are really proud to tell me about how you have helped them. I appreciate the extra effort that parents have gone to in order to help us make learning purposeful.
Hazel, Maple and Rowan Class enjoyed sharing their learning with parents at the Outcome this week. Irresistible learning seen throughout the ‘Does X mark the spot?’ topic was enhanced by a visit from a pirate yesterday afternoon.
Finally, we said goodbye for now to Mrs Kempson, as she starts her maternity leave this week. We wish her well and look forward to hearing news of a safe arrival. Mrs Atkins is looking forward to teaching in Elm class after half term.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Stanmore Post - 7 February 2020
Dear Parents,
An important part of our school curriculum and our wider work within school, includes our aim to support all children to be confident, resilient and independent, and to develop strength of character. As you will be aware, at Stanmore we use the ‘Keys for Success’ to provide a framework for this. Our Keys represent six learning behaviours: Co-operation, Respect, Resilience, Persistence, Organisation and Confidence.
Each week, we look for ways to promote, recognise and celebrate these learning behaviours. Sport is a fantastic way for children to develop strength of character using our Keys for Success. As part of our ongoing work to achieve our Silver school games award; this week a team of Year 5/6 children have taken part in a Winchester and Eastleigh Cross Country event. Two of our children: Seth Noott and Thomas Megoran came within the top 20 and will now proceed to the District Cross County Competition. Congratulations. Stanmore Primary School will also host a Winchester Schools Rugby event later this term.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Stanmore Post - 31 January 2020
Dear Parents,
In our English Curriculum this week there has been a focus on Poetry. We are giving children the skills that they need to master reading but we also aim for them to love reading and be able to select books based on an understanding of what makes an enjoyable read. Enjoying the rhythm, rhyme and use of language in poems is a really effective way to promote this. Through poetry, the children are encouraged to make choices and engage in reading. Children across the school have been enjoying talking about their responses to the poems, and exploring their likes, dislikes and how the poems make them feel. Throughout the school I have heard children learning, reciting and performing poems.
If you would like to share any of these poems with your child/ren, these are some of those used during the week.
Year 1/2
‘Out of the Fire, a Spark’ by Michaela Morgan
Spring’ by Deborah Alma
‘The Seedling’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar
‘Child’s Song in Spring’ by E. Nesbit
‘Caterpillar’ by Christina Rosetti
‘Snow Fox’ by Liz Brownlee
Year 3/4
‘He Thinks of his Past Faces’ by John Canfield
‘Fire’ Read aloud by Brian Moses
‘The Way Through the Woods’ by Rudyard Kipling
‘Shadow Boy’ by Kate Wakeling
Year 5/6
‘Front Door’ by Imtiaz Dharker
‘Becoming the Eagle’ by Jan Dean
‘Chameleon Kids’ by Matt Goodfellow
‘Instructions for Not Becoming a Werewolf’ by Abigail Parry
Next week, parents are invited into school to find out more about the Early Years Curriculum and the Year 4 Multiplication Times Tables Check. Miss Evers will explain more about the purpose of the multiplication check, which will be used to determine whether Year 4 pupils can fluently recall their multiplication tables. Miss Day will also be explaining more about what is involved in the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. Parents are welcome to come into school to find out more on Wednesday 5th February at 2:45pm and 6pm. The meetings will be held in Sycamore and Catkins Classes.
Recently we were successful with an application to the Local Schools Nature Grant. We were one of 100 schools chosen, from 1572 that applied. As a result, we have some fantastic outdoor equipment for ‘loose parts’ sculpture and den building. Children in Catkins will begin using this next week and will start to invite other classes to join them at lunchtimes for outdoor learning and play after half term. Have a look at our photos from our excellent training session led by Learning through Landscapes.
Stanmore Post - 24 January 2020
Dear Parents,
Our Stanmore Curriculum is based on the National Curriculum which is set out by the Department for Education. It provides an outline of core knowledge, but each school must then consider how that content is taught. This week I enjoyed hearing from some of our subject leaders during a presentation to Governors, on the strengths and next steps of our Stanmore Curriculum. The rapid improvement that we are continuing to make in subjects like Geography, History, Science, Art and Music, as well as in reading, writing and mathematics, is evident. Find out more about our Stanmore Curriculum at https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/the-stanmore-curriculum
Maple, Hazel and Birch class have had an introduction to Samba and African Drumming this week. During the year all of our children in Year 1, 2, 3 and 4 will have the opportunity to learn two different instruments. The rhythms were sounding good this morning. Parents can look forward to a Listen to Me concert later this term. Check our School Calendar for all events.
Our School Library Volunteers are continuing to make the library a place where children can develop a lifelong love of reading. Children are very welcome to change their library book independently on a Wednesday when the Library Volunteers are in school. This is in addition to their weekly class session. Please remind your children to have their library book in school on these days so they can make the most of their library time. New books will be arriving later this half term from the school library service. If you would like to volunteer to hear a child read on a regular basis please let Mrs Jones in Rowan Class know. Mrs Jones will give you further information on how to support us in our determination to make every Stanmore Child a fluent reader.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Stanmore Post - 17 January 2020
Dear Parents,
Children in Year 1 and 2 had the opportunity to take part in ‘Bedtime Stories’ on Wednesday evening. This was a lovely event for parents and children led in part by Mrs Jones with a contribution for parents by Sian from the School Library Service. The classroom looked magical with the fairy lights and everyone enjoyed the hot chocolate and marshmallows provided. It was a great way to promote a love of reading. We believe that reading is important because it unlocks children’s access to a rich curriculum now and sets them up to succeed in the future.
Children in Year 4 enjoyed their first swimming lesson at Kings this week. They all demonstrated our Keys for Success, with confidence and persistence particularly evident. We are continuing to promote sport in our school and, after our successful Bronze achievement last year, we are aiming for the Silver School Games Award. Four Sports captains have been elected from Year 5 and this term teams are participating in: Cross Country, Volley Ball and Hockey.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor
Stanmore Post - 13 December 2019
Dear Parents,
It was a pleasure to see so many parents attending the outcome in KS2 this week. The children have worked so hard and they are very proud of their topic work. I am sure that, like me, you are noticing the improving quality of their writing.
Christmas has really started this week with the Dress Rehearsal of the Year R Nativity at Level 10 Church. All of the children attended and really enjoyed seeing the younger children in their performance. Today the children looked very festive in their Christmas Jumpers. There are several events next week so please check the calendar at the end of this newsletter.
This weekend the children will be asking you to complete some homework. There are five carols that we will all be singing next Thursday at our brand new Christmas event ‘Carols in the Courtyard.’ Please can you learn the words of: Midnight, Unto Us a Child is born, No Room at the Inn, Silent Night and Away in a Manger. We will finish with ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas.’ The children should have a copy and the words can be found on the website https://www.stanmore.hants.sch.uk/calendar/2019/12/19/carols-in-the-courtyard
Carols in the Courtyard is a community event, and you and members of your family are very welcome to take part. It will be a much more festive and wonderful occasion if everyone participates. Please do your homework.
Best Wishes
Sharon Taylor