The latest news from Lessness Heath

• Schools Week Article

  Mon 30 Oct 2023 School Office

  Primary First Trust headteachers Miss Bolton and Mr Clayton are featured in an article in this week's School's Week about mental health and green spaces in schools. 
  
  https://schoolsweek.co.uk/prioritising-green-spaces-has-helped-us-improve-pupil-wellbeing/

  

• Parent Survey

  Mon 30 Oct 2023 School Office

  Dear parents/carers

   

  Please see the attached letter from The Primary First Trust. The direct link to the survey is here:
  Parent Survey - Autumn 2023 (surveymonkey.co.uk)

   

  Kind regards

   

  The School Office

  

• Car Park Update & School Drop-Off Collection Arrangements

  Tue 17 Oct 2023 School Office

  Dear Parents / Carers

   

  You may have noticed that we have had some building work completed on the back playground over the last few weeks, and this is now in fact a car park.

   

  Since taking over the post of Headteacher it has been my mission to eliminate traffic from the front of the school. Cars coming up and down the driveway are far from ideal – especially so close to our Year 3 and 4 classrooms and our front playground.

   

  My long-term aim is that there will be no traffic at the front of the school at all. Cars will all be parked at the back of the school and deliveries will be timetabled around the school day to ensure no vehicles have access via the front gate (apart from the emergency services if needed). The front of the school will become one large purpose-built playground area for all the children across the school.

   

  Projects such as this take time and money. Phase one of this plan is now complete and we are hoping in the new year that the car park will be ready and the current car park at the front of the school will be transformed into an additional playground space.

   

  With this in mind, we are making changes to the access arrangements before and after school.

   

  After the October half-term there will be no access before or after school via the back gate. All children must enter and leave the school via the front gate.

   

  For children in Nursery and Years 1 – 6 this will make no difference and their pick-up and drop-off points will remain the same, including the arrangements for Nursery on a Wednesday.

   

  For children in Reception, there will be some changes to the morning drop-off, as stated below:

   

  In the mornings, Reception children will enter the school building via the main school office, on a rolling drop-off basis. Parents can line up outside the main school office and bring their children to the main office door to drop them off. Children will then walk across the school foyer and down the Reception corridor to their classrooms. A rolling drop-off will not only minimise waiting times for our children to enter school but also develop independence and increase learning time from the moment they arrive in classrooms. Members of the EYFS Team and SLT will be on hand to support this and ensure children have the same warm welcome upon entering school. To prevent congestion, please could we ask that you leave the main school office area as soon as you have dropped off your child. If you need to speak to your class teacher, please contact them via email using the school’s admin address, or, speak to them directly at the end of the day. Reception children will still be collected from the back playground for now until the car park is fully operational. Parents/Carers will still need to enter and exit from the front gate. We will open the main gates just before 8.50 a.m. and close them at 9.00 am which gives you 10 minutes if you need to complete multiple drop-offs. May we suggest that you watch your older children go to school first and then take children in Reception or Nursery to their drop-off points. I appreciate this will mean significant changes for some families who currently use the back gate each day. However, it is imperative that we make these changes to safeguard the children in the long term and ensure that there is no traffic at the front of the school.

   

  Kind regards

  Miss Bolton

  Headteacher

• Autumn/Winter Lunch Menu

  Tue 10 Oct 2023 School Office

  Our Autumn and Winter school lunch menu is now available. There are three weeks of menus which are rotated over the colder months. The individual dates are on each page.

   

  Menu

   

  School lunches are currently £2.65 per day (£13.25 weekly) for nursery classes.

   

  Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children receive universal free school meals which are funded by the government.

   

  Years 3-6 will receive free school meals for the current academic year (23/24) which are funded by the Mayor of London. 

  

• OFSTED Inspection

  Fri 06 Oct 2023 School Office

  Dear Parents and Carers,

   

  I am writing to you today to share the fantastic result of our recent Ofsted inspection, which found that our school continues to be judged ‘Good’. This is a wonderful achievement, and we are very proud of all our pupils, staff and wider community for achieving this.

   

  The report praises the school for its positive learning environment, where pupils feel happy and safe and can excel in their learning.

   

  The report also applauded many other aspects of the school which I wanted to share with you:

  • The curriculum, and its design, was praised for being ‘in-depth’, ‘ambitious’, and for ensuring ‘Pupils achieve well’ because it is ‘carefully set out, beginning in Nursery.’
  • Reading is a ‘priority’, the school has introduced phonics and ‘invested in new reading books which closely match the phonics’ which has helped pupils become ‘fluent and accurate readers’.
  • The teaching of mathematics was praised, with techniques helping pupils become more ‘fluent’ in the subject.
  • Behaviour at the school is exemplary, and the school’s ‘positive approach to rewarding good behaviour encourages pupils to do their best.’
  • Children with SEND are well supported and ‘fully included’ in school life. The ‘school works well with parents and specialist services’ to ensure they make informed decisions to best support these pupils.
  • The extra-curricular provision was particularly commended, with pupils having ‘Spanish pen pals’ and having the opportunity to ‘watch a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre’, alongside other enriching trips to ‘galleries, theatres, and concert halls’ and ‘a restaurant kitchen’ where they developed their cooking ‘skills’ and food ‘knowledge’.
  • ‘The school has set out what it calls its ‘Lessness Legacy’. This programme aims to broaden pupils’ horizons through a programme of enriching activities, leaving them with special memories of their time in the school.’
  • School leaders and Trustees ‘work well’ together to identify priorities and further the improvement of the school.
  • The Trust is a fantastic support structure and the school works ‘effectively with other schools within the Trust’. 

   

  You can access and read the full report here.

   

  We are proud that Ofsted finds we continue to deliver a ‘Good’ education for our pupils, despite the challenges that the pandemic brought us over the last few years. We are looking forward to continuing to build on our best practice to ensure we continue to provide our pupils with the best start in life.

   

  I want to thank you all for your continued support which plays a key part in ensuring our pupils receive the very best education.

   

  Yours sincerely,

  Miss A Bolton

  Headteacher