FROM THE HEADTEACHER
23rd July 2010 [Number 38 in 09-10]
The last day of term, the last day of the school year, the last day for Mrs Hooke before her well-earned retirement, the last day of being Midday Supervisors for Mrs Tooth and Mrs Redman and the last day for Year 6 before they move to High School! We say a big thank you and wish them all good luck in the future!
Parents’ Forum – Thank you to all the parents who attended the Forum on Monday. Notes of the meeting are overleaf.
Car Parking in
SUMMER WRITING ‘HOME LEARNING’ CHALLENGE
All children are invited to take part in our Summer Writing Challenge.
- You are asked to keep a summer diary with words, photos, pictures and leaflets. Tell us where you have been and what adventures you have been up to!
- You are also asked to take photos of you writing in the coolest places! It may be on the beach, at the carnival, in a castle or on the London Eye! You may be writing your diary or a postcard or creating a poem! Wherever it is and whatever you are doing, get someone to take a photo of you!
When you bring in your diary, you will be given a raffle ticket. There will be a raffle for each class for a bike! Surely that is an incentive! You should bring your diary and photos to school in the first week of term. Entries will close on Friday 10th September 2010.
There will also be prizes for the ‘Coolest Writer’ photos!
After-school Clubs – Forms have been sent out this week with lots of activities to choose from. Clubs start on Monday 13th September.
Mr Hales will be at Burnham Market on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and at Walsingham on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If on the latter two days, you have any issues, please contact Miss Attwooll, Senior Teacher, or Mrs Brown, School Support Manager, who will advise me as necessary.
Dates for second part of Autumn Term 2010
1/2/3 September Professional days
Monday 6th September Children start school
PARENTS' FORUM UP-DATE ON THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN BMPS AND WALSINGHAM
Many thanks to all those parents who came to the update on the partnership on
Monday. It was a very helpful meeting. Thanks also to Mr Hales, Miss Attwooll, Mrs
Brown and Rosalie Monbiot for answering our questions and filling us in on the
state of play with the partnership with Walsingham. In brief this is the
situation:
The Partnership between BMPS and Walsingham has been approved separately by
BMPS Governors and Walsingham School Governors.
The Local Authority has also approved the Partnership agreement between the
two schools.
The Partnership will start officially on 1st September 2010.
Although we call it a 'partnership', both schools remain separate in their identities and are being managed independently. And just for information, Mr Hales has two contracts - one with each school.
In terms of money, the funds for the Partnership are split: 60% for BMPS and 40% for Walsingham. Unfortunately, it's quite possible that funds will be cut in the future.
So can the Partnership agreement be reversed? The answer is yes. If either the governors at Walsingham or BMPS don't think it's working for them, the situation can be reviewed and in theory, the Partnership decision reversed.
As well as getting the update, parents asked how things were going with the Partnership this term and raised some concerns. We also said what we thought was good. It's clear that the management team need to sort out some issues - particularly to ensure that Miss Attwooll is not taken out of Class 1 more than she should be and that she has proper time for her preparation for class. There
have been pressures at busy times and Mr Hales, Miss Attwooll and Mrs Brown will be looking at ways to ensure more efficient use of time and also making sure they meet more regularly for status meetings.
Mr Hales also answered specific concerns - notably that some partnership activities (e.g. sports day) had possibly benefited Walsingham Children over BMPS. There are two really important points here. First the Partnership is actively looking for opportunities for both schools from the partnership. Second, if any of us have ANY concerns please don't hesitate to have a chat to Miss Attwooll or Mr Hales about them. Sometimes, we might just have to agree to disagree, but if there are worries or misunderstandings, it's best for staff, parents and governors to face them head on and address them - however small - without delay. If any parents feel unhappy about talking to staff, please have a chat to Kate (Ash's mum). She's happy to pass on any comments (in total confidence) - and hopefully this can help.
One last point - and nothing to do with the Partnership! It seems likely that like many schools, BMPS will be a subject of Government cuts. This could mean difficult choices including redundancies. We've asked Mr Hales to keep us informed of what's going on.
Have a great holiday.
Flora (Otter’s Mum) and Kate (Ash’s Mum)