PARKDALE NEWS & VIEWS
Newsletter 207
TALKING HEAD
News & Views from the Head’s Office
Welcome to the first full Newsletter of the Spring Term. Thanks to all for their continuing support and caution as we deal with the relatively high number of Covid cases around. Keeping school staffed has been a challenge for the past couple of weeks, but we’re just about coping. Thanks also to staff, who are being brilliant, going above and beyond to do things that really aren’t their job, just to keep us up and running.
Nursery Applications
Just a reminder to the parents of any three year olds that applications are open for places in our Nursery from Easter for those turning three between 1st of January and the 31st of March. The application form is available here: https://parkdale-primary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Nursery-Admissions.pdf
Parking
Sorry to have to mention parking again, but we are still getting a lot of reports from upset neighbours. Please, please park legally and considerately. Not only can inconsiderate parking be a danger to our children, it is immensely harming to the reputation and standing of our school.
Basketball Hoops
You might have noticed the addition of a smart pair of proper basketball hoops on the playground this week. This is something the children have often requested as an addition for playtimes and, of course, it helps with our delivery of PE – we’d been making do with ancient netball hoops, which really weren’t up to much.
The grand opening, completely spontaneous, was on Tuesday afternoon, when Lemarr from 5 Oak had the honour of scoring the first basket in the new hoops.
Special thanks to our stand-in caretaker Darren, who stayed on for hours – literally – at the end of his shift to volunteer to help Mr H assemble these!
DIARY
REMINDERS
INSET DAYS
There are two remaining INSET Days:
Monday 21st of February
Another to be confirmed in the Summer term.
Class Photos
These are scheduled for Wednesday 2nd of February
Partnership Review
Last week saw our Partnership Review, a very thorough quality assurance visit over two days, conducted by senior executives of the Transform Trust alongside a serving Ofsted inspector who leads the process. It is fair to say that this is a rigorous and challenging two days and the depth and detail of the process is somewhat deeper even than Ofsted – there are more people here and for longer!
The review looks at Safeguarding in very fine detail, as well as every other aspect of school life. As with Ofsted, the curriculum and quality of teaching and learning is a key focus, as is provision for different groups of pupils. Pupil voice is a major factor and many children met our visitors and gave their views.
Ultimately, the review is designed to check our own self evaluation, the one we would present to Ofsted. We would be presenting to Ofsted that we believe we are an Outstanding school and that we can demonstrate that against every one of their standards. The review supported this self evaluation, noting many, many positives and a few poitnts for us to develop to be even more secure in our grading.
We would be fully expecting to be graded Outstanding at any Ofsted inspection, but you never know for sure. We seem to meet all the criteria but sometimes it can depend on the inspector you get and their preferences. Whatever, we know how great our school is day to day and that the children are getting a great curriculum and strong teaching which leads to excellent outcomes.
The report is available to read here for those interested: Parkdale Partnership Review 2021
The more detailed section on Safeguarding is available here: Parkdale Safeguarding Audit
Library Re-Vamp
We are in the process of re-vamping our library space at the moment. Classes are using the library more and more since it was relocated, and we will be opening up to families soon. Watch this space! Children are going to be making the walls look amazing with their illustrations of story characters in the next couple of weeks. We would like the room to have a cosy and inviting vibe….we would like to move away from bright colours and go for natural greens and browns etc….. If you have any unwanted throws to cover our sofas, cushions, plants (real or artificial) or cosy lights that you would be prepared to donate that would be very much appreciated!
Please pass any thing to Miss Desborough in the Nursery.
Thankyou!
Covid Latest
You will be aware that the Government yesterday announced the end of ‘Plan B’ measures. The main headline around this was about masks no longer being necessary for a secondary school pupils.
We are in a challenging situation with cases at present and still need to be cautious if we are to a) keep the school fully open and b) avoid being directed to return to an emergency measure such as ‘bubbles’.
Therefore, we still ask that any visitors to our building respect social distancing and wear a face covering, unless medically exempt. Our staff will be continuing to wear them in communal areas and we are keeping some other measures such as minimising/restricting face to face meetings.
IN OTHER NEWS…
Reception Trip To Gedling Country Park
Reception are so excited to be going on a trip to Gedling Country Park on February the 1st, which will continue and support their work about nature and habitats. The letters for the trip went out earlier this week. If parents have any questions please get in touch with your child’s class teacher.
Change to 'Thursday' Football Training
Football training for Y6 boys and girls plus invited Y4 and 5 girls resumes next week, but we have had to change the day from Thursday to Wednesday. Sincere apologies to anyone this inconveniences or disappoints.
Play Worker Vacancy
We are currently advertising a position for a dinnertime play worker. Full details available at the Transform Trust website