Dear Parents,
The first full week of term has flown by and I'm so pleased with how all the children have settled in. We have really enjoyed seeing so many of you in school again too, connecting with our community through the Settling in Meetings for Nursery and Pre-Prep and in Celebration Assembly this morning. I am also looking forward to the FREDs Welcome Back BBQ this afternoon - we have fantastic weather compared to last year so can enjoy our food in the sunshine!
This morning in Celebration Assembly we recognised the amazing progress of so many of our pupils in their Swimming sessions which started again this week. Mr Winship and Mrs Rogers worked incredibly hard last year to develop a clear and progressive programme with distinct levels for children to work through and we are proud of their achievements so far. These are vital skills for all children to have the opportunity to learn and you can read more about the levels, stages and requirements for progression through the link below.
I would like to give a quick reminder to all parents about school start time and ensuring children have arrived and are ready to go to their classrooms for registration by 8.40am. This also applies to those with bikes and scooters to make sure they are parked in the designated area in time.
Calendar Reminders
Here are a few key dates for the upcoming week:
- Prep teachers will be arranging phone calls with parents of new pupils in Years 3 to 6 to talk about their start to the new school year.
- Senior School Information Evening: Online meeting on Wednesday 20 September at 4.30pm for Year 4 and 5 parents. More information below.
- Football fixtures: The first Football match for this term will be on Friday 22 September when Years 3 and 4 will play Holme Grange and St Neot's away at Holme Grange.
School Photos Available
The school hall was full of laughter on Monday morning as each class came to have their photos taken. We also took on the challenge of getting everyone lined up and smiling for a whole school photo! You should all have received your printed proofs and order forms for the individual and sibling head shots and details of how to order the whole school photo will follow at a later date.
Flu Vaccinations for Reception to Year 6
The flu vaccination date for St Edward's children in Reception to Year 6 is coming up on Wednesday 1 November. Please could all parents read the information leaflet and consent letter linked below and follow the correct links in the letter to submit your response. This needs to be done as soon as possible and at the latest by 9am on Tuesday 31 October.
Senior School Information Evening Details
The Senior School Information Evening being held next Wednesday 20 September at 4.30pm will be online. This session is for parents of children in Years 4 and 5 to find out more about senior school options and the support we provide. You will receive a Microsoft Teams invite to join the meeting and a recording will also be available afterwards if you are unable to attend.
Changes to Assessment Cycles
We would like to inform you of some changes that we have decided to make to our assessment cycles this year.
Usually at the start of the academic year we would be collecting standardised data across school using InCAS (Interactive Computerised Assessment Systems). We have used this for a number of years now and have plenty of data to help us analyse patterns and trends and feel that the time is right to try a new method of assessment that compliments our progress tests better. We will be using Cognitive Ability Tests (CAT4) in certain year groups in the Spring Term. This is an assessment designed to help pupils and their teachers understand how they learn and what their academic potential might be. It assesses how pupils think in areas that are known to make a difference to learning and this is important to us at St Edward's, especially when catering for individual needs.
Pupils in Years 1-6 will still complete GL Progress Tests in the Summer Term and these measure attainment in English, Maths and also Science for Years 3-6. The results of GL Progress tests are shared in the end-of-year reports to parents.
As well as the new CAT4 tests, we will be trialling Digital Journals for a more continuous reporting system. Year 2 are the first year group to introduce this and their teacher will be using Tapestry to share one English, Maths and Science assessed piece of work with parents each term.
We strive to be forward-thinking and continuously reflect on our practices and feel that these changes will have a positive impact on teaching, assessment and learning. Please do let Mrs Hunt know if you have any further questions regarding assessment at school (t.hunt@stedwardsprep.com).
LAMDA Update
It was lovely to welcome current and new LAMDA students back into the LAMDA space this week. There were, however, a number of folders missing. Please do ensure that they are present from next week and if they have been lost let Miss Rush know (amy.rush@stedwardsprep.com) so that she can arrange new copies before next week.
Year 5 Science Curriculum
You may have seen from the Autumn Term Curriculum Overview that we will be looking at animals and humans and the different life stages in Year 5 Science. This does cover in brief some areas of what would be classified as Relationships and Sex Education so I wanted to be clear about the content. As part of this (in approximately the fourth week) we will be looking at adolescence and learning this is the stage the body gets prepared for reproduction - a part of the life cycle all living things go through. We will discuss in brief what puberty is and the changes that girls and boys experience. We will also learn the definition of asexual and sexual reproduction, the definition of sexual reproduction that two parents are needed, male and female, and that offspring are similar but not identical to parents.
We do not go into a lot of depth and only teach what is in the Year 5 National Curriculum for Science. However, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Parsons (jonathan.parsons@stedwardsprep.com).
Have a wonderful weekend and I will be in touch again on Monday to share more about our inspection results.
Best wishes,
Jonathan