Dear Parent(s)/Carer(s)

First and foremost, it is my pleasure to have seen the vast majority of pupils return to school today, dressed appropriately and ready for school! I have passed on my expectations relating to the year ahead, both for new and existing pupils. This included trying their best, listening to staff that are here to help, being able to make a mistake and learn from it, as well as being an important part of Team Larwood! I look forward to the year ahead and seeing the changes that we all wish for that will help your children make progress in a variety of areas.

During the summer, we have been busy! Please note the following:

Recoding points, behaviour, first aid and other information

We have now moved to a new system of recording all of the information above called Behaviour Watch. This will enable us to produce information in a more efficient way compared to our old system called SIMS.

Within the first aid area of Behaviour Watch, we have the ability to let you know that an accident has taken place via text message and we shall start to use this when appropriate. The text message will be for relatively straight forward accidents etc. and the message that you will receive will be as follows:

Dear (Your name) Child’s name was given first aid today at school. It was dealt with by staff and your child returned to lessons/activities, so please do not panic! Please do call 01438 236333 and speak to the class teacher for more information when you are able.

If your child has received a more serious injury and been involved with something that may need ongoing care, your child’s class teacher will call you.

Also, you will now receive a text message alerting you to the fact that your child has been given a detention so that this enables you to keep track of such events as they happen.

Our internal evaluation of our performance

Please note that as per usual, I have completed a number of reports to reflect what we did last year, how well we thought it went and what we may do to improve this year. They can be found on the school website using the following address:

http://www.larwood.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=What+We+Know+About+Ourselves&pid=101

This is the section called ‘How effective are we?’ and then the area titled ‘What we know about ourselves’.

As always, I would appreciate it if you could have a look at these and pass on any comments you may have related to them directly to me. As part of this process, the staff have discussed some further priorities that we will really concentrate on during this academic year.

The School site

The summer projects have been implemented and although not all finished quite yet, they will make a huge difference. This includes:

• Double glazed windows and doors to the whole site
• A gate at the front of the school for car and pedestrian access. This will be set to timers so that taxis can get in, but will close during the school day until taxis return. This helps with our safeguarding particularly related to those pupils who may run from the school site, as well as any unwanted visitors to our site.
• The main hall floor has been sanded and re-polished. I am hoping this will be finished by this weekend coming.
• The top corridor of the school has had a false ceiling put into place. Again this helps with safety for pupils but also reduces the heat created by the glass roof in the summer.

Academy Status

Mrs Fitzpatrick, Mrs Barr and Mr Thurgood and I have continued to work on our application to become the lead school in a multi academy trust during the summer holidays. This has progressed well and we aim to meet our deadline for conversion by November 1^st 2016. As previously explained this will not make any difference to the day to day running of the school for your children. Again, if you have any questions on this matter, please do contact me.

Attendance

This is a key area for your child’s progression and I am aware that a small number of pupils didn’t return today as they should have. Please note that we expect a minimum of 95% attendance during the year. There may well be spells of absence due to genuine illness and this cannot be helped. Holidays should not be taken during term time and will not be authorised. We have always chosen to work with you on matters relating to attendance rather than the more formal route of applying fines and court appearances, however, we retain these as options if we feel they are warranted.

Personalisation of school/home contact

During the next few weeks, you will have a number of conversations with your child’s class teacher and have the opportunity to meet them ‘face to face’. Last year, I am aware that a couple of parents expressed a concern related to communication with them. In order to make this as good as possible for you, staff will be asking the question ‘how is the best way to communicate with you?’ We do know that some parents prefer email and others like letter, whilst some appreciate a phone call and others think that text is the way forward. We have decided to ask you to select the method you would prefer as the best way for you!

Additionally, please find attached key dates for the year as it stands. Please note that they may change and if this does happen, we will try and provide as much notice as possible.

I look forward to seeing you as the year progresses and working with your sons and daughters during 2016-17.

Yours sincerely

S D Trimble
Headteacher

Key Dates for Autumn Term 2016/17:

• Meet the Teacher-Thursday 15^th September (See letter from Mrs Kimpton)
• Break up for half term-Friday 14^th October-normal time
• Return from half term break-Monday 31^st October-normal time
• Parents evening to discuss progress and behaviour during this term so far-Thursday 1^st December
• School Play- Thursday 15^th December, at 2.00 pm and 6 pm.
• End of term-Wednesday 21^st December at 1:20 pm
• Start of Spring term 2017-Thursday 5^th January 2017-normal time
   

Key Dates

Autumn term:

Starts for staff on Tuesday 30^th August (INSET DAY)
Starts for pupils on Wednesday 31^st August
Half term break –Monday 17^th October-Friday 28^th October
End of term-Wednesday 21st December
71 pupil days

Spring term:

Starts for pupils on Thursday 5^th January 2017
Half term break-Monday 13^th February-Friday 17^th February
End of term-Friday 31^st March
57 pupil days

Summer term:

Starts for pupils on Tuesday 18^th April
Half term break –Monday 29^th May (Also a Bank Holiday)-Friday 2^nd June
End of term-Thursday 20^th July 2017
62 pupil days

Total-190 pupil days