::::I LOVE LARWOOD::::

What a great start to the year we have had with your sons and daughters. Many of them are really trying hard to improve their work and I am so pleased to see how many of them are listening to their teachers and teaching assistants. Just like our pupils, we are making good progress with many of the whole school targets that we set ourselves at the start of the year. One of our key areas is to improve the quality and quantity of written work and I hope that you have had some feedback from your children about the Big Idea? This is our way of making writing a bit more motivating for our pupils. Therefore, so far this year we have had: an alien invasion, a cooking room trashed by a mystery person, the arrival of a large egg, the removal of all iPads and the need to create a persuasive argument for getting them back, and a car suddenly jacked up and left by the roundabout at the front of the school! It really has generated some interest and although some pupils now seem to guess when the next idea is coming, they are writing about them in better detail and with greater motivation. A huge ‘thank you’ to the staff, for their hard work preparing and engaging with this process.

As with any school, our work is not solely restricted to the academic side of life. We pride ourselves in the support given to families, and pupils, as well as our range of opportunities for pupils. Here are just some of the things that are currently taking place:

 

· Weekly after school clubs with the opportunity for pupils to interact in a social way via our staff led activities. This also allows boarders and non-boarders the opportunity to socialise and play together after school.

· Sporting competitions with and against Stevenage mainstream primary schools. Mr V has taken teams to cricket, Mini Olympics and we have been lucky enough to have staff from the 360 play centre come to us and deliver some dance sessions.

· MAPS (Music, art and performance skills) sessions for year 6 have been running every Tuesday with a central theme of the Lion King. They have a trip booked to actually go and see the Lion King in March which should be amazing. Again thanks to the staff involved in this program and to Miss Trott for leading this.

· Thursday afternoon skills curriculum. Every Thursday, all pupils take part in a more practical curriculum based on a number of themes. There are some compulsory elements such as History and Science, alongside some choice options such as cooking, sports, dance, drama, ‘Bikeability’ (The old cycle proficiency course), skiing, music, arts and crafts and Lego motion. Next term we are adding some other options such as a ‘Life Skills’ course for older pupils whereby they will need to look up travel timetables, plan a trip, cost it out and then, with staff support, they will actually complete the journey.

· Coffee mornings for parents

· Behaviour support courses for parents (new one coming up next half term).

 

If you would like any particular support or information to help you and your family, please

do get in touch with Mrs Ford, our Family Support Worker. We will always try and help.

 

All the best,

S D Trimble: Headteacher