23rd July 2019
Dear Parents/Carers,
The Governing body are responsible for making sure the school provides good quality education and work together with the Head Teacher to help set the school aims and policies, to create the best possible environment for our children.
In a time where the news is reporting on school budget cuts and job losses we are proud of the way in which the school are managing the budget given and maintaining the high standards of staffing and teaching quality throughout the school. This is a difficult challenge but with work between Mrs. Bluck, Mrs. Farren and the governing sub-committee, is being managed well.
With the growing presence of Social Media and Media in general it's important for Children to be confident and secure within themselves. This year has seen the development of mindfulness within the school, and this will be an ongoing piece of work into next year and beyond. A number of teachers have attended seminars to understand the challenges that our young people face, and equip themselves with the tools and knowledge to help and support our children's understanding of themselves and others. We have the Elsa Room within the school, where children are able to go if they need a break away and support. As well as a wellbeing week which was held within the school to raise awareness amongst the children as to how important their personal happiness and wellbeing is.
As part of my role as SEN Governor, I've met several times with Mrs Farren this academic year who is the S.E.N.C.O for the school for reviews. We have looked at the policies relating to SEN and also reviewed how we ensure that the children are happy and developing to the best of their personal ability. It's really important to me as a parent that not only the children feel supported but the parents do too, so if you have any suggestions on how this could be increased I would happily meet with you to understand your thoughts. We have had an end of academic year meeting and to see the improvements that all the SEN children have made in their school work this year has been incredible.
As the start of the next academic year we will be focusing as a Governing Body on attendance throughout the whole school, because whilst the teaching staff have all the required tools to teach having the children attending consistently is required for them to be able to get the best education. We understand that there are times when sickness is an issue, and would never expect an unwell child to have to attend school, however consistency is key to be able to develop our children so we ask that children are only kept away from school if absolutely necessary.
I've had the great pleasure of attending several sporting events with the school this year and observing a P.E lesson first hand. It is a true credit to the efforts of Mr Spencer and Miss Neate to see how well newly established and unexperienced teams have developed throughout this academic year. With great achievements in so many sports including both boys and girls football, cross country, hockey and the athletics to name but a few. For a small school we are playing up to the level of much larger schools than our own, who have a greater variety of children already at a high standard to choose from, instead Norton are developing those who are willing to give it their all with amazing results. With the Gold Standard already having been achieved in principal, I'm really looking forward to seeing what the next academic year will bring. Thank you to all Norton students who've taken part in the great variety of sports activities this academic year, you have all made the school very proud.
Thank you to all the teachers who have helped this half term with the completion of the "Student Questionnaire" this was a questionnaire which was designed to understand the children's thoughts and feelings when it comes to school. The aim is to use this for both understanding what the children enjoy, and also whether there is anything they would like to see change, this includes sports and their friendships. The data was collected in a way to not identify individuals, so that they could answer honestly and without any pressure. This information is going to be analysed to see it there are ways in which we can improve their school experiences.
I feel extremely proud to be a Governor of Norton School, and have thoroughly enjoyed this academic year and seeing the growth of the wonderful and individual children we have here. I look forward to further development of the sports next year, and celebrating all the varied interests that the children have.
Yours sincerely
Selina Bostock (School Governor)