September 2015 – Ralph Sadleir School

Friday 18th September

September 20, 2015/in Mr Spong's Blog/by sadleir2021

This week saw the start of clubs; 99.9% of all the girls in the school therefore went to netball club and there were a good number at Key Stage 3 rugby. Other clubs and things are ongoing so please get your children to check the boards for information; we are always on the look out for new and interesting ideas and/or people to run clubs for the children so please speak to Mr Morgan if you would like to get involved.

We had our first sports fixture of the year with our Year 8 boys comfortably winning their first round match in the English Schools Cup against Etonbury Academy.

Preparation was the key focus of the week: the staff were making early preparations for the first Cross-Curricular Day as well as beginning to think about Open Evening; the Year 6 team and children were getting excited (ready) for their residential trip to PGL next week; the Year 8s were preparing vegetables for their Food Tech lessons and thinking ahead to all the activities of Business Enterprise week; the Year 5s were preparing themselves for what they thought were extra computing lessons but turned out to be online baseline assessments; and the Year 7s…well…i’m sure they were preparing for something.

Assembly themes this week started with Mr Fuller talking about teamwork and how it can support people within a school and their wider lives, he didn’t bring in his guitar and sing, maybe next time. Friday’s assembly focused on British Values – a theme that will run throughout assembly and PSHE lessons this year – and in particular this week, tolerance. Ask your children about what things we should be tolerant of in school. On Thursday morning Reverend Alan and one of his youth workers explained to all our Key Stage 3 children about the new youth club taking place in the community centre every Sunday.

Finally I end with a plea (or few); my senior team and I have been out this week after receiving reports both about the parking of cars and the driving around school. People are using Perowne Way to pull u-turns before dropping off outside school, which is making crossing the road for our pupils and all those trying to get to RDC increasingly dangerous. We encourage our parents to drop their children off at the community centre and then the children can walk the short distance into school using the crossing; as a working parent I understand the time pressures on getting to work but an extra couple of minutes to drop off safely, for everyone, is surely worth it. On the subject of parking please can we also be considerate when parking in Perowne Way and Britannia – considerate of people’s driveways and of pedestrians.

It is supposed to be a lovely weekend, I’m sure like many of you I will be spending it ferrying my children from their various sporting and social activities – I remember playing sport and having a social life..a long time ago – so I will at least be trying to enjoy the weather!! Hopefully many of you will be supporting RDC’s Family Fun Day on Saturday, helping to raise money for their new learning space – which will be amazing!!

Friday 11th September

September 12, 2015/in Mr Spong's Blog/by sadleir2021

The end of the first proper week – everyone survived!!

It was an important week at the end for our Year 8s, the first of many for them in their final year at Ralph Sadleir – the announcements of the House Officials. This year we will be looking to make their roles more prominent within the school, they are our greatest advertisement on Open Days as well as being tremendously helpful. However it is their role within the school as leaders that I will be looking to develop – more to come in future Blogs. The quality of applications from all the pupils was excellent, Mr Morgan said they were collectively the best he has received for some time, making the decisions in some cases very, very difficult indeed and in fact many of the staff had a read through the applications and an input into the discussion before they were finalised.

Next week the children wont be the only people doing some formalised learning in school as five brave teachers become pupils again as they participate in an Outstanding Teacher Development Project, not only will this see benefits to all the children in the school but also all the staff too, as they will be sharing their new found knowledge through staff meetings and training days.

These are all initiatives and ideas that I am beginning to introduce as I find my feet and grow into Headship, your feedback is always welcome and I will be announcing the dates and times of this term’s Parent Forums later on this week, if you can’t make them then I am also looking into the possibility of setting up Conference Call for working parents to dial in.

Around school this week there were outbursts of rock music, concerned I entered the classrooms expecting to see the staff and pupils practising their air guitar skills; thankfully it is part of a times tables learning programme that we are using in school. Either the children will get better at their multiplication fact recall or they will all become Bon Jovi fans – not sure which will be more beneficial in their lives!!

Have a great weekend.

Friday 4th September

September 7, 2015/in Mr Spong's Blog/by sadleir2021

Welcome back everybody.

As I returned to school on Tuesday, the place was a hive of activity – admin staff getting the children’s timetables sorted; teachers busily preparing classrooms; Mr Verderame and his site team painting and cleaning; and builders, hard at it trying to finish all the work we have had done renovating the outside of the building. I tentatively asked if all would be finished for the start of term and received reassuring nods – ‘Good’ I thought, because there is no way I could keep the school closed for over-running building works…I clearly still have a lot to learn as a Headteacher!!

Staff returned in earnest on Wednesday to continue prepping and undertake First Aid training, the school resembled something of a cross between ancient Egypt and a scene from Saving Private Ryan with people wandering around in bandages and slings. Rest assured that should anyone now need medical assistance in school there are a whole host of people ready, willing and able to assist them; I am half expecting to enter a classroom on a learning walk to discover an entire class of children placed in the recovery position just so the teacher and assistant can practise!!

Thursday saw a scene of much excitement and drama. First the excitement – Year 5s!! They came in with beaming smiles and what was most pleasing was that they left pretty much the same way and they all returned on Friday so something must have gone well. They spent the day acclimatising to their new surroundings, doing activities like a treasure hunt using school maps and getting to know you exercises with their new tutors. Now the drama – no gas, which meant no food!! Thankfully Mr Rowe and his team are a resourceful bunch and commandeered the Food Tech room to produce another Ralphies delicious delight – disaster averted.

And so to Friday – quite like these 4 day working weeks, only 2 of which with children, must mention it to the Governors – the return of the masses. It was actually really nice to hear and feel the buzz of energy around school as it filled up because schools are very eerie places when there are no children in them. Planners and timetables given out, suntans compared, summer holiday gossip exchanged…and that was just the staff!! Tutor time, break, assembly, lessons, lunch, few more lessons, home – sorted day one (two) done, only another 189 to go!!

My assembly focused on new beginnings and the fresh start a new school year can bring. I introduced the new faces in school, most notably Mr Fuller the Deputy Head – you will have to ask your children for the analogy I used to introduce him. I also challenged the children to think big and have big ideas for themselves this year, asking them to think about what they want to achieve and what they could achieve and what they need to do to achieve this. I shall leave you with my favourite poem by Marianne Williamson which is where I drew my inspiration to ask the children to think big and also fits nicely with being ‘Proud to Achieve’. Have a lovely weekend.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.