Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to all our new parents and carers this year. I’ve spent a lot of time this week out and about in both schools and it has been very encouraging to see how quickly children have settled. I’d like to mention Year 7 in particular who have shown amazing confidence and composure as they move up to secondary school. Please pass on my congratulations to them.
It was a privilege to welcome headteachers from all across the trust and other invited guests to Chalkstone Way last week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Unity Schools Partnership. Haverhill was well represented with speakers as Mrs Whitcombe from Castle Manor, Mrs Hogg from Clements, Mr Komodromos from Churchill and I were all invited to speak. I’m sure none of them would mind me saying that by far the most exciting contribution was from the SWA music students who performed with amazing professionalism. Very, very well done to them.
Both schools would be grateful to receive donations of uniform that your children have outgrown and which is still in smart, wearable condition. If you need uniform, we have stocks we can share. Please ask at reception or email the happy sheds: happyshed@samuelward.co.uk happyshed@westfieldprimaryacacemy.co.uk
You’ll see below that both Heads of School are inviting parents to a coffee morning. We know that many working parents might struggle to attend these mornings but we’d rather some families benefit than none. If parents would like to visit the schools outside of those times, please just let us know.
WPA
New staff
We are pleased to welcome some new staff this year.
Mrs Taylor has joined us as an LSA in Year 1 and Mr Edwards as an LSA in Year 2. Mr Willetts is teaching in Year 2. Mrs O’Sullivan is teaching in Year 3 and Mrs May is teaching in Year 4. Mr Boyd is teaching in Year 6. We are very pleased that Mrs Stone has joined us in a new post as Family Liaison Officer, taking on much of the work that Mrs Egan used to do but also taking on more work supporting families.
Phonics
There are a number of phonics workshops coming up, where parents can find out how we teach phonics and how they can help at home. Parents with children in reception are invited to come to join us on 19th September, parents with children in Year 1 and Year 2 on the 20th September and parents with children in Years 3-6 on the 27th September. All workshops are from 9.00 to 9.30.
Clubs
In our survey last term, clubs and activities came out as an area you wanted to see improve. We have launched our new clubs list this week. Please do look at it. You can contact Mr Gooch for more information or to suggest a club you’d like to see.
Coffee mornings
Ms Moody would be pleased to welcome parents to a coffee morning this term where there will be an opportunity to chat to her and other staff about school life and raise any concerns or queries.
The coffee mornings are open to all parents and carers and will run from 9:15am to 10:15am on the following dates:
25th September
16th October
27th November
If you’d like to attend please contact Sarah Wood on s.wood@westfieldprimaryacademy.co.uk
SWA
New Staff
We also welcome a number of new staff to SWA this year.
Mr Brigden joins us as a Deputy Headteacher overseeing the Pastoral Team , Mr Tooke joins us in science. Mr Bayford joins us in English, as does Miss Harris. Mr Darcy is teaching business studies and economics and Mr Langan has joined the history department. Mr Alecock had joined us in maths. We are very pleased to welcome Mr Storrie and Miss Folan as teaching assistants.
Upcoming events
There are a number of important events coming up. We have Year 13 parents’ evening on Wednesday the 20th September and Year 11 parents’ evening on the 28th September. Both of those events are online with booking through schoolcloud as usual.
There is a Year 11 parents information evening on the 21st September at 5.30pm. That is face to face in the drama studio. It is a chance to find out more about what to expect in Year 11 and to talk about ways you can support your children through this important year.
We are also looking forward to our annual Careers Fair on the 22nd September. That will be open to all students and will bring together stalls from a wide range of post-16 education centres as well as local and national employers.
Muster
Towards the end of last term, we introduced a new start to the day which we call morning muster. It is a chance for each year group to get together for a positive start to the day, like a mini-assembly before registration. We check uniform, make sure phones are switched off so that they don’t interrupt learning and share messages and congratulations with the students and to remind them of our high expectations. It is an increasingly popular way to start the day in schools and has been happening successfully across town at CMA for several years. It provides a really crisp, positive, upbeat start to the day and sets a great tone for learning. I’m very pleased with how it is going so far.
Coffee mornings
The coffee mornings are open to all parents and carers and will run from 9:15am to 10:15am on the following dates:
27th September
18th October
29th November
If you’d like to attend please contact Kirsty Franks on KFranks@samuelward.co.uk. We’ll prioritise parents of Year 7 students, but are happy to show anyone around. In the event of oversubscription we'll find a way to schedule additional sessions.
Have a lovely weekend,
Andy Hunter
Executive Headteacher
Westfield Primary and Samuel Ward Academies