I am writing my web update a little earlier than usual today but there is still so much to share with you.

 I will begin by saying that the new approach to lunchtimes at Tudor have proved extremely popular and I now find it hard to remember the sight of the children sitting on the floor for their packed lunch. The atmosphere in the main hall is so positive and the children sit wonderfully well when eating to the sounds of classical music alongside their friends. It has pleased me that I am now able to sit and eat with the packed lunch children and hear what they have all been up to. They always make me feel very welcome and I look forward to introducing a weekly 'special dining table' for those children who have shown perfect manners during the week whether they are 'packed lunch' or 'hot dinners'. There may even be some special treats on this new table- I am sure it will be a popular idea and I have a feeling that the lunchtime staff are going to have some tough decisons to make when choosing guests for the 'top table'.

The decision to allow parents to watch the class assemblies has also been well received by the children. They have always enjoyed presenting to the rest of the school but their smiles are even wider when they see the faces of people most important to them. When the assemblies are over, parents are warmly invited to enjoy refreshments in our updated dining room. Make sure you look at the calendar on our website to see when it is your child's class assembly- we look forward to seeing you there!

Ever since I arrived, I have made an effort to enhance the experience of parents when communicating with the school. Feedback indicates that the experience of our school community has been improved with the new communication systems- our most recent 'innovation' being the online booking of parent consultation meetings and this resulted in parents making approximately 50% of appointments in the first 24 hours- wow! You may have noticed that this online facility allows you to mention some additonal topics you would like to discuss- please use this if there are any areas of concern (or success!).

Related to our mid year consultation, the teachers have just completed the first cycle of assessment recording. As headteacher of the school, I am extremely pleased with the progress that the teachers have recorded. Whether looking at individuals, groups or the whole school, the data looks strong and the information has enabled us to formulate our future foci. As Mrs Rogers said when we were talking about the data, 'We don't just summarise anymore, we analyse!' The additonal interventions have also proved to be successful- we knew they would be positive in respect of social development but they are having an educational impact too. For example, the attendance of one of our focus groups in upper key stage 2 has gone from 88% to 95% and I strongly believe that this is to do with the breakfast club that we are providing free of charge. To highlight the impact of this club, we originally targeted this at 11 children in year 6. This morning (Thursday 19th February), we had 34 children- please be assured that we will endeavour to widen such opportunities in school but I must ensure that the appropriate measures/ staffing are in place. As always, keep checking our website for information about how Tudor is providing bespoke support to the Tudor community.

 I would also like to take this opportunity to share the success of children with EAL at Tudor Primary. As you will be aware, Tudor Primary offers outeach support to other schools in regard to the support of children with English as an additional language. Mrs Hunt and Mrs Dulcamara, though, work wonders with the children on our own school roll and I was thrilled to see the rates of progress that this (large) group of children have made in this first cycle of assessment at Tudor. We now have over 30 'home' languages spoken at Tudor and our team continue to prove that we can meet the needs of all our wonderful pupils so they can flourish.

To conclude, please be assured that we will keep the disruption of our school building works to a minumum. We do have some further large projects in the pipeline such as a new school hall, a total replacement of windows on the main building and changes to the access for parents when dropping off and collecting children.

I am sure you can recognise that even though many of these changes have proved challenging to us all... the results have proved REWARDING to experience.

Mr Weightman

19th January 2017