Dear Parents/ Carers,

It is hard to believe we have now reached the halfway point of the academic year. This is always a good time to ‘take stock’ and review how we are meeting the needs of our young learners. I am extremely pleased with the progress that children are making and the recent Pupil Progress Meetings highlighted how committed the teaching team is for the children at Tudor. I am confident that we really do try to go ‘above and beyond’ at Tudor and the teachers remain highly aspirational for your children – and so they should be…

Introducing our new Tudor Inclusion Lead- Miss Reading!

I am delighted to inform you that Miss Reading was successful in her interview to become our new leader of Inclusion. She has been our interim leader since the start of the year and she has taken to this (demanding) role so naturally. A highly competent teacher who is able to model practice in all age ranges, she has been able to maintain our improvements in supporting our young learners and ensuring that they have the appropriate supports and interventions in place. The feedback from the rest of the team has been super and I know that she has the capacity to become a fantastic leader in this area of our provision. The fact that she was successful against a high quality field of other applicants is something she should be very proud of. As our recent audit of SEND evidenced, we now have super systems in place to help support children, Miss Reading’s core role will be to ensure that our plans and ideas in place for children have the right impact! Good luck Miss Reading and well done on your promotion.

Closure of the Tudor Pre-School- what next?

I am sure that many of you are disappointed to hear of the recent closure of the Tudor Pre-School. As previous newsletters have highlighted, they have been working hard to meet the requirements to be a successful and safe provider for young children in the local community. Recent changes in the management of the pre-school had seen huge improvements in the practice and it was refreshing to be ‘allowed’ to work in partnership more since September 2019. Maggie and her team were working well alongside extra support from county advisors to provide good quality care for the children. Despite the recent progress, it has proven a ‘step too far’ to evidence the required ‘wider expectations’ in the running of such an establishment. I have assured that I will work closely with Herts county to help identify and select a high quality provider that can become a real partner for many years to come.

In respect of the short term difficulties some families are now facing with provision for children, please do recognise that Tudor Primary is working alongside Herts county to solve this issue. As always, please do contact the school if you would like more information.  

Spring term consultation evenings- a ‘Mid-Year Review’

It is extremely pleasing to share that nearly every child will be represented at the mid-year parent evenings this week. We will obviously contact those final few parents who have been unable to arrange an appointment to meet their child’s teacher. There is so much evidence of good progress and this is enhanced even more with the right input and support from home! Let’s all continue to work together to help our awesome Tudorites to reach their potential!

SEND at Tudor- Updates from Miss Reading- Tudor Inclusion Leader

- It has been wonderful to see so many parents attending the SEND coffee mornings and making appointments to see me over the past few weeks. Please remember I am available to offer you support, advice or signpost you to services that may support you and your child if required. Please make any contact via the school office team or email at: inco@tudor.herts.sch.uk. Your child does not have to be on the SEND register for you to make an appointment. I am available to all parents whom have a concern or question regarding their child.

-On Tuesday 3rd March Chrissy Phillips, Tudor's Family Support Worker, is delivering a 'Sleep Lite Bite' workshop in school, available to all parents with children who have difficulties sleeping. There will be tips and strategies to help you support your child with sleep difficulties. More information on this event will be provided soon.

Once #TeamTudor, always #TeamTudor

As part of my partnership with some of the local secondary schools, I worked alongside Mr Cunningham (Headteacher of Longdean school) last week. I was able to observe lessons as well as provide advice on effective transition from year 6 to year 7. It was great to see ex-Tudorites in their new school and I am thrilled to hear that they are doing well. I also am pleased to say there was also good evidence of how our Tudor support for the move from year 6 to year 7 is working well. Tudor children certainly appear to be secondary ready!

Seeing is BELIEVING! A Tudor Tour and opportunity for feedback…

Would you like a tour of Tudor during the school day? Would you like to find out more about how we present the curriculum? If so, do contact the school office and register your interest for a ‘Tudor Tour’. As well as experiencing what school life is like at Tudor you will have opportunities to ask questions and find out about plans for the future. There are many forms of communication in operation at Tudor and I am proud of the clear (and varied) systems and structures in place. Please contact the school office if you would like this ‘new’ opportunity.

Operation Encompass

Tudor school is fully behind and supportive of a new Police initiative designed to support children facing domestic abuse. Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with a schools prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident thus enabling appropriate support to be given. Operation Encompass believes that children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right and should be acknowledged as such.

It has become a regular part of recent newsletters to share images of children that visit my room to share work that make us all proud. There are so many examples of amazing work that the children have created- with teacher support or, as in this case from year 1, completely independent and written ‘for fun’. The pupils of #TeamTudor are really flying at the moment!

You will also have received information this week about completing Parent View. Please do add your feedback to this online portal. If you do have any problems or concerns, do not hesitate to make contact with the school. #Teamwork is key!

Mr Rob Weightman/ Headteacher