Governor Blog
25th July 2017
What an emotional occasion as we said goodbye to the Year 6's in assembly this morning. A fantastic, well rehearsed performance was put on by the pupils to entertain the whole school, family and friends. The memories shared showed what a close cohort they are. Pupils were so confident when speaking in public about their amazing achievements at Alkborough Primary School and the personal thank you's that they made really got the tears flowing amongst the audience. What a wonderful way to end the term. Well done to all involved and good luck to all of Year 6!
Catherine Browne
27th February 2017 - Learning Walk linked with SDP
Learning objectives and criteria are used in early years. Excellent detailed observations showing clear progression through learning journeys.
Pupils' books show a wide range of activities and approaches to teaching numeracy. These clearly cater for different learning styles and abilities.The progress between Year 1 and 2 is clear and impressive. The classroom displays support learning and focus on numbers and words to help during lesson time.
Across a selection of books there is a consistent approach to marking and assessment. High expectations are demonstrated through the number of opportunities for improvement. The objectives and outcomes which are highlighted by pupils shows the progress made within a single lesson as well as over time, I was impressed by the pupils' ability to self and peer assess. Excellent presentation within books from pupils in Year 3/4 with lots of praise in the teacher's written feedback. Some of the work in the books linked directly with the work displayed on the walls and showed how pupils' skills are transferable. Displays in the this classroom are extremely bright, engaging and eye-catching.
When looking through books it is obvious that all pupils take pride in their work. Both numeracy and literacy work showed excellent presentation skills for the pupils in Year 5/6. Literacy showed excellent examples of detail and complexity. Numeracy books showed good examples of reasoning and problem solving. Clear progress is being made and the tasks set are challenging the pupils. I was particularly interested in the split numeracy group which allowed pupils to access the highest possible marks and really challenge the gifted and talented pupils in Year 5. Displays in Class 3 showed excellent punctuation targets linked with the work presented.
Catherine Browne.
January 9th 2017
Once again I accompanied our Young Voices choir on their annual trip to Sheffield Arena to take part in the Young Voices concert, the largest school choir concerts in the world! This was our 8th year attending Young Voices and honestly, it just gets better and better. Our children performed with over 5000 school children with a live band, backing singers and the internationally acclaimed conductor David Lawrence. The day begins with rehearsals where the children get to practice all the songs they have been learning in the after school club and, also learn some funky dance moves taught by the creative director Andy Instone and the Urban Strides street dance crew. One of the best parts of the day is seeing the excitement on the children's faces as all the parents begin to arrive at the arena. It's great fun trying to pick out everyone's mums, dads, grandparents and siblings! The concert itself lasts 2 hours and it really is one of the best experiences ever. To see how much our children enjoy themselves and the fun they have performing really is amazing. It's such a fantastic experience for them and I was so proud of them all, a truly memorable night. Huge thanks to Mrs Hinsley for organising everything.
February 17th
I went on the class 3 school trip to Eden Camp Museum as part of their World War II topic work. Eden Camp is a based on an old WWII prisoner of war camp and has over 20 huts depicting different aspects of social and military history of WWII as well as WWI and post war. It was a really informative day and it certainly helped bring the topic alive for the children. They particularly enjoyed the Music Hall hut where they could sing along to dame Vera Lynn in the form of a puppet show! As always the children were well behaved throughout and a pleasure to be with.
March 2nd
What an afternoon! Today was World Book Day and the children got to dress up as characters from nursery rhymes and children's poems. Parents were invited into school for an assembly where we got to see all the amazing costumes and the children perform poems they had learnt. Each class took turns performing some fabulous poems.......the reception and nursery children performed poems based on their topic of penguins and they were just wonderful! Class one had written their own poems to tie in with their work on toys and it was lovely to see all of them read out their work. Class two performed a poem about the British Celtic Queen Boudica which was fantastic and class three treated us to a rousing performance of the Alfred Noyes poem "The Highway Man". Thank you to all the parents for helping make the children look so fabulous and to all the staff for their hard work helping the children learn their poems.
Amanda Walker.
