Headteacher’s Blog
Keep up to date with all the news happening in school at the moment.
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The weekly blog - keeping you up-to-date with school life; Stars of the Week; Housepoint winners and much more..
Fri 25 Mar 2022What a difference the weather makes to a week in school. The sun has been out and this has coincided with our removing bubbles at break and lunchtimes, which has proved to be a success. The children have really enjoyed sharing playtime and lunchtime together.
A gentle reminder as the sun is now shining, children will need to have a hat in school to be able to go out at playtime and lunchtime.
TD Day
I can now confirm that our final TD Day will be Monday 16th May. During this meeting, the staff will be being trained by the school nurse to make sure that we are up-to-date with all the medical training that is now required by teaching staff. Staff will also be looking at how we can become a dyslexia friendly school, updating our ways of working for pupils with SEN, and how we include parents more with the writing of IEPs.
COViD Restriction relaxed further.
Next week whole school assemblies will start again. This will enhance the children mixing and sharing things together and sharing ideas. It has been far too long without whole school assemblies, so I am extremely pleased to announce that they are back from Monday.
I would like to keep face to face meetings to a minimum for another week with parents unless this relates to behaviour or SEND, which of course we will meet in person. Hopefully, if things continue, I will be able to relax face to face meetings the following week. We are on track to remove all restrictions by the time we break for Easter, which is Friday 8th April.
Stars of the Week
Nursery Tymon J & Teddy S 🤩 Reception Freddie C & Sebastian P 🤩 Year 1 Oliver S & Reuben J 🤩 Year 2 Mbale M & Alfie R 🤩 Year 3 Iyla T & Max S 🤩 Year 4 Alfie C & Sidney M 🤩 Year 5 Rayyan Z & Luisa EM 🤩 Year 6 Farley D & Elle W 🤩 Housepoint Winners
EYFS Natalia L, Ben S, Rico P 🥳 Key Stage 1 Theo R 🥳 Lower Key Stage 2 Max S 🥳 Upper Key Stage 2 Fraser L 🥳 The winning house this week is: St. George 🇬🇬
Attendance
This week's winner with 98.25% is Reception! Well done children.
Whole school attendance currently is: 94.25%, which is now in line with National data - well-done everyone. And we are currently 0.4% above the average for Swindon.
Next week...
We welcome back Shakespeare week. This event is great for all the children as they find out about the different plays that Shakespeare wrote and this year we are adding the additional section to find out about his life. On Friday, children can come dressed as a person from the Elizabethan era, a character from the play they are studying, a character from any play that Shakespeare wrote, and if they would prefer not to dress up, then come to school in their uniform.
I hope that you have a super weekend and enjoy this glorious sunshine that we are experiencing at the moment.
Mr A
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The weekly blog - keeping you up-to-date with school life; Stars of the Week; Housepoint winners and much more..
Fri 18 Mar 2022A fabulous end to the week! Thank you very much for participating in the Dress-up day for Red Nose Day. The children looked fantastic (see some pictures below). It is so nice to see school getting back to some sort of normal, which is thanks to you as parents for abiding by the rules, thanks to the children for continuing to remain in bubbles, thanks to the staff for going above and beyond in making sure that all children receive the very best during these times.
COViD Next Week
I am going to relax some further rules. We are now not going to be in bubbles for breaktimes. Therefore, the children will be able to mix across bubbles during break time, lunchtime and for Friday assembly. All other restrictions will remain in place for the week.
The Main Entrance
I am going to keep the one-way system in place. I feel that this is much better and allows an in and out system without people having to wait or go on to the mud. Therefore, can I please ask that you come in via the big gates where Mr Hatcliffe and I stand and exit through the small gate by the bike shelter - thank you
Stars of the Week
Nursery Ocean-May & Arthur H 🤩 Reception Chizi N & Chloe A 🤩 Year 1 Benjamin RP & Brody GH 🤩 Year 2 Oscar S & Ryker H 🤩 Year 3 Thomas C & Bobby A 🤩 Year 4 Jacob L & Teddy C 🤩 Year 5 Harvey D & Poppy L 🤩 Year 6 Thabo M & Rocco D 🤩 Housepoint Winners
EYFS Elena FK 🥳 Key Stage 1 Vanessa P 🥳 Lower Key Stage 2 Jaxon C 🥳 Upper Key Stage 2 Thabo M 🥳 The winning house this week is: St Patrick's. Well done everyone in this house.
Attendance: the winners this week, with 97% is Y6 Fantastic.
Whole school attendance is: 94.1%, which is 0.3% above the average for Swindon and 0.3% below national data. Keep going, we are almost in line with the national average, which would be great.
In other news...
I would like to make more of our house system and the senior team are looking at different ways we could do this. We celebrate the houses during celebration assembly and children earn housepoints throughout the week. One of the ways we are thinking is to fly the winning house flag at the front of the school so that everyone knows the winning house.
If you have any suggestions, please let us know by emailing me head@chiseldon.swindon.sch.uk The senior team will discuss all ideas that come through.
The sun looks like it is shining for the weekend and England are playing in the rugby 🇬🇬! May you truly have a wonderful weekend.
Mr A
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The weekly blog - keeping you up-to-date with school life; Stars of the Week; Housepoint winners and much more..
Fri 11 Mar 2022Wow! What a week that was... Thank you for all your kind comments and wishes during our recent Ofsted visit. The children were amazing! Not only in their behaviour but the way they were extremely polite, courteous, and answered any questions that the inspectors asked.
It should take a few weeks for the report to be written and then I will be able to share with you the key findings and the grade that the school has been given.
COViD Restrictions
As promised, I am starting now to ease some of the restrictions in school. Next week, I am relaxing lunchtime rules. We will no longer be required to remain in bubbles during the lunch hour. As this is outside, I feel that this is a good place to start.
I have also decided that next Friday, the sharing assembly will not be on Teams but we will meet in the hall, as a whole school, if the lunchtime measures have been successful. All other restrictions will remain in place next week.
Stars of the Week
Nursery Natalia L & Ronnie F 🤩 Reception Inaaya A & Arthur WT 🤩 Year 1 Louis F & Brody GH 🤩 Year 2 Calan D & Mollie C 🤩 Year 3 John H & Courtney R 🤩 Year 4 Rosie M & Samuel W 🤩 Year 5 Sophia B & Charlie F 🤩 Year 6 Charlie H & Ellie C 🤩 Housepoint Winners
EYFS Natalia L 🥳 Key Stage 1 Mackie C 🥳 Lower Key Stage 2 Aurora CM 🥳 Upper Key Stage 2 Esther BM & Charlie H 🥳 This week's winning house is St. Patrick's
Attendance: as we try and keep in line with national, I would like to remind parents that if your child does test positive for COViD, they must still isolate from school for at least 5 clear days. If they have a bout of sickness and diarrhoea, they need to remain off school 48 hours from their last bout - thank you for your cooperation in this matter - this way, we are making sure that we are keeping everyone safe and well.
Attendance: 94.19%, which is 0.49% above the attendance figures for Swindon but 0.81% below national figures.
The attendance trophy for this week, with 99.18%, is Year 1 - brilliant job, well done 😊
Next Week...
Our living eggs arrive in EYFS. This is a great opportunity for the children to watch the egg hatch into baby chicks. You will be able to ask your child about having the eggs/chicks in school.
Science week starts with this year's theme, Growth. The children will take part in different science activities all week, so ask your child what they are learning.
Thursday 17th, is St. Patrick's day, so all pupils in this house may come to school wearing something green.
Friday is a double event day as we are celebrating Red Nose Day, plus we will be looking at the Hindu festival Holi. This will be celebrated throughout the school. More details will come out regarding both events.
I do hope that you have a lovely weekend. Come on England 🇬🇬as we take on Ireland 🇮🇪in the rugby.
Have fun
Mr A
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The weekly blog - keeping you up-to-date with school life; Stars of the Week; Housepoint winners and much more..
Fri 04 Mar 2022Welcome to our first week back.
The term has begun and it started extremely well with everyone taking part in World Book Day. It was lovely to see all the children in PJs and share their favourite books.
This term is 6 weeks and we break up for Easter on Friday 8th April 2022. Attendance is extremely important for every child to achieve the best they can, so please work with us and make sure your child is in school every day.
Attendance is: 94.12%
This week's winners with 100% are Reception and Year 1. Well done both classes as this means that you have been in school every day this week.
COViD Restrictions
As mentioned in my APP message to you before we came back to school, we are keeping all restrictions in place for the first two weeks of term. After this, I will begin to ease restrictions a little each week until we are back to running a 'normal' school day. Therefore, if your child does show any symptoms of COViD, please keep them off school and complete a test, letting us know the test result. If your child tests positive, they will need to stay off school for at least 5 clear days and have two negative test results before returning to school.
Pop-up Museum at School
On Monday 7th March, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery are bringing a pop-up museum to our school. How exciting! This will give staff and children at the school a unique opportunity to see some original 1200-year-old Anglo-Saxon artefacts found on our doorstep in Chiseldon. Artefacts of this age, rarely leave museums, so this is an exciting opportunity!
Feeling left out? Do not worry, you are invited to have a look after school. Children can bring their parents in after school to see the artefacts. Parents will need to wear a face mask or carry their exempt pass to enter the school premises. This is really exciting and an opportunity for parents to come back into the school after such a long time away. Parents and pupils will need to queue outside the main entrance door and we will admit limited numbers at a time to see the artefacts. You will leave the hall via the hall door onto the playground so that we are all keeping ourselves as safe as we can.
Please come along and support this event, as it is through support that these opportunities can take place. I am very excited to see the museum come to life in our school - what a fabulous opportunity for all our pupils.
Stars of the Week
Nursery Colby D & Tymon J 🤩 Reception Amy Grace C & Arya C 🤩 Year 1 Jasper M & Lilly Mae L 🤩 Year 2 Charlie S & Bobby M 🤩 Year 3 Kayenna N & Beatrice WT 🤩 Year 4 Charlie C & Ewan C 🤩 Year 5 Desmond C & Raymond C 🤩 Year 6 Oma N & Esha B 🤩 Housepoint Winners
EYFS Roman E & Ben S 🥳 Key Stage 1 Calan D & Charlie S 🥳 Lower Key Stage 2 Kai F 🥳 Upper Key Stage 2 Esha B 🥳 The winning house this week is St George - well done all those in this house, what a great job!
I hope you have a lovely weekend
Mr A
