Headteacher's Report 24th May 2006

The school now has 86 children on roll. We have a very high takeup of places, especially in the younger years. Several years are completely full. Foundation Stage for September 2006 is full, with a maximum 15 children accepted, but there is a local family going through the appeal process with County, in order to gain a place for their daughter. This will be decided by an independent appeal panel. Although the family is now resident in the village, it would not be right to blindly accept another child over our stated maximum. We await the result of the appeal.

The new Classroom is in place and we would like to thank Simon Campbell for the construction of the ramp for no cost, other than that of the wood. It is interesting to note that we were quoted £3000 for a ramp by a commercial company. Simon's generosity has enabled us to provide ramped access for less than £350.

Samantha Walch, a graduate of Oriel College, Oxford, has been appointed to teach in our new Blue Class Foundation Stage class, which will be situated in what is now Yellow Class. Between September and December, as the FS children are half time only, she will be working with other classes, providing PPA cover and 'Booster' classes for children at the high end of the achievement spectrum. We look forward to welcoming her to Stoke Row.

Other new members of staff include Mrs Xamantha Seeman, LSA in Yellow Class, largely attached to working with a statemented child; Miss Kate Fox, working in Green Class on a temporary contract, and Mrs Sally Wills, working with Lunchtime staff, and who will also be working part time in Blue Class after Christmas. We said a sad farewell to Mrs Pauline Cummins at the end of term 4 though she continues to work in the office on Wednesday afternoons until the end of this academic year. Mrs Wendy Cramer, one of our Lunchtime support staff, has been absent with a severe fracture injury since September, and is unlikely to return until the start of the new academic year at the earliest. We thank Mrs Cathy Higgins and Mrs Naomi Opalinska for stepping in to join our lunchtime staff for two days each.

Training for staff has included ongoing NVQ courses for LSA staff, Child Protection, NQT inputs and briefings on the new drafts of Literacy and Numeracy Strategies.

We continue to see excellent results, with SATs scores and Foundation Stage Profiles showing real, individual progress in every Key Stage. This is true across the spectrum of achievement and proves the effectiveness of SEN inputs and higher level extension work. This alone proves that we have a body of effective teachers, but the real proof is in the quality of the work on display, the delight and interest the children show in their work, and in the happy atmosphere we have in this school.