Last week Mr Gentle, Mr Bailey, Mrs Compton and Mrs Audritt all took a tour of the new school. Galliford Try have been working hard to install the foundations of our new buildings. The children have enjoyed seeing this site progress.
If you look really hard, you will be able to make out the outline of the entire building! Please do take the time to have a look.
It seems like just yesterday as year 4 stood on the field on
week 1 of the building process. However, a few months down the line, the
children are very excited and amazed at the progress of the new build. The
following pictures show a few weeks of the process starting from week 4. (There is a previous blog on the first 3 weeks).
Sutton Primary School has just been informed that we are a Local Winner in Keystage 2 published results for the Pupil Premium Awards 2016. As a school we have been selected as one of 550 high achieving schools (Primary & Secondary) in the country in terms of the attainment and progress of our disadvantage pupils since 2011.
As a school we will now submit an application to win the regional or national award judged in March 2016. Fingers crossed!
Nick Gibb (MP) explains how storytelling stretches children’s vocabularies, expands their horizons and extends their ability to learn.
People of my generation will remember the late comedian Max Bygraves and his famous catchphrase, “I wanna tell you a story”.
The reception Bygraves’s catchphrase always gained demonstrates the timeless pleasure of being told a good story. This is a pleasure that National Storytelling Week celebrates, and I am delighted to be a part of the events today.
Over the years I have spoken a lot about the importance of initial literacy, and how all the evidence, both in this country and internationally, points to systematic synthetic phonics as the best way to teach young children to decode and read words.
Learning to decode words is the vital first step in becoming a confident reader. It is a necessary condition without which children will spend years struggling with reading, but it is only a first step. Today, I want to talk about the importance of storytelling, of children being read to and told stories, not only in the years before they start school but throughout their education.
A 2003 American study called ‘The early catastrophe’ by Professors Hart and Risley, found that an American child from a professional family will experience 2,153 words an hour by the age of 3. This compares to a child from the most disadvantaged background who will experience only 616 words an hour.
That amounts to a 30-million-word gap between the least and most advantaged 3-year-old.
Similar findings exist in the UK. According to Department for Education data on early years pupils, the widest attainment gap, when comparing pupils eligible for free school meals and all others, is in reading and writing.
Why does this matter? Because conversation and storytelling widen a child’s vocabulary, and a wide vocabulary is decisive in becoming a confident reader. As the cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham has written, it is possible to read a text slightly pitched above your understanding, as the meaning of unfamiliar words can be deduced from the context. However, as the number of unfamiliar words increases, your ability to ‘get the gist’ drops rapidly.
So, the more words a child knows at an early age, the greater their ability to read challenging texts. This in turn increases their ability to learn more words, and so on and so forth, in a positive feedback loop of vocabulary accumulation. The word gap which researchers identify amongst children aged 3, can be a gulf by the time pupils take their GCSEs.
The reading expert Keith Stanovich has dubbed this positive feedback loop ‘the Matthew effect’, after the verse in the Gospel of Mathew telling the parable of the talents: “to those who have, more shall be given, but from those who have not, even what they have shall be taken away.”
As a government, we are dedicated to improving the life chances of young people. All pupils should be given the best start in life by their schooling, irrespective of birth or background. If you believe in social justice then you will want state education to do all that it can to remedy the education gap between those from advantaged, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
It is difficult to overstate the benefits of instilling a love of reading in a child. According to research by the OECD, reading for pleasure is more important than a family’s socio-economic status in determining a child’s success at school.
This finding is supported by the work of Dr Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown at the Institute of Education. From analysing the educational outcomes of around 6,000 children who participated in the 1970 British Cohort Study, they found that reading for pleasure is more important for a child’s cognitive development between 10 and 16 than their parents’ level of education.
Remarkably, the combined effect of reading books often, going to the library regularly and reading newspapers at 16 was 4 times greater than the advantage children gained from having a parent with a degree. These findings show that given the gift of reading, a child’s life chances need not be limited by their social or economic background. Deprivation need not be destiny.
And let us not forget the immeasurable benefit that stories can have in widening a child’s imagination, transporting them to entirely new and unfamiliar places - geographically, historically and emotionally. Getting lost in a good story can allow you to discover more about the world, more about humankind, and more about yourself.
We are living through something of a golden age of children’s books, with ‘Percy Jackson’ novels transporting young readers to mythology of ancient Greece, and ‘The Hunger Games’ landing them in a dystopian future. It is extremely reassuring that, according to the latest annual survey from the National Literacy Trust, enjoyment and frequency of reading amongst 8- to 18-year-olds are both at their highest levels for 9 years.
Reading independently, being read to, and engaging in conversation are all vitally important for a child’s development. But today I would like to make a particular case for the importance of being read stories.
Research has shown that the vocabulary of general conversation is surprisingly impoverished, compared to the vocabulary we find in written material. This was demonstrated by 2 American reading experts who ranked 86,000 word forms in the English language according to the frequency with which they occurred in written English.
The word ranked first is ‘the’. ‘It’ is ranked 10th. ‘Amplifier’ is ranked 16,000th - you get the drift.
Using this data, the researchers then measured different forms of written and spoken English. In children’s books, the average word is ranked 627th most frequent. The average word used in conversation between university graduates, however, ranks only 496th most frequent.
In other words, even highly educated people use less sophisticated vocabulary when speaking than the words used in a typical children’s book. Which is why it is so important not just to talk to children but to read to them as well. Story time is a crucial part of any primary school’s timetable, as it has such power to build a child’s vocabulary. The type of story or book being read can be more challenging than a book the child chooses to read for him or herself.
Of course, National Storytelling Week celebrates the oral tradition of storytelling: fables, folk tales and fairy lore. As long as human civilisation has existed, we have shared stories. For those looking to communicate a message, encapsulating it in a well told story has long been the most effective method.
Would the teachings of the Bible have been so powerful had Jesus never told the story of the Good Samaritan, but simply instructed his followers to care for all humankind? Would children the world over know that ‘slow and steady wins the race’, had the ancient Greek slave Aesop not parcelled that message in his fable ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’?
Aesop and Jesus were not just good storytellers, they were expert cognitive psychologists. Humans are hard-wired to remember stories, to the point that psychologists have referred to stories as ‘psychologically privileged’ in the human mind.
The best teachers have always based their lessons, knowingly or unknowingly, on this insight. As some psychologists suggest, a good story encourages the listener to be continually making small inferences, working out how the narrative is going to develop and resolve, thus keeping their attention throughout.
For mathematics teachers introducing pupils to the concept of volume, you can do a lot worse than retelling the story of Archimedes in the bath. Few children can forget the image of Archimedes running through the streets of Syracuse naked, exclaiming ‘Eureka!’.
If a history teacher wants pupils to learn about the African-American struggle for civil rights, the stories of Emmet Till and Rosa Parks can capture attention and aid memory like little else. If a science teacher wants pupils to remember the properties of antibiotics, then the story of how Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin is ideal.
I understand that Snail Tales are currently undertaking their own controlled trial looking into the benefits of storytelling for long-term memory, and I look forward to hearing their findings.
But to return to the question of ensuring all pupils become confident readers.
Mastering the mechanics of decoding has to be the first objective - it is the gateway towards being a successful reader. This is best achieved through structured schemes of systematic phonics, with plenty of practice reading books that are consistent with the level of phonic knowledge the child has been taught.
The second objective of the English curriculum is practice - encouraging children to improve the fluency and speed of their reading by reading large numbers of books. The more you read, the more vocabulary you acquire and the easier it becomes to comprehend.
For this reason, I would like to see every pupil in years 3 to 6 of primary school reading at least 1 book a week. ‘A book a week’ should be the mantra for anyone hoping to eliminate illiteracy in this country.
The third objective of the English curriculum is to help pupils read more challenging books. Teachers should set for their classes those books that are slightly more challenging than the ones pupils would elect to read on their own. And that too involves teachers reading to their pupils.
From my own education I remember being read to throughout my time at school: from ‘Stig of the Dump’ at junior school, to Alastair MacLean, Hammond Innes, and L P Hartley’s ‘The Go-Between’ in the third year of secondary school. After the first couple of pages read to us by the teacher, pupils would take it in turns to read aloud the next sections. We did this, I remember, with ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ in the fourth year, ‘Great Expectations’ in the fifth year and even on into the sixth form where we read together as a class D H Lawrence’s ‘The Rainbow’ and Steinbeck’s ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.
This process gave me the confidence to take on challenging books, that were much more difficult than those I would otherwise have chosen. And it worked - I went on to read many more MacLean, Dickens, Lawrence and Steinbeck books thanks to my teachers.
I do question why, when I am on school visits, I see teachers in the first 3 years of secondary school already using English literature lessons to prepare for GCSE-style questions. Instead of GCSE-style analysis of the text, should those lessons not be used to spread the sheer enjoyment of reading, through introducing pupils to a wide and varied diet of English and world literature? I am sure this would be far better preparation for their eventual examinations than a premature obsession with exam technique.
And this brings me to the fourth and final objective: the canon. It is important that schools introduce pupils to the great works of English literature, that lend pupils an intellectual hinterland to draw upon for the rest of their lives. Of course, the exact make-up of the canon will always be a matter of debate and disagreement, but the existence of the canon should not be.
Through our reforms to the English literature GCSE, children are being encouraged to read more challenging titles in years 10 and 11. Prior to our reforms, around 90% of pupils in the English literature GCSE delivered by one exam board answered questions on a single text: ‘Of Mice and Men’. Now, John Steinbeck is a great author (‘East of Eden’ is my all-time favourite book - it’s the Great American Novel) but even I doubt this short novella was deserving of such overwhelming attention.
Since September, pupils have been studying the reformed English literature GCSE for the first time, including the study of both a 19th century novel and a modern book. Instead of a strict diet of Steinbeck, pupils can read George Orwell and Jane Austen, Kazuo Ishiguro and Charlotte Bronte - and they will be reading the whole novel, not just extracts.
For now, the important point is - as Max Bygraves might have said - children wanna hear a story. If we are to deliver an education that closes the word gap, closes the reading gap, and thus closes the achievement gap, we need to introduce our children to as many stories as we can.
Working parents to receive double the current amount of free childcare for 3- and 4-year-olds.
Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah has today (2 February 2016) announced £13 million, which will allow councils across the country to deliver 30 hours of free childcare for hard working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds - a year ahead of schedule.
As a result, some working parents in Wigan, Staffordshire, Swindon, Portsmouth, Northumberland, York, Newham and Hertfordshire will now benefit from the early offer from this September.
The extra hours of childcare will make it easier for these parents to work and is another move designed to meet the government’s commitment to make work pay.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said:
For too long, rising childcare costs have been a barrier preventing parents and particularly mothers from working. That’s why I’m delighted that in just a few months’ time, we will see the first families benefiting from the government’s offer of 30 hours’ free childcare for working parents.
We have made a commitment to help working people, and through this extended offer we will help thousands more parents who want to return to work to do so.
The government will also be looking at the issues that make it difficult for parents with particular challenges to access childcare, including special educational needs and disability.
The core group of councils will be supported by 25 others, who will look specifically at innovative ways of making sure childcare is accessible to as many parents as possible.
Their experiences will then be used to support the full rollout in 2017, with the aim of removing significant barriers to parents taking up their entitlement.
Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah said:
I know how important childcare is from my own personal experience, and I couldn’t be more determined to make sure we give children the best start in life, support parents to work, and as a result, allow our country to prosper.
I’m pleased that we are investing in childcare, and I’m looking forward to seeing how working parents benefit from 30 hours’ free childcare, before we roll the offer out to the rest of the country.
All 3- and 4-year-olds are already entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week, and this is also extended to the most disadvantaged 2-year-olds. Last year, more than 1 million 3- and 4-year-olds, and 157,000 2-year-olds benefited from this offer.
The government is now going further than ever before, and will provide an additional 15 free hours to working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds from September 2017 - delivering on a key manifesto pledge
As part of this government’s commitment to helping hardworking people, we will be investing more than £1 billion extra per year by 2019 to 2020 to fund the extension of the free childcare entitlement.
The Department for Education will also be piloting a new contract with councils, and consulting on a fairer funding formula for the early years, to help ensure that local authorities are passing the money on to providers, and that providers are given a fair rate.
Parents who flout parking regulations
outside six east London primary schools could get a criminal record.
Motorists will be issued with £100
fines and three warnings before a criminal prosecution is sought, Havering Council, which will
implement the scheme, said the current parking situation meant children faced
an "imminent threat to life".
One
headteacher said a child was recently hospitalised after being hit by a parent
doing a three-point turn. Una Connelly, headteacher of Wykeham
Primary, said: "There have been a number of serious incidents involving
dangerous driving by parents. "There have also been many near misses, and we're acting before
there's a fatality." From the spring, a Public Space
Protection Order (PSPO) will be set up meaning CCTV cameras will be installed
and anyone caught flouting the regulations can be prosecuted. She said: "The only way we're
going to stop these parents, and it's only a very small minority, is by
prosecution. This ...order, for me, is the best idea."
Other
methods to improve the parking situation
§Designated
drop-off/pick-up zone within the school ground §Close
roads around the school at the start and finish of the day
Other management methods include
training parents, teachers and resident to issue parking fines. But Mrs Connelly said she was
reluctant to put others at "risk of abuse of any kind".
Robert Benham, from Havering Council,
said it was hoped making parking a criminal offence would work as a deterrent
to inconsiderate parking. He said: "Three strikes and
they're holed before the magistrates. And I think this behaviour will
stop."
Quick-fix
'warning'
Ian Temperton from Road Safety GB
said parking could help to regulate traffic by forcing drivers to slow down,
and urged the council not to focus on quick-fixes. He said: "The PSPO sounds like a
shot-term solution. There's always the difficulty you're going to move the
problem somewhere else."
The schools involved in the scheme
are: Gidea Park, Parsonage Farm, Ardleigh Green, Broadford, Wykeham and
Engayne.
Tax-Free Childcare will be available to around 2 million households to help with the cost of childcare, enabling more parents to go out to work, if they want to, to provide greater security for their families. Here’s the top ten things to know about the scheme…
1. You’ll be able to open an online account
You’ll be able to open an online account, which you can pay into to cover the cost of childcare with a registered provider. This will be done through the government website, GOV.UK. Tax-Free Childcare will be launched from early 2017.
2. For every 80p you or someone else pays in, the government will top up an extra 20p
This is equivalent of the tax most people pay - 20% - which gives the scheme its name, ‘tax-free’. The government will top up the account with 20% of childcare costs up to a total of £10,000 - the equivalent of up to £2,000 support per child per year (or £4,000 for disabled children).
3. The scheme will be available for children up to the age of 12
It will also be available for children with disabilities up to the age of 17, as their childcare costs can stay high throughout their teenage years.
4. To qualify, parents will have to be in work, and each earning just over an average of £100 a week and not more than £100,000 each per year
The scheme is designed to be flexible for parents if, for example, they want to get back to work after the birth of a child or work part-time.
5. Any eligible working family can use the Tax-Free Childcare scheme - it doesn’t rely on employers offering it
Tax-Free Childcare doesn’t rely on employers offering the scheme, unlike the current scheme Employer-Supported Childcare. Any working family can use Tax-Free Childcare, provided they meet the eligibility requirements.
6. The scheme will also be available for parents who are self-employed
Self-employed parents will be able to get support with childcare costs in Tax-Free Childcare, unlike the current scheme (Employer-Supported Childcare) which is not available to self-employed parents. To support newly self-employed parents, the government is introducing a ‘start-up’ period. During this, self-employed parents won’t have to earn the minimum income level.
The scheme will also be available to parents on paid sick leave and paid and unpaid statutory maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
7. If you currently receive Employer-Supported Childcare then you can continue to do so
You do not have to switch to Tax-Free Childcare if you do not wish to. Employer-Supported Childcare will continue to run. Parents won’t be able to register for Employer-Supported Childcare after Tax-Free Childcare is introduced, but those already registered by this date will be able to continue using it for as long as their employer offers it. However, Tax-Free Childcare will be open to more than twice as many parents as Employer-Supported Childcare.
Employers’ workplace nurseries won’t be affected by the introduction of Tax-Free Childcare.
8. Parents and others can pay money into their childcare account as and when they like
This gives you the flexibility to pay in more in some months, and less at other times. This means you can build up a balance in your account to use at times when you need more childcare than usual, for example, over the summer holidays.
It’s also not just the parents who can pay into the account - if grandparents, other family members or employers want to pay in, then they can.
9. The process will be as simple as possible for parents
The process will be light-touch and as easy as possible for you. For example, you’ll re-confirm your circumstances every three months via a simple online process; and there will be a simple log-in service where parents can view accounts for all of their children at once.
10. You’ll be able to withdraw money from the account if you want to
If your circumstances change or you no longer want to pay into the account, then you’ll be able to withdraw the money you have built up. If you do, the government will withdraw its corresponding contribution.
More information will become available ahead of the scheme being introduced so parents making childcare decisions are able to consider all their options.
Every week, teachers recognise pupils in their class who have made an extra
effort. These pupils are recognised as Stars of the Week during our Monday morning Celebratory Assembly.
Congratulations to all the wonderful children who made an extra
effort last week. You have become our first 'Stars of the Week' for 2015-16
We are already looking forward to welcoming you back on Thursday 3rd
September. Breakfast Club will be open as usual from 7.45am and the doors will open to
the children’s new classes at 8.35am as usual.
Congratulations
to our pupils in Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 for a fantastic set of SATs
results.Through your hard work,
determination and outstanding love of learning they have achieved the
following:
On Thursday 23rd April Suttons Primary celebrated St George's Day. It was an extremely fun and successful day, organised by Sutton's School council!
Firstly children were asked to dress in white or red the colours of the English flag. At breaktime the school council sold strawberries and lemonade to over 150 students! That's a lot of strawberries. The school council worked tirelessly to get all the strawberries washed and prepped before hand.
At lunchtime the school council hosted a games event in the demountable. Children came in from the playground and took part in lots of St George's day activities and board games.
Then in the afternoon there was a fabulous Afternoon Tea, which all the parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles were invited to. There were lots of wonderful and delicious cakes to eat and enjoy. It was extremely successful with over 170 people attending! Thank you to everyone who came.
I am so proud of the school council and their achievements during in the day. They worked extremely hard and worked so well together as a team. Overall they made £260. Fantastic! We would also like to thank all the teachers, staff and Friends of Suttons who helped to make the day a success.
School council members: Year 1 - Rory, Isabella. Year 1/2: Oliver H, Kayleigh. Year 2: Daniel B, Kasey. Year 3: Lexi-Lola, James A. Year 4: Sachi, Louis. Year 5: Holly, Odafe. Year 6: Grace, Ronnie P.
The school was invaded by a gang of pirates this week as the children in Years 3, 4 and 5 performed the Musical "The Pirates Of The Curry Bean".
The story begins in Old London at the docks where a treasure map is found by the Periwinkles only to be stolen by the crew of The Curry Bean, lead by Captain Redbeard.
The Perriwinkles aided by the Crew of the naval ship, The Crunchy Frog, set sail to hunt down the pirate gang only to be captured and then ship wrecked in a violent storm.
Both crews find themselves on the island of Lumbago, a tropical paradise where the treasure map shows there is a fortune to be found. Scuttle and Slack find the treasure with the help of some cheeky monkeys.
However the treasure is claimed by Redbeard's gang, but the King of Wonga, who regains his memory, insists that the treasure be shared by all. Bringing a happy ending to the show, with the Perriwinkles being reunited and everyone being very rich.
A big thank you goes to the parents of the cast who supplied all their lovely costumes and helped many of our characters learn and practise their lines.
The show was a great success and the children really enjoyed taking part in the performance, which was received with great praise by all of our audiences.
Staff,
pupils and parents at Suttons Primary school, in Suttons Lane Hornchurch are delighted with
their recent Ofsted report which has judged them, yet again, as being a “good”
school.It has been almost five years
since the school was last inspected, during this time the school has undergone
some major changes, including the appointment a new Head and Deputy Head
teacher.
The
inspectors assessed Suttons as being a “good” school overall and in each
of the five key categories: Achievement of Pupils, Quality of Teaching,
Behaviour and Safety, Leadership and Management and Early Years Provision.In addition, the report states: “The school is outstanding in
keeping pupils safe and secure.”
Suttons
prides itself on being: “A small school with great expectations.” Members of
the school community frequently talk about feeling part of a ‘Suttons Family’.
The inspectors, who were in school on 27th and 28th November, agreed, saying:
“The school’s friendly yet purposeful atmosphere enables all pupils to be fully
included, whatever their needs or circumstances.”
Suttons is proud of the quality of teaching which challenges
pupils, allows them to thrive and reach the highest levels of attainment. The school is also delighted that the behaviour and safety of
pupils is praised. Pupils are keen to take on responsibility and are very proud
of their school. They have positive attitudes to learning, are polite, friendly
and show respect for one another and adults.
Head teacher, David Unwin-Bailey said, “This is a fantastic result for the school and a
positive validation of all our effort.Ofsted are continually raising their expectations, but so are we!” He
added: “We are now looking forward to continuing the journey and building on
our success as we move to outstanding.”
As you know, the school has recently had an Ofsted
inspection and we are extremely pleased and proud to be able to report to you
that the school has been assessed as being a “Good” school overall and in each
of the five key categories: Achievement of Pupils, Quality of Teaching,
Behaviour and Safety, Leadership and Management and Early Years Provision.
This is a fantastic result for the school, considering
recent changes to the inspection regime in September 2013 and again in January
2014, which has meant that the threshold for “Good” is now much more difficult
to attain than was the case when we were last inspected in 2010.
The report acknowledges and praises the school and its
students, recognising the schools progress saying:
Senior leaders, managers and governors have maintained a good level of education since the previous inspection by continuing to improve teaching and achievement (learning).
The leadership team have successfully created a culture where teaching is consistently good and where pupils can thrive. Most-able pupils are challenged well to reach the highest levels of attainment.
Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) make a valuable contribution to pupils’ progress and help them to achieve well.
The school’s friendly yet purposeful atmosphere enables all pupils to be fully included, whatever their needs or circumstances.
Behaviour of pupils is good. They have a positive attitude to learning, are polite, friendly and show respect for one another and adults.
Pupils are keen to take on responsibility and are very proud of their school.
The school is outstanding in keeping pupils safe and secure.
Pupils are very well equipped to deal with any bullying should it arise and they have an excellent insight into different types.
Pupils are enthusiastic learners. Adults ensure that work is set at the right level for them and they are suitably challenged.
Reading is well taught, enabling pupils to become confident and enthusiastic readers with a good understanding of text.
Teachers skilfully teach pupils to write creatively with flair and purpose.
Achievement overall is typically good with some groups of pupils, i.e. those that are eligible for additional funding make outstanding progress from their starting points.
Early Years is well led and managed. Staff track children’s progress thoroughly and keep careful records of their assessments.
Pupils in Reception make good progress, as a result of adults taking every opportunity to promote learning.
We send our thanks for the multitude of positive feedback
given to the inspectors from parents and carers in the playground, by letter
and through Parent View.
As a school, we have all worked extremely hard over the last
few years and the journey has been an extremely rewarding one.The positive benefits can be seen throughout
the school.Ofsted’s recognition of this
achievement through the awarding of a “Good” assessment is a positive
validation of all our effort.We are now
looking forward to continuing the journey and building on our success as we
move to outstanding.
As a school we remain, as always, fully committed to
providing a high standard of teaching and learning for the children of Suttons
Primary and will, with your support, strive to ensure the best possible
outcomes for all of the children at our school.
Once you have had the chance to read the report in full, if
you have any questions you would like to discuss, please email me directly on
head@suttons.havering.sch.uk.
