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News
Autumn 2008
Recently an ICT information questionnaire was sent out to all parents in order to gather information so that we can further develop our ICT and enhance home-school communication. If you have already completed and returned your questionnaire, thank you, if not, please return as soon as possible. So far, it has been noted that parents would like to know which topics their child/children will be covering each term so that they too can be involved. By popular demand we have included on the 'Parents' page the topics being covered for the academic year 2008-2009.
Welcome back to the start of the new academic year 2008/09.
The children in Year 1 an Year 2 have settled back into routine and the Reception children are starting school over the next week.
Here are some of the events taking place this term:
Children's individual school photographs will be taken on 20th October
Three curriculum evenings one for each year group - Reception on 16th October 2008
Year 1 on 5th November 2008
Year 2 on 26th November 2008
We also hope to be hosting a healthy lunchbox cooking and tasting session.
Grandparents assembly for all of Reception children will be held on 23rd October 2008.
The whole school will have a presentation by Basildon Youth Theatre on 29th September 2008 on the theme of citizenship.
Year 2 will have the 'Lego Town Planners' which is a fun activity designed to focus on practical problem solving.
Summer 2008
The library is now housed at the back of the school in the new building. The building is ideal as a library and a small groups room. This facility is also being used for 'Confident Parenting Classes' which have been running for 6 weeks. We hope to run these again during the next academic year.
 
There is a possibility of an after school 'Internet Cafe' for parents and children next year. WATCH THIS SPACE!
ICT - watch for news in Autumn term for exciting news for our families.
Spring 2008
In the early part of the Spring term we have lots of exciting events taking place.
Year R - will have workshops to improve their speaking and listening skills and the use of rhyme in stories based on 'We're going on a bear hunt' story. This is led by a theatre in education team.
Year 1 - a geography based play 'Where in the world is Barnaby Bear'. The travels of the bear are part of our early years geography curriculum.
Year 2 - will have a history based play on the life and times of Florence Nightingale, which is part of our history curriculum.
Year 2 - will possibly have a talk from the fire brigade, this is to be confirmed.
The whole school is to benefit from a play on 'being safe on the roads' which is funded by Havering Council.
Class 2's sharing assembly will be on 29th January 2008.
Autumn 2007
You may have read in the local newspaper, and through our newsletters, that the school has been judged to be 'outstanding' in our most recent Ofsted inspection. We had previously in 1998 and 2003 been judged to be 'excellent', which was the term used by the Government at that time. The school continues to show that the children in our care do outstandingly well in their achievements not only in academic subjects but in all areas of education. They also demonstrated our ethos of good citizenship and care through the way they behave in school and take part in all activities with effort and enthusiasm.
The school has also achieved the new Financial Standards in School accreditation for the excellent standards in financial management that are a major part of the work of the school.
We are pleased to inform you that the school nurse is now offering drop-in sessions for parents. The next session will be on Tuesday 22nd January at 2.30pm - 3.30pm. Just come into school if you wish to see Mrs Ellington (our school nurse) and we will take you to meet her.
A professional theatre company are performing The Wizard of Oz for all the children on the morning of 20th December. During the afternoon we hope that Santa Claus will be visiting the children with a Christmas gift.
November 2006
New Cooking Area
This week, beginning the 27th, has been a very exciting and delicious week for the children. To mark the opening of our new cooking area, which has just been completed, the children from all classes have been using this area to cook delicious and healthy foods as part of the design and technology curriculum.
This week has included a healthy food talk for the children in Year 1 and Year 2 from the Havering Healthy Schools Co-ordinator Tracey Wraight. To mark the 'opening' fruit and fruit drinks were on offer for all the children. A cook book compiled from recipes sent in by parents is being put together as a school recipe book.
We had a day where the children took part in decorating their own individual Christmas cakes to take home courtesy of The Naked Cake Company.
We hope that the children will enjoy their experiences cooking and learning about weighing food. They will learn how they prepare food, timing when using the oven, watching the scientific changes as food is cooked or frozen, as well as learning about hygiene when setting out and clearing up. Most of all we want the children to be confident about cooking, using fresh ingredients and to enjoy the experience and the taste of what they cook.
October 2006
New Role Playhouse
The children are thrilled with their new role playhouse which has been bought for them. The Schools Council, made up of elected pupils, put forward the idea of a role playhouse to use during break times and are putting together rules of how it is to be used. The children will be able to develop their speaking and communication skills by acting out real life situations during their play.
March 2006
Staff and pupils are very excited at being accredited with the Primary Quality Mark for the second time, the first time being in 2003. The Basic Skills Agency is a nationwide organisation working with a variety of other organisations to promote basic skills in mathematics, English and ICT.
The agency uses the quality mark to assess whether a school meets their required standards in maths, English and ICT and ensures children make good progress in these areas of learning. This prestigious award also recognises that schools involve parents through homework, curriculum meetings and information about the school. The award also focuses on the standard of resources for learning and the involvement of staff in training and development.
Children, governors, staff and parents all share in the success of the school. The children were thrilled with their badges which they can wear and take pride in their achievements.
After writing to congratulate our school, Mr James Brokenshire, MP for Hornchurch was invited to visit the school on 24th March to present the plaque during a special assembly.
Mrs Keeper, Head Teacher, is an assessor for the LEA and visits other schools to assess whether they have achieved the Primary Quality Mark. As a result she was invited, along with the Chief Education Officer and two other Head Teachers, to Buckingham Palace where she met Princess Anne who is the Patron of the Basic Skills Agency.
November 2005
New Opportunities Funds - speaking and listening
Children at our school now enjoy even more extra activities at lunchtime thanks to a grant from the New Opportunities Fund. The grant enabled our Midday Staff to help the children with speaking and listening activities, including using finger and glove puppets, talking about traditional tales and creating new stories, and using a listening centre that allows a group of up to six children to listen and respond to a range of stories and songs. This will help to enable the children to develop language skills and communicate well with both adults and children on a daily basis.
Art Attack' goes Gold
We received our Gold Artsmark award in July 2004 at the National Film Theatre. For this the school provided documentation about our work in the curriculum for the arts, proving that we are committed to providing high quality provision for the children. We also had a visitor from the Arts Council who interviewed staff, children, parents and governors.
Lottery Grant
The school received a Lottery Grant from the London Arts Board which was used during the summer to introduce the children to the idea of producing art made from natural materials. The children worked with Don Rankin, a sculptor who has produced work for the National Sculpture Park in Yorkshire. The reception classes used resources in the school grounds and the other classes utilised Hornchurch Country Park, whilst the Art Club went to visit Tate Britain in London where they had a gallery talk on sculpture. We welcome Don Rankin back in the autumn term to create a willow house as our final piece of art.
A School of Quality!
In September 2003 the school was awarded the Basic Skills Agency Quality Mark. This celebrates the schools consistently high standards in reading, writing and mathematics. More information about the Quality Mark can be found on the Basic Skills Agency website at www.basic-skills.co.uk
'Scargill's great, Scargill's cool, Scargill is an eco-school'
The school has won an Eco-school silver award. After obtaining a bronze award last year the children have worked hard to earn the award. For this they had to make environmental decisions at the school council meetings, review issues in the school grounds and plan ways to deal with them. They discussed litter and keeping the grounds tidy. There is now an album of action in the school foyer for visitors to see how the children have worked towards developing their grounds. The school nature club has worked on creating areas for the birds to feed, made a butterfly garden and identified trees within the school. Each class now has a specific area to look after and develop. The school is now involved in a number of recycling projects and the children are continuing to enjoy the development of the school environment.
In the early part of the Spring term we have lots of exciting events taking place.
Year R - will have workshops to improve their speaking and listening skills and the use of rhyme in stories based on 'We're going on a bear hunt' story. This is led by a theatre in education team.
Year 1 - a geography based play 'Where in the world is Barnaby Bear'. The travels of the bear are part of our early years geography curriculum.
Year 2 - will have a history based play on the life and times of Florence Nightingale, which is part of our history curriculum.
Year 2 - will possibly have a talk from the fire brigade, this is to be confirmed.
The whole school is to benefit from a play on 'being safe on the roads' which is funded by Havering Council.
Class 2's sharing assembly will be on 29th January 2008.
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