KS1 monitoring

As part of Governors’ monitoring week, Mrs Martin and I met to catch up on the great work in Key Stage 1 (KS1). She explained the hard work that the teachers had put in to reduce the impact of COVID on children’s learning. The KS1 staff are supporting children to catch up and continue to ensure that children have a rich and exciting curriculum, particularly with their focus on diversity and use of positive local role models. To help embed maths fluency, the children have been taking part in additional sessions which have proved very successful. The children and staff have enjoyed welcoming and getting to know their new friends in the deaf provision. Everyone hopes the coming year will be more normal than the last one and that the plans for exciting visits will be able to go ahead. Thank you to Mrs Martin and the KS1 team.

Phonics monitoring

Miss Whysall and I met for our termly Phonics catch-up. It was great to hear how enthusiastic the children have been for their learning since returning to school. The pandemic inevitably impacted on Phonics work last year and staff are working with children and parents to help them to catch up. Staff would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to parents who are helping their children with reading and spellings at home, as this is extremely beneficial. The team have really high aspirations for Mellers children and are encouraged by the enthusiasm everyone is showing. Thank you Miss Whysall and the Phonics team.

History monitoring

Great to hear from Miss Dermody, this afternoon, about the wonderful work that the children have been doing in history. It was a brilliant idea to look at the five decades since the school has been open as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations and my year 6 guide, on the day, was so pleased to show me the work his class had done. History continues to make things come alive for children at Mellers, whether Ancient Egypt, the Tudors or the 1980s! It was good to hear about the opportunities for writing practice that history topics provide and the creative ideas that are inspiring the children. Thank you, Miss Dermody!