Issue No 424
25th January 2008
Dear Friends of Crescent,
On Thursday of last week we held the first Pre-Prep Open evening. The meeting was well attended and I was grateful for the many complimentary comments made about it. For those who weren’t able to attend I will outline what happened.
The evening began with a glass of wine and the opportunity for staff and parents to have a chat. I then began the meeting by talking about the guiding principle behind the curriculum for children in Reception through to Class II. Briefly this is as follows:
Many people in education ask the question ‘What should children know by the end of Year 2?’ or ‘What should children be able to do by the end of Year 2?’ I believe that both these questions are the wrong question; rather we should be asking ‘What educational opportunities should children be given to enable them to become good learners?’ What they need to know may well change with changes in technology and circumstance but the need to be able to learn effectively will never go away.
Over the past 20 years we have learnt the great majority of what is known about how the brain works in terms of our ability to learn but the primary curriculum hasn’t changed very much in response to this knowledge. The National Curriculum is far too concerned with the very narrow focus of literacy and numeracy skills and knowledge. There isn’t nearly enough use made of the knowledge, comparatively recently gained, about how certain activities improve the brain’s performance. Such activities as Music and Movement, Brain Gym, P.E., Circle Time and learning a foreign language can all help to improve a young child’s ability to learn now and in later life. This is why we have a curriculum at Crescent that is so much broader than the National Curriculum.
In his presentation Mr Webb talked about how the curriculum is delivered through the breadth of learning opportunities available to our children and the level of individual attention each child receives; indeed, we offer children levels of individual support as a matter of course that are often seen as ‘additional support’ in other schools. We believe that this develops early confidence and self belief which will enable independent learning later.
At the end of Mr Webb’s presentation parents went with individual class teachers to the classrooms to hear more about the experiences their children have in those particular classes.
It is my intention that meetings such as this should take place more frequently to improve the flow of communication between school and home. At present this flow is too heavily biased in favour of school to home so we wish to increase the flow of communication from home to school.
With best wishes.
Yours sincerely,
R H Marshall
Weekly Times
Monday, 28th January
12.20 - 12.50 Recorders—Class IV
12.20 – 12.50 Junior Girls’ Games—Classes III
& IV
12.45 – 13.15 Brass Group
13.05 - 13.45 Ballet – Class I
13.05 - 13.45 Senior Games – Classes V & VI
13.05 – 13.45 Ballet – Reception
15.30 depart Neighbourhood Cross Country Trials
at Binley Woods – ref. Mrs Gove
15.45 - 16.30 Choir
15.45 - 16.30 Pre-Prep Games – Classes I & II
Tuesday, 29th
12.20 Spanish Club – Class IV
12.50 - 13.20 Times-Tables Challenge
15.45 - 16.30 Girls’ Games – Classes V & VI
15.45 - 16.30 Senior Boys’ Games—Classes V & VI
15.45 – 17.00 Cookery Club – Class IV
16.00 Finance and General Purposes Committee Meeting
Wednesday, 30th
12.20 - 13.00 Ballet – Class VI (a)
13.05 - 13.45 Reception Art Club
13.05 - 13.45 Ballet – Class V
14.45 depart Football v Bablake School (A) ref.
Mr Phillips
15.00 depart Netball v Bablake School (A) ref.
Mrs Gove
15.45 - 16.45 Camera Club
Thursday, 31st
12.20 - 13.00 Ballet—Class III
12.45 – 13.15 Brass Group
13.05 - 13.45 Ballet—Class IV
15.45 - 17.00 Art Club
15.50 - 16.50 Tap & Modern Dance
16.00 – 18.00 Classes III & IV Parents’ Consultation Evening
18.30 – 20.30 Classes I & II Parents’ Consultation Evening
Friday, 1st February
12.20 - 13.40 Library
12.20 - 13.00 Ballet—Class II
12.20 - 13.00 Junior Boys’ Games – Classes III & IV
12.20 - 12.50 String Group
13.00 – 13.40 Chess Club – Class VI
13.05 – 13.45 Ballet – Class VI (b)
13.15 - 13.45 Wind Group
15.45 - 16.45 Orchestra
18.00 School Hall in use by Bilton Pantomummers
Reading
For those of you that are at a loss of what your child should read, I have registered the School on a website that creates reading lists:
Take a look, we can add recommendations that you have read with your children, so let me know any on:
Also we are members of the kidsreview site:
password:bilton
logon number:9376041
You can review books and see recommendations.
Thank you.
S. Lowe
School link
I hope you have enjoyed looking at the School Link booklet over the week. Last orders on Monday 28th January to me or go on-line:
Password:bilton52
School number: 0003603445
S .Lowe