We are now well into the Autumn Term, and a variety of activities have already taken place. Every Thursday we have a visit from Splash, who works for a company called Artis, who run classes in performing arts, combining work in music, dance and drama. Our Year 2 children have visited St Andrew's Church, where Father Tara showed them round and explained the purposes of many of the artefacts. The children in Year 2 also enjoyed a maths challenge day.

As part of our topic on food children have also been involved in baking bread and making vegetable soup. For our Harvest Festival we collected food donated by our families which was passed on to the local corps of the Salvation Army. In the second half of the term we are holding art activity afternoons when all the children will have a chance to work in small groups to make a variety of art and craft items. Many children have already designed a Christmas card as part of a competition organised by the local MP, John Baron.

It will soon be time to start rehearsals for our Christmas production, which will be performed at the end of term. We are currently looking after some seedlings which will be planted out next Spring along the riverside nature trail which is being created beside the River Crouch.

Healthy Schools Scheme
We joined the 'Healthy Schools' scheme in April 2004. As a school, the area that we have chosen to focus on is:- "to improve the children's physical and emotional well-being at playtimes". To do this we surveyed the children to in the first half of the Summer term to find out about the games children were playing in the playground, and how they felt about playtimes. We then took 2 weeks to remind children of resources that are available at playtimes, and show them some other playground games they may or may not already know · These games were gradually introduced, with the support of all classroom staff and Mid-day workers, in the form of 'special games for the week'.

The games we focused on are displayed on our "In the playground" board in school, together with photographs of children playing the games. We also found that some children were not so happy at playtimes as others may be spoiling their games or chasing them. We are encouraging children to have the confidence to say, to any child that is spoiling their game, a simple but polite phrase such as "Please stop doing that" or "I don't want to play that game thank you". This enables children to start to try and sort out situations as they arise, often more successfully than if they go and get an adult to come over and sort out the problems. Adults are, of course, always 'on duty' in the playground.

As we begin the new Academic year, we have given children a few weeks to settle (especially those that are new to the school!). We are repeating the survey and will revisit some of the games introduced during the Summer Term. We will also be asking Mid-day staff if they are seeing any improvements in behaviour and other social skills as a result of having focussed on these areas.

I.C.T.
There has been a busy start to the year with the delivery of two new printers provided by the Tesco Vouchers for School scheme. Thank you to all parents, family and friends who contributed. We have updated our ICT suite by adding a further three XP's, bringing our total to 13. We have been successful in our bid for an interactive whiteboard (hopefully two) and await installation. New software installed this term has been focused on maths, geography and early learning goals. We have subscribed to Espresso, an interactive software package that looks set to ensure full integration of ICT across the curriculum.

Mrs P George
Headteacher

The school's curriculum and organisation

The Governing Body has accepted the LEA's Curriculum Policy Statement, a copy of which is available in school. The school provides a balanced curriculum and develops the work of individual children according to their age and ability. The class teacher is responsible for the day-to-day organisation of the classroom and working day. The children learn through a mixture of subject-based and thematic work. Work plans ensure that work that does not fall naturally into a theme will be covered as a separate subject. Work in aspects of English takes place every day. The children are taught the skills of reading and writing, sometimes as a whole class and sometimes as a small group activity. In the early stages of reading, skills are also developed on an individual basis. A clear and legible style of handwriting is taught. Cursive writing is taught as soon as children are able to form all letters correctly. From the beginning children write about a wide variety of topics, and at a later stage develop the ability to spell and punctuate. They are encouraged to discuss ideas and to communicate clearly with others in both speech and writing. A good deal of children's writing develops from thematic work, and from stories they have read or heard. Mathematics is also taught every day; again, there is a mix of teaching style, covering whole class and small group work. Thematic work includes work that will pave the way for later more advanced studies in Science, Geography, History, Technology and R.E. It allows the children to range over broad areas of experience, uses their natural curiosity and helps to develop a scientific approach to solving problems. Much of the work in Art and Craft arises naturally from topic and environmental work. Children learn to look carefully at things and develop an awareness of colour, pattern and shape, and use a variety of art materials. Children have opportunities to listen to music, to take part in group singing, and to play tuned and untuned percussion instruments. Music, movement and drama are often linked. The hall is equipped with large apparatus, and P.E. lessons include gymnastics, games and dance. A traditional-style sports day is held in the summer term. All children take part in this. Health-related fitness is incorporated into our PE policy. In every area of school life, all the children are encouraged to experience the full range of activities, irrespective of their gender, age, ethnic background or disability.

Homework

Children with Special Learning Needs

Sex Education

Religious Education and Collective Worship

In accordance with legislation, the religious education in the school is broadly Christian in nature. Religious education is presented within the context of the whole curriculum. We aim that the school provide an environment in which the children can develop a sense of belonging to a community, which is an important contribution to religious education. An assembly of the whole school is held each day. Worship takes place for a part of this time. Our assemblies are sometimes led by one of the classes. Parents who wish their children to be withdrawn from Religious Education and the religious part of the assembly should consult with the Headteacher.

Complaints Procedure in Respect of Curriculum Matters