The end of every school year contains a degree of sadness. We say goodbye to children we have seen grow from four year olds, on their first day at school, to the point they are now; ready to set off on their next adventure. We say goodbye to staff too, who leave to begin a new phase in their lives. Each child in school says goodbye to their current teacher, ready to build new relationships and friendships in their next class. We sometimes say goodbye to whole families, who set off to continue making memories somewhere new. 

It is easy to focus on what has been, what is past and now seems to be gone. We all remember the memories we have made during this school year; during our entire time at The Grange School. Those memories are usually happy memories and in remembering, we celebrate all that we, as a community, have achieved. Those memories may be tinged with sadness at leaving, but they are happy memories that will always be with us.

But, this time of year is also filled with hope, with excitement and with enthusiasm for what lies ahead of us. Each child in the school is excited about the opportunities our fabulous school will offer them next year. They may be planning on trying a new extra-curricular club. They may have a target in mind to improve their learning. They may be excited about the new friends they will make. Each adult that is moving on will be dreaming about their future, hoping that it will be as successful as their time here at The Grange. Each family that is moving somewhere new will have their hopes and dreams  for their new future. 

Our Y6 pupils will have many hopes and dreams about their futures. They will be excited about the range of opportunities that will be open to them at secondary school; they will hope to be more independent; they may dream of their future successes. We all hope they will be happy and successful throughout their lives.

So, this time of year is a time of new beginnings. The Grange School has undergone many exciting changes this year and I am certain there will be many more to come. Schools are constantly evolving - we are always trying to improve the range of opportunities we offer; the learning experiences we give to the children and the standards we attain. Now is a time to hope, to dream and to embrace what is still to come.

Everyone here at The Grange School would like to thank you for your support throughout this year and wish you a very relaxing summer holiday. The entire staff is excited about our new beginning in September and we can't wait to welcome you all back, to continue our adventure together. 

Wow! What a Transition Day that was. Everyone was welcomed to their new class and, for the first time ever, we invited parents to be a part of it.

This morning the children settled quickly and calmly into their new classrooms. Reception children settled so quickly, you'd have thought they'd been in our school for years. As I visited each classroom today, I was struck by how hard everyone was working and how much fun they were having.

Year 6 were solving challenging mathematical problems and creating silhouettes. They were also running a relay race that resulted in them sequencing a text. Their teachers were impressed that they rose to every challenge set to them. I was impressed with how they already looked like Year 6 children. They also enjoyed creating selfies for their teacher. 

Year 5 children should be exhausted! They completed a very active 'Minute Maths Challenge' and then practised their athletic skills during a PE lesson. They solved some very complicated maths problems and were excellent at talking about their work.  

Year 4 children spent some time getting to know each other and learned interesting facts about their classmates. Someone in Y4 has a tarantula, someone has snakes and someone met Prince Charles! They then used their fabulous imaginations to decide which animal they would like to be - there were some interesting choices! They also created their passport to Year 4 and we were impressed with their work. 

Year 3 children took part in magical maths with a set of playing cards and were extremely well-behaved when I visited their classrooms. They enjoyed playing at lunchtime with their old friends and their new classmates. 

Year 2 children had great fun with chalk circles and proved they were amazing mathematicians. We were all very impressed with how grown-up they were. They decided that they had instantly turned into Year 2 children overnight and we all agreed with them. 

Year 1 children spent some time getting to know their new teachers; Miss Banks and our new teacher Miss Harrison. They enjoyed listening to and sharing stories and I was very impressed with how beautifully they sat and listened. They enjoyed learning about pirates through lots of fun activities and we were all very impressed at how well they all coped with not being able to use their new classrooms yet. Very grown-up attitudes. 

New Reception children had a whale of a time! They climbed, ran, made sandwiches, painted, built, made dens, made picture frames, found treasure and made music! When parents arrived this afternoon, they had a great time showing their parents all the fun learning activities they'd been involved in. They then enjoyed a shady picnic with their families and new teachers. I'm thinking that they're probably all fast asleep now!

Nursery children had fun in small groups today and also had their parents stay with them. I was very impressed with their ball-rolling skills - especially when they were able to vary the speed with which they rolled the ball. 

We also had some of our existing Year 6 children with us, as they had already completed their transition days in Warwickshire schools. They were amazing - they made paper aeroplanes with Reception children, helped them find their way around, helped out in Year 1, set up the Book Fair and did a fabulous job as ambassadors, guiding parents around the school this afternoon. We were very proud of them. Some of them even managed to sneak into the sandpit and play with spades and diggers! 

Children, parents and school staff had huge, happy smiles on their faces all day. I'm told that the dads who found the mud kitchen were especially happy! We were also happy when Mr Billingham arrived with a second truck full of tyres and a friend who donated three tractor tyres to us. Thank you. Our plans for improving outdoor learning and play for children across the school are really taking shape now - thank you to everyone in the community who has supported us. We're still collecting, so if you think you have anything we'd like; please ask us. I keep taking breaks from blog-writing to check on a couple of boats I'm watching on ebay!

We ended the day with our final Book Fair of the year and I'd like to thank Mrs O'Farrell and Mrs Batten, who have worked tirelessly all year, running each Book Fair we've held. We really appreciate their support. What was especially lovely today was the number of parents who told us that they'd love to volunteer to help out in school next year. We've always got lots of roles for volunteers - on a regular basis or occasionally throughout the year. If you'd like to get involved then please let the office staff know or email me at head@thegrange.northants-ecl.gov.uk. We're still looking for volunteers for our PTA which will be formed in September - again, if you're interested, then please let us know. Thank you to those who have already expressed an interest.

The entire staff agreed that today was fabulous - they all still had a spring in their steps this evening. We're hoping that you agree that today was special and we are looking forward to the remaining events this term. Make sure to check tomorrow's Gazette for details.

How amazing was Symphony 2017? We chose the name because 'symphony' can be defined as the coming together of a range of harmonious elements. How true this proved to be. 

The Summer Show involves more hard work and needs more energy than anything else during the school year. We have many trials and tribulations: routines being forgotten, elusive costumes and props that simply cannot be found, lost scripts, the annual battle with the running order, erratic volume levels on soundtracks, flickering films, forgotten lines, nerves, dances that start on the wrong foot, the endless checking of the cast list for the programme (we're terrified of missing a child off the list!), costume changes that just can't be fitted into the gap between items..... The list is endless.

Yesterday, we had what was probably the worst rehearsal ever. The run behind the back curtain wasn't clear and took a long time to be cleared. The lights weren't working properly and the photographers initially struggled to take their photographs. Mrs Hunt's images and sounds simply would not work with the projector, despite all her hard work and the fact it was running perfectly on the Macbook. The alternative software was missing and took a long time to re-organise. Staff were unable to communicate with each other without physically running from room to room. 4 floors + 8 flights of stairs + long corridors that run the length of the building = 38 floors climbed and nearly 20,000 steps on my Fitbit yesterday! And I was sitting down watching all afternoon! It was poor Miss Nicholas who was the runner; collecting children and bringing them to the stage - how she does it, we do not know. The gap between pieces was too long and children struggled to get into the wings on time. The troublesome trolls' wigs just would not stay in place. Costumes were wrong, went missing and at 1:45pm, we decided that we had to start again, from the top. We had last minute shopping expeditions into the town centre to replace missing costume items. We sent out an SOS call for clothes pegs and a missing baton. It was 5:15pm before we'd seen the whole show. We (the children and staff) felt, at times, frustrated, tired, dejected and worried that this time, it wouldn't be alright on the night. 

But, in addition to all this, we smiled a lot. We felt happiness that we were, once again, celebrating how fantastic our school is. We enjoyed each others' company; being in a more informal setting and having time to really chat with the children. We marvelled at the resilience of the children, who patiently continued to rehearse despite the technical difficulties. We loved being able to eat together informally, as one large, mixed group - something that is almost impossible in school. We enjoyed the cakes and chocolates that you, our supportive parents, had sent with us to keep us going. We were thrilled to watch our children behaving beautifully - being polite and kind to one another. We loved hearing the praise our children received from the theatre staff, who said they'd never had such a well-behaved school as ours. We joked and played together. We laughed a great deal. We cried tears of pure emotion as the children's pieces moved us. We were all determined to get it right. We hugged and sighed with relief when once again, our amazing children showed one of the reasons why our school is so special. We thought we'd burst with pride when the children ensured that it truly was alright on the night. This morning we were touched when you offered, and did, help us to unload the vans (thank you so much). We became emotional reading your social media comments on what the show means to you. We loved receiving your emails and cards. 

And throughout it all, we all felt one overwhelming emotion - pride; in our amazing children obviously, but in the team spirit that is evident everywhere throughout our entire school community. The Summer Show is a huge team effort and without everyone playing their part in the team, it simply could not happen. Yesterday and today we revelled in the feeling that we are all - children, parents, staff and governors - one big team. Here at The Grange, you are all proving that together we can do so much. 

End of year events are in full swing now, although it's still difficult to believe we've almost reached the end of another academic year. How does the time fly by so quickly? We still have lots we want to achieve before the end of the term, even though we're also busy making plans for the next academic year.

Rehearsals for Symphony 2017 are in full flow and the children have worked incredibly hard. Tickets are still available from The Deco box office and we're lucky in that the view from every seat in this theatre is superb. We've cut the number of full rehearsal days down from 15 to 7 this year and the children are responding to the challenge. Groups have worked hard all year in order that their pieces are performance-ready next week and it's now a case of making sure that it all fits together seamlessly! The enthusiasm, energy and behaviour of the children has been exemplary and I congratulate each and every one of them. The children who are not participating in the show have continued to work with enthusiasm, remaining fully engaged in lessons and also behaving in an exemplary way. Thank you all for being so fabulous. Costumes and props have been sourced and provided and I would like to thank all our families for their continued support in helping us whenever we need it. Lastly, I would like to thank our fabulous staff team, who have worked tirelessly this week - either in rehearsals, classrooms, offices or the grounds, ensuring that school continues with the same high standards as always. Add to this, temperatures in excess of 30 degrees and I think you'll agree that it's been a tiring week for everyone. I hope that you all; staff, children and parents, are having a relaxing weekend. 

In addition to the Summer Show, we're also busy organising Sports Day, Transfer Day, Open Afternoon, Meet the Teacher, Book Fair, Reception Home visits, Stay & Play sessions, Y6 Leavers' events and an afternoon tea to say goodbye to Mrs Yates. Plus, we're writing your child's annual report which you'll receive before the end of term. Please check The Gazette for details on all these events. 

Finally, I'd like to wish our Ballroom Competition Team the very best of luck tonight at the Derngate, where they are taking part in the Dancing Schools UK final. Mrs Wagg and I will be there, along with all your families, cheering you on! Good luck and have fun!

School attendance is important

Here at The Grange School, we want every child to have every opportunity to reach their full potential. In order to make the most of these opportunities, children need to be in school all day, every day.

There is a strong link between good school attendance and achieving good results. Children who miss school frequently, will fall behind in their work. This will affect their future prospects.

Your responsibilities as a parent 

Parents and carers have a duty to ensure their child has a suitable education either by regular attendance at a school or by home-schooling. 

Parental support is critical in ensuring that children achieve in education.

What the law says

Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure that children of compulsory school age receive a full-time education 'suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs that they may have either by regular school attendance at school or otherwise'. Section 7 Education Act 1996.

Parents whose children are on a school register and fail to ensure the regular school attendance of their children, may be guilty of an offence under Section 444 or 444(1a) of the Education Act 1996. The council may issue a penalty notice or take other statutory action through the courts to secure regular school attendance.

Absence from school

Unauthorised absence - this is when children are absent from school without the authority of the Head Teacher. The following will be categorised as unauthorised absence:

. birthday treats

. day trips

. shopping

. hairdresser visits

. over-sleeping

. taking a long weekend off

. holidays in term time

. taking the rest of the day off before or after a medical appointment

Authorised absence - there are very few reasons why absence may be authorised and in all cases we ask that you contact us and explain the reason why your child is absent. If you need to take your child out of school in exceptional circumstances, please contact the school and we will explain our procedures for requesting this absence.

We are currently seeing an unprecedented number of absences, due to a variety of reasons, including holidays. Holidays in term time are not authorised. We appreciate that holidays are considerably less expensive during termtime, but please consider the effect that this period of absence has on your child:

Hopefully you'll have received your copy of this week's Gazette and read Peter Banks' announcement concerning the new, permanent Head Teacher of The Grange School. I am thrilled and delighted to have been offered the position, after a rigorous interview process yesterday, involving five of the school's governors. 

Since the start of my secondment as Acting Head Teacher, I have enjoyed every second of my time in the role. Along with the fabulous staff team, we have ensured that the children are engaged in an exciting, fun curriculum that allows them all to reach their true potential. The smiles on the children's faces during Science Week, World Book Day or when they discover that a time machine has landed on their playground, are fabulous to see. Seeing your children race across the playground towards me, desperate to tell me what they've been learning is guaranteed to put a smile on my face too. One of my favourite times of the week is when I attend Family Assembly on Friday mornings and join you in celebrating your children's successes. We have continued to make sure that we offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities, in both the Arts and Sport and we'll soon be in rehearsals for this year's summer show. 

Last night, we held our first school disco for a while, which was a massive success, both in terms of how happy it made the children and as a fundraiser for the school. Thank you for your support. We have our next disco planned for September, but before then, we'll be joining you at the Cycle Race and inviting you to our Family Picnic. On Induction Day (when your children spend the day with their new teachers) we'll be holding an Open Afternoon, where you will be able to work alongside your child and their new teacher. This will also be the date of the final Book Fair of the academic year.

The staff have been making improvements to how we teach maths and English and we are looking forward to seeing the results of this work. We know that your children have been working extremely hard and are making excellent progress. We will be sharing annual school reports with you in July, but if you would like to discuss your child's progress before this, please make an appointment to come in and see us. We really enjoy seeing you around school and Mrs Wagg and myself love our morning chats with you and your toddlers! If you would like to become more involved with the school and could volunteer to listen to some of our children read each week, please let us know. We will very soon be setting up our PTA, so if you volunteered to join in, we'll be in contact soon.

As part of my interview process, I was asked to present my vision for the school and how I would move the school from 'good' to 'outstanding'. I have lots of ideas - and the energy and enthusiasm to implement these. The whole team is excited to continue what we've started in the last few months and we look forward to working in partnership with you, to make your child's time at The Grange School even better. 

I am truly honoured to have been appointed as Head Teacher of our fabulous school and will continue to do my very best to ensure that each and every child achieves his/her potential. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and to remind you that I'm always available to talk to you should you need to. I'd also like to wish you a very happy, warm and sunny half term holiday. Have fun!

Vicki Masters

What's the one simple thing that we can all do to hugely improve our children's attainment and progress throughout school and beyond?

It's simple - talk!

Research shows us that good language and communication skills play a crucial role in influencing how successful our children will be at school and in life.

Language is the one tool we all need for thinking and learning. We use it to ask questions, voice our opinions, express our ideas and describe what we have learned about the world. Through communication we build relationships and resolve conflicts. Babies and toddlers begin to develop the language and communication skills that will affect how ready they are for school at age 4; how well they attain at age 7 and 11, how likely they are to achieve good GCSE grades. 

So what can we do to help?

Nursery staff are trained to develop language skills and to help your children to talk about the world around them.

You can help your Nursery-aged children by talking to them on their journey to and from Nursery: point out and name the things you see around you; name the colours of objects; use early mathematical words like big, small, long, short, wide, near, far to describe the things you see; sing songs and nursery rhymes or have a favourite nursery rhymes CD in the car. You can also encourage them to talk in short sentences. 

Early Years staff are trained to help develop your children's speaking and listening skills.

You can help your Reception children by sharing books with them every day; read to them and listen to them read; ask them about the characters in the book or ask them to tell you what has happened. Continue to sing songs with them and encourage them to join in with songs on their favourite TV programmes. Model whole sentences for them and encourage them to also speak in whole sentences. 

Key Stage 1 staff are trained to develop children's communication skills - not just speaking but also, listening. 

You can help your Key Stage 1 children by always asking them about their day and listening to what they tell you; ask them more questions linked to what they have told you; encourage them to have conversations with their brothers and sisters and help them to follow the rules of conversation - listening to others, taking it in turns to speak and using 'inside' voices. You can also continue to encourage them to speak in whole sentences.

Lower Key Stage 2 staff are trained to help children to express their ideas in words.

You can help your Lower Key Stage 2 children by asking them 'why do you think' and 'how do you know' questions; encourage them to justify their opinions with some evidence. Don't be afraid to ask them questions that you don't know the answer to - there are no wrong answers to questions that start with 'why do you think'. You could also teach them a new word each day. They'll love to show you how they can use their new words!

Upper Key Stage 2 staff are trained to help children communicate effectively in a range of situations.

You can help your Upper Key Stage 2 children by encouraging them to speak in a range of different situations. You could ask them to tell you their views on a news topic and then ask them to explain how they think someone else might feel about the same issue. Children love to have an opinion, but it's crucial that you listen as hard as they talk!

Good language and communication skills are vital if a child is to succeed in life and you have the most important role to play in their language development. We will be focusing on developing speech, language and communication skills across the curriculum in the coming year and if you would like any ideas on how to support your children further, please do not hesitate to contact us for ideas and resources.

Dear Year 2 children,

You'll know that Year 6 have been busy taking their tests this week and we're very proud of how hard they've worked. Well done to them all! We also know that you've been working super-hard all year and that your teachers are currently assessing your work for your end of Key Stage 1 results. As part of that assessment, you'll also be taking some tests.

Like everything we do as part of our learning, these tests are important. Trying your hardest in these tests is the right thing to do because you know that at The Grange, we believe it’s important to try our very best in everything we do. But, these tests are a snapshot of your time here at The Grange. They’ll test how well you can read, write, spell, reason, calculate and solve problems during one week in May. That’s one week out of the 266 weeks that you’ll be at primary school - a couple of days out of the 1330 days you’ll spend here. They’ll tell us something about your ability in reading, spelling, writing and maths. But there’s lots of things they won’t tell us.
These tests won’t tell us how great you are at helping your friends when they fall over in the playground. They won't tell us how brilliantly you explained the events of the Titanic sinking.They won’t tell us how excited you were during Science Week or how amazing you looked dressed up as a book character on World Book Day. The results won’t reflect how hard you tried in that race at Sports Day last year or how proud you looked when you won that DoJo certificate. They won’t tell us anything about how hard you try in Maths lessons or how your confidence has grown in PE lessons. These tests won’t tell us how nervous you felt the first time you stepped out onto the stage at the theatre for our Summer Show or how excited you were on that residential visit to Sheringham. They won't describe the huge smile on your face when you showed off your learning at our Families Assemblies. They won’t tell us that you’re kind, caring, fun, sensible and polite. They won’t tell us what a fantastic friend you are.

These tests, and the results, will not tell us the whole story of you and your time in Key Stage 1. It’s important that you remember that. What they will tell us is important and I know that you’ll all try your very hardest to make sure that you are the very best you can be. Be fabulous! You are all shining stars and we are always very proud of you.

Our next Open Morning is on Tuesday 7th March 2017. You are all invited to come in and spend time with your children from 9:30 - 11:00.

During the morning, we will also be hosting an Information Fair; featuring a range of useful information to help you support your child. Our caterers, TnS will be providing you with samples of their delicious school meals. 

Our curriculum focus for the morning will provide you with information to help you to support your child's reading. We will have our usual freebies for you to take away and our staff will be on hand to offer further advice and support.

In addition, we will be displaying a selection of high-quality reading books, all available for you to purchase, for your children, for only £1.25 each. 

We appreciate the support you give to the school during events such as this and we look forward to welcoming you on Tuesday morning. 

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28/2/17

We're listening.

You said that we could support you further by offering a range of Parent Information Sessions at different times of the day. We are hosting two MyMaths for Parents sessions, to provide you with practical help and advice on using MyMaths at home. These sessions will take place on:

Wednesday 22nd March - 3:15 - 4:15pm   and    Thursday 23rd March 2017 - 2:15 - 3:15pm.

Please complete the reply slip on this week's newsletter, to book your place. If these sessions are over-subscribed, we will offer further sessions in the coming months.

We will also be offering further information sessions to you, on a range of subjects, over the remainder of the school year. Please check the Gazette each week for details.