Issue Number: 005

From the desk of Mr Crawley

A very happy Friday to you all. You'll see that it's been another great week at Rodings with BMX biking events, careers fairs, celebration assembly and lots of exciting and hard work going on in all of our classrooms.

I would like to start by thanking you for your support with the end of day routine this week. Keeping to the correct times will really help us all have a smooth end to the school day.

We are looking to recruit a parent to join our Governing Board. The Governors have a vital role in supporting and challenging myself and the rest of the Senior Leadership team and contribute to the strategic overview of the school. There is an expectation to attend meetings and attend visits to the school. If you are interested and/or would like to discuss this further then please get in touch with me.

I have gone through and updated the School Events calendar on our website with a few more dates for this half-term. We are endeavouring to use the calendar on the website and link it through to our weekly newsletter to ensure you are kept informed of what is coming up. So please make sure you check the website.

One of the things on the horizon fairly soon is a Curriculum information evening, led by Miss Raban and myself, which will cover all aspects of how we teach the many elements of Reading and Writing at Rodings. Scroll down to the News section for more information about this.

I'd like to end this week by thanking all the staff for their hard work again, and to all of you for your continued support at home.

Have a lovely long weekend

Mr. C

UPDATE FROM THE GOVERNORS

This week saw us have our first Governor’s meeting with Mr Crawley at the helm as Mr Raraty wil not be joining our Governing meetings until the new academic year as previously agreed. However we would just like to reassure everyone that whilst we missed Mr Raraty we progressed and moved forward with our usual tenacity, commitment and humour mixed in.

This week we started our meeting with a tour of ‘The Rodings Galley’ and of Katie’s Library complete with a demonstration of the iSandbox which was all very exciting! To say we were all impressed with everything is an understatement. What great invigorating places! It is so great to see the school moving forward.

We then followed with a staffing update and the news that we have appointed two new LSAs and a new teacher for September which means our required Staffing Levels are as planned.

We then had the Head Teachers Update regarding preparations for September admissions, staff planning followed by an in-depth review of the latest Spring Performance data in all areas including Reading, Writing and Maths. Mr Wright uses up to date information to provide us with a clear and concise overview enabling us to have a meaningful discussion.

The Finance update by the Finance team was very positive despite many difficulties which we are all only too aware of. Yet again we find ourselves in a lucky position where we can contemplate ear marking further improvement projects next year; our thanks to the hard work and dedication the team put in to ensuring the school continues in the best possible way.

As is usual we reviewed and agreed several policies including those on Equality and Diversity and Visiting Speakers.

Our next visits and meetings for the rest of the year were agreed and planned in earnest and with great enthusiasm.

We are delighted to hear that all is well with Mr Raraty and Mr Crawley’s first week as acting Head equally went well. We would like to thank everyone most sincerely for supporting them both ensuring that Rodings continues to run smoothly.

All that remains is to wish you all a wonderful long Bank Holiday Weekend.

Leah Bruce

WE NEED YOU!

Parent Governor Election

Due to a reshuffle on our Governing Board, we currently have a vacant position for a Parent Governor.

We are looking for parents to come forward to fulfil this position. If you are interested, in the first instance, please contact me to arrange a meeting/call to discuss what the role entails in more detail. If more than one person expresses interest in the post it will go to a parental vote.

Governors are volunteers but there is an expectation to commit to a series of meetings and participate in governor visits and policy reading.

The Governing Board is an integral part of Rodings and provides support and challenge to make Rodings the best it can be.

Parent Governors are elected by parents but do not represent parents on the board. I can explain this in more detail if you are interested in the post.

The deadline for nominations is Friday 20th May and should be emailed to mr.crawley@rodingsprimary.co.uk

The first of these free legal surgery's will take place on 11th May. Please see below for contact details.

House Points

De Veres

394

Hrotha

353

Mandevilles

451

Tilty

426

School News

Year 5 Careers Fair

On Tuesday 26th April, Swans class (year 5) went to Dunmow St Mary’s school for a careers fair. Alongside other schools, they talked to many people with exciting jobs such as a criminal defence solicitor, a scuba diving instructor, a police detective, an animation executive producer and agricultural engineers. Swans were amazed to learn that divers need to use small bean bags that weigh as much as a bag of sugar to help them dive, one short animation episode can take 3 months to create and that it’s not just farmers who work with tractors! They also learnt that hardwork and determination are needed to succeed in a profession. Swans went to the event to start to have some job ideas for the future and it was reassuring to know that there are lots of careers out there so there are always opportunities.

Swans said the day was amazing and all-out fun.

Written by Lacey, Emilia, Rosina and Alexa

Year 5 Careers Fair

On Tuesday 26th April, I was very fortunate to have been invited to organise the Year 5 Careers Fair.

The Careers Fair is aimed at Year 5 children for all the schools in the DEEP partnership to give them some ideas before they get swept up in thoughts of SATs and secondary schools. The idea is to showcase a mixture of careers, both the unusual and the more familiar. It is hoped that it will stimulate the children to think about what they enjoy and what they are good at and how these qualities can link to future careers.

We organised the event at very short notice and each school messaged out for volunteers. As always, our Rodings Families were there for me. I could not have run the event without your amazing support.

I would like to thank Mrs Juttner, Mr Shubrook, Mr Foster and our own Mr Clements and all the other amazing volunteers who did a fabulous job talking to a large amount of children during the whole day.

I had so many offers and I hope to be able to ask for your help again next year.

Thank you so much

Mrs P x

Meet Princess Jess, Chuckles and Dude. Well done to Rudy and Ella who have hatched and looked after these adorable chicks.

Well done to you both :-)

Following the qualifier events earlier in the year Fynn took place in the Active Essex Cross Country County Championships this week.

Fynn ran a fantastic race battling to the end and giving his all. He won the race being crowned Year 4 County Champion. Well done Fynn!!!

Oh Fynn, we are so proud of you. Well done :-)

29 Apr 2022

Parent Curriculum Evening - English

We will be hosting an information evening for parents on our English Curriculum.

29 Apr 2022

Year 6 - BMX Day

On Monday, Flamingos had an amazing day with Mike Mullen from the BMX Academy. They were challenged to learn various BMX tricks including using ramps and even standing up on the bike. Mike aims to empower children, encouraging them to use a growth mindset to push their comfort zones with each trick...