28th February 2025
28th February 2025
Dear Parents and carers,
PTA
Well done for the combined effort of the PTA on the last week of term. I was so delighted to see so much engagement with the event on the last day of half-term. Thanks to all who helped and to those who just stopped for some cake! Please see the attached update.
SENCO Cuppa
Thanks to those who attended Cuppa with SENCO this week. I know that Mrs. Armstrong was also keen to share some information with you all about the Hampshire CAMHS Information and Advice service. Please note that this is also attached to the newsletter.
World Book Day – 6th March
Don’t forget about World Book Day next week. In preparation for all the poems we will be looking at, why not take the time to share a poem with your children this weekend to inspire them ahead of the big day!
OFSTED
Our school had OFSTED this week for the first time since 2014. It was also my first OFSTED inspection as Headteacher and for many of our staff, the first time they had been through the process. The report will be shared with you as soon as I have it in my hands but that won’t be for another 3 or 4 weeks potentially. In the meantime, I thought I would share a few things about the process.
The inspectors spoke to a huge amount of children in the school, with their different lines of enquiry. They completed deep dives (an inspection technique that involves looking at written evidence, interviewing subject leads, speaking to the children and scrutinising children’s books) in Reading, Maths, PE and Music. They looked at our attendance and punctuality. They investigated the systems we have in place for safeguarding and looked at case-studies, which they selected at random, for incidents we had dealt with in the school.
They came and watched lessons, lunchtimes and break-times. They went and checked to make sure that all the things we say we do for SEN children are really happening, by interviewing the children and looking at the evidence. They interviewed governors, our LLP (our Hampshire school advisor) and anyone else they could find connected with the school.
The process was challenging, which is as it should be, so that we can keep improving our school and making sure we secure the best outcomes with regards to personal and academic development for all of our amazing children.
I can’t add much more about OFSTED, other than asking you to not quiz my staff too much at the moment because I’ve necessarily asked them to keep any information confidential until the report comes out.
After such a busy week, I do have to say thank you to some amazing groups of people. I make no apology for this being a long letter as a result.
The children in our school have been exceptional at talking to our special visitors. They ‘told it how it was’, and did so eagerly and happily. They were brilliant communicators and joyful in explaining all about things that happen in their school.
My office team, Sarah and Sara, were noted as both being exceptionally helpful, hardworking and compassionate. However, they were not just an administrative strength, as their positive relationships with children were commented on by visitors this week.
My Senior Leadership team (Mrs. Coles, Mrs. Britten, Mrs Armstrong and Mrs. Walkom) have been under intense scrutiny and have all held themselves up to account this with the integrity, transparency, expertise and strength you would expect from that particular group.
A special mention here to Mrs Coles, Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Woodman and Mrs. Isaac who had additional responsibilities when their subjects were chosen for deep dives.
In fact, every one of the teachers at the school have been under incredible pressure and scrutiny this week but have still worked exceptionally hard to ensure children’s learning has continued well. I will also note that members of staff who were not due to work for those days, still came in to support their team.
The TAs in our school, who showed some real strength this week in supporting the children (and also the teachers), should feel really proud of how they have put all of the extra training we completed over the last few years into practice. We have a real range of experiences in our school, but every person at every level pulled together as a team.
I felt very proud to be a part of the Clatford family this week, and I was beaming when they talked about the impact that our whole school team has had on the children.
In addition, I will say a thank you to the school governors, who were also in school before 9am on Wednesday to answer some very tough questions and then also arrived at the end of Wednesday to hear our final feedback. It was appreciated.
Lots of you spoke to OFSTED yourselves and shared your experience of the school. A large majority of you would recommend our school, which was lovely to hear. I appreciate you taking the time to share some of your views with them this week. 102 people left written comments and each one was read by the inspectors. Some of you also took the time to wish us well through the process and those kind words and thoughts this week have really been appreciated.
That is all I have to say about the process currently and this has been a long letter already after a long week. It just remains for me to wish you all an enjoyable and restful weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Mr M Kirk
Dates for your diary
6th March: World Book Day
10th March: Y2 Trip to Windsor Castle
19th March: Y3 Orchestra Unwrapped at The Anvil
25th and 27th March: Parents Evenings
25th March: YR Trip to Longdown Activity Farm
26th March: Y3 Trip to Pizza Express
28th March: PTA Family Quiz Night (save the date, details to follow)
3rd – 4th April: Y6 Bikeability
7th April – 21st April: Easter Holiday
29th April: YR Trip to Hillier Gardens
26th May – 30th May: Summer Half Term
3rd June: Y4 Trip to Great Hall & Winchester Cathedral
10th June: Y2 Trip to Living Rainforest
17th June: Class photos
18th June: Y3 Trip to Kew Gardens
19th June: Y6 Leavers Service at Winchester Cathedral
30th June – 2nd July KS2 Play
6th – 9th July: Y6 Residential to Osmington Bay
21st July – 2nd September: Summer Holiday (including 2 INSET days on 21st and 22nd July)
3rd September Inset Day