St Jude's Church of England Primary School Blog

What a stunning few days we have had with the weather! It has been lovely to see the children eating their lunch outside and having a really good time together.
Passing by some shops on the way to the station today I saw in one the inevitable sign "BACK TO SCHOOL" and smiled to myself as I wondered how early those signs might first appear? I know we are not quite there yet and as I consider the final 9 days of term, they will probably going to be some of the most hectic we have enjoyed this year, with two Exhibition days to put on, three performances of "Porridge", an Attendance Party, Year 6 Leavers Dinner and Awards Evening and the Leavers' Service to enjoy. The newsletter will clearly give you all the details you will need for each of these events so do please make sure you have a look at this on Friday.
Nationally, next week sees the final launch of the New Primary National Curriculum which is due to be legally taught from September 2014. For some areas like English and Maths, there will be little change to what we have been doing although more will be expected of the children at a much earlier stage. In other subjects the Department of Education's intention is that the curriculum should be and will be more heavily content and 'knowledge' driven. This is where you may have heard that the children will be expected to learn the Kings and Queens of England off by heart for example. Many schools across the country will follow the curriculum as it will be stated but our intention at St Jude's will be to design a curriculum during 2013 / 14 that will meet the needs and interests of all the children whilst also fulfilling our legal requirements. It will be quite a challenge but one in which, by September 2014, we will be ready to go.
Next year will be a very busy one as we continue to chart our path towards being judged as an Outstanding School. During the summer break, the hall will be completely re-furbished and Year 1 and the Front Entrance will be re-carpeted. From September we will begin detailed preparations for our Church Inspection, which although not until 2015, will require a great deal of time to prepare for. The building work will begin in May 2014, the plans of which can be seen in the front entrance of the school. We already have the Year 6 Production planned and are possibly going to be looking for an external venue in which to hold this, due to the anticipated size of the production. Mr Kirby has also 'booked' the timing of the whole school production for the Spring Term 2014. Much more will happen too and we will keep you informed every step of the way! Before we know it it will soon be Christmas!