After receiving Miss Leslie's personal experiences of being an NQT it is our pleasure to bring to you one of our newest teachers, Miss Barnard's journey from University to Steinbeck class. 

More to follow in the new half term. 

 

Did you always want to become a teacher Miss?

One of the regular questions I get asked is “Did you always want to be a teacher?” Before answering the question, especially if it is a child who asks me, I always question myself as to whether I should just say “Yes” and that be the end of it, or, to answer truthfully and say “No”. This latter answer follows with a ream of other questions such as: What did you want to be? Why aren’t you that? How did you become a teacher? And because it is the truth, I do answer “No I didn’t always want to be a teacher”.

In truth, teaching had never really entered my mind until about four and a half years ago when I found myself unemployed for a period of about four months. Straight out of Uni, achieving a Law and Business degree from the University of Portsmouth, I was fortunate enough to be offered a job in London. A 21 year old with no other commitments in life apart from organising her social life at the weekends, I jumped at the chance and couldn’t really believe my luck at the opportunity that this would provide me with.

I started my five times a week commute from Fratton to London Waterloo and then a two stop tube journey from Waterloo to Green Park……believe me, that was an eye opener in itself! I worked for an Agency Brokers in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, writing all of the legal contracts for the Capital Restructuring Team. A very little fish in a very large pond, every day was a steep learning mountain as opposed to a learning curve but thoroughly enjoyable at the same time. I worked alongside some incredible people such as international law firm Allen and Overy and banks such as the Lehman Brothers (let’s not talk about them! The only thing to say is that I wasn’t to blame for the recession I promise!). I even experienced my first business trips away travelling to Eindhoven and other parts of the Netherlands. However, nine months into my contract, the firm became victim to the recession and had no other choice but to cease trading in March 2011. This left me, now aged 22, unemployed.

Numerous unsuccessful applications and interviews later, I was at the end of my tether and would have given anything to work anywhere. With my self-confidence at an all-time low, a random discussion with an old college friend saw me apply for a TA job at Stamshaw Junior School. On the day of my interview, I was certain that this would be another job pass me by due to my lack of any experience in education. However, to my surprise, whilst I was still being shown around the school by two pupils who would later be in my very first class, they offered me the job there and then!

So, in September 2011, I began my first step towards the career I have now and the rest, to coin a famous phrase, as they say is history. A month in, I had decided that this was what I wanted to pursue and I had secured a place on the Graduate Teacher Programme (an apprenticeship for teachers) with Chichester University which would see me train on the job starting in September 2012 after my year of TA experience. After a year of gruelling training, two essays, fortnightly observations and two skills tests, I gained my Qualified Teacher Status and was ready to be promoted to NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher or, as my mentor called it, Not Quite a Teacher as you still have the ability to fail the year and not progress) in September 2013. With the year passing by in a whirl of Year 6 SATS, transition to secondary schools and end of Junior school celebrations, I was ready for my second year of teaching already which saw me move from Year 6 to Year 5 in September 2014. A chance, and very fortunate, meeting with both Miss Waeland and Miss Lewis, presented me with one of the most difficult decisions I had to make to date; to stay at Stamshaw or to move and push myself out of my comfort zone after only ever working at Stamshaw and join the St Jude’s family? You obviously know the decision that I made and now have the pleasure of working with the incredible members of Steinbeck class who have astounded me every single day since September 2015.

So now, when anyone asks me “Did you always want to become a teacher?” I always answer “No……but I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life now.”

Miss Barnard

Writing Update

It has been a pleasure reading the children's writing from across the school.  They are rising to the challenges of the new curriculum and producing writing which is thoughtful and creates emotion in the reader.  For example Year 3 were inspired by Michael Rosen's poem 'Chocolate Cake' to write about their favourite food; Year 4 wrote letters of complaint and diaries in response to the book, 'The Day the Crayons Quit' and Year 6 created Character Profiles and Play Scripts in response to 'Goodnight Mr Tom' and 'Friend or Foe'. 

The impact that reading has on writing is tremendous!  To support your child's development in writing, read every day with them and discuss the language the author has used.  Remember - variety is the spice of life - the more varied your child's reading, the more you will equip them to become writers.  Encourage your child to write as much as possible - can your child write a menu for their pretend cafe?  Perhaps they could write a fact file about their favourite animal or maybe start writing their own diary?  Whatever writing your children do, support them as much as possible - in particular with the basics of punctuation (full stops, capital letters, commas, question marks and exclamation marks).  The better their understanding of the basics, the more confident they will feel as writers.

We look forward to sharing some of our fantastic writing with you at Parents Evening.

Maths Update Autumn 1

The children are thoroughly enjoying tackling challenging mathematical problems and being able to talk to adults and their peers about the different ways they can solve them. The children are given lots of opportunity to apply skills from number, measure, geometry and statistics. Children are exposed to real world problems and can begin to think about how these skills are transferred to their everyday lives.

When completing mathematical tasks with your children at home we would encourage you to ask them how or why they know or think that. Try to encourage maths in the basic tasks around the home: spotting patterns, weighing ingredients in the kitchen, finding the odd one out, adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplying numbers that are seen when out walking and so on.

For further ideas, why not pick up a Scholastic Maths Practice book during parents evening, for a whole host of year group appropriate maths activities .

A day in the life of Miss Leslie

 

Just before Easter last year, I finally got the qualification I had been dreaming of for years; to be a qualified teacher. 

 

Despite all the lectures at university, all the placement days at various schools in and around Portsmouth and despite my working knowledge of school life through years of working in schools, nothing could prepare me for the highs and lows that were to come. 

My day starts at 5:30am when I drag myself up, sleepily arriving at school at 6:30am before the day has fully broken. After ten minutes negotiating the kettle and battling with the computer, I settle down to read my emails and plan the day ahead. Without a moment spare, the clock quickly turns to half past eight and we are greeted enthusiastically with homework books, lunch money and news of achievements and evening entertainment. Mental maths folders dutifully completed and put away, it's time for assembly and a moment breather...unless I'm in charge of assembly - scariest part of the job without fail!

 

English, one of my favourite parts of the curriculum, is usually a highlight of my day. I love language exploration and seeing children's faces become animated and excited at the 'best bit ever' in the writing they have done that day. Breaktime, a ten minute interlude of green tea and babybel’s, provides me with the sustenance needed for the next hour of maths. Before I know it, lunch time comes around and time to think about what we get to do this afternoon. My personal favourite is Science, a hands-on exploration of our world as we understand it. I especially like experiment days! 3 o’clock comes around, with a flurry of letters, bags and messages to go home, and even the Tenor Horns on a Tuesday as well! After school, the first thing that happens is another round of negotiation with the kettle. Then I let the birds out, praying profusely that they will go home again without me and Miss Barnard having to chase them around the classroom! Yes...this is a once-a-week occurrence! Marking all the hard work from the day has its own joys, especially when the passion from the lesson leaps from the page. And finally, at 6 o'clock, it's home time and time I go to the Gym if I'm good (it's a 50-50 likelihood!). 

 

That, in a nutshell, is the day in my life - I hope you have enjoyed it :-)

Parents Evening

 

Just a quick note to let you know about some exciting developments with Parents Evening this year.

 

As well as your normal appointment we really want to make a bit more of Parents Evening because we are all busy people and sometimes it’s nice to erm…. Kill 2 birds with one stone.

So….

This year we will also be having

• A preloved uniform sale in the hall.
• Tea and Coffee and a chance to meet to Head/Consultant Deputy.
• Scholastic book fair- Early Christmas shopping opportunities and a great way to help the school.
• The Pastoral team drop in- a chance to get to know our team and pick their brains about all things pastoral.
• Xmas fair stall sign up.
   
• And finally- as mentioned previously we will be selling Maths and English practice books to use at home- these are completely in line with the 2014 curriculum and match the teaching in school. They have been developed by teachers to give children ‘ a head start’. We will be selling these at 2 for £10 saving £4 on RRP. There are a limited number available each night and are sold on a first-come-first-served basis from 4pm in the hall.
   

Thank you

 

BABBLE- GIGGLE- GURGLE!

Hands up if you’ve got a baby or pre-schooler at home, or if you see one every day or if you know someone expecting?! I’m sure most of us had our hands up at some point.

Knowing how many staff have young children or are expecting and seeing all the young children come in with family to drop off big brothers, sisters, cousins got me to thinking back to a study from my time at University.

This prompted the google search- Importance of talking to babies- and here is my top article- ENJOY.

How many times have we all heard the message about the importance of talking to children? Children who are spoken to have a wider vocabulary range, and tend to have better language and communication skills.

Some children go to school having heard 32 million fewer words than their peers – this is known as 'word poverty'. By the time these children get to school, they’re already playing catch up.

There’s no doubt about it, children need to hear language in order to learn language. We encourage parents to spend time talking to their children, and research shows that it isn’t necessarily what we say to children, but how we say it that makes the difference.

Motherese is a style of speech many adults use when speaking to infants. It’s characterised by elongated vowel sounds and large variations in pitch and tone. It’s long been acknowledged as a central part in gaining and maintaining children’s attention. Children respond better to this kind of speech. However, new studies are also showing that the more elongated the vowel sounds, the more this encourages a child to babble.

Babbling is an important pre-cursor of speaking, and more importantly it’s an early form of speech. When babies babble, they’re telling their story and talking. If you listen closely to babbling patterns, you’ll hear a variation in tone that mimics the speaking patterns of adults. Babbling helps to build up the finer muscles required to pronounce speech clearly.

The more time a parent spends chatting with a child, the more this will help their language development. However, it’s also important to acknowledge that it isn’t just the speaking, but giving the child the chance to babble back that will help their language skills progress.

It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. The next time you chat with a child, stretch out your vowel sounds, speak slowly and give the child plenty of time to answer you back. Language development is a conversation and the more we give children a chance to play with speech and speech sounds, the more we’re helping to develop their speaking and communication skills.

 

Regular school attendance - why it's so important

Going to school regularly is important for your child's future. For example, children who miss school frequently can fall behind with their work and do less well in assessments.

Good attendance shows potential employers that your child is reliable. Research suggests that children who attend school regularly could also be at less risk of getting involved in antisocial behaviour or crime.

All schools are required to record details of pupils’ attendance and absence at school. They do so at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. If your child is absent, it is required that you inform the school the reason for the absence.

The school will record the absence under a particular category preset by the Department of Education (DE). This data is then available to the Education Welfare Service (EWS) for each pupil. By law, all children of compulsory school age (normally four to 16) must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school - though some choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education.

Once your child is registered at a school, you are legally responsible for making sure they attend regularly.  If your child fails to do so, you risk getting a fine or being prosecuted.

Preventing your child from missing school: what you can do

You can help prevent your child missing valuable school time by:

• making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality
• taking an interest in their education - ask about school work and encourage them to get involved in school activities
• discussing any problems they may have at school – inform their teacher or Principal about anything serious
• not letting them take time off school for minor ailments - particularly those which would not prevent you from going to work

Arranging appointments and outings after school hours, at weekends or during school holidays will help to prevent disruption to your child's education and to the school. Under normal circumstances you should not expect the school to agree to your child going on holiday during term time.

Practice Books

“Give your child a head start with a whole year of ready-to-go activities on key Maths/English topics which are taught in school from 2014”.

We are very pleased to announce that at Parents Evening this year we will have a Scholastic Stand in the main office where you will be able to buy year group practice books for Maths and English. The books have an RRP of £6.99 but we will be selling them at £6 each or 2 for £10.

We really believe that they are excellent books that are fully in line with the 2014 curriculum and provide challenge for pupils who wish to bring their learning home.

The books are designed to last a year and include everything that a year group will cover in Maths and in English (grammar, punctuation, composition and comprehension).

There are a limited number of books available each evening and will be sold on a first come first serve basis - starting at 4.00pm.

We look forward to seeing you there.

 

Monday 28^th September 2015

THANKS ALL ROUND

Harvest Thanks

A HUGE thank you to all our wonderful families and friends who donated a tin or packet as part of our Harvest Celebration.

This year we celebrated in the Cathedral and the table was over flowing with your generous donations.

It was lovely to see our children donating so vastly and singing their thanks for all the good things we have. All donations go to the Portsmouth Food Bank and will go a long way to making some people’s lives a little easier.

Macmillan Thanks

As well as our Cathedral visit, we also proved our generosity  by being part of the Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, where we raised an amazing £434.23

The children looked fab in their mufti outfits and the cakes went down very well indeed.