Tuesday 30 November 2010

Tuesday 30th November

The end of another day that started off very white. It was lovely to start the day with such a crisp morning, however this then causes issues for us in school. Boilers working? Check. Paths cleared, not check. So out it was with coats on and Mrs. Harris helping out to clear a pathway into the school so that everyone could get in. I wonder how many people logged on or listened to the radio to see if schools are open or closed. By now I am sure you know that this school stays open as long as we can operate. If conditions are too bad then the City will make a decision to do a complete blanket closure. If not then it is down to myself to take into account the local conditions. Today was nowhere near as bad as last year.

Pretty full school and everybody working well. I had the opportunity to pop into class 5GB today and listen to the future of broadcasting in this country. Well done 5GB some superb work and you were all so enthused by it. My maths group had a lot to do today working on multiplication and the grid method. We will keep working and tomorrow officially marks our start to of festive celebrations in school.

Mr. Rothwell

Monday 29 November 2010

Monday 29th November

Good Afternoon

Quiet day in school today with everyone going about their business as usual. It started with a very cold morning and I am sure like everyone else we didn't want to get up, the one good thing is that school is nice and warm. I was lucky to spend some time in class 4c today watching their lesson, really interesting and stimulating lesson, the children were fantastic and very eager to learn. It reminds you of why we enter the profession in the first place when you see children engaged in their work. Paperwork this afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully more to write about tomorrow, and yippee it is nearly December.

Mr. Rothwell

Friday 26 November 2010

Friday 26th November

Afternoon everybody, the end of another week is here. I think it is only 3 more weeks to go until we break up for our Christmas holidays. We have so much to complete in that time, I really do not know where time goes at times. I have finished this weeks newsletter with some information about what we expect in terms or reading. The decision to say that children at Lyndon Green Juniors should read as a minimum, four times a week in my view is about right. The children can then fit their reading around their busy lifestyles, I think some of our children have better social lives than some of the adults.

I also promised that I would publish some of our Christmas dates for you so that they are on a central place. So here goes:

Tuesday 7th December - Christmas lunch
Friday 10th December - Christmas Panto am
Tuesday 14th December - Afternoon performance of Christmas play 1.30 tbc
Tuesday 14th December - Evening Performance 6.30 tbc
Wednesday 15th December - Years 5 and 6 Christmas parties
Thursday 16th December - Years 3 and 4 Christmas parties
Friday 17th December - School Closes for Holiday.

As well as these events we still have a lot of learning and Teaching still to do.

I always say how proud I am to be the Head of this school. This comes from having great children that have the right attitude to learning, but it is more for the community feel that we have. Our sponsored walk raised over £1200, then again you support Children in need and even more you donate to our Harvest festival that we share out amongst our community. We often feel we are asking to much of you as parents and families to support so many worthwhile causes, but you never cease to amaze me. Yet again we are taking part in our shoebox appeal and what can I see outside in the foyer, a large pile of boxes. All I can say is Thankyou very much.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and I look forward to the start of another week

Wednesday 24 November 2010

The cold wind blows Wednesday 24th November

A funny day today, with some of our usual Wednesday activities happening, ie. Swimming, the last one for these classes. I suppose it all started with the cold wind blowing across the school. Is this officially the start of our winter? Will I be able to stay open all year this year? Hopefully, no heater problems this year, so a little bit of snow won't stop us. I type that with fingers crossed.

An interesting afternoon, as I have blogged before the staff in school are currently working on two main areas. Learning and Teaching and Reading. The reading group had organized four book reps to come into school to demonstrate their products to the staff. As usual we try to do things a little bit differently at Lyndon Green, so we sent a group of children from every year in the school to question the suitability of the books for our children. As usual they have done a great job and their opinions will feed into the school decision. Our children really do have a say in the decision making of the school.

Write more tomorrow.
Mr. Rothwell

Monday 22 November 2010

Monday 22nd November

Start of another busy week in school and today started with the visit of a few furry friends. We had our visit from the animal lecturing service. We were visited by a collection of interesting animals, from snakes to meercats. The children were all glued to what was being said. Fabulous behaviour from everyone and I am sure that they all enjoyed the lecture. I will be looking for feedback so that we can judge whether to re-book next year.

Today marked the start of lots of visits by teachers into each others class. The teachers have started to come and spend an hour in each others class to observe what is happening. We are monitoring the standard of our teachers and the work that the children are completing. I had the pleasure of spending an hour in one of our Year 3 classes today. The children thoroughly enjoyed the lesson as did I. They ended up making their own Roman Road after investigating different sources of information. Great fun.

Spending time outside of school tomorrow looking at how we can improve Literacy and Numeracy even further.

Write soon.
Mr. Rothwell

Friday 19 November 2010

Thursday 18th November Friday 19th November

Afternoon everybody. Just trying to cover the last two days at school with this post. As usual time moves on really quickly and the last two days have been really eventful for both myself and the school. We have had visitors in both days. Firstly, we had a visitor in yesterday and he was giving us a quote for moving the library in school down to where the fun factory is, so that we use the space much better. It means that we would be creating an ultimate whizz of a space and use the space even better than it is at the moment. This will take a bit of time to sort through and we have to invite some more people into school to quote so that it is fair, but really exciting times. This is one of our school priorities this year. Half the staff are already supporting Mrs. Firman on looking at reading across the school.

The rest of the day yesterday and the evening was spent looking at the progress every child is making in the school. I had to complete this task because this morning our School Improvement Partner visited us again and I had to present the findings to here. This is the reason I was not able to attend 6H's assembly, so many apologies for that. Just finished this weeks newsletter and you will find some of the dates on there for Christmas. I think it is four weeks until we break up for the Christmas holiday. So much to do in such little time.

I have been checking the stats of this blog and at the moment we are getting hits from four different places:

United Kingdom
United States
Denmark
Russia.

It is peculiar to know that I am typing this in Birmingham but being read around the world. The Internet turns the world into such a small place. If you are reading the blog from a different country please just say hello. It is good for the children of Lyndon Green to know that people from around the world are interested in their school.

Last bit, and a bit cheeky but I know my Dad reads the blog and he lives in Scotland and it is his birthday today so Happy Birthday from us all.

Have a good weekend
Mr. Rothwell

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Tuesday 16th November

Well, we returned back to 2010 today and everything seemed to be back to normal. The day started with an Inspire workshop in Year 3, which was really well attended and some super feedback to Miss. Mabb, so thankyou very much for attending. Parents really enjoy spending time in school with their children, so our workshops really are beneficial. Many parents comment on how they see things differently to the way they were taught. Time really does move on and I remember when I was at primary school, not that long ago, I would much prefer to be taught using the current methods.

Mrs. Pitt will be sending home a letter which we would appreciate if you fill it in. We are looking at Learning and Teaching in our school and how to improve our methods further. This will refer to how best children learn and what makes outstanding learning. We really are reflecting on our methodology because we all remember the days of creative freedom and how we still managed to learn. We want to incorporate those elements from the past into our new methodology, so feedback would be great. A little heavy going but very innovative for Lyndon Green.

Write more tomorrow.
Mr. Rothwell

Monday 15 November 2010

Monday 15th November

Back to the old days!!

Have we gone back in a time warp? Can you tell me what year it is? The reason being is that I came into school today and desks were in rows and some members of my staff looked very mean and scary (you know who you are. And yes more than normal) We seem to have been transported back to the Victorian era, children were truning up to school in flat caps and mop caps, very peculiar indeed, but it was good to see order instilled into them at such a young age.

The current Year 5's were experiencing their Victorian day and by the sound and the look of it, it was very realistic.

Year Six were treated to a discussion about the life at War from some of our elderly community. 102 years old and looking fab. It is so good to have real life history for the children to listen to.

A super day, but for a while can we revert back to 2010, or actually I quite liked the Victorian style.

Mr Rothwell

Friday 12 November 2010

What's next? Tiddly Winks

Great news! The girls represented the school fabulously and were victorious in their match over in Northfield. 5 -1. Mr. Crees reports that the opposition seem to be in the fledgling stages of development. I'm sure with Mr. Ellicott and his enthusiasm and encouragement that they will get better and better. That is now Tag Rugby and Girls football challenged. Hence the title.

Well done to class 6W on their class assembly, written and performed all by themselves, it gave a real insight into their learning this school year so far. Lots of yellow certificates handed out for superb reasons, well done to you all.

That wraps up another week in school, everyone should have had this weeks newsletter if not I will try and learn how to upload them myself, rather than asking someone else to do them. Next week starts with a bang with Year 5 Victorian day. We will look forward to seeing what everyone is wearing and I am sure that I can rise to the challenge of what a traditional Head Teacher (Headmaster) was like. It is also the start of the national anti-bullying week and we will be participating in this with a series of activities. The week will end with the school sharing in with Children in Need, so lots to look forward to. Have a great weekend.

Mr. Rothwell

(P.S. super week my maths group, let's keep it up)

Wednesday/Thursday 10th/11th November

An exciting couple of days. The children were really excited about the arrival of Jeremy Strong into school, and there were many envious eyes fro Years 5 and 6 to their peers in 3 and 4. The demand for signed books really did surprise us all and therefore we have had to order even more into school. I was greeted on the playground on Wednesday morning with yet another trophy that the school had managed to win. This time we had to settle for second and third place in the Gateway Cluster Football competition. Well done to everyone that participated even in the cold weather. The staff had a really useful Staff Meeting on Wednesday night. We were looking at Reading within school as well as how children learn. Two very stimulating conversation which will have enormous consequences for our school.

Thursday was a day to remember. Our whole school came together to remember those who courageously have fought and are still fighting so that many people can be free in this world. Having children in our assembly whose families are still out in Afghanistan really does bring home the message to our community. The children were respectful whilst we heard about the good work of the British Legion. The children then marked 11 o'clock in complete silence whilst we ran the single from the British legion.

Later on we wished the girls all the very best as they took on Mr. Ellicott and his girls football team over in Northfield.

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Tuesday 9th November

Super day today, what with the excitement of Simon Cheshire being in school. Having listened to him on a number of occasions throughout the day, I found him to be very easy to listen to and very inspirational with what he was saying. And yes, teachers are right when they say things!
Simon joined us all day and I'm sure you will see and hear more about his visit on different blogs attached to the school website.

Clubs are just finishing in school, the first choir club met, think i need to give them miners lamps if they are going out into the solardome from now on. Waiting to hear the news from the football competitions that took place tonight, whatever the result we are proud of the children anyway and I am sure they have represented the school to the best of their ability.

Write more tomorrow

Mr. Rothwell

Monday 8th November

A really busy day today for myself. Finally left school at about 9 o'clock after a Governing Body meeting. The day started with teaching of my maths group and I must give them a mention for their hard work in the lesson, they really are impressing me at the moment so I hope that they keep up the good work. This was followed up by having our monthly meeting with the Infants to make sure our schools are working well together.

The atmosphere in the school is growing with the children getting excited by the imminent arrival over the next couple of days of the authors Simon Cheshire and Jeremy Strong. We really are excited about having them in school.

The weather was terrible today which meant that we could not get out all day, let us hope for better weather tomorrow as it is one of the first competitive events for our football teams. Good Luck everyone!

Friday 5 November 2010

Thursday and Friday

Apologies for combining these two posts, it just helps to finish off the week and by now parents of the school would have received this weeks newsletter anyway. Saddening news which I am grateful for the parents letting me know about, is the future redundancy of our two crossing wardens. This is a whole community issue as it means that our children are at risk. I can assure you that we were the last people to know which leaves me perplexed at certain decisions. As we are aware, Birmingham City Council needs to make cutbacks and this seems to be one of them. I can assure you that I will be ringing them to see what happens now!

Thankyou also to the anonymous poster that informed us about the typo error on the main school website. This has now been rectified as well as an update. We recently swapped our website to a better provider, but still it seems you have to have a degree in computing to add new content. We all learn something new everyday!

Good news on the request for Parent Governors, we have received four candidates for two positions. I am delighted with all the prospective candidates. The accompanying statements really show their desire to enhance the school and take it even further. I look forward to the elections, and may the best candidates win.

A super assembly this morning,really rewarding to give out certificates for brilliant contributions to the school. I also thanked our councillors that have been completing toilet duty this week. The toilets downstairs are well underway to completion and like The Great Wall of China, I am sure you can see the pink colour from space!!!

An exciting week next week, two authors are visiting school, Simon Cheshire and Jeremy Strong. More information about them can be found at:
www.simoncheshire.co.uk
www.jeremystrong.co.uk

Have a super weekend everyone and please be safe. I would also like to wish Happy Diwali to those in our community that are celebrating it.
Mr. Rothwell

Thursday 4 November 2010

Wednesday 3rd November

A quick post today as it was quiet in school. The problems of swimming kits seems to have abated and that all the children are now swimming, let's hope that this is a thing of the past.

Wednesday is a staff meeting night for us in school and this week we were looking at how we can support our children even further in school. This always stimulates lots of conversations, but they are really useful.

That is it for today but will post more tomorrow

Mr. Rothwell

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Tuesday 2nd November

Welcome Back!
The children all arrived back into school and enthusiastic for their learning. We tried to get everyone back into the swing of things as quickly as possible. The children coped admirably with the new toilets and they can see even more developments whilst they have been away. We have no downstairs toilets at the moment so the children moved sensibly around the school using the other years. They will all soon be finished and we will have to have a grand opening.
I spent alot of the day over at the Martineau Centre in Harborne getting updates for our school, lots of information. The rest of the day was spent getting ready to have a meeting with our other leaders in school, where I asked them to look at the standards in your Literacy books. We aim very high here and hope you see that we want the best for everyone. The books we took in looked great, lots of hard worked and some superb comments from your teachers about the work that you have completed as well as how to help you even more.

Tomorrow is a much quieter day for me so lots of paperwork to be completed.
Mr. Rothwell

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Monday 1st November

Firstly, we have had a hit from Russia!!!! Please if you do read this blog, comment because i will share it with the children of Lyndon Green Junior School.

Well first day back after the half term, and no children. This did not mean we had our feet up, drinking tea. We were all very focussed. The teaching staff of the school were engaged in the new learning platform and looking at how best it can be used. You will hear much more about how you can access it and access extra resources for the curriculum that you are learning about.

Roll on Tuesday and the arrival of the children. More tomorrow

Mr. Rothwell