Caring Curious Courageous

Enabling all children to learn and grow

Dear Families,

We are having a wonderful time today celebrating our diverse heritages. It’s been truly heart-warming to see the children proudly dressed in outfits that represent their unique cultures—from Black African to Turkish, English, Japanese, and many more. A huge thank you to the families who have generously volunteered their time to run activities like Chinese writing, storytelling, songs, and cooking with the children.

We also want to express our appreciation to everyone who attended last week’s reading workshop. For those who couldn’t make it, we’ve included the slides here for you to browse at your convenience. The key takeaway is that the specific book you choose isn’t as important as the act of reading itself—what matters most is nurturing a love of reading.

Our “Smartphone-Free Childhood” workshop was also a great success, both in person and online. A special thanks to the families who helped organise it. We’ll be sharing more information on our school’s position regarding this after half-term.

Looking ahead, we invite you to join us for the “Funding in a State School” workshop next Friday, 7th February at 9am. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Thank you for your continued support!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Frances

Frances Bracegirdle

Headteacher - headteacher@vineyard.richmond.sch.uk

Attendance

Well done to all the year groups getting above 96%. 

Frances Bracegirdle - headteacher

New Extended Day Provision at The Vineyard

After the Easter holidays, we will be saying goodbye to KOOSA Kids' amazing staff, who have been providing our wrap-around care for the children.

We are delighted to inform you that we will be establishing our own wrap-around care provision instead. This will be run in-house and provide both morning and after-school care. We are working hard to make this an excellent childcare option for those who require it. More information on the booking and costs can be found here.

Please be confident that there will be spaces available to book your child/ren into childcare, just as there were with KOOSA.

We need children's help to name this provision and design a logo for it. We are launching a competition which is open to all children. Please submit designs and name suggestions to Miss McArdle at amcardle@vineyard.richmond.sch.uk by 24.02.25. There will be a prize for the winner.

Teaching and Learning at The Vineyard

As we move through the spring term, we have been continuing our professional development around the importance, and the strategies for, assessment for learning. In the autumn term, we focused on the 'think pair share' approach to talk partners, and this half-term, we are looking at the use of mini whiteboards as a strategy for checking children's understanding in lessons. At The Vineyard, using mini whiteboards is an embedded practice, but we are always looking for ways to improve our practice. Following research, we have introduced 'show me boards', where teachers ask children to share their responses on their whiteboards simultaneously, so that the teacher gets immediate whole class feedback on the children's understanding. The teacher can use this information to adapt the lessons and address any misconceptions or errors as they occur. 

Ms Reilly and Mrs Dempster 

Assistant Headteachers for Teaching & Learning

Morning Playtime Snacks for KS2 Children 

Children in KS2 are allowed to bring in a small snack to eat during their morning playtime. In line with our 'Healthy Schools' approach, children are allowed to have the following snacks: 

- fresh or dried fruit or vegetables

- rice cakes or crackers

If a child brings in an unsuitable snack, they will not be allowed to eat it and their family will be informed. 

All snacks MUST be nut free. 

We appreciate your support in this matter.