Caring Curious Courageous

Enabling all children to learn and grow

Dear Families,

How has that happened? This is the last newsletter of the spring term and now there is only one more term to go of the academic year!

Before going any further, I would like to wish all our Iranian families a very happy Nowruz.

Year 6 have been to Holly Lodge, for a junior citizen workshop, in preparation for their transition to secondary school. They learnt what to do in different situations; how to keep themselves safe on public transport and near the river.

The Dog Trust have been in school this week. They have led assemblies and workshops on how to behave safely around dogs, particularly around dogs that they don't know. The children have really enjoyed these and should be able to give you many top tips.

I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the Spin Yard event on Saturday. Having seen the list of raffle prizes, I will be buying a few of those. 

I hope you all have a lovely time during the school break, when it comes. Our thoughts remain with those who have family and friends affected by ongoing conflicts.

But before we finish, it is number day on Monday, and I am looking forward to seeing the maths-themed costumes as the children run through the gate in the morning. I must sort myself something to wear! (please see last week's newsletter if you missed this information).

Wishing you a wonderful break,

Frances Bracegirdle

Headteacher - headteacher@vineyard.richmond.sch.uk

Our New Chefs 

We are delighted to introduce our new chefs from Radish: our head chef is Spencer and our sous chef is May. 

Attendance

Well done to Reception, Year 4 and Year 6 for getting above 96%! 

As we approach the holidays, a reminder that any absences in the last week are unauthorised and fixed penalty notices will be enforced for term time holidays. 

Punctuality

Well done to Ruby class and Carnelian for getting no lates! Ruby class are one slice away from getting a pizza party!

Miss McArdle- Assistant Headteacher 

Teaching and Learning at The Vineyard

Thanks to those teachers this week who took part in a school improvement visit from our School Improvement Partner (SIP), Chris Chen. These visits enable us to reflect on our school development plan, and measure our progress, setting out new targets, as and when necessary. The focus for our learning walk this week was the review element of lessons. Based on Rosenshein’s principles, teachers plan an effective 5 to 10 minute review of previous learning at the start of each lesson (currently trialled in certain subjects only) with the intention to assess in the moment any gaps in the children’s understanding and re-teach material when necessary. Reviewing previous learning increases the likelihood of children retaining new knowledge and retaining it for longer, ultimately building their long term memory and their level of fluency in recall. It was wonderful to see this in action alongside our SIP.  Some of the highlights from the observations were that the review provided children with immediate check-ins from their teacher when verbal feedback was needed, good visuals and vocab were displayed and supported access, there was evidence of strong questioning and the most effective learning journeys were visual with a clear sequence and well explained.

Below are some examples of the slide stimulus teachers are using, which aim to avoid cognitive overload with simple layouts, yet scaffold access and recall, helping children make connections between lessons.

Ms Reilly and Mrs Dempster 

Assistant Headteachers for Teaching & Learning

Traffic Situation on Friar Stile Road/Cardigan Road Junction

Following the proposal to change the crossings to ensure safety for pedestrians and drivers, we are delighted this has now been approved. Please see this link for more information. 

PTA News