OUTSTANDING!

We are very pleased to report that our recent OFSTED inspection judged our school to be outstanding. The inspection was carried out over two days by two senior inspectors, who not only closely observed sixteen lessons, examining the quality of teaching and the children’s work, but also rigorously scrutinised every aspect of school life.  They were joined by another leading member of the Inspectorate, who checked all the judgements and quality-assured the final report.

All members of our school community should be very proud of this report. Our staff, who work so hard and who give so much of their time to ensure the education that our pupils receive is exemplary, are rightly praised for their outstanding teaching and care. The report pays a special tribute to our pupils for their courtesy, behaviour and high quality work.  I have attached a special letter from the leading inspector to our pupils.  This rightly praises the children.  They should be very proud of their achievements.

Although we have obtained the highest grade possible we are not complacent and we will continue to strive for the very best entitlement for our children. Future improvements will include the provision of a full-size, all-weather, multi-sports playing area on the currently badly drained field adjacent to our school.  Planning permission for this has been recently agreed.

Christmas Events
As we approach the festive season, we have a number of special events at Forefield, beginning with our School Christmas Lunch on Wednesday 3rd December. During the final week of term we will have our Christmas parties, along with a visit from the fantastic Coverdale Puppets and a new production of "The Wind in the Willows" from Funhouse Theatre.

Instead of our usual Christmas Concert, the Forefield Drama Club will be presenting 'A Dancing Christmas Concert' on the evening of Tuesday 16th December. Our choir and musicians will perform at a special concert in the Spring Term. This will give the children a great opportunity to perform a wide variety of music on different themes, as well as sustaining their interest after Christmas.

Details of these and other events can be found in the Events section of our website, along with photographs of many of the activities that have taken place so far this term.

Parent Governers
As we have now received two resignations, there are two vacancies for representatives of parents on the Governing Body.  Therefore, if there are more than two nominations, it will be necessary to have an election.

Governors play a vital role in the life and work of a school. All school staff have been short-listed, interviewed and appointed by the Governors. The Governors have made crucial decisions regarding the allocation of money to our award winning new classrooms, which were constructed from 1999 to 2002.  They have allocated funding to ensure that we have not only first class ICT facilities for all our young  learners but also top of the range interactive whiteboards, making our teaching more vibrant and visual.  They have shared the vision of enhancing our outdoor provision by allocating money to enable our school to be the first primary school in the borough to have a full-size, multi-sports, all-weather pitch.  This will completed during 2009. They have provided essential support for initiatives such as Healthy Schools and Active Mark. They have helped underpin our outstanding reports from OFSTED in 2006 and 2008.

If you have not received a letter or nomination form, then further copies are available from the school office.  Completed forms should be returned no later than Monday 8th December at 12 noon.

School Uniform
The power of decision on school uniform policy lies with the Governing Body, which has agreed that the school uniform policy will be reviewed, following a full consultation with parents, children and other stakeholders by an independent contractor early next term. We are very pleased that the majority of parents continue to uphold the school uniform policy and sincerely ask that you do so until this issue is resolved.

If children are cold they may certainly wear their jogging bottoms to and from school. They may also choose to wear jogging bottoms at break time or lunch time.

Christmas Holidays
School will close for the Christmas break at 2:00pm on Friday 19th December. The Spring Term begins on Tuesday 6th January 2009, following an INSET day on Monday 5th January.

We wish all the family and friends of Forefield Juniors the very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, 2009.