End of Year 2023-2024: Message from Mrs Reynolds

We are now at the end of another busy year and I would like to thank our whole school community – pupils, parents, staff and governors for all your hard work and dedication to ensure that all of our children are provided with excellence in education. We are in the top 1% of schools in the country, and as a headteacher I am extremely proud of everyone involved especially our wonderful pupils.

We have much to celebrate this year from an academic point of view: Our EYFS Good level of Development was at 90%, nationally schools attain 65% - this is the highest outcome for over 6 years— our Phonic Screening results – 98% passed the test – national average (most schools) outcomes are 79%; our year 4 multiplication test – 97% pupils achieved 23 out of 25 with 68% attaining full marks. Our SATS results were also very good.

I took over as headteacher in January 2024 and I have a vision that will not only continue to sustain our high academic expectations but also enhance and enrich the educational opportunities that our pupils will receive from next academic year and beyond. The staff and I have been working over past two terms to ensure that my vision becomes a reality.

Plans for next year:

To continue to sustain the high levels of academic excellence in Reading, Writing and Maths

We regularly review our teaching cycles in the core subjects and ensure that we are up to date with the most credible research in pedagogy. All of our staff meetings are dedicated to ensuring that staff are kept up to date with the most recent research along with reviewing and updating our teaching cycles so that we can ensure the best outcomes for our pupils.

Learning how to play musical instruments 

From year 1 every pupil will learn a different instrument each year:

Year 1 – bell plates and boom whackers

Year 2 – Recorders

Year 3 – Xylophone

Year 4 – Ukulele

Year 5 -  Recorders including bass recorders – ensembles

Year 6 – Keyboard

By the time your children leave Whiteknights, they would have been taught 6 different instruments and will be able to read music which we hope will give them the inspiration to try other instruments and build their musical ability.

Computing

We have bought enough laptops this year, so that next year there will be enough for one between two pupils with my vision being that within 2 years every pupil will have a device to work on. The importance of upskilling pupils in computing is paramount as 92% of the careers in 2024 are digitally based. At present, the government are quoting that by 2030, 20% of the workforce will not be skilled enough to meet the digital demands. We will be planning in more opportunities in the foundation subjects to use computing in an effective way so that pupils can - not only build knowledge and cultural capital – but have the computer skills needed to access the secondary school curriculum and beyond.

The Knighthood Scheme

Traditionally The Knighthood Scheme was for year 6 only however my vision is to roll this out across the school. The Knighthood Scheme is linked to our PSHE scheme called Connect and it is a positive citizenship programme that allows pupils to not only think about how they fit into society but also how they can support others in our school community and at home. There will be tasks that the pupils need to complete some in school and some at home in order to achieve the various stages of becoming a Knight by the time they leave year 6.  There are two other awards that they will need to achieve before being Knighted in year 6: by end of year 2 they will be awarded the Page status and by the end of year 4, pupils will be awarded the Squire status. Watch this space for more information…. The Knighthood Scheme will be up and running in January 2025.

I hope that everyone has an enjoyable summer break and I look forward to seeing you and your children on September 3rd ready for another exciting year.

Bridget Reynolds

Headteacher