Headteacher's Blog
Head Teacher’s Blog May 2023
We have reached the May half term break after what may be, the busiest six weeks of the school year. During this period, our pupils have participated in a range of workshops, trips and assemblies to consolidate and enrich their learning experience at school. The children and staff have worked hard and are deserving of a week’s break before we recommence school for the second half of the Summer Term on Monday June 5th.
There were only 2 class assemblies this half term, both from year 5. Class 5G gave the first performance of the term when they delivered an assembly on space and the solar system; 5Y used the King’s Coronation as the theme of their class assembly.
On Wednesday 26th April, our year 4 pupils visited the Natural History Museum where they participated in a special workshop on Volcanoes and Earthquakes. Year 4 have been learning about volcanoes during geography lessons and this trip gave them an opportunity to corroborate what they have learnt in class. Our year 6 pupils had an amazing opportunity to work on their poetry skills with Michael DeSouza, author of the Rastamouse book series, during a workshop on Thursday 20th April. The children enjoyed creating poetry within groups, using the techniques that they learnt during the workshop and adding actions to their poems.
During April, our pupils took part in the annual Skills Builders Project, the purpose of which is to develop the following essential skills:
Listening Speaking Communication
Problem solving Creativity Staying positive
Aiming High Leadership Teamwork
Each phase engaged in a different project:
EYFS: Ready Teddy Go, pupils explored different foods and set up their very own teddy bears’ picnic.
KS1: Doing Good; the children created a fundraising event to support a charity. Years 1 & 2 did a fun run dressed in fancy dress to raise money for the NSPCC. Thanks to the goodwill of staff, pupils and their family members, we raised over £1000 in support of this worthy charity.
Years 3 & 4: Number Crunching. The children worked in groups to create their own confectionery brand and pitched the idea to the other children in their class.
Years 5 & 6: Legal Eagles. Pupils explored the legal profession and took on one of three criminal cases.
Deaf Awareness Week took place from 2nd to 5th May at Park Lane Primary School, and Mrs Palin led a special Head Teacher’s assembly focusing on this very subject. The children were introduced to some basic phrases in sign language and were encouraged to practice what they have learnt throughout the week.
Year 2 took delivery of 10 eggs, in line with their class value of patience, where they patiently waited for the eggs to hatch and cared for the chicks until they were old enough to be moved to the chicken coop. The experiment has proved successful once again and we now have 9 chicks who have already matured enough to join our existing hens in the Butterfly garden.
We all enjoyed a long weekend due to the King’s Coronation on 6th May. In the week leading up to the event, our pupils learnt all about King Charles and what it means to be a king. Children in each class were encouraged to make ‘wild crowns’, in honour of the King’s interest in nature and the work he has done to promote conservation. The crowns were worn during a special coronation lunch on Friday 5th May, when all pupils and staff were encouraged to dress in red, white and blue. Sadly the weather on the day did not comply with our desire to hold a picnic in the playground, instead the school hall was chosen as a more suitable location. The children and staff, nevertheless, had a wonderful time.
In the week following the bank holiday to celebrate the King’s coronation, our year 6 pupils undertook their SATs tests. Some of the tests were tricky, particularly the Reading Paper but it appears that it is not only our school that found this to be the case. The children however coped well and their mental health was well managed by members of staff. All year 6 pupils were encouraged to attend breakfast club during the week, which was supported by members of the SLT serving bagels, toast and cereal, to ensure children arrived at school on time and had access to a healthy breakfast. Year 6 pupils and staff enjoyed a pizza party on the Friday following their final test. Both classes also enjoyed a visit to Ruislip Lido as a reward for their hard work leading up to the testing period. The test results will be announced during the second half of the summer term on 11th July.
The year 4 Multiplication checks will take place during the week commencing 5th June and year 1 Phonics Screening will take place during the following week.
Our SEND pupils visited the London Aquarium on Wednesday 17th May, where they enjoyed learning all about different types of sea creatures and some children even held a star fish. Year 1 pupils visited the London Zoo in line with what they have been learning about animals and humans as part of the year 1 science curriculum.
Our year 5 pupils had a wonderful time when they visited the Gordon Brown Residential Centre. Our pupils engaged in a range of activities designed to help them learn to be brave, to play, create, explore, take risks and make new discoveries in the natural environment. Their top priority, of course, was to have fun, and in this, their stay was wholly successful! The teachers and staff were very impressed with the children’s behaviour and attitude, all pupils participated in every activity on offer. Among other activities, the children took part in archery, den building, sensory walks, high ropes and the climbing wall; the children also took care of the resident animals including chickens, donkeys and rabbits.
Year 5 have recently participated in a Road Safety workshop where members of the local police visited the school to speak about speed awareness and the children were able to use speed guns to measure the speed of traffic at the front of the school. Our year 6 pupils took part in a riding workshop this week. The children brought their bikes to school and staff from Cycling Instructors led the Bikeablity course, which teaches children how to stay safe and observe the road rules while riding their bikes.
Staff have planned a number of curriculum based and fun trips during the last half of the summer term. Reception will visit Hanwell Zoo, year 4 will visit the London Zoo and year 3 have planned to visit Odd’s Farm. There are many other trips in the pipeline which have yet to be confirmed.
Our year 6 pupils are eagerly anticipating their stay at PGL, which takes place at the beginning of July and all pupils in KS2 will enjoy a trip to the theatre on 7th June to watch The Lion King musical. We have also organised a year 6 visit to BT tower, where they will take a tour of BT’s network operation centre followed by a visit to the viewing platform at the top of the tower.
We are developing our links with other schools and this is often done through sport. Our school will participate in an interschool football competition, which takes place in July. Our annual sports days take place on 21st and 22nd June for KS2 and EYFS/KS1, respectively. Parents/carers will be invited to support their children in King Edward VII Park, weather permitting.
Park Lane’s International Evening takes place on Friday 30th of June, our Summer Fair on 5th July and our year 6 Graduation Ceremony on 19th July. Year 6 have also started rehearsals for their final production which takes place on 17th July. You will learn more about these forthcoming events at a later date.