Hose Church of England Primary School
Headteacher Report to Clawson, Hose and Harby Parish Council 2016/17
As ever, the school has had another busy year and currently has 60 pupils on roll. The school has been an important topic of consideration in the Neighbourhood Plan which is being developed with members of the local communities. Although numbers have risen considerably, the school has capacity to take in more pupils (up to 77) and it is hoped that any future housing development will ensure that the school continues to flourish and provide an outstanding education for future generations at Hose.
This year, our children have been involved in a partnership with an inner-city school, InglehurstJuniorSchool, Leicester. Pupils from Inglehurst have visited twice now and our children have enjoyed playing hosts and sharing their experiences of life in a rural community. During the visits, the pupils experienced a visit to the Hose Millennium Orchard and allotments, had a cheese-making demonstration from Long Clawson Dairy and altogether, nearly 100 children made apple crumbles in the village hall for them to take home and eat later.
Hose pupils visited InglehurstSchool and were treated to an ‘India’ day, where their pupils shared topic work and demonstrated Indian dance. The children also participated in traditional henna hand-painting activities and were given home-made Indian snacks to take back to school. As Inglehurst is a large (over 300 pupils) multi-cultural school, all of the children really benefited from learning about the contrasting environments, which exist in Leicestershire and Great Britain.
Our pupils’ understanding was enhanced further with a ‘multi-cultural’ week which entailed a visit to a Mosque, a Hindu temple and a city-based Anglican church. All of these places of worship were situated in Leicester and our visit was organised through the St Philips Centre, which is committed to developing awareness and understanding between the different faiths and cultures which are represented in Britain today. During their visit, the children made insightful observations and asked some very thoughtful questions. The children talked about their visit and showed examples of their follow-up work in our family Collective Worship. Teaching our pupils about the wider world is an important element of our work in schools and enhances their understanding of British Values.
This year, KS2 pupils visited Brancaster National Trust Centre, as part of their school residential visits programme. During their visit, the children enjoyed kayaking, cycling, model raft building and even managed a visit to a wind-turbine, climbing over 300 steps inside the turbine to a viewing platform at the top.
Children in KS1 visited Beaumanor Hall for their residential and joined in adventurous activities including a night walk through woodland and shelter building. Although the weather was cold and wet, it didn’t seem to dampen the children’s spirits too much. Children at Hose are unusual in that from Yr1 upwards, all of them take part in a residential visit every year. It is testimony to the hard work and commitment the teachers and support staff give to ensure that our children enjoy learning in a variety of exciting and interesting ways.
As part of our commitment to the HealthySchool and Food for Life initiatives, we have been able to start an allotment. This year, we managed to grow cabbages, marrows, beans and several large pumpkins. This is something we hope to develop further so that pupils can become more involved in growing their own food and cooking with the produce.
The school has responded to national changes in assessment and has put in place a system of assessing and tracking pupils’ progress over time. This year, the school has worked with HemingtonPrimary School to moderate teachers’ assessment and provide quality assurance of assessment practice in both schools.
The last academic year proved to be challenging in terms of national assessment, how it would be implemented and what the implications for schools might be. Like all our Vale school partners, everyone worked hard to ensure that the children were able to give of their best in the new national tests. As a result, pupils’ attainment was of a high standard in relation to Local Authority or National results. As ever, with very small cohorts, data should be treated with caution as there can be wide variations year on year. This is because each pupil may represent as much as 20% of the data. This does not, however, take anything away from the effort put in by the children, teachers, support staff and families who do such a wonderful job in helping every child reach their potential. If you would like to know more about our school results please take a look at our website.
During the year, three new governors joined our school to fill vacancies on the Governing Body. The work of the Governors is enormously important to the smooth running and accountability of the school and provides an effective link between the school, its families and the wider community. A skills audit conducted this term indicates a breadth of skills and knowledge present in our Governing Body which will support and enhance the leadership and management of the school.
Staffing at the school remains stable and recently, national Sport Funding has been used to employ a Sports Apprentice through LoughboroughCollege. Our most recent apprentice has had a significant impact on the range of sporting opportunities the school is able to offer at lunchtimes and breaktimes. Pupils with SEN have benefited enormously from programmes to promote their physical strength, coordination, balance and fitness. Our apprentice prepares pupils for local tournaments with other local schools, including the Vale Schools Cross Country event which is hosted each year at Hose. Provision for activity in school and the local community has been enhanced through lottery funding to enable adults and children to have access to free fitness activities and holiday clubs.
As part of our school’s commitment to music, all our children in KS2 learn to play a musical instrument. Lessons are subsidised through government funding with the remaining cost met by the PFA. This year, our pupils are learning to play the guitar and are making some excellent progress.
I am continually impressed by the hard work and dedication of everyone at HoseSchool and its community. The success of our school is a result of some terrific teamwork, shared values, commitment and kindness from everyone including the PFA, local Churches and community groups, members of Hose village and practitioners from other Vale schools. I would like to take this opportunity to convey my thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us.
Mrs Margaret Cox
Head Teacher