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Waterman Primary
Waterman Primary
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Waterman Primary School,
The Boulevard, Rochford,
SS4 1QF
Head: Mrs.Welch
01702 546237
www.watermanprimaryschool.ik.org
admin@waterman.essex.sch.uk
admin@waterman.essex.sch.uk
“Catching Up at the New Year”
Talking with Rachel Welch, Head of Waterman School
(12th January 2012)
Talking with Rachel Welch, Head of Waterman School
(12th January 2012)
Because of our Editor’s unavailability this past term it has been a number of months since we last visited Waterman Primary, so this was very much a ‘catch-up’ time. We hope to be back with a couple of weeks, picking up on even more of the things that have been going on here. As we were about to start our interview with Rachel in her office, I became aware that we were not alone!
Rochford Life: Rachel, you have some livestock on your floor?
Rachel: Yes, that’s Bubble and Squeak, our two Guinea Pigs. We had them at half term at home and I picked them up and gave them a week at home for them to get used to me before I brought them in. We bought them because somebody we know didn’t want them anymore and one of our boys here, who has got about eleven at home and loves them, asked if we could have pets here at school, and so every day he chooses someone to come in with him and he feeds them. They have a pen in here for the moment and we have a hutch for them that will go outside in the summer.
Rochford Life: Rachel, you have some livestock on your floor?
Rachel: Yes, that’s Bubble and Squeak, our two Guinea Pigs. We had them at half term at home and I picked them up and gave them a week at home for them to get used to me before I brought them in. We bought them because somebody we know didn’t want them anymore and one of our boys here, who has got about eleven at home and loves them, asked if we could have pets here at school, and so every day he chooses someone to come in with him and he feeds them. They have a pen in here for the moment and we have a hutch for them that will go outside in the summer.
RL: Have you, as a school, had pets before?
Rachel: No, we haven’t, but Becky’s husband has recently made us a chicken run and so in February, depending on the weather they’ll bring the chicken run over and set it up outside. Quite a few of the children have got chickens at home so we thought it would be lovely in the Spring to have the chicks here, so we are expanding in this realm for the children. A number of them have guinea pigs at home so they’re really into them here and I get a lot of good visits to my office now.
Rachel: No, we haven’t, but Becky’s husband has recently made us a chicken run and so in February, depending on the weather they’ll bring the chicken run over and set it up outside. Quite a few of the children have got chickens at home so we thought it would be lovely in the Spring to have the chicks here, so we are expanding in this realm for the children. A number of them have guinea pigs at home so they’re really into them here and I get a lot of good visits to my office now.
RL: Linking up with the outdoors, I see you also have a garden fund, don’t you, with quite a sum of money in it?
Rachel: Yes, we have, and it’s nearly to £3000. Last year we had a competition to design a ‘garden’ and two of the children produced this winning entry. At the bottom is our outdoor classroom (in red), and they want a pond and bird-feeders and even a banana tree! There’s also a sand pit which we’ve actually got now out there, so we’ll be using that in the summer. We’ve had someone come down to give us a quote but we need to work out what we can afford. Obviously there are health and safety issues with the pond, which is the tricky bit, but we’ve got so much space outside we want to make good use of it. We do have a small garden area out there where we have grown sunflowers and some vegetables. The difficulty is in finding someone who will keep it going if we grow much out there. It really needs a parent or grandparent who would like to do it.
Rachel: Yes, we have, and it’s nearly to £3000. Last year we had a competition to design a ‘garden’ and two of the children produced this winning entry. At the bottom is our outdoor classroom (in red), and they want a pond and bird-
RL: On the personal side, I see from one of your weekly newsletters you’re going to run a marathon soon?
Rachel: Yes we’re doing it on April 22nd . We’ve had some good runs and we’ve got a training schedule and I’ve got a ‘Just Giving’ site because we’re doing it for Guide Dogs for the Blind. My husband and I hope to raise £3000 between us so we’re hoping lots of people will sponsor us. Some of the children are hoping to come with Bruce and watch me, so it should be a great experience for them as well.
RL: I also see from your newsletters that you’ve been training to become an Ofsted Inspector?
Rachel: Yes, that’s right, I am. I’ve just done module two and the whole thing will probably take a year. There is face to face training up in Birmingham and I’ve been up there twice now. It’s been very good development for us here because obviously I’m learning about the Ofsted process. There’s a new framework that’s just come out and so we’re probably more up to date with that than other schools because I’m working with it all the time. Everything we have to do today has to have an impact on the children, every minute of every lesson is important and they should be learning something all the time. I think we have more pressure today because we have government targets to reach and especially when you have smaller groups, it only needs one ot two children not to make it to bring the percentages down more than if it was a large school with large numbers.
RL: Yes, I noticed in your January first newsletter you were emphasising attendance, where I presume the percentage figures get really impacted with smaller class numbers?
Rachel: Well, yes, that’s right. They are a lot better than they were and we’ve got no persistent absentees at all. We work very closely with Extended Schools who work out of KES and they have Attendance Support Officers, so every half term I’ll look and see who is dipping below – we’re aiming for children to be in the school ninety five percent of the time – and so if it drops to 90 that triggers a visit from the Attendance Support Officer to see what help can be given. Mostly absentees are from general illness and you can’t help that, especially in the winter. Punctuality is another aspect of that, making sure the children are here on time. If they are not here when the register closes, then that is an unauthorised absence and that can pull the figures down.
RL: I’m afraid it’s been several months since I was able talk with you, but looking back I remember you talking about the School Improvement Plan with a maximum of four key points. What were the main things you had in that?
Rachel: Yes we have four new ones: improve standards and achievements in writing, the same in mathematics, improve teaching and learning from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’, and to promote Waterman in the community, which includes working with parents – what we can offer them and what they can offer us. Obviously his includes working with the Children’s Centre and the Nursery, building stronger links, working with our Parents Association, and also that we take part in events in the community. So, for instance, we went to St. Lukes Carol singing, and we’re encouraging things like that. We also share our expertise in school with the community, resources that we have here.
RL: So what other things have been happening in that period since I was here at the end of Summer term?
Rachel: Well, we’ve had seven pupils come to us from other schools during this past term, apart from the new intake in September, we’ve been working to get Google to pick us up first when you Google ‘Waterman’. We have our weekly newsletter on our site of course, and I think especially our newer parents tend to go on line for it. A lot of the children leave comments on the Guest Book on the site as well, and from past pupils who have gone to KES for instance. We’ve found that text mail to parents is the best way of giving a message to lots of people all in one go.
RL: And other things, perhaps your highlights of last term?
Rachel: We achieved the Basic Skills Award and Bruce was working on the Healthy Schools Award, which we have just been awarded, which looks at well-being as well as physical activities and promoting healthy school dinners and so on. We picked up the plaque for the award yesterday. So that’s two awards which we didn’t have previously. We also have a partner school in Kenya now, which Bruce is working with and of course we recently Skyped with pen friends in New Zealand. We’ve had a number of Parents events which have been good.
RL: I also note you’ve had ‘Freshwater Theatre’ in.
Rachel: They are a theatre group (http://www.freshwatertheatre.co.uk/schools.php)
They come in to supplement lessons, and with one group we were doing Florence Nightingale and they come in dressed up and with the props and so on, to bring it alive. Another class have been doing about being an evacuee in the last war, which they brought alive. Another class have been looking at old toys, so they brought in a selection of old toys and new toys and were comparing them. It enhances the learning, adding things we couldn’t do ourselves. We’ve got the Young Shakespeare Company coming in, in a couple of weeks, and some of the children from Stambridge come over to join in.
RL: You have much working with other schools or groups?
Rachel: Well we do joint things with Stambridge because two small schools sharing costs can make a project viable. We had a couple of nursery groups bring their children in to see ours doing their Christmas event. That was a really good production. This evening we have archery here and some of the children from Rochford Primary come over for that, and some of ours go to them for other things, so yes, there is a certain amount of interchange between the three schools.
RL: I note you have a breakfast club here?
Rachel: Oh yes, we’ve always had that. It was in the newsletter recently just as a reminder. We have about fifteen children who come regularly to that, and it not only helps ease them into the school day, it helps parents who may have to go out to work. We provide cereals and toast and drinks and we’re encouraging them to serve themselves more now, with some of the older children helping the younger children. They have activities as well. We have a Wii, a football table and a Pool table and various table-top creative things for them to do and the older ones like it especially, because it is a nice social time. One of our mid-day ladies oversees it.
RL: Well Rachel, we’ve ranged over a really wide spectrum of things there in this conversation. Thank you for your time. It’s been a delight being here. There seems, in addition to all the developmental things happening, there is increasingly a very healthy ‘family feel’ to all that is going on, and from the little I’ve seen of the children they clearly really enjoy it. Thank you again.
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Rachel: Yes we’re doing it on April 22nd . We’ve had some good runs and we’ve got a training schedule and I’ve got a ‘Just Giving’ site because we’re doing it for Guide Dogs for the Blind. My husband and I hope to raise £3000 between us so we’re hoping lots of people will sponsor us. Some of the children are hoping to come with Bruce and watch me, so it should be a great experience for them as well.
RL: I also see from your newsletters that you’ve been training to become an Ofsted Inspector?
Rachel: Yes, that’s right, I am. I’ve just done module two and the whole thing will probably take a year. There is face to face training up in Birmingham and I’ve been up there twice now. It’s been very good development for us here because obviously I’m learning about the Ofsted process. There’s a new framework that’s just come out and so we’re probably more up to date with that than other schools because I’m working with it all the time. Everything we have to do today has to have an impact on the children, every minute of every lesson is important and they should be learning something all the time. I think we have more pressure today because we have government targets to reach and especially when you have smaller groups, it only needs one ot two children not to make it to bring the percentages down more than if it was a large school with large numbers.
RL: Yes, I noticed in your January first newsletter you were emphasising attendance, where I presume the percentage figures get really impacted with smaller class numbers?
Rachel: Well, yes, that’s right. They are a lot better than they were and we’ve got no persistent absentees at all. We work very closely with Extended Schools who work out of KES and they have Attendance Support Officers, so every half term I’ll look and see who is dipping below – we’re aiming for children to be in the school ninety five percent of the time – and so if it drops to 90 that triggers a visit from the Attendance Support Officer to see what help can be given. Mostly absentees are from general illness and you can’t help that, especially in the winter. Punctuality is another aspect of that, making sure the children are here on time. If they are not here when the register closes, then that is an unauthorised absence and that can pull the figures down.
RL: I’m afraid it’s been several months since I was able talk with you, but looking back I remember you talking about the School Improvement Plan with a maximum of four key points. What were the main things you had in that?
Rachel: Yes we have four new ones: improve standards and achievements in writing, the same in mathematics, improve teaching and learning from ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’, and to promote Waterman in the community, which includes working with parents – what we can offer them and what they can offer us. Obviously his includes working with the Children’s Centre and the Nursery, building stronger links, working with our Parents Association, and also that we take part in events in the community. So, for instance, we went to St. Lukes Carol singing, and we’re encouraging things like that. We also share our expertise in school with the community, resources that we have here.
RL: So what other things have been happening in that period since I was here at the end of Summer term?
Rachel: Well, we’ve had seven pupils come to us from other schools during this past term, apart from the new intake in September, we’ve been working to get Google to pick us up first when you Google ‘Waterman’. We have our weekly newsletter on our site of course, and I think especially our newer parents tend to go on line for it. A lot of the children leave comments on the Guest Book on the site as well, and from past pupils who have gone to KES for instance. We’ve found that text mail to parents is the best way of giving a message to lots of people all in one go.
RL: And other things, perhaps your highlights of last term?
Rachel: We achieved the Basic Skills Award and Bruce was working on the Healthy Schools Award, which we have just been awarded, which looks at well-
RL: I also note you’ve had ‘Freshwater Theatre’ in.
Rachel: They are a theatre group (http://www.freshwatertheatre.co.uk/schools.php)
They come in to supplement lessons, and with one group we were doing Florence Nightingale and they come in dressed up and with the props and so on, to bring it alive. Another class have been doing about being an evacuee in the last war, which they brought alive. Another class have been looking at old toys, so they brought in a selection of old toys and new toys and were comparing them. It enhances the learning, adding things we couldn’t do ourselves. We’ve got the Young Shakespeare Company coming in, in a couple of weeks, and some of the children from Stambridge come over to join in.
RL: You have much working with other schools or groups?
Rachel: Well we do joint things with Stambridge because two small schools sharing costs can make a project viable. We had a couple of nursery groups bring their children in to see ours doing their Christmas event. That was a really good production. This evening we have archery here and some of the children from Rochford Primary come over for that, and some of ours go to them for other things, so yes, there is a certain amount of interchange between the three schools.
RL: I note you have a breakfast club here?
Rachel: Oh yes, we’ve always had that. It was in the newsletter recently just as a reminder. We have about fifteen children who come regularly to that, and it not only helps ease them into the school day, it helps parents who may have to go out to work. We provide cereals and toast and drinks and we’re encouraging them to serve themselves more now, with some of the older children helping the younger children. They have activities as well. We have a Wii, a football table and a Pool table and various table-
RL: Well Rachel, we’ve ranged over a really wide spectrum of things there in this conversation. Thank you for your time. It’s been a delight being here. There seems, in addition to all the developmental things happening, there is increasingly a very healthy ‘family feel’ to all that is going on, and from the little I’ve seen of the children they clearly really enjoy it. Thank you again.
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