November - December 2010

Debbie Rogan, Executive Head  4th November 2010

The school was put into special measures in June last year as a result of a full Ofsted inspection and that was, I think, the second or third time that it was in a category of need in about ten years, and the theory was that I came and supported the school to help it improve.... Because it is a small team we support each other very much and we apply the same principles to dealing with staff that we have dealing with children which is that happy, confident, respected people do a good job and learn well, and so we support each other and look after each other as well as looking after the children.

Becky Thomas, Chair of Governors in November 2010

I have been a Governor so long, there was almost a sense of déjà-vu. If you could plot the school on a graph there are highs and then lows and it is a very wavy line. Personally I felt that when the school just gets to where it needs to be, help has been withdrawn, and it’s not been sustained to keep it there, whereas this time there are now things in place so that not only are we where we need to be, but there is also vision to go above and beyond. We never want to just stay where we are.  We always have to strive for whatever is next.

Rachel Welch, Acting Head, December 2010.  In 2011 - the Head

I’ve been here a year and a term. I had planned to stop at Christmas as I was still continuing my consultancy role but decided to resign and take up the acting head post from February here. Now I go back out and work for the local authority on secondment about one day a week, going back out and supporting other schools......   The school has gone through sufficient changes that it’s got to the point where it doesn’t need to be big changes and it’s just building on what we’ve got. The main thing is really just spreading the word and trying to shake off this old image of the school and making people aware that we are here to stay and we are going to continue improving and be better than most around...... (out of special measures) ..... we are celebrating the fact that it wasn’t just a ‘satisfactory’ outcome but a ‘good’ outcome which makes us one of the best schools in the area, so we are obviously trying to spread the word. That’s really the priority now, thinking forward to September with children coming in, getting as many children as we can because we need to build numbers.

January - July 2011

Mark Vincent, Governor-Caretaker 5th January 2011

I enjoy involving myself with many things in the school, not just as a Governor but as a Caretaker as well. I said about the safeguarding and well-being of the children, it’s part of my other governing role, so I do try and go on trips if I can.... I decided to be a Governor because I wanted to put as much into the school as I can. In your governing role you have a lot of input and you make a lot of decisions,  as to how the school is run and what we spend the money on and so on. Some of the decisions would actually involve me anyway but I wouldn’t be there if I wasn’t a Governor, and so I can bring a practical side to the Governors.....  I knew when I walked through that door, even though it was in special measures, the right people were in place, and we could turn this school around. You can only do it as a group and give it a hundred per cent., and we’ve proved it. We’ve done it! It’s a brilliant feeling. It’s fantastic and to come on board when it’s not, and to turn it around, as has happened, that’s great. It’s fantastic to be part of that team!  It’s not just a team; it’s like a little family. We support each other and there is that bond.

Some of the children in January 2011

Keaton enters the fray again: “At the moment we’re learning about bread from all over the world. So far we’ve tried garlic bread, which I like, and Indian bread and we get to taste what the others make.”

What else are you learning?

“Spanish,” from all. “I can count up to ten in Spanish,” declares Skyla and she and Sharna promptly prove the point together.

”Yes, but we can count up to twenty as well,” asserts Keaton but the others aren’t quite so confident.

We then get into a conversation about who knows who, who can speak French.

So what else do you learn?
“Maths, tables and decimals but I’m not good with decimals.” This is Sharna

“My best thing in school, no second best thing, is literacy,” says Keaton who obviously remembered his claim on cookery.

They then (collectively) tell me about the different colouring system of books in the library where we are sitting.  

One of the parents in informal afternoon chats in  March 2011

It is the best school in the area. The smallness of the school is a benefit. All the teachers know all the children. The personal one to one is fantastic. Since the new management team have come in a year and a half ago, the difference that it has made is tremendous and you can see it in the children. They are happier and well behaved. It’s a tremendous improvement. It is good. Rochford is a good place to live; it’s like a little village in a large town, very friendly and a nice atmosphere, and we’ve lived here five years now.

Quotes from 2010 to 2013 at Waterman Primary School

Rather than leave on line the considerable number of articles we have done with this school over the past 4 years, we have decided to take snippets from each article, quotes from the people there, present and past. Although not available here on line, we are keeping each of the articles and would be happy to mail one or two of them to you if requested. Otherwise, here are some of the quotes from the years 2010 to 2014..

This FIRST page covers from the Oct 2010 to July 2011 (Out of Special Measures)

To continue to the SECOND page, from Jan to Nov 2012, (Consolidation & Growth) CLICK HERE

To continue to the THIRD page,  from Mar 2013 to Nov 2013  (Ofsted, Changes & Being Stretched)  CLICK HERE

Bruce McMillan, one of the two Assistant Heads in May 2011

Maths has so changed over the years that I had to almost become untrained and change my thinking to look at the theory behind it. It’s only that the theory has become more sensible really.  I think you’ll find that when we were at school it was a case of problem after problem on the board doing exactly the same, and I have to admit that much of that didn’t make sense to me until secondary school. Now it is the development of strategies to support mental maths for example, and the progression is better planned so you look at how it develops in Reception and how they see patterns and things. They can do algebra, which they also do in secondary school.  For example if you have three Worms how many more Worms do you need to make five Worms, say?  It is only moving the ‘x’ to something else.  Obviously you don’t use the language of algebra but the principles and theories are the same, so that when they do eventually get to ‘x’ they realise it is the ‘something’ they had before, and that’s how we do it

Debbie Kilbride, one of the two Assistant Heads  in May 2011

There is probably never a day when you don’t take work home, especially at the weekends and, yes it is early mornings and late evenings.  The holidays are nice but we still come into school then, doing displays, putting the things out, doing paperwork, planning..... I am very proud to be part of Waterman and to be part of the very positive changes that have been taken place.  I am very proud to be part of the team that has brought those about.

Rachel Welch, Head, 11th July 2011

We’re setting up the plans for next year and have been checking with our stakeholders what they felt we had to celebrate from this year – that’s the staff, the parents, the children, the Governors, the Children’s Centre and Nursery.  So we asked them what we have to celebrate this year, where we need to do a little more work and to challenge us. In the good list, were some of the lessons, especially the Spanish lesson, all of the clubs, the weekly awards they liked,  celebrating behaviour, the homework, the tyre park, the healthy meals, the relationships between the children and the teacher, and the dedication of the staff....  the younger children said things like playtimes, lunchtimes, swimming, clubs, assemblies, learning new things. The older children gave us more detailed things, outdoor maths, clubs, attendance, behaviour, homework  and so on..... In my new role I’ve been going on a number of courses and one of them was on Improvement Plans, suggesting no more than 4 core priorities, and so we will be focusing more on certain agreed issues in the coming year..... in July we’ve just achieved the Quality Mark Award for basic skills. This recognises the provision, practice and performance in literacy and numeracy within the school. That is very good..... I’m very proud of the achievements of Waterman this year and look forward to the new academic year where we will continue to improve. In September we have a new intake of 15 to Reception, and so all our places have been taken up.

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