We are really proud of the children who took part in the Y3/4 Maths Championships this week in coming join first in their heat, making it to the final in June. Well done to all the children who took part in the Cross Country competition on Wednesday too. They had to run 1000m around a very big field. There were 55 boys and 48 girls from 5 schools in Stourbridge. The girls team won overall and the boys came second. A special mention to Maeve Smith and Charlie Kirwan who both placed 3rd overall in their race.

Our Digital Ambassadors are delivering special assemblies on Tuesday and Wednesday to focus on the globally celebrated, Safer Internet Day. This year’s theme is ‘Together for a better internet’, encouraging teachers, parents, policymakers and a range of agencies all over the world to work together to improve internet safety. Every class will have a special internet safety lesson linked to this theme. Please do ask your child to tell you what they have learned to help it stick in their memory. This might also be a good time to talk about using the internet safely at home too. You can access further information and free resources and activities to do with your child using this link: https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2020/i-am-parent-or-carer

We are really looking forward to seeing you at our Parents’ Evening next week. This is a great opportunity for you to find out about your child’s learning and progress in English and Maths from their teacher. As outlined in our recent letter about the changes to assessment at Greenfield, the teacher will be explaining:

• How well your child is progressing with the subject for their age group and if they are able to keep up with what is expected or if they are going on to extra challenges and apply their learning in more depth.
• What your child can do well and the key areas your child needs to improve on.
• If your child needs any additional support.
• How well your child has performed in relevant tests.
• Your child’s attitude and effort to the subject.
• What your child can do at home to improve and how you can support your child.

While the teachers will be in the hall for the meeting, the children’s books will be out in their classroom so please do take your opportunity to look at them. The children have put a lot of effort in producing some excellent work and we are sure they will be keen to show off.

Don’t forget, the Book Fair will be open during parents’ evenings. There are lots of great books on sale.

In Monday’s assembly, the children were very interested to learn how great role models achieve their goals. We looked at Harry Kane, captain of the England football team, and some of the wonderful things people who have worked with him over the years have said about him. We found that right from being 6 years old, everyone said that Harry had the right attitude. His Spurs club manager said, “Harry wanted to get to the top, and nothing was going to stop him achieving that because of the desire and mentality that he possesses.” The children thought about how they can make the goals they have written on their stars happen. Learning from Harry’s attitude, they need to:

• Believe in themselves.
• Be determined and dedicated.
• Be brilliant learners – listening carefully, asking questions and so on.
• Work hard.
• Learn from mistakes and keep improving.
• And, like Harry does with football, love what they are doing!

At the upcoming parents’ evenings, teachers will no doubt mention the statutory assessments pupils in some year groups will be taking. We will be holding information sessions for parents, with an opportunity to ask questions, on Monday 24th February: 5pm for Year 1, 5:30pm for Year 2 and 6pm for Year 6. In the meantime, here is some information about them:

• The Year 1 Phonics Screen takes place w/c 8th June. A short video explaining all about it is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKzSvB6wmGs
• Year 2 take Key Stage 1 SATs tests during May and a 5 minute video about these is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=dVlrdqh_J6Y&feature=emb_logo
• Year 6 take Key Stage 2 SATs tests w/c 9th May and a 5 minute video about these is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H2D1Ul4pjE

A number of concerns have been raised about the parking outside of school. Most parents do their best to walk their children to school or park safely further away from school. However, a small number of parents are parking on double yellow lines or stopping outside the school gates or pulling up on the pavement while they drop their children off. Hill Street is incredibly narrow and this practice not only blocks drivers and residents getting down the street, it can also make it quite dangerous for pupils crossing to get to school or even walking on paths. We would ask that parents please park safely and considerately. We would also like to remind parents that our car park is for staff and parents with disabled pupils only. GMCGAC users may use the car park before 8:15am and after 5:00pm. Your cooperation and support is much appreciated.

It is over 10 years since Ofsted visited Greenfield but in December, an inspector came to look at our provision for modern foreign languages (MfL) which is part of the statutory curriculum for key stage 2 pupils (Years 3-6). This was not an inspection where judgements are made about the school that parents mostly know about, it was instead for the purpose of Ofsted research into how schools in general ensure pupils learn another language. Their findings show that our KS2 pupils are taught French regularly, our teaching plans are in line with what is expected and most pupils are able to remember what they have learned. There are one or two areas we can tweak and improve and we are working on these. It can be a daunting experience to be under inspection – even taking the telephone call to announce it – so well done to Mrs Remmers and everyone involved for representing Greenfield so well. It sounds like they all rose to the challenge and learned a lot from the experience. Although it is not intended as a judgement, the report is positive and we have made it available on the Ofsted website if you’re interested in reading it. It is not written with parents as the intended audience (like most new Ofsted reports) so you’ll have to overlook all the educational jargon. If you do have any queries, please don’t hesitate to ask. https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50143234

We have been talking about our amazing brains this week and how they can grow when we learn new things. In assembly, we learned how scientists found the brains of London taxi drivers were larger after they practised for ‘The Knowledge’ test to get their cab licence. Connie in Y4, who played the piano beautifully for us, told us that she practises playing five times a week. Clearly practice makes a difference as Connie was presented with her Grade 1 piano certificate – which she passed with distinction. However, we do have to practise the right things because, if we practise telling ourselves that we cannot do something, we will get really good at not being able to do it! Instead of saying “I can’t…” we need to say “I can’t yet” or “I can if I try…” and, of course, to not give up trying and persevering with difficult challenges. This morning, Loretta from Reception proudly showed off the trophy she received for taking on a challenge at her new Acro-dance club. She told us that she kept on telling herself “I can do it!” – that’s brilliant. Our brains really are amazing but they need looking after too: they need fuel from food and water and recharging with a good night’s sleep (at least 8 hours).

Our science leader, Mrs Hawker, and the rest of the staff are looking ahead to Science Week in March. We are holding open sessions that week so that parents can come and join in with science lessons. Here are the dates to put in your diaries:

Wednesday 11th March   Y3/4 (morning), Y5/6 (afternoon)

Thursday 12th March     Reception  (morning), Y1/2 (afternoon)

This week in assembly, we talked about ambitions and goals and that having these motivates us to do well. We looked at how you can set goals which help you to achieve great things and ambitions. For example, if you want to be a children’s book author, you could set goals of improving your writing, trying to be more creative and even getting better at drawing pictures so you can illustrate your stories. It’s a good idea of course, that you choose something you know that you would enjoy getting better at so you are likely to stick at it. In class the children are all thinking about what they would like to do and how they can achieve this – setting their own goals. We are collecting all their goals on gold stars and putting them on a school display in the hall. It will be great to see the children’s thoughts and how they work hard on the goals this year. Parents will also be able to see this when they come in for Parents’ Evenings on w/c 10th February.