St. Andrew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Sschool
Welcome to St Andrew's CE VA Primary School
"Giving the best to each and every child."
Partnership Headteacher Mr.Simon East
A Report from The Chair of Governors
Mrs Mary Lawson
The OFSTED inspector came to visit our school on 8 May and everyone felt that it had gone well. The final report has now been published and the school was described as a “good school in which pupils achieve well. The extent to which pupils grow in their personal development is outstanding, as a result of the exceptionally high level of care, support and guidance they receive. The leadership and management of the assistant headteacher are outstanding”.
The report uses the word “outstanding” for the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The inspector said “they have an extraordinary understanding of others’ feelings, both in school and in the wider community”
We are proud of our extraordinary school.
Uppermost in everyone’s mind during the last few months has been the Headship position which became vacant at Easter. We have at present an Acting Head, Mr Richard Ogilvie who is “holding the fort” and doing so extremely well. Interviews held in March did not produce a candidate felt suitable for the partnership. However, at the end of April we were able to appoint Mr Simon East, an experienced partnership head, who will join the partnership of
There have been many opportunities over the year for the children at
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Two activities that particularly deserve a mention are a successful residential trip to High Lodge for Years 5 and 6 cemented many a friendship which helped the transition to High School and the partnership end of year performance of Oliver.
Children at attending St Andrews come from North Lopham,
There are exciting times ahead as the curriculum is reorganised to enable children to have as much outdoor learning experience as possible. This might include visiting farms, doing traffic counts or looking at the history of where they live. To facilitate this sort of curriculum there needs to be strong links with the local community. The school wants to be as environmentally sustainable as it can be and this means knowing what is available within the local community and also giving back something to the local community.
To this end there are some initiatives just starting. One is Spanish lessons, which have just started in The Mess on a Thursday afternoon, 1.30 to 2.30, to teach everyday usage of the language. No text books, no exams, just learning how to communicate. Everyone is welcome to these. There is a cost of £35 per term and if you are interested, please contact the school.
A second initiative is Community Lunches. These are once a month, now taking place on a Tuesday, where members of the community come into school and have lunch with the children. They are proving popular but if you would like to come please get in touch with Jennie Vere (687679
An idea that has been put forward is that possibly the older children could teach some basic ICT skills to adult learners. Again, if this is something that appeals let the school know so that they can gauge interest.
All the children at
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St Andrews are always in need of helpers to hear children read and give support in other areas of literacy and numeracy. They would also love to hear from you if you have any special skills that you might be able to offer. The outdoor curriculum needs to be able to find the farm to visit, the knowledgeable person about the history of the village and many other skills which could be shared with the children. Again, if you felt that you would like to help, contact the office.
Lopham Ladies recently designated Friends of St Andrews or FOSTA as they are more commonly known, their chosen charity for the year. FOSTA are actively raising money to provide playground equipment for the children. The playground is going to be resurfaced, hopefully during the summer holidays, and the playground equipment is very much needed. Please look out for the various events taking place over the year, your support would be much appreciated. Again events are advertised in the Lopham News.
FROM THE EASTERN DAILY PRESS
Friday 13th June 2008
"Government inspectors found that pupils at all levels at St. Andrew's CEVA Primary School at North Lopham near Diss, achieve well at each stage of the school."
"They found the leadership and management of the assistant headteacher, Judith Jones, to be outstanding and said that excellent academic guiance and the setting of challenging targets for each individual promoted good achievement."
"The OFSTED report states "St. Andrew's is a good school in which pupils achieve well. The extent to which pupils grow in their personal development is outstanding, as a result of the exceptionally high level of care, support and guidance they receive.""
" The OFSTED report said that pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development was outstanding and that the school was led and managed well. Inspectors were impressed with the high standards of music, sport and art and said the behaviour of the children was excellent."
FROM THE DISS MERCURY
Wednesday 18th June 2008
A village primary has been praised as a good school in which pupils achieve well.
Government inspectors found that pupils at all levels at St Andrews Primary School at North Lopham, achieve well at each stage of the school.
They found the leadership and management of the assistant headteacher, Judith Jones, to be outstanding and said that excellent academic guidance and the setting of challenging targets for each individual promote good achievement.
The Ofsted report states: “St Andrew's is a good school is which pupils achieve well. The extent to which pupils grow in their personal development is outstanding, as a result of the exceptionally high level of care, support and guidance they receive.
“Pupils at all levels achieve well at the school…By the end of Reception, children achieve the nationally expected goals and many exceed them, particularly in communication, language and literacy and in their personal, social and emotional development.
“Pupils continue to achieve well throughout Key Stages 1 and 2. By the end of Year 2, attainment in reading is particularly high, above average in writing but broadly average in mathematics. Standards in English and Science are consistently above average at the end of Year 6.”
The Ofsted report said that pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding, and that the school is led and managed well. Inspectors were impressed with the high standards of music, sport and art said the behaviour of the children is excellent.
The school's acting headteacher Richard Ogilvie said: “This is thoroughly well-deserved and reflects the hard work and talent that everybody involved with the school - staff, children, parents, governors and our friends in the local community - have put in since the last inspection.
“Our assistant headteacher Mrs Judith Jones has been a key figure in the school's success, as was my immediate predecessor as headteacher, Mrs Penny Sheppard.”
Holy Week Stations of The Cross with The Upper Waveney Benefice
2008
During Holy Week the top class of St. Andrew's School, North Lopham, teachers and parents visited four of the churches in The Upper Waveney Benefice to experience four of the Stations of The Cross.
The first station was at St. Nicholas' Church North Lopham where the children were told of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
The children then went to St. Andrew's Church South Lopham where they experienced The instruments of the Passion.
At each station members of the Benefice were present to explain to the children the meaning of the stations and at each one a short time of worship was experienced by the group. It is hoped that this project will be repeated next year. St. Remigius Roydon was omitted this year because the church was being decorated.
The Summer Term 2008
During the Summer Term Rob has been doing a project with the top class on Holy Communion, its meaning and relevance to Christianity today, the vestments and vessels used by The Church and in writing a Communion Service, which hopefully will be celebrated in the class at the end of term.
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