Dear Parents,
Happy New Year! A very warm welcome to the new academic year at St Edward’s. The summer holiday has been very busy for us, with Holiday Clubs running, a large amount of site development, recruitment and preparation for the start of the Autumn term. I have also managed to have some time off, spending a fantastic week in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games and a lovely week in Cornwall. I do hope you all had a wonderful summer as well. We have certainly had some fantastic weather and some very warm days indeed.
As always, there a number of things to communicate with you for the start of term and I hope that this communication helps you get ready for the first day back on Wednesday 7th September.
The St Edward's Staff Team
I am pleased and proud to introduce you officially to our new team that are now all in post. Our SLT has grown and consists of four members now.
Mrs Sadiya Mahmood is our Director of Pastoral Care and designated Safeguarding Lead. Sadiya supported with the area last term but now steps into the role officially. She is leading a number of areas including:
- Children’s Wellbeing and Mental Health
- Behaviour and Anti Bullying
- Safeguarding Concerns
- Special Educational Needs
Mrs Tamara Hunt is our Director of Academics, a role which again she took on in an ‘acting up’ capacity last term and now officially joins the team. Like Sadiya, Tamara is leading a number of areas in the school and these include:
- Teaching and Learning Curriculum
- Planning and Implementation
- Senior School Advice and Support
- The 11+ Programme
- Mathematics
Our new School Business Manager is settling in very well and has made an excellent addition to the team. Mrs Julia Parsons is taking over Tracy Glass’s responsibility and is the person to go to for:
- Finance
- Operations
- Health and Safety
- Compliance
Mr Ben Winship has joined us as Head of PE and Sport, Holiday Club Coordinator and is our Year 5 Tutor. As well as the PE and Sport Mr Winship will be teaching some Computer Science and supporting me with some Year 5 and 6 Science.
Finally, we have recruited a new Marketing and Communications Manager over the holiday. Mrs Emily Kenefeck joins us from an international school in Switzerland. Emily is very experienced in school marketing and is also a lovely person. I am sure your children will see her around the school and enjoy getting to know her. This allows Kate McKenna to move fully across to her role as Head’s PA and Registrar and is the person to contact if you need to make an appointment with me.
Development
A lot of site development has happened this term. We have spent time getting the school spruced up, including the painting of all the outside woodwork. This has made the school look great and was much needed. We have also spent time completing phase one of developing our Early Years outside areas. We have extended the wooden shelter at the end and extended the area by the hedge: raising the level and installing a garden area at the end. This has made the area much better and leaves it ready for stage two, which will see the installation of some fun new equipment!
We have improved our IT facilities with the installation of two new 80-inch TVs in the Year 2 and now Year 6 classroom meaning Reception to Year 6 now all have smart TVs rather than the old interactive whiteboards.
Finally, the Year 4 one to one devices have all been set up and will be issued to the children by Monday 12th September at the latest.
Finally, we are awaiting the improvement of school markings and signage on the roads around the school. Reading Borough have responded to feedback given by the school and have agreed to improve the visibility of the school from the road.
Uniform
A reminder and request that children have the correct uniform and we start looking smart and neat for the first day. The full uniform list can be found on the website under Key Info.
Equipment
A reminder for those in Prep School that children in Year 3 and above should come with the following equipment:
Every child in Prep is expected to bring to school on a daily basis basic stationery items for their school work. The following items are the basic requirements for all pencil cases in the relevant year groups.
Year 3 - HB pencil, 15 cm ruler, sharpener, rubber, set of colouring felt tip pens or pencils, glue stick, rounded scissors.
Year 4 - HB pencil, 15 cm ruler, sharpener, rubber, set of colouring felt tip pens or pencils, glue stick, rounded scissors and Berol Handwriting pen or Friction Pen.
Year 5 and 6 - HB pencil, 15 cm ruler, sharpener, rubber, set of colouring felt tip pens or pencils, glue stick, rounded scissors, Berol Handwriting pen or Friction Pen and Maths Set.
The Morning Drop Off
These have not changed but I wanted to remind you.
- 7:45 - Breakfast Club starts for Reception – Year 6
- 7:45 – Nursery starts
- 8:15 - Western Elms gate opens for Reception (Nursery enters via the front door)
- 8:40 – Registration
- 8:50 – Children marked as late
Pick Up from Western Elms
- Nursery – Year 2 - 3:45pm
- Year 3 – 6 – 3:55pm
After School Provision and Clubs
Teacher-led clubs will start on the first day back and clubs led by external providers from the week commencing 12th September.
Unfortunately, we have had late notice to inform us that Little Tigers will no longer be running as a club. I am looking to replace this as soon as possible and will get back to you on this as soon as I can.
Coffee on the Decking
On Wednesday 7th September we will be having Coffee on the Decking at the start of the day to welcome back and say hello to our families. This will be a chance for you to meet new members of our team as well as drop your child off at their class if you wish. After this we will go back to the drop and go system that has worked so effectively for the last year.
Calendar, Overviews, Timetables and Homework
All of these will be available and communicated with you in our update on Friday 9th September. However, I wanted to keep you informed of a few key dates.
Wednesday 7th September – Start of term and PE Games (Football) for Year 5 and 6
Thursday 8th September – Games for Year 3 and 4 (Football)
Friday 9th September – No Celebration Assembly, PE for Years 1, 2 and 5, Away Fixture for Year 3 and 4(Football).
Wednesday September 14th – Pre-School Theatre Trip to see Wicked
Friday 30th September – FREDs Welcome Back BBQ – All parents welcome.
Finally, I hope you all have a wonderful last few days of the holiday and I very much look forward to seeing you all on the first day of term.
Best wishes,
Jonathan