Head of Primary message

 



Greetings from the Head of the Primary School

 

My name is Alan Cornish and I am now entering the fifth year as Head of our Primary School. I believe that life is a journey and the children of our school are not the only ones who learn - I have certainly learnt a great deal during my time at this school and I am sure my new class will teach me many more things this year. I also hope that I will teach them a thing or two and help everyone involved in our school to develop their full potential.
 

It is always exciting returning to school to start a new academic year, as the school continues to grow, with new projects developing and new staff arriving along with lots of new children and their families. We trust they will settle in quickly and become valued members of our school community.
 

Our Academic Aspirations for 2011 – 2012

At IBSB, we work hard to ensure that the children are challenged and supported in all areas of the curriculum. All of our class teachers in Key Stages 1 & 2 are native English speakers with a wealth of experience teaching a British Curriculum. Many have travelled and taught in other countries and they bring with them this experience to offer our children both within the mainstream classes and the extracurricular programme. They are well supported by our Romanian teachers who work alongside them in the classroom, working as a team to help tailor the lessons and activities to the specific needs of each student.
 

All of our lessons are taught in English to ensure that our students leave us confident native speakers of English. We also recognise the importance of speaking more than one language in an increasingly multilinguistic society and so we offer Romanian lessons to both native and non-native speakers, as well as French and German from Year 3.
 

In addition to specialist lessons in MFL, we also have dedicated specialist teachers in PE and Music to offer our children the opportunity to shine in these important disciplines.
 

We want all of our children to become: Confident Individuals; Successful Learners; Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors. These four aims underpin the ethos of our school and focus on the development of the whole child. In particular, our curriculum focuses on the key areas of literacy, numeracy, ICT capability, and personal learning, thinking and social skills in order to ensure that our students are prepared for the world that awaits after IBSB. If children are to achieve the four aims, they will need to secure these essentials skills, attitudes and dispositions that are the key to continued personal development and to unlocking and developing a lifelong love of learning. We want children to progress, achieve, to develop specialised skills and understanding. We also want our students to enjoy education so that they continue to learn throughout their lives.

We firmly believe that every child matters, so this year we are introducing a new inclusion initiative called the Extended Learning Programme. ELP will support children in their learning by focusing on their individual learning needs, whether that be the support needed to overcome a barrier to learning or a fresh challenge to engage a gifted and talented child. Our aim is to create a truly inclusive community in which everyone has equal access to the curriculum. Moreover, we have extended our English as an Additional Language Support Programme this year with new improved resources to ensure that all children in our school, regardless of their levels of English when they join, can take an active part in lessons and school life.
 

Extra Curricular

Naturally, a school’s primary concern is education. However, I believe what the school offers outside of the classroom to be of great importance in developing the whole child. This year we will be offering close to 50 after school clubs in the Primary School during the week, ranging from areas such as sport, music, dance, swimming, arts, languages, charity, and the more cerebral pursuits of chess and critical thinking skills.


This year, after the successes of previous years, we will also continue with our school productions. The Key Stage 1 and Preschool children will again perform a nativity play and sing carols for Christmas, sure to melt the hearts of every parent present (and there are usually quite a few). Key Stage 2 will also have their chance to shine on stage in our Spring Production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – maybe we’ll find the new Johnny Depp. These events are always special because when we look back at our school days, these are the moments we remember, not what we learnt in Science on that windy Wednesday afternoon, but standing on stage performing on that magical evening.


We will also be continuing the themed weeks this year, starting with Multicultural Week in the Autumn Term. Art Week will follow in the Spring Term, and finally Health & Fitness Week in the Summer Term. This gives the children and staff the chance to enjoy trying something new and have fun whilst we learn to think beyond the classroom.


Finally, but to my mind, most importantly, we will continue our involvement with our charity and environmental work this year. We have extended our recycling programme to include plastics, metal, and unwanted electronic equipment, in addition to recycling paper. We will also be organising charity clothing drives and plan to extend the number of charities we will support this year with the help of the PTF, and I strongly believe that the children’s involvement in these areas is a vital element in a child’s development, to become effectice contributors and responsible citizens.

So, as you can see, the Primary School is well prepared and ready to offer another exciting and fulfilling year to all our children, parents, and staff. We hope that you will support us in all our endeavours and we invite you to take an active part in all aspects of our school and in your child’s education and welfare.
 

I look forward to seeing you on campus or on one of the many school events planned in the year ahead!


Alan Cornish
Head of Primary