The summer term has thankfully brought a settled period to St Rumon’s and St Peter’s with the majority of staff and pupils remaining COVID free and thus all of us finally feeling able to settle properly into the routines of school life.
Of course, as the term has progressed we have continued to realise the extent of the impact of COVID. More consistent time with pupils has enabled the staff to reflect and consider more how development of relationships and regulation has been challenged. Staff all over our school can be heard talking about how children have missed opportunities to ‘learn relationship management’ and how to ‘self-regulate’. However, staff have worked incredibly hard and grown their own professional knowledge to find solutions and make time to explicitly teach and embed in children these skills of real-life importance.
On the first day back after the Easter holiday, my early morning Worship was interrupted by a phone call from Ofsted. The next day the inspectors arrived at St Peter’s and spent two days thoroughly probing all aspects of school life and teaching and learning. However, the sense of calm, purposefulness demonstrated our readiness and allowed staff and children to show off what St Peter’s is all about. We are delighted with the judgement of ‘Good’ that we achieved. Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have been involved in the long journey to the school gaining the recognition that it now deserves.
Even with our ‘Good’ judgement, the cycles of improvement continue for both St Rumon’s and St Peter’s. Work has continued on our many improvement projects, with wider members of St Christopher’s trust being integral in this process. Our ‘Discovery Curriculum’ has gone from strength to strength at St Rumon’s, with all children gaining from their enhanced engagement in all curriculum areas. Our ‘writing’ focus has led to a wider selection of inspirational books stimulating exciting writing across the range of genre.
As usual, the church has welcomed us with open arms this term for our Easter and Pentecost services. The clergy and wider team have also continued their weekly visits to our school to lead the children in Worship. It is such a delight to see the positive expressions on the faces of the children as they enter the school hall and realise Reverend Rosie is leading the Worship!
As usual in the summer term, the opportunities for our children to engage with wider curriculum activity has flourished. The majority of our pupils in KS1 and KS2 have been involved in sporting activities including Quad Kids, Cricket and Aquathlon. Our joint sports day was a triumph with children showing off not only their sporting excellence but also their team work and support for each other. Wider curriculum visits have provided further enhanced opportunities. Especially the KS1 beach day at Wembury and the Y6 Beam House residential.
This school year is now of course drawing to a close. Once again, Covid has challenged and once again we have risen to the challenges. We have not ‘fixed’ everything yet, but we certainly know that we have a great team who take time to reflect and learn. We have grown in our pedagogy, knowledge and skills and cemented great environments and learning for our children. We move towards September with a sense of excitement at the prospect of new classes and new opportunities.