CONTENTS

Welcome to our Governors’ Report page 3

Meet our Governors pages 4 & 5

Meet our Team page 6 & 7

Our Governor’s Achievements page 8, 9 & 10

Thankyou to our PTA page 11

SATs Results page 12

Extra Curricular Opportunities page 13

School Productions page 14

Links with the Community page 15

A Calendar of Achievement page 16 & 17

Ace Attendance page 18

School Terms and Holiday Dates page 19

A Note from the Chair pages 20

Written, compiled and edited by Deputy Headteacher Sue Reed with help

from some of our wonderful children and our dedicated Governing Body.

Many thanks to Saffron Ancell for the fantastic photos!

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Welcome to the Governors Report 2011/12

Who are the Governors? The Governors of Aldingbourne School are various people who have been appointed over the years to ensure that the children at Aldingbourne are given every opportunity to fulfill their potential. Some of us are parents of children at the school and some are not. We’re all different – and that’s the whole point, because we are all able to help the School in different ways due to our variety of experience. We all have our own reasons for joining the Governing Body, but we are united in our efforts to continue to develop and improve the school.

What do the Governors do? Between us, we commit a great deal of time and energy to fulfilling our statutory responsibilities. We all sit on one of the key committees, the Finance and Staffing Committee, the Premises Committee or the Curriculum Committee. In addition we are all linked to a class and try to spend some time each year with the class. We are also linked to a curriculum subject area and make time each year to talk to the staff member that co-ordinates that subject so that we may keep informed of progress.

How can I contact a Governor? We genuinely welcome contact with parents, and are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback. So please try to attend this year’s Meet the Governors Meeting on Tuesday 18th September at 6.00pm. This is your opportunity to discuss and question the work of the Governing Body, Headteacher or Local Authority, and to discuss specific issues raised in this report. We are very keen to hear your views so PLEASE come along. At any other time, if you need to contact a governor you can do this by writing to the governor concerned c/o the school or you can contact the Chairman of Governors directly. The Chairman of the Governors is: Mr Bryan Mundy 16 Woodgate Road Woodgate Chichester The Clerk to the Governors is: Mrs Carol Maloney C/o Aldingbourne Primary School 3

MEET OUR GOVERNORS Here are the Governors who have supported our school so well

over the last year…..

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Sally Arbuckle CHAIR OF

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

Adrian HiggoCHAIR OF FINANCE

COMMITTEE

Kevin UrsellPREMISES

COMMITTEE

Stewart GoodwinCURRICULUM COMMITTEE

Vicky NewmanCHAIR OF PREMISES

COMMITTEE

Parent Governors

Community Governors

Richard HandsonPREMISES

COMMITTEE

Michael Smith CURRICULUM

COMMITTEE

Bryan MundyFINANCE COMMITTEE

AND CHAIR OF GOVERNORS

MEET OUR GOVERNORS

Local Authority Governors

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Staff

Governors Sue Reed

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Sonya HammondPREMISES

COMMITTEE

Helen SmithFINANCE

COMMITTEE

Janice Loosley CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

Liz Webster HEADTEACHER

ALL COMMITTEES

Carol Maloney CLERK TO THE

GOVERNORS

Ian Davidson PREMISES

COMMITTEE

MEET OUR TEAM The Governors would like to express their thanks to every single member of our team who work tirelessly to make sure the children of Aldingbourne School receive the best possible start to their school life. But what do the children think?......

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MEET OUR TEAM

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OUR GOVERNORS’ ACHIEVEMENTS Each of our Governors sits on one of three key committees:

• The Premises Committee • The Curriculum Committee • The Finance and Staffing Committee.

Each of these committees meets once every half term with our Headteacher, Miss Webster, and Clerk to the Governors, Mrs Maloney. We use these meetings to pool new ideas, make decisions and give advice where needed to Miss Webster regarding the continued development and improvement of our already highly successful school.

So…what has each of our key committees helped to achieve this year? Here are some of the highlights reported by the Chairperson of each committee…

OUR CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

Another successful year has passed at Aldingbourne and the children have continued to thrive in their fantastic learning environment.

The curriculum committee met at the beginning of the year to discuss the priorities that were set and I am happy to report that they have been achieved yet again.

This academic year, it was time for the teaching staff to keep up and try and overtake the alarming pace of technology. There were staff meetings to upskill teachers and an observation week focusing on the teaching of ICT. These were well received and we can be assured that our children are benefiting from their new skills and from the

new ICT equipment that has been purchased.

Writing processes have also been under the spotlight and all of the staff have worked really hard to make the writing sessions more enjoyable to engage the children. The continued use of VCOP has proven very popular - particularly when the VCOP Cop appears ! The children have been drafting less work this year and this has led to more care being taken, more time to concentrate on the actual writing and the results are very positive.

We said a fond farewell to Janice Loosely this term after 30 years as a Governor and as an inspirational member of the curriculum committee, she will be sorely missed.

by Sally Arbuckle, Chair of Curriculum Committee

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OUR PREMISES COMMITTEE

One of the many positive comments our school gets from outside visiting schools, teachers and prospective parents is, how do we manage to have so many amazing and exciting facilities both outside and inside the building? No one seems to notice that the school building is becoming a bit of a time piece in terms of fabric. They are simply mesmerised by the lively and engaging classroom environments and the colour and activity that sweeps the whole place.

It is the Premises Committee’s role to balance upgrading and improving the actual fabric of the buildings as well as ensuring that our children and staff have an ever improving and enriched environment and facilities to teach within, which is safe and secure for the children, staff and visitors. Despite the continuous strain on budgets, our amazing Management Team have continued to succeed in finding money to keep the school premises projects on track. This year these projects have included:

• A lovely new boiler keeping everyone warm • A new modern low energy lighting system in the Hall • New and much needed storage facilities in the hall • A beautiful new hall floor • New curtains for the hall • New fencing • New playground markings

We are very lucky and grateful to have our wonderful PTA who offer invaluable support to raise money to help our school. Without them, the school would be a sound building but missing many of the brilliant extra-curricular facilities. This year the PTA have raised money to provide, among many other things:

• An amazing and versatile sensory trail • An exciting new climbing boulder to enhance the playground (coming in September!)

Along with the new we need to ensure that the not so new is maintained and kept bright and cheerful. Many of the old favourites are continually given a facelift and upgraded such as the swimming pool. This is achieved by the tireless work of our wonderful caretaker, Ian Davidson and his team. It is also thanks to all those families who give up their time to help on painting days and all the staff who dedicate so much time to setting up the amazing and frequently changing displays around the school over the year.

So, thank you to everyone for keeping our school looking so welcoming and fun. If you have any ideas or suggestions as to what extra improvements you would like to see around the school please do speak to a member of staff or one of the governing body.

by Vicki Newman, Chair of Premises Committee 9

OUR FINANCE AND STAFFING COMMITTEE

As the staffing and finance committee we meet each term, and are responsible for all finance and staffing matters. Last year, we helped to manage a school budget of £744,817.

As you would expect, the majority of this is spent on providing the continuity of our outstanding Management Team, Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Office Staff and Support Staff whilst at all times ensuring that the remainder is spent wisely for the benefit of the children and the school as a whole. I am pleased to say that we have once again operated the school's finances within our allocated budget, especially in these challenging economic times. The careful planning of the school's finances by Liz

and the committee are an important part of the school and if we reflect back over the last few years we can see just how far the school has moved forward with many enhancements. Over the summer holidays alone, we have had a new hall floor laid, 17 new computers installed in the school ICT suite and a HUGE bouldering rock installed near the playground.

As in the past we would like to thank the PTA for their fantastic support and thanks must go to Fiona Menzies for her fantastic efforts at managing the school finances, under the guidance of Carol Maloney. Well done Fiona for a great first year!

by Adrian Higgo, Chair of Finance and Staffing Committee

CHARITY WORK As a school, we work hard to raise money for good causes, in turn heightening the children’s awareness of the importance of helping others. This year the school has worked really hard to raise money for: Yapton Free Church Nepal Fund £100.00 Sussex Air Ambulance (Funky Footwear Day) £196.90 Breast Cancer Research (Pink Day) £157.27 BBC Children in Need (Spotty Day) £220.15 Poppy Appeal £65.91

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In addition to the above specific amounts, children in Year 6 and parent helpers distribute the harvest gifts provided at the Harvest Service to senior citizens in the community. At Christmas time, our school Council, the MCM, organised a collection of items to donate to the Romania Shoebox Appeal. The Year 6 children also hold their own Enterprise Day in which they have to work in groups to set up a business and try to make a profit. This not only helps to teach our older children about financial management, but they then have to consider which charity they would like to donate their profit to. This year the year 6 children raised a staggering £292.53 for various charities. WOW!

THANKYOU TO OUR PTA On behalf of the children, parents and staff of our school the Governors would like to say a HUGE thankyou to our PTA who have worked so hard and enthusiastically to enrich our school both financially and socially.

The PTA is a fantastic organisation that is committed to raising money to improve the quality of provision for the children at Aldingbourne School. The PTA is extremely well organised and very efficient. The committee meets once every half term on a Tuesday night at 7.15pm. The meetings usually last one hour and are always good fun and extremely productive! The PTA and the school work very closely together and the contributions made by the PTA to the school are invaluable. In spite of the ‘credit crunch’ the PTA have raised almost £10,000 this year with which they have purchased the most exciting and enormous bouldering rock to enhance our playground facilities. Also this year they have bought…… ☺ Infant Xmas presents ☺ Tickets for the Junior’s Pantomime Trip ☺ Xmas trees for all the classrooms and for the hall ☺ Dictionaries for our year 6 leavers ☺ Materials for our annual painting day ☺ Contributed towards cost of coaches for school trips Throughout the year the PTA has organised a variety of different events such as... ☺ Children’s Discos ☺ Film Fridays every month ☺ A Christmas Fayre ☺ A Family Bingo Night ☺ An Easter Eggstravaganza ☺ Summer Fete

We would like to say a personal thankyou to ALL the committee members and parent representatives of our successful PTA: Sue Reed, Sarah Boxall, Mike Fryer, Liz Webster, Rose & Dave Mills, Frances Roberts, Hayley Climpson, Mary Bramley, Nicki Goff, Patricia Smallman, Linda Goodwin, David Loosley, Iolanda Clegg, John Holcroft, Lucy Griffiths, Mark Wiles, Nicola Hollingworth, Jemma Robinson, Cavill Perrin and Davina Rowe. The PTA is a wonderful organisation that makes an invaluable contribution to the school. If you are interested in joining the PTA come to the AGM in September and find out more!

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SATS RESULTS Our end of Key Stage Assessments, which take place at the end of year 2 and the end of year 6, were cause for a great deal of celebration this year! Expectations were exceeded across the board, with absolutely phenomenal scores in all three subjects. We were particularly delighted with our Key Stage 2 English results as English was one of our school priorities this year.

The expected level of attainment at Key Stage One is a level 2 and at Key Stage 2 a level 4.

KEY STAGE ONE (Year 2) Reading Writing Maths

The National Test Results for KS1 for 2010 were: Level 2 and Above Reading 84% Writing 80% Maths 90% Level 3 and Above Reading 26% Writing 12% Maths 21%

KEY STAGE TWO (Year 6) English Maths Science

The National Test Results for KS2 for 2010 were:

96% level 2

96%level 2

100%level 2

100% level 4

100%level 4

100%level 4

61%level 5

58%level 5

52%

level 5

43%level 3

23%level 3

33%

level 3

Level 4 and Above English 81% Maths 78% Science 88% Level 5 and Above English 32% Maths 33% Science 46%

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EXTRA CURRICULAR OPPORTUNITIES

Extra curricular clubs and opportunities have long been part of the culture at

Aldingbourne and are offered in abundance. This year our committed staff have provided over 20 clubs for the children to choose from! The choice is diverse to encourage children to enrich their experiences and try new things as well as provide opportunities for their individual strengths and talents to be developed. Which clubs would you choose?

Hockey Football Netball Athletics Dance Rounders Swimming Cricket Basketball Reading Website Rugby Gymnastics Newspaper Art ICT Drama French OAA Gardening Choir

Every single member of the teaching staff is involved in running an after-school or a lunchtime club and the Governors would like to thank the teachers and the parents for all the extra work that is put into these activities. It is fantastic that so many children have the opportunity to be involved! Special thanks go to several of our teaching assistants, Wendy Davies, Kath Herbert, and Nicki Bailey who have both helped with art club this year. In addition to our clubs, we have continued to offer as many children as possible the opportunity to represent the school in events, competitions and displays involving other local schools. These opportunities have included involvement in… many football and netball matches and tournaments against local schools, Cricket Tournament, Dance Time production at Worthing Pavilion Theatre, Indoor Athletics Tournament, Inter-School Maths and Road Safety Quizzes and our Athletics Team made it to the County Finals! We look forward to this year’s competitions and events!

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SCHOOL PRODUCTIONS The creative arts are a very important aspect of Aldingbourne School life. We believe that it is important that children are given a varied and exciting time at school. The Arts enable the children to develop skills beyond reading and writing and allows them the opportunity to develop their creative, musical, theatrical and artistic skills.

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Throughout the year the school organises a variety of school productions. All the children in the infants take part in two productions each year. In the Juniors children may choose to audition for the annual production and staff work hard to ensure that ALL children who audition are given a part. In addition they may choose to perform in the Christmas Carol Concert or our annual Evening of Music and Dance. All of these events give the children the opportunity to explore new experiences and in doing so develop new skills together with greater self-confidence.

Here’s what some of our year six children thought of this year’s productions…. JESUS’S CHRISTMAS PARTY

“This year’s infant Christmas Production told the story of the nativity through the eyes of a grumpy old innkeeper. It was an amazing performance by the infants and was

loved by everyone.”

OLIVER “Oliver was a great success. It had scary bits, funny bits and was just plain OUTSTANDING! For the first time ever, Miss Webster didn’t throw her script over her head in rehearsals, so it must’ve been good!”

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG “This year the infant play was based on the story of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. The infants put so much effort into it and the singing nearly lifted the roof!”

DANCE TIME

“Dance Club loved performing in the ‘Dancetime’ show at the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing. They performed a dance based on workmen and robots in which the robots malfunctioned. The costumes were amazing and it was fun to learn a new kind of dance.”

LINKS WITH THE COMMUNITY At Aldingbourne Primary School we consider it to be extremely important to maintain and extend our links with the community. The valuable contributions that both local people and others have made to our school this year help the children to learn more about themselves as members of the local community as well as helping them to develop greater knowledge about the wider world.

MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY WE HAVE WELCOMED This year we have welcomed members of the local churches to lead assemblies; teachers from the local secondary schools and an abundance of students from schools, colleges and university who have worked alongside our teaching staff. We were delighted that staff and children from Hopscotch Pre-School Playgroup and Westergate Day Nursery could attend our Infant Christmas and Summer productions this year. In addition we have welcomed many outdoor agencies to enhance our teaching and learning such as the Astronomy Roadshow Planetarium, Charlie’s War Workshop, Canine Partners, Timespan, The Cycling Proficiency Team , St John’s Ambulance, local Magistrates, Michael Smith, an expert in keeping safe online, Kinetic Theatre and PC Bishop.

CHILDREN’S INVOLVEMENT IN LOCAL EVENTS

The school’s involvement in the community also includes us going ‘out and about’ and this year we have been involved in a number of local events including… A number of inter-school netball, football, cricket, potted sports and athletics tournaments Harvest & Christingle Services and a Carol Concert A Dance festival at Worthing Pavilion Theatre Kayaking at Westhampnett Lake Author Visits and reading activities at Westergate School A Maths Challenge Competition at Westergate School

Singing at local Nursing Homes

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Wow – we have been busy bees!

SCHOOL VISITS Over the year each year group has had the fantastic opportunity to enrich their learning through a school visit related to their work. These have included trips to Bognor Fire Station, Lodge Hill Residential Centre, Viridor Recycling, Walk to the local Post Office, Gaston Farm, Pizza Express, Westhampnett Lake, Littlehampton Beach, Marwell Zoo, Amberley Museum, Aldingbourne Church, Fishbourne Roman Palace, Chichester University, Tangmere Aviation Museum and Chessington World of Adventures. The children were fantastic ambassadors of the school on every occasion.

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A CALENDAR OF ACHIEVEMENT

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A CALENDAR OF ACHIEVEMENT

ACE ATTENDANCE

The school recorded the following authorised and unauthorised absences in the Autumn, Spring and Summer Term of 2011/2012.

(as percentage of possible attendances) Authorised absences 3.9%Unauthorised absences 0.0%

Levels of unauthorised absence compare very favourably with West Sussex averages, and the Education Welfare Officer has congratulated the school on its performance in this area. The Governors would like to remind parents of the importance of ensuring the regular attendance of their children at school so that possible interruptions to their education are minimized. The Governors would also like to thank parents for helping to ensure the safety of their children by informing the school by 9.15 am on the first day of absence.

BEST ATTENDANCE 100% attendance over the year IS possible. These pupils have proved it!

Well done!

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RECEPTION Finley Bayley Lucas Perrin

Michael Rowe Maddison Smith

YEAR SIXNOBODY –

Oh dear!

YEAR THREE Ryan Stonestreet

YEAR FOUREvie Allen

Alice Boxall Matthew Hammond

YEAR TWOOliver Buley

Billy Critchell YEAR ONELois Hollingworth

Megan Thomas Amy Wales

YEAR FIVEAlex Folk

Alice Fryer

SCHOOL TERMS AND HOLIDAY DATES

Autumn Term 2012 Thursday 6th September – Friday 21st December 2012

Half Term: Monday 29th October – Friday 2nd November 2012 Inset Days: Tuesday 4th September and Wednesday 5th September 2012

Spring Term 2013: Tuesday 8th January – Thursday 28th March 2013

Half Term: Monday 18th February – Friday 22nd February 2013 Inset Days: Monday 7th January 2013

Summer Term 2013:

Monday 15th April – Tuesday 23rd July 2013 Half Term: Monday 4th June– Friday 8th June 2013

Inset Days: Monday 3rd June and Wednesday 24th July 2013

SCHOOL TIMETABLE The Governors would also like to remind parents of our school times:

Children arrive at school 8.45 – 8.55a.m School Day starts 8.55a.m Morning Break 10.30 – 10.50a.m Lunch Time 12.05 – 1.00p.m Infant Home time 3.10pm Junior Home time 3.15p.m

SCHOOL DETAILS

Aldingbourne Primary School,Westergate Street,

Westergate, Chichester West Sussex, PO20 3QR

Tel: 01243 542913 Fax: 01243 544425

e-mail: office@aldingbourne.w-sussex.sch.uk website: www.aldingbourneprimaryschool.co.uk

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A NOTE FROM THE CHAIR Well, where do I begin? Yet again the staff, children, parents and Governors of Aldingbourne School have worked so hard together to achieve so much over the school year. And what a year it has been! There have been so many highlights – the Jubilee celebrations, the junior production of ‘Oliver’, Olympic sports day, Years 3 & 4’s

residential trip to Lodge Hill, but there is one highlight for me that sticks in my mind and sums up our wonderful school. Visitors to the school, including OFSTED, comment on the ‘special atmosphere’ and the ‘enthusiasm and energy’ in our school. They say Aldingbourne school is ‘different’ to other schools and ‘unique’ – well what could illustrate that more than Olympic Torch Day, when in the face of torrential rain, Miss Webster led the school out to watch the torch relay wearing flippers! It was wonderful to see our teachers, children and parents stood in the rain together smiling and laughing as they cheered the Olympic torch past our school. We really do have the most fantastic team that work so well together and I feel privileged to continue as Chairman of such an amazing school. The end of the year this year brought a few monumental goodbyes. We sadly said ‘Goodbye’ to the legend that is John Cunnington, as he

leaves our school to embark on his retirement. John has taught at Aldingbourne for a staggering 37 years and is very much a part of the school’s history. His farewell assembly was incredibly moving. Staff and children dressed in red as a tribute to his favourite football team Manchester United, and sung a farewell song ‘He is the one and only John Cunnington’ that they had secretly prepared. It is difficult to imagine Aldingbourne School without John and I know he will be sorely missed, but we wish him lots of luck in his retirement as well as thanking him for all his hard work over the years for our school. We also said goodbye this year to one of our most dedicated Governors. Janice Loosley has left us after serving an incredible 30 years on our Governing Body! Janice has seen many changes in the school and has offered invaluable support over the years and we all offer you our very best wishes for the future. It’s not all sad news though as we are delighted to have been joined by a new Parent Governor this year. We would like to welcome Sonya Hammond to our team. You are very welcome and we look forward to working with you in the years ahead. On behalf of the governors and staff, I would like to thank you for all that you continue to give, as parents. Your support is highly valued, and contributes a great deal to the positive ethos that prevails at our successful school. Thanks also for your generosity at fundraising events, and for your attendance at school productions, PTA events and parent meetings. It is only with the support of parents that children can extract the very best from their time in school.

Bryan Mundy, Chair of Governors 20