BLOG #1

Welcome back! It has been such a joy to see so many smiling faces coming back through our doors over the last few days. It’s great to be back and to be returning to some form of ‘normality.’ No matter what, the start of the academic year is exciting and we are planning lots of great activities/learning opportunities for our pupils.

Please note that all of the staff and I, are very grateful for your kind words and gifts at the end of last term. Many of your comments help to remind us about our mission at school and that is to support our pupils ‘achieve, believe, expect and enjoy’ their time with us.

Clearly we cannot forget that we are still in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. I have shared the measures that we have taken with you, and will continue to do so, over time. It’s still hard to work in this way. We all want to return back to how we were, but we cannot do that without creating further risk to health and well-being. Therefore, we have to continue to have different protocols for entry/exit for pupils, lunchtimes, curriculum provision, movement around the school and the way that we interact with parents (Teams meetings/calls etc. rather than physically based meetings). All of these measures are designed to keep children, staff and families as safe and healthy as we can. It will be interesting to see what happens with infection rates during the next few weeks/months.

Although I have no doubt this will be another unusual year, please be assured that we will do all that we can to make it as enjoyable and progressive for your children, as we can. We remain guarded but optimistic and I look forward to seeing your children make the amazing leaps of improvement that they usually do, as the year takes place.

BLOG #4

Did you know that at Larwood School:

• Our pupils follow the Chris Quiqley Essentials curriculum and you can find out more about this by clicking on The Curriculum section on the website
• We have Buddy (I think everyone knows Buddy!) our day-to-day therapy dog as well as Frank. Frank spends one afternoon per week with us and works specifically with one pupil at a time. He features on our front page of the website
• Our pupils are out in the community every week! Usually litter picking or at Jubilee Court with the elderly residents. They also go on a variety of trips and visits throughout the term
• During the last few years, we have had one pupil achieve the maximum score in in a SATs test possible for reading and mathematics?
• That Mr V is running a holiday club?
• That Brandles School officially joined Larwood Academy Trust on Feb 1st?

We always have lots of exciting projects and activities taking place and if you ever want more information about any of these, please do see our website or just call us.

BLOG #2

The Ofsted report is live on the Ofsted website:

https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/25/143604 This link will take you to the Larwood Academy Ofsted page, which includes the Academy conversion letter published on November, 10th 2016. The Larwood School Ofsted page, now reads as CLOSED.

You should have received your own personal copy of this via email. If you haven’t, and you would like a paper copy; then please do let us know.

I am very pleased and proud to report that the inspection led by Fyfe Johnston identified the tremendous work that staff undertake with our pupils and the amazing progress that they make with us. As always, your support is essential with this process, alongside the challenge and support of the governing body.

However, we have no time to ‘sit on our laurels’ and therefore we are continuing with our development plans to make our school truly outstanding in every way.
 

BLOG #8

What an amazing group of very special young people we have at Larwood. I am so proud of our pupils and staff for the way they work together to overcome barriers and achieve so much together. As we approach end of the term, there are so many examples of this including; the way pupils are working towards a performance of Aladdin; taking part in a three day PGL trip; some amazing pieces of work (showed off in celebration assembly on Monday 8th July); Sports Day, and making art work that is being used by Stevenage Council and praised by the Mayor!

Our place of work is challenging in many ways but it is also a place where we get to see your sons and daughters make significant change, when compared to where they were before we met them. This is a privilege!

Thank you all for your continued support and the blog will return next academic year.

BLOG #6 This month is passing by very quickly but not so quickly that I cannot mention some fantastic events at Larwood!

We had a wonderful day when pupils and staff dressed up to celebrate World Book day, and during the same week we had our traditional Pancake assembly and inter-house pancake races. This is always a fun event and many thanks to Mrs Osborne for organising this.

We also held a non-uniform event for Red Nose Day and again, staff and pupils supported this event in a really positive way.

Supporting the curriculum, Miss Trott organised an amazing afternoon/evening trip into London for Year 6 pupils who went to see Aladdin. This is their theme for Music, Art and Performance Skills (MAPS) this year, so the level of inspiration was certainly high!

There are also some fantastic finishes for curriculum about to happen in the next few weeks. This includes a trip back into London, to see visit The London Eye as well as a trip for younger pupils to Gullivers Land. Finally, we have the end of term reward trips to look forward to as well!

BLOG #4 Welcome back and a Happy New Year to you all!

Pupils were welcomed back to school on the 7th January, with an assembly all about resolutions. It was impressed upon pupils that it’s ok to create such resolutions, but you can set yourself challenges and targets at any time of year. Most resolutions fail due to them being so big and difficult and if a setback is experienced, people may give up. Examples were provided whereby setbacks were experienced and yet the people concerned kept going. This included Thomas Edison and Michael Jordan. Therefore, the start of 2019 is all about setting ourselves big challenges, but not giving up and being prepared to fail, until we do get it right. Support and guidance from adults at school and at home are key to help pupils get it right.

All the very best for 2019.