Newton Prep

Fri, Mar 12th 2010 – Newton News

From the Headmaster

The Inspection of Independent and Maintained Schools

At the Forum last week, I spoke briefly on the subject of inspection.  On Radio 4's 'Today' programme on Wednesday, two heads were interviewed about the direction school inspections have taken recently.  The first, the head of a new academy, felt that OFSTED's inspection process was fair and proportionate and a good use of public money.  She felt it right that schools should be transparent in the way they function and be held accountable to the public at large via reports published on the internet.  In contrast, the other head stated that his school's last inspection under the old framework resulted in the school being judged as 'good with some outstanding features'.  In his school's most recent inspection, following close on the heels of the previous one, lasting just two days and held at two days' notice, the rating dropped to 'satisfactory with some good features'.  Unsurprisingly, he felt this verdict to be unreliable and damaging.  The drop in grading was more the result of a shift in the criteria used to assess schools than to any decline in the standard of teaching and learning.  Many heads would agree with this view.

Under the new rules for inspection, the focus is almost entirely on compliance issues concerning health and safety, risk assessments, child protection and staff recruitment.  Last week, at two separate meetings with senior and prep school heads, the subject of inspection dominated discussion.  Gone are the days when heads had time to reflect on matters such as good practice and the introduction of exciting new ideas in teaching and learning!  Schools have completely 'failed' inspections because the gaps in their railings are wide enough for someone to stretch in an arm; a  chairman of governors who had stood down on grounds of serious ill health had to be temporarily 'reinstated', despite his inability to carry out his duties, in order to find time to carry out risk assessments and clearances on his successor who had been on the board since 1991.  That school would have 'failed' its inspection had the acting chairman not had the right paperwork to satisfy the inspectors.  Inspectors spend most of their time buried in offices checking personnel files against the staff central register which contains a complete record of all members' of staff employment details.  Little time is spent in classrooms and more and more time is being devoted to checking to make sure that a school has the appropriate number of lavatories and wash basins for children of particular ages.

Newton Prep is likely to be inspected again next year, though the call could come earlier.  Since our inspection in 2008, which reached most positive conclusions and which identified and praised the school's many strengths, huge amounts of time and effort have gone into making sure that Newton Prep will be judged compliant under the new regulations.  Some of this effort has been necessary and valuable, but much of it could have been employed more productively to the clear and direct benefit of pupils.  It is time a cost benefit analysis was carried out on the inspection process.  How much better are schools for the time spent preparing hundreds of interrelated policies which only serve to infantalise managers and to deprive staff of the ability to think on their feet and to use common sense and judgment as the occasion demands?  How much better are the central purposes and processes of teaching and learning as a result of the increasingly time-consuming and bureaucratic inspection process?  In the independent sector, our own inspection body, the Independent Schools Inspectorate, has lost all its original autonomy and sight of its original purpose which was that, through peer review, good schools would become better.  One fundamental difference between the maintained and the independent sector is the commitment that comes from parents paying fees.  As one wise old head put it, "I have a thousand inspectors at my school: the parents."  If independent schools do not provide education to a very high standard, parents can freely take their custom elsewhere, a move which is much harder to achieve in the maintained sector.  In the independent sector, a free market and competitive forces, and professional pride in what we do, are the driving forces which keep good schools on their toes.  The present system of inspection, whose influence and intrusiveness is growing daily, contributes very little to the process of constant improvement to which Newton Prep and many others like it, are fully committed.

School Motto Competition

I have received some wonderful suggestions from pupils of all ages for a possible motto for the school.  The best will be published in Newton News.  The competition will run until the end of next week.  Entrance forms and the collection box are outside my study.

Nicholas Allen

Newton Prep PTA Quiz Night

Tuesday 23rd March at 7pm. Swot up on your general knowledge as the PTA quiz night is only 11 days away. The price is £10 per person (collected on the night) with tables of 12 maximum. Get together a class team, a group of friends, or a bunch of people who live locally for what is always a fun evening.

Bring your own food, wine, table settings, candlesticks, tablecloths, mascots and anything else you think you might want. Brainy husbands, wives, grandparents or next-door neighbours are also welcome. Teachers will be setting the questions this year. Sign up sheets for the Lower School are outside the classrooms. Sign up sheets for the Upper School are in the Millennium Hall. Please can class reps email Pippa Sidney-Woollett with their teams on AntandPippa@Tiscali.co.uk

Pippa Sidney-Woollett

Eco Team News

Wahoo..... Eco Team strikes again.... Wahoo, hurrah! .

Newton Prep has got the bronze Eco award but now we want to go for the next level which is silver. One of the things we have to do is have a parent involved in our regular Wednesday meetings. If you have the time and interest please contact Mrs Aisher at; deputyhead@newtonprep.co.uk

Remember; you would have to commit to weekly meetings at 1.15pm every Wednesday at Newton Prep.

Sophie Sargent 3MH (Eco Team)

World Book Day

Ferocious monsters, wild girls, dragons and princesses - oh, and don't forget the little mouse called George! What exciting worlds we inhabited with Chris Wormell last Wednesday, as we explored the fascinating creatures in Ferocious Wild Beasts, George, the Dragon and the Princess and One Smart Fish. Not only were the children treated to dramatised readings by the author but, guided by his pen, they also helped to create their own wild beasts: wonderous beasts, some horned, some scaled, all utterly enchanting. Chris' gentle nature and genuine interest in the children's contributions will be treasured by all who participated in the sessions.

At the upper end of the school, on World Book Day, 4^th March, Sophie McKenzie and Chris Higgins introduced us to their no less fascinating worlds. Here we met four teens with psychic abilities (The Setup and Hostage by McKenzie) who are trying to cope with the dangers and responsibilities resulting from their powers. We also explored the feelings of teens who are bullied, often because their talents lie outside the more commonly recognised ones, as described in Love Ya, Babe and Walking the Walls by Higgins. Both these authors write thought-provoking books which encourage us to examine our prejudices and also to think of the consequences of our words and actions.

It gave us great pleasure to welcome as our guests on World book Day, the Year 6s from St Mary's RC in Lockington Road. We hope that there will be opportunities in future to share such events with other schools. My sincere thanks also to all the parents who supported the book buying, as the authors thoroughly enjoyed signing their books for the happy recipients.

Nelia Beyers

Eggs

The eggs are due to hatch in the Nursery at the weekend/start of next week !!! Each class had 7 eggs out of the 12 that had chicks in them Vauxhall City Farm came back and did a candle test on them to show the children. We have 3 different types of chickens between us one which is the Transylvanian Long neck which apparently looks really funny !

Tina Snow

No NUTS Policy

Please remember that no nuts are allowed in school. This includes no nuts on models you make. Even glued down nuts are dangerous for some children. It is not necessary for an allergic child to eat a nut to get ill. Just don't bring them in! Thank you.

Jill Aisher

Eco Team Assembly Report

On Wednesday 24th February 2010, Eco Team did an assembly on litter. This assembly included two small facts about litter, a piece of information on how long certain bits of litter last for and a few paragraphs about certain types of litter. Litter is rubbish in the wrong place.

The people included in this assembly were Mrs. Aisher, Deputy Head, Mrs. Gascoine a science teacher,  Mrs. Symes the Registrar, Juliet Gougeon, Maddie Howson, Asha Osborne-Grinter, Patrick O'Donnell, Stergios Vlachapoulos, Christian Rowell and Cassia Jefferson. The assembly also included a slide show containing a few pictures that show what happens to animals when they are affected by litter.

We explained how  litter can affect  animals, how hedgehogs can crawl into tins but can't reverse out and about how fish get poisoned by cigarettes. The fish get caught and eaten by humans so that the poison from the fish gets passed onto humans so humans can be poisoned! 

We explained  how plastic bags and crisp packets can look like jellyfish so fish eat the plastic bags and crisp packets and how many fish die from plastic in the sea. 

We told people about  things being flushed down the toilet and they get washed up on thousands of beaches and  about fires caused by barbeques left lying around, cigarettes or glass with light shining through. Since people drop litter, the litter can catch alight and make fires worse.                                                                           

We told the children about  the dangers of balloon releases  and explained  how they float back to the ground where wildlife eat them and die. We also explained how many months it takes for certain types of balloon to degrade and how the ribbon ties that drop in the sea can strangle sea birds.

We told the school about how dangerous dog excretion is for small children and pregnant women and it can make you blind.

We explained that if you leave food lying around on pavements and in gardens etc, it attracts vermin that carry diseases that can be passed onto humans. Finally we asked people to think about  things you could change in your life to do with litter. We ask all our readers at home too.

Could you... 

• Stop using plasticbags and use reusable bags made of natural fibres
• Refuse to take part in a balloon race
• Stop putting rubbish in the toilet
• Make sure you don't drop litter in the wrong place and make litter that  harms animals and us

We then closed the assembly with a prayer.

Cassia Jefferson 3MS (Eco Team)

Imaginative and Impressive Iron Age Round Houses Made by Year 4 Pupils. 

Over the past three to four weeks, the Year 4 pupils were very busy making impressive 3D models of Iron Age round houses for History.  This fantastic work is currently on display in the Multispace and all parents are welcome to come and have a look at these inventive round houses of a very high standard.  Watch out for more photos soon on the screens in the Millennium Hall.

Well done Year 4!  This is work that each one of you can be extremely proud of!

Paula Haasbroek

Shakespeare's Globe

On Tuesday 2^nd March, Year 4 visited the Globe theatre with their English teachers, Mr McAfee and Mrs Beyers. We were split into two groups and first we had a tour of the Globe. The Globe is a famous building, a replica of an original Elizabethan theatre whose creation was organised by Sam Wanamaker. It is very different to modern theatre because it is open to the air, and it is made with a wooden frame and wattle and daub. Only the people who paid for more expensive seats had a roof to shelter them from the rain. The other people stood on the ground close to the stage.

Next, we had a drama workshop about ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream'. My group played games where we had to run to the woods, Athens and Titania's fairies. The other group created scenes set in the Athenian forest which involved inventing noises and movements to create a magical mood.

Polly Spielman 4JS

Cycle Training Level 2 On Road

So far only one person has signed up for the free on road Wandsworth Borough 4 day training. The dates of this training are Tuesday April 13^th to Friday April 16^th, the last week of the Easter holidays. Training is for two hours each morning with excellent teachers from Wandsworth. All children over 10 who have passed Level 1 are able to apply. The letters have been given to all such children. If you need a replacement letter please look on the website . It would be a shame to lose the facility to book such training through our failure to find children who want to do it.

In the Dining Room