Long Weekend!

Dear all,
Congratulations for making it through a full week and a massive thank you to all the JKG parents that came to our Curriculum Morning this morning.  We had a show of about 50 parents!
One of my main priorities as a Primary Head has been to ensure the safety and happiness of each of our students.  I have encouraged all the teachers to spend the first few weeks to get to really know their students, not just by name but by learning about their interests, their likes or dislikes.  I have also insisted that each class has a daily circle time to ensure that our students have a voice and that they are being heard.  To get the most out of daily circle time, we try to encourage the students to share and take responsibility for circle time for more information please see Jenny Mosley' s research.
This time taken to properly get to know our students can sometimes 'eat into ' the classroom programme,' but we need to see this as part of our programme, as we are all Personal, Physical, Social and Emotional teachers.  We cannot, as 21st educators, as best practice teachers, expect any deep learning to take place if we do not know our students.  By truly knowing them we can begin to differentiate and learn about their needs and their strengths and build a programme about who they are individually.
As well as building relationships with our students, we place a strong emphasis on having fun and hearing the laughter of children in the classrooms means that our students are happy learners.  This week with our youngest students, they had their first Water Confidence lessons with Mr Rohit, Garba celebrations with their friends and Navrati costume wearing and learning how play helps us build our relationships.  
Our older students have been showing their knowledge and understanding of Leadership, Migration and Beliefs and Values and educating the leadership team of their new learning with these very different concepts.

Thank you for all your support and have a great long weekend,

Lisa Hughes
Head of Primary at JVLR