Download a PDF file of Rough Notes HERE - The Woodroffe School

F O L L O W U S O N
@woodroffeschool
January’s edition of Rough Notes always
looks back at December and forward
to the new year, giving us a chance
to highlight the remarkable range of
activities which take place in the run
up to Christmas, as well as outlining
exciting events coming up in the Spring
term.
The Autumn term ended well, with an
excellent Carol Concert, a really busy
Taste of Christmas Evening and a whole
series of events involving students from
right across the school. Coming up
we have the Cabaret, Bugsy Malone,
the ski trip, the geography field trip,
and a huge range of other activities
involving students from all year groups.
As always, our aim at Woodroffe is
to make sure students get involved
and enjoy themselves; once that
happens, academic success is virtually
guaranteed because they are then able
to approach their studies with the same
degree of commitment and enthusiasm
given to other aspects of their school
life.
Woodroffe staff tend to take the
same approach, getting involved
with educational and extra-curricular
opportunities whenever they arise, and
as a school we are good at seeking
out and responding to both local and
national initiatives. Our designation as
a National Teaching School is a good
example. Although we began work only
in September, we are already beginning
to see significant benefits for students
and staff alike. We are working well with
our Teaching School Alliance partners
and are already beginning to share good
practice. Staff are now working in Trios
across both secondary and primary
schools in the area to explore and refine
classroom practice, and there are all
sorts of collaborative activities planned.
Our relationship with The University
of Exeter has been considerably
strengthened this year and we are now
planning to offer shared teacher training
courses here at Woodroffe both, as we
have always done, as part of the Exeter
Postgraduate Certificate in Education,
and now as part of the Government’s
new School Direct programme. We
are also engaged in a research project
funded by the National College for
School Leadership, working with one
of the country’s leading research
organisations, ISOS, with the aim of
exploring how good teaching can be
spread across teaching alliances to raise
standards both locally and nationally.
In addition, two recent developments
highlight the potential impact of
Teaching School status on our work.
Following two separate and successful
bids to the National College, I am
delighted to announce that our Alliance
has secured £35k to developed Special
Educational Needs provision, and £50k
to act as a National Lead school in the
development of Cultural Education.
With the withdrawal of Specialist School
Funding, we have been concerned
that our outstanding provision of arts
education may be affected; now we
have the opportunity to continue to
develop and expand our work, thus
allowing us to offer even more exciting
Arts related activities to our students,
and those in the local area. We will have
the support not only of the DfE but also
the Arts Council, who have received a
significant grant to ensure that they are
able to support us fully. Exciting times!
For more information, take a look at our
teaching school website: www.jctsa.org.
uk
Finally, I would like to spend a few
moments commenting on the issues
surrounding parking outside the
school and the bus bay in particular
as I am sure you will have seen some
of the coverage in the local press.
With over a thousand students, 130
staff and streams of visitors, access
to the school site was never going
to be straightforward, particularly as
the school was built in the thirties to
accommodate around 300 pupils. We
are also a very rural school, with nearly
half of our students travelling by bus
and many more needing to be picked
up by parents at the end of the day.
We are sited on a narrow, congested
road and our bus bay is far too small to
accommodate the twelve buses needed
to bring our students to school and carry
them home in the evenings.
There are some things which would
make the situation better. Parental
parking is often, frankly, dangerous,
with many ignoring yellow lines, some
blocking the access to bus bay, and a
few driving across the entrance to the
school far too fast. The recent road
works haven’t helped but in order for
us to manage the buses effectively we
really need support from parents and
a bit more thought from some when it
comes to parking sensibly.
We have tried to elicit support for
changes to the bus bay, further traffic
restrictions, help from the local police
and traffic wardens, but we are caught
in a constant loop as Highways pass
us on to the Local Authority, who refer
us to the District Council, who tell us
to contact the Police, who suggest
Highways, and on and on. Our MP,
Oliver Letwin, has been to school to see
the problem for himself and has stood
in the bus bay as the buses battle their
way through the cars and attempt to
board around 500 students as safely
and efficiently as possible. As a result,
he has agreed to look into the matter
and assemble a group of people who
may actually be able to make some
positive changes.
In the meantime, please park carefully
and be mindful of the potential dangers
of careless driving both at the start of
the day and the end of the day. Staff at
the school will continue to be as vigilant
as possible to ensure that accidents are
avoided but we do need your support in
this.
And finally I would like to wish you all a
very happy New Year.