Branfil Primary School

I understand, from listening to the news online and on tv and radio, that the snow which closed the school yesterday (and today) is an extreme weather event. What I do know is that some staff local to the school braved the elements and slippery pavements to get to school in order to answer phones. I’m hoping that tomorrow will be better underfoot and that children and staff who live further out are able to make a safe journey to school. I think I’d better dig my car out…

The Mayor of Havering welcomed children and staff to their new school in September. After a guided tour of the buildings he joined children, staff  and Governors in the KS2 hall to proclaim the school open.

What a brilliant start!

Staff and Governors spent the first day of the Autumn term at Stubbers. We discovered what it felt like to be challenged and to have to learn new skills. It gave us all a better understanding of how children learn in a variety of new situations. I have to say, I have never felt so anxious in all my life. Firstly this was the initial get-together of all the staff from across Foundation, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Many of us knew each other from before the amalgamation but probably had not spent that long in each others’ company. Secondly it had been a long time since some of us had been challenged physically. I need not have worried. After a few shy moments when we met in the car park we were then whisked into a day of adventure and exercise. The day was a huge success and I felt at the top of the world.

I’m not sure how that happened!

It seems that it was summer then we started school in September and now we’ve had Christmas and it’s February.

I think it’s fair to say that we had a busy first term as Branfil Primary School. There has been so much to do and I know we’re nowhere near where I wanted us to be by now.

We had a splendid end to the Autumn term with a Carol Concert in St. Laurence’s church on the last afternoon. We all hiked up there and filled every seat (and then some) with standing room only for the mums and dads who had helped us walk the children to the church. The Foundation Stage children sat on church kneelers and the Brass Band played from the altar area. It was a lovely end to the day and we were back at school for the end of the day.

And it all happened so suddenly!

During the (too short) summer holiday we had a huge amount of work to do to prepare the school for a new beginning. I’m pleased to say that the new school signs were just about ready (although one was intalled upside down!) and the new telephone system, despite a few teething problems, is now functioning perfectly.

The school admin network deleted too many files during handover and poor Julia, Jo and Sue are having to re-input data they’d spent a great deal of time on already.

The staff and governors had an excellent staff-training day at Stubbers before the school year started. We all challenged ourselves to do things our bodies never expected to do, forged strong working relationships with each other and finished the day, bruised, wet, exhausted but happy.

The children had a great start to the year too. The Mayor came on the first day and we crammed ourselves into the Key Stage 2 hall to share the moment when he cut a ribbon and declared the new school open. Every child went home with a mug to celebrate the birth of our new school.

We’ve tried to continue with as little disruption for the children as possible, but every day we’re looking at systems and revising them in order to get the best for all our pupils. They have been fantastic! I think they’re excited about the new beginning and are working hard to make everything work smoothly.

We’ve managed to improve the range of music provision for the children particularly at KS2 and we’re getting choirs up and running over the next two weeks. We’re replacing old PCs in the ICT suite with new, low energy PCs and installing Interactive Whiteboards into 8 of the classrooms, where we can.

It’s been a busy start and I think I can promise that it’ll get busier before the year’s out.

Andy Kelly

I couldn’t have predicted a more diverse week than this. 

Monday began with filming in another local school, helping to make a promotional video extolling the virtues and benefits of working in Havering.  The office in which the filming took place was hot with the camera lights and I just hope that the editor will be able to rescue at least a few seconds of sense from what I said in 45 minutes of filming.

From there it was a quick trip to another local school to look at their integrated communications system, then it was back to school to prepare for the children’s Art Gallery. The children’s art work was just amazing; everything from Van Gogh’s sunflowers to Warhol montages. Some of the pencil drawing self portraits looked like they should have been hanging in a London Art Gallery.

The day ended with parents’ evening and me running the crèche.

Tuesday was a fantastic day in school, we’d invited Charlie Wilson, a storyteller to come in to tell stories to and sing songs with the infant children. We’ve worked with Charlie before and he’s also led vocal training for teaching and support staff.

I met with the Key Stage 2 teaching assistants in the morning to talk about plans and expectations for next year, they were very supportive and I’m looking forward to working with them.

Wednesday was a disaster. As the infant children arrived in school we realized we had a major water leak but doggedly kept going until the toilets would no longer flush. I’m indebted to my hardworking office staff for manning the phones for five hours while they made sure that every child was collected safely. The water leak was mended by four o’clock and we were able to hold a meeting for our new children and their parents, but I’m not sure I did any other work that day.

Thursday’s a different day. The steel band arrived and the children are very excited, Caribbean music fills the infant building and the sun is shining in the sky, who could ask for a better day?

I’ve just found out that tree surgeons will be arriving early tomorrow morning to remove a dangerous tree by the back gate, we’ll need to notify parents that the back gate to the school will be inaccessible tomorrow morning.

My Friday morning will take me to Trinity Pre-school in Romford town centre to award them the Basic Skills Quality Mark, it’s a real honour for me as Trinity will be one of the first pre-schools in England to achieve the award and as their assessor I’m delighted for their success.

I wonder what next week will bring?

Andy Kelly

Yesterday evening was one of those watershed moments. The Infant Governing Body held their final meeting in the school. From September 1^st the interim Governing Body will be holding elections for the new body that will take over from them.

I’ve known many of the Governors for a number of years now and have developed a very strong working relationship with them. They have been my ‘Critical Friends’, asking challenging questions and holding me to account for the education of our pupils.

The Governors have helped the school with many difficult decisions over the years and each financial year have managed to set a budget that ensures the school has the money to provide the best education possible. What astounds me is that these governors are volunteers who willingly give up their time to work with the school.

I am particularly grateful to the Parent Governors, Karen Camp, Debbie Lobley, Karen MacLeod, Toni Marshall and Guy Robertson, all busy people who have found some extra time to fit us in. The parents at Branfil should be proud of them for their unstinting support; they have been excellent role models.

Andy Kelly

The Junior school held their Summer Fayre on Saturday 28^th June 2008.

With a break from tradition it was hosted on the Junior playground instead of the usual venue, Upminster Park.

There were misgivings that the change of venue might affect profits as the park venue attracted a great deal of ‘passing trade’, but takings on the gate yesterday seemed very healthy and the playground was busy all afternoon. It will be interesting to find out whether the loss of  ‘passing trade’ can be offset by the advantages of hosting the event closer to home. Please let me know what you think.

All credit must go to Donna and her hard-working team of parents, friends and staff for organising the Fayre and for putting in such a long day.

Well done!

Andy Kelly

Welcome to the Branfil blog!

If you’ve ever been frustrated about how infrequently school websites are updated you might appreciate this blog. School websites tend to be clumsy to edit and we suddenly find we’ve got better things to do.

The aim of this blog is to help keep you informed about what’s happening at Branfil while we change from two separate infant and junior schools into one primary school. This is a very exciting time for us all.

The challenges ahead will be real opportunities to test how well we can adapt to change, and change for the better. Those of you who know me will know that I am not happy unless we, as a school, are prepared to constantly improve; the Japanese have a word for that, ‘kaizen’ -continuous improvement.

Over the past month I’ve spent a great deal of time meeting with school Governors and groups of school staff, letting them know where change is likely to take place and where it isn’t. The Governors have worked incredibly hard to ensure we’re getting things right and I must thank, in particular, your parent governors for their commitment.

I’m gradually getting to know the junior staff [though I haven't met everyone yet!] and I’m delighted at how positive they’re being while I turn everything inside-out.

Because I’m generally in the junior school at lunch-time I’m meeting a lot of familiar faces [and some new ones] and it’s great to see how positive they are about Branfil being a Primary School in September. We hear a lot from the press about how today’s children are violent and badly behaved but I’m always delighted with the good manners and helpful behaviour of our children. I meet junior children who help each other, stand aside for infant children, hold doors open for us and generally help to take care of each other; this is what the papers should publish, not doom & gloom stories. We shouldn’t let the behaviour of one or two individuals cloud our perceptions of our children.

I’m really looking forward to September, but I also know we’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m going to need you there to support us every step of the way.

Andy Kelly

Headteacher