1st CoG Blog

Welcome to my 1st blog as Chair of Governors for this academic year 

I often visit the school in my capacity as CoG and felt this is a great way to evidence what I have observed, been monitoring & also update parents and our wider community on any news or information that may not have been shared via Parent Hub regarding strategic or board issues, made by the Governing Body & Mrs Rosen.

Christmas Festivities 

A massive well done to all the children taking part in yet more amazing Christmas productions. As a parent of 3 children at Drake I have the privilege of seeing 3 of the different performances devised and performed by the children in Early Years, KS1 & KS2. From a traditional Nativity in Yr2 to a music-focused medley of Christmas songs from KS2, the acting, singing, reading, poetry and instrument playing has been a testament to the hard work shown in school this year from teaching and support staff in addition to our external music teachers. The Intent, Implementation and Impact of music across the school, especially for these Christmas performances is clear to see and shows the confidence in children, which in turn will hopefully make them more confident, resilient learners.

I am keen to see what Yr1 has in store for tomorrow's Christmas assembly!

A big thank you to the parent and professional videographer that has kindly offered to film the performances, saving everyone else a job in addition to minimising disruption and allowing parents to sit back and enjoy! The performances are available to download so look out for the links of Parent Hub!

Playground Build

The build has rapidly taken shape to provide the children with additional facilities at break and lunchtimes. The build, which has been funded by the Sports & PE grant (previously known as Sugar Tax Levy) from the Department for Education aims to encourage children to have healthier lifestyles, which in turn increases their mental & emotional wellbeing in addition to a thirst for learning and improvement in attainment. The school have worked in partnership with children to understand what they want from their playground to encourage ALL children to have access to equipment to increase activity levels everyday.

We hope that the short-term disruption in the playground whilst the build is in progress, plays dividend in the long-term with more active, healthier lifestyles for children and the improvement of wider outcomes & priorities.

That's all for this inaugural Blog. Thank you for reading & Merry Christmas to all.

Carly Brien

CoG