Dear Parent and Carers

Next week we will be issuing your child’s summer term report, which gives you a summary of their learning this year and information about your child’s personal qualities and attitudes to learning.

You will appreciate that although things are more or less back to normal, covid has still had an impact, especially on some children’s attendance. As a result we have included your child’s attendance summary but not made a judgement about their attendance. We know where covid has been a factor in school attendance but, if despite taking account of this, we have concerns about your child’s attendance, we will contact you directly.

For children in Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 6 there is assessment information that we will be sharing with you. End of Key Stage 1 and 2 statutory assessment (SATs) have resumed and information about your child’s outcomes will be sent either with the report or for Year 6, as soon as the results have been returned and processed. Because there were no SATs in 2020 and 2021 the national data given as a comparison is from the year prior to the pandemic (2019) and so must be treated with extreme caution.

We look forward to welcoming you to Open Evening on Thursday 7th July from 3.30pm to 6.30pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your child’s work over the year and although not the time for an in-depth discussion with staff, they too would like the chance to share with you what the children’s successes. If there is something specific in the content of your child’s report that that you wish to discuss with their teacher, please contact them through Class Dojo to arrange a mutually convenient time for a telephone consultation.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you who your child’s teacher will be next year.

Kindergarten Mrs Burley (Mon – Wed and Fri) Mrs Cole (Thur)

Reception Mrs Melia

Year 1 Miss Syner

Year 2 Mrs Masters (Mon – Thur) and Mrs Collett (Fri)

Year 3 Mrs Norgate

Year 4 Mrs Jarrott (Mon – Wed) and Mrs Hemus (Thur-Fri)

Year 5 Miss Wesson

Year 6 Miss Howarth

Mrs Collett, Miss Beddoes and Mrs Hadley will be teaching classes throughout the week to give teachers their statutory non-contact planning, preparation and assessment time (PPA).

Mrs Rouse will be taking maternity leave and we wish her all the best: we look forward to hearing about the safe arrival of her little one due during the summer. Mrs Jarrott and Mrs Hemus will be working in Key Stage 2 to cover Mrs Rouses’s absence.

We will also be saying some “goodbyes” to staff who are moving on to new adventures or taking a well-earned rest. Miss Carrington is taking up a new post at Peters Hill Primary School. We wish her all the best for her wedding in the summer and for her future career in her new role. To cover this vacancy, we welcome Miss Syner, an experienced Key Stage 1 teacher who will be joining the staff and teaching Year 1.

Finally, we shall be saying “goodbye” to Mrs Priest who has decided that after a period of over 22 years it is time to finish work and focus on her family. We shall really miss Mrs Priest: she knows so much about our school, our families and quietly beavers away making sure that everything runs smoothly. She will leave very big shoes to fill!

We wish all of the staff who are leaving The Ridge family, all the very best for the future.

In light of these changes, we are still finalising which classes our teaching assistants will be working with in September.

The teachers will have formal opportunities to meet the children in their new classes at our transition day on Monday 18th July. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s current teacher or myself.

Yours sincerely

Mrs D A Hudson

Headteacher