July 2021
I cannot believe that we have reached the end of another academic year, which again has been particularly difficult following our second lockdown after Christmas!
Normally at this time of year, I would be reflecting on the past year and congratulating everyone on their SAT’s results, but yet again, I am not able to do this. I know that all of the children who should have taken their SAT’s would have achieved their potential and I wish them all the best as they leave us and move on to their new secondary schools.
As a school we should be particularly proud of how we have only had to close bubbles in the final few days of the academic year. We are one of the only schools in Sandwell to achieve this! This is a result of the procedures that the school have put in place, which have been excellent and the level of detail to which the school has gone to ensure the safety of all is unbelievable. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this as I know that it has taken a lot of hard work.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to hold any school events this year, which I am sure that everyone has missed and I am really looking forward to September when they can be re-started. It will be great to see everyone having access to the school and being able to join in school life again.
I know that as a school we have found that certain procedures that were implemented to help keep everyone safe during the pandemic, have worked particularly well, and therefore some of them will remain in place in September, for example the staggered start to the day, which is ensuring a calmer start to the day and minimising behaviour issues.
I believe that most of you have now met our nurture dog Molly-Mae or if you have not met her you will have been told about her by your children. I am looking forward to seeing what impact she has when she starts her role in September – we are very fortunate to have her!
On behalf of the Governing Board I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of the staff for everything that they have done this year. I hope that you all enjoy a well- deserved summer break to recharge your batteries ready for the challenges in September.
I would also like to thank all the other members of the Governing Board for their hard work behind the scenes over the last twelve months - I know that it can be very tiring and time consuming but rewarding at the same time.
All that remains for me to say is that I hope that you all have a fantastic summer break whatever you do and I look forward to seeing you all in September and to welcoming a new class of children to our school.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I would ask that you continue to support us and our children to ensure that we strive and learn to grow together!
Kind Regards
Karen Williamson
Chair of Governors
July 2020
I hope that you are all keeping safe and well in these difficult times and that home schooling is not proving to be too much of a chore!
Normally at this time of year I would be reflecting on the past year and congratulating everyone on their SATS results but this year has not been normal. I know that all of the children who should have taken their SATS would have done their very best and I am sure that the results would have been very good.
I would like to wish all of Year 6 the very best for the future in their new secondary schools in September and I know that you will all continue to work hard and to achieve your best.
I recently visited school to see for myself the changes that have been made to ensure that the children and staff are as safe as possible. The procedures that have been put in place are excellent and the level of detail to which the school has gone to ensure the safety of all is unbelievable. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this as I know that it has taken a lot of hard work with the ever changing government guidelines.
It was encouraging to see how well the children have adapted to the new regime and I understand from Mr. Newby that all of the parents and carers of the children who are at school are to be congratulated in the way that they have adapted to the new rules around school. I feel confident that the school is as safe as possible at the present time and that the necessary adjustments to accommodate more children in school in September have been achieved so that school can return to some sort of normality.
During the first part of the academic year we had some visits, trips and events offered in school which are always very well attended. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support as these help to enrich the lives of our children. We have also had a good year for fundraising and this would not be possible without the dedication of the staff arranging them and the support of everyone who has attended them. I hope that you and your children have enjoyed taking part.
On behalf of the Governing Board I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of the staff for everything that they have done this year. I hope that you all enjoy a well-deserved summer break to recharge your batteries ready for the challenges in September.
I would also like to thank all the other members of the Governing Board for their hard work behind the scenes over the last twelve months. I know that it can be very tiring and time consuming but rewarding at the same time.
All that remains for me to say is that I hope that you all have a fantastic summer break whatever you do and I look forward to seeing you all in September and to welcoming a new class of children to our school.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I would ask that you continue to support us and our children to ensure that we strive and learn to grow together!
Kind Regards
Karen Williamson
July 2019
I cannot believe that we are at the end of another academic year already and that we will be saying goodbye to our Year 6 children. I would like to wish you all good luck for the future and I know that if you continue to work hard at your new senior school you will be an asset to them.
We recently had our SATS results back and I am very pleased with the outcome. Everyone has worked extremely hard and we are all very proud of you – keep up the good work!
Over the past year we have had numerous visits, trips and events offered in school which are always very well attended. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support as these help to enrich the lives of our children. We have also had a fantastic year for fundraising and this would not be possible without the dedication of the staff arranging them and the support of everyone who has attended them - I hope that you and your children have enjoyed taking part.
As Governors we have been busy this term arranging our visits to school and producing reports about our findings. One of my areas of responsibility is SEND (Special Educational Needs) and I spent the morning of the 28th June in school dedicated to this. I met with a selection of the children to gather their views about school and I also did a book scrutiny. I was impressed with the progress that the children make and it is great to see that all of the interventions that the school offers really do make a difference. Next year, one of our days in school will be dedicated to the more able children so that we can ensure that they are being challenged enough to achieve their full potential.
A big thankyou to everyone who has helped us to achieve 95.5 % attendance for this academic year, which only left us just 0.5% short of the Government’s target of 96%. I hope that in September you will ensure that your children attend school at every opportunity so that we can at last achieve our target. Attendance is the key, as any day not in school is a missed opportunity for learning.
During the summer holidays we will be having parts of the school redecorated and will be replacing some of the tables and chairs in the classrooms. It is very important to us that we do this so that we can provide our children with a nice environment to learn in.
On behalf of the Governing Board I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of the staff for everything that they have done this year. I hope that you all enjoy a well-deserved summer break to recharge your batteries ready for the challenges in September.
I would also like to thank all the other members of the Governing Board for their hard work behind the scenes over the last twelve months. I know that it can be very tiring and time consuming, but rewarding at the same time.
All that remains for me to say is that I hope that you all have a fantastic summer break whatever you do and I look forward to seeing you all in September and to welcoming a new class of children to our school.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I would ask that you continue to
Kind Regards
Karen Williamson
Chair of Governors
March 2019
I hope that you have all enjoyed the half term holiday, especially as the weather has been very good for the time of year – spring is definitely on its way!
During last term, the Governing Board welcomed Dawn Taylor to the team, meaning that we only have one vacancy at present. I hope that she enjoys her time with us and finds it as rewarding as we all do. The Board also had an external review of its ability to govern conducted and I am pleased to say that we were given a rating of “very strong” which is testament to the hard work and dedication of all of the team.
In my last blog I mentioned that Leanne and I would be spending a day in school focussing on Maths. We visited school on the 9th November 2018 and carried out a book review during which we saw an extremely high standard of work produced and we held a pupil conference to get the views of the children about maths.
We believe that this is invaluable as children are very honest about what they enjoy and what they do not. We then had a meeting with our Maths Leader about outcomes and the way forward in the coming months to ensure that each child reaches their full potential.
We had lunch with the children and were very impressed by the behaviour of them in the Hall and the quality of the food that we were served. Following this we visited the playground to see for ourselves the effect that the new behaviour policy is having and in the afternoon we took part in a meeting to discuss what we had seen during the course of the day and to discuss a wide range of issues about school.
All of our special responsibility governors visited school last term to focus on their areas and to produce reports to evidence their findings. This is very important as we as a governing board need to see for ourselves what is happening at Brickhouse. I would like to say thank you to everyone concerned as it makes my role a little easier knowing that this is taking place.
As you know, we set our governor competition to design a Christmas card last term and I was extremely impressed by the standard of the entries and I found it very hard to pick winners from amongst all of the imaginative creations. This term we have set a new challenge relating to anti-bullying and on-line safety which will be judged by our Parental Engagement Governor, Sandra Polito.
Last term was an extremely busy time for school with all of the events surrounding Christmas and I would like to thank everyone that came to the plays and concerts and who supported the very successful Christmas Fayre. We raised a fantastic sum of money which I know will be put to good use.
We advised everyone in October 2018, that we had an episode of vandalism on the school site, which resulted in us purchasing CCTV for the school and the installation of anti-climb paint. I am pleased to say that we have not had any more issues since these measures have been put in place.
Late last year, we made changes to the start of the school day, which is having a positive impact on the behaviour and the readiness for learning of the pupils
We have also changed our school uniform supplier. I am pleased to say that whenever I am in school, the children all look very smart and are adhering to our uniform policy.
Due to the local elections, we have made changes to the summer term holidays to minimise the disruption that this could cause to the school week with the amount of closure days that are due in Summer 1.
We have received a very positive response to our parent questionnaires that were given out last term and I know that Mr. Newby has written to you regarding the issues that were raised.
Our attendance for the year is at 95.9% which is only just below our target of 96% which is an excellent achievement considering all of the bugs that were around before Christmas. I hope that this continues for the rest of the academic year as any day not in school is a missed opportunity for learning
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I would ask that you continue to support us and our children to ensure that we strive and learn to grow together!
Kind Regards
Karen Williamson
Chair of Governors
October 2018
Welcome to my first blog as Chair of Governors!
Many of you will be aware that Phil Matthews resigned as Chair of the Governing Board at the start of this year and I have chosen to try and continue his excellent work in helping Team Brickhouse to move school forward – he will be a hard act to follow!
My name is Karen Williamson and I am 57 years old and married to Paul. I have 2 children both of whom attended Brickhouse and I have lived on the estate for over 30 years. I have been a member of the Governing Board for approximately 25 years apart from a 3 month period when I decided to put my feet up! Unfortunately this did not work out as when I was invited to the Christmas lunch, I realised how much I missed the school and decided to re-join the Team. I find that it is an extremely rewarding thing to do and I am happy to be a part of the hardworking and committed Governing Board that support the Headteacher and his staff to ensure that all of the children that attend Brickhouse achieve the best that they possibly can.
So far this year we have only had one meeting, which is used to allocate the Governors to various committees that sit behind the main Board and also to name special responsibility governors that will visit the School twice a year to focus on their area and to produce reports so that we can see for ourselves the impact that the learning and the policies have on all aspects of school life. We are all busy contacting the staff to arrange our visits for this term. The Vice Chair (Leanne Purcell) and I, will be spending a whole day in school at the start of November, where we will be focussing on Maths. I will let you know how we got in in my next blog.
Last year the Governor’s decided to set the children a termly challenge and to award prizes. This term we have asked the children to design a Christmas card. It may seem like a long way away but it will be here before you know it! I will be judging this competition and three prizes will be awarded, one each for KS2, KS1 & Early Years. I cannot wait to see the designs that the children come up with, as it really is my favourite time of the year.
Our attendance target for the Year is 96% and I would urge you all to ensure that your child attends school as often as possible and that they arrive on time as any time not at school is a missed opportunity for learning.
We have made improvements to our Behaviour Policy over the Summer Term, so that Lunchtime Behaviour will now have an impact on the children’s behaviour grading in class. I hope that you find this consistent approach better.
Finally, I would like to congratulate all of the children and staff on the SAT’s results that we obtained last year. It just goes to show what hard work, regular attendance and Teamwork can achieve.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and I would ask that you support us and our children to ensure that we strive to learn and grow together!
Kind Regards
Karen Williamson