Cheshire Academies Trust

Newsletter 3
Autumn Term 2015

Good Things Grow Here

Multi use games area

There was great excitement at school last week when installation of the long anticipated multi use games
area began. Sport England awarded Cheshire Academies Trust this grant which replaced the original grant
in June 2014 to Mill View Primary School. The grant has been used to provide a 12m x 7m games space
with safety flooring and floor markings; markings on the playground and activity surfacing in the Reception
outdoor area.
Thank you to the children and families for your patience last week when we were unable to use the
playground but I am sure you will agree the multi-use games area is an excellent sporting provision for us
and will improve our PE and sport teaching.
The school will be dedicating the multi-use games area to the memory of Danny Jones. Danny, father of a
child who used to attend Mill View and a former football coach for Chester FC Academy died of a brain
tumour in March. Dannys mother Debbie was a governor at Mill View and we are delighted that Debbie
and Tara, Dannys wife, have given us permission to dedicate the multi-use games area to his memory.
There will be an official opening of the multi-use games area later in the term.

Mathematics through art

Mrs Telford led two workshops with the key stage 2 classes focussed upon teaching mathematics through
art. Can you guess the artist who provided the inspiration? The childrens work has been displayed as large
collages in the key stage 2 corridor. Please pop into school when you collect your child to look at the work.

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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Mill View Primary School. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.

Plant it, grow it and eat it

Year 2 Soup

Year 2 Making Soup

Our Reception children also collected produce from the kitchen garden with Heather,
our regular kitchen garden volunteer, and each child took home a tub of goodies.

Assessment without levels

The government introduced a new curriculum in September 2014 and new forms of assessment were
developed to align its content and principles. Last academic year we continued to report to you in terms of
national curriculum levels (e.g. Level 2b); however, from September 2015 national curriculum levels will no
longer be used. In removing curriculum levels the government has given schools the freedom to develop
their own approaches to assessment linked into their own curriculum. At Mill View senior leaders, alongside
leaders at Boughton Heath and Kelsall, researched new practice models of assessment to consider how we
can best use assessment for teaching and learning, and all 3 schools have agreed to use an online pupil
tracking system. During the next few weeks all teachers will receive training in how to use the online
tracking system. This term teachers have continued to evaluate your childs knowledge and understanding
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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Mill View Primary School. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.

on a day to day basis and to tailor their teaching accordingly. There will be an information evening for
parents early in the spring term to share our new assessment tracking system.
Welcome to Sam and Sebastian who have joined our Year 2 and 5 classes respectively. We hope both
children and their families will soon feel part of our school family.
Christmas Fair
Saturday 28 November 11am 3pm
Stallholders are needed for the PTA Christmas Fair 20 per stall. Please
email pta@millview.cheshire.sch.uk
Local governing body at Mill View Primary School
As we start a new academic year I would like to share the constitution of our local governing body for our
new families. The local governing body consists of 11 members

Headteacher of the school - Mrs Susan Walters

2 Staff governors - Mrs Sarah White (Learning Mentor) and Miss Emma Cottrell (Year 3 teacher)
3 parent governors - Dr Laura Edwards (Vice Chair of governors and Chair of Health & Safety
committee), Mrs Zoe Lee and Mrs Joanne Wraige (Safeguarding governor)
5 co-opted governors - Ms Maura Connolly (Chair of governors), Mrs Ceri Lloyd (Chair of finance
committee), Mrs Liz Tudor (Chair of curriculum committee & SEN governor), Mrs Lesley Hershaw
(Vice chair of Health & Safety) and Mrs Sarah Parr (Vice chair of finance)

Each academic year there is one full local governing body meeting each term. There are 3 committees
(Premises, Health & Safety; Policy & Curriculum; and Finance and Staffing) and each committee meets
each term. The governor role is a voluntary one and we are extremely fortunate to have governors who
play an active role in making a positive contribution to your children's
education.
Helping your child in mathematics
In previous newsletters this term we have provided you with links to
curriculum information on the website and we have uploaded other additional
documents you may find useful in supporting your child at home. The latest
document is called Written calculation phases in mathematics and this
provides examples of written methods of calculations you child will be using in
mathematics.
Personal development, behaviour and welfare
There is a rigorous monitoring programme within our school to ensure that
leaders have an excellent understanding of the strengths and areas for
development. Since September one of the areas leaders have been evaluating
is personal development, behaviour and welfare. In particular leaders have evaluated how well children
behave, cooperate and share with each other, make friends, respect each others differences, and the
extent to which children behave in ways that are safe, understand how to stay safe and show that they
feel safe. This has been done by observing the children at the start of the school day, during playtimes and
in lessons; and talking to groups of children from each class about behaviour, including bullying.
The questions we asked the children included
How do you get to and from school? How do you make sure you are safe on your journey?
Do you feel safe at school? How do staff help you feel safe?
What do you enjoy about playtimes? What would you do if you had no-one to play with? What
would you do if you saw someone else on their own at playtime?
Do you find our school Value of the month useful?
How do you know how to behave at school? How do staff promote good behaviour?
Have you ever experienced bullying at school? If someone bullied you what would you do?
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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Mill View Primary School. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.

In summary the childrens conduct is impeccable in school evidencing that the schools strategies are
effective in promoting high standards in behaviour. The children told us they feel safe at all times and
know who to talk to if they needed to. The children had a good understanding of how the staff help them
to keep safe. A couple of children said that they had experienced bullying (others being mean) but it had
been sorted out immediately by teachers and they trusted the teachers to do this. All the children told us
they know how to behave in school and the class contract helps them to do this. All the children told us
they enjoyed playtimes and knew what to do if they had no-one to play with. They told us some wonderful
ways in which we could improve playtimes for them
Build a football pitch
Decorate the playground with ribbons
Build an obstacle course
Put up tents
Have blankets and mats
Throughout the school day the pupils behaviour is excellent. It is an orderly environment in which pupils
respond very positively to staff, allowing the teaching and learning to flow smoothly and without
interruption.
A copy of our school behaviour and discipline policy is available on the school website
www.millviewschool.co.uk school information school policies
Below are some of the childrens comments about the Value of the month

Very helpful
It was
really good
I like hearing about
what the other classes
have been doing

Yes, they really

help us to be kind
to each other

Not useful but

very useful
Helps you to be
a better person

The Value assemblies

are really good

Helps us learn
about be a
good friend

Bullying has to stop right now

The school does not tolerate bullying of any kind. If we discover that an act of bullying or intimidation has
taken place, we act immediately to prevent further occurrences of such behaviour. While it is very difficult
to eradicate bullying, we do everything in our power to ensure that all children attend school free from
fear. Our Year 5 children have been working really hard in writing their own lyrics to a well-known song
The best day of my life to express their views on anti-bullying. They have renamed the song as Bullying
has to stop right now! The video of the whole song singing the song led by our Year 5 children will be
uploaded onto the school website this week.
Diary Dates
Tuesday 29 September Cheshire Academies Trust video
Tuesday 13 and Thursday 15 October Parents evenings for Reception to Year 5
Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 October Year 6 Parent Consultations
Thursday 15 October Vegetable Workshop (further details to follow)
Tuesday 20 October Tempest to take individual and siblings photographs
Half term Monday 26 October to Tuesday 03 November (school closed on Monday 02 November for staff INSET)
Saturday 28 November PTA Christmas Fair 11am to 3pm
Wednesday 09 December Year 5 bag packing at Marks and Spencer, Cheshire Oaks
Thursday 10 December Key Stage 2 Carol Service at the Holy Ascension Church 1.30pm and 6.30pm
Friday 11 December Whole school visit to Sleeping Beauty, The Floral Pavilion, New Brighton 1.30pm to 5pm
Wednesday 16 December Whole school Christmas lunch in the Windmill Caf
Friday 18 December School closes for Christmas break until Wednesday 06 January 2016 (school closed on Monday 04
& Tuesday 05 January 2016 for staff INSET)
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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Mill View Primary School. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.