Dear Parents It has been wonderful to see the good turnout for our ‘Back to School’ nights and the weekly parents’ coffee mornings. These events are important opportunities for us to welcome new families to our school and to strengthen the partnership between the parent, school and child. They are a forum to share with you our educational philosophy, the ethos of the school and the daily routine. As I made my way through the many class and subject information sessions I was hugely impressed by the professionalism and passion of our teaching staff. We are fortunate to have an enthusiastic and capable team, well grounded in the International Baccalaureate’s educational psychology and committed to high standards and challenging our children to achieve their personal best. In our various staff meetings I have emphasised that if we are to be a successful school, whether in terms of the ratings that the quality assurance bodies give us, the performance of students in external examinations, or the joy of seeing our children thrive and flourish, our first responsibility must be to teach well. Quality teaching is born from both a passion for education and a constant desire to do things better. It is evident in good planning, high levels of student engagement, laughter and seriousness in good measure, and higher order questioning, to name but a few. We have held a series of very useful parents coffee mornings in which we have been able to answer queries and share concerns and come up with some good ideas to improve our school. Sports pitch We are refurbishing the AstroTurf, which is now seven years old. The surface consists of a carpet filled with tiny rubber pellets. Over the years the rubber has hardened and the surface has become like sandpaper. A team of contractors is removing the old ‘sand’ and replacing it with 15 tons of fresh, bouncy rubber. When the job is completed we will have a sport pitch as good as new. Parent contact details check You have been sent a form to update your contact details via the homeroom teacher. This is a check that we have your current details on our database. We need, from time to time, to update pictures in our prospectus or website of our children engaged in various school activities, in the classroom, on the stage or at sport. At the end of the form you will see a space to indicate if you are willing to have your child’s photograph used in our publications. Electives in the Secondary School Our Secondary School elective programme should have swung into action in the second week of term. We have changed the structure of the day and the timetable from last year and having solved some problems, others have emerged. The electives take place at the same time as other academic classes and whilst this has allowed for greater teaching time flexibility the changes have caused conflicting demands of staff. We have undertaken a thorough review of both the timetable and the extracurricular activities. We now have a considerably wider range of options on offer and an online signing up system. I apologise for the delay in the start of activities. Communication Review

We are always looking for ways in which we can improve and be more efficient and effective. Thank you to those parents who took part in the communications review. It was very useful to receive feedback on your technology and communication preferences. Hence forth we will send out:

1. Day to day arrangements and dates to diarise on Communicator.

2. Longer newsletters or information documents on email.

3. Primary School academic information such as homework or assessments on email.

4. Secondary School academic information such as homework or assessments on Managebac.

5. Emergency or last minute changes via text message and Communicator.

The Facebook page and website are for current and prospective parents, but will not contain any news that parents need to check. Stop and Drop Our new stop and drop system has taken some time to implement and, by and large, traffic flow is smoother than it was last year. Thank you for your understanding as we have settled into the new routine. Please be vigilant as you drive: small children have very little road sense and can do the most unpredictable of things. They dash out from the wrong side of cars, chase soccer balls and run to see their friends. It only takes a moment’s impatience to cause a tragic accident. Have 360 degree vision. Finally… I have been very grateful for the practical support and acts of kindness that members of the Greenfield parent community have given me whilst I have been settling in. These have been some simple things, but have helped a great deal. I have found an apartment in the Marina with the most beautiful views, filled it with furniture (but I don’t think that ‘Conde Nast Interiors’ magazine will be asking to a cover feature on my decorating skills!) and it is beginning to feel like home. As I write this I am watching the yachts of the rich and good-looking glide by and a squadron of rowers out exercising. Andrew Wood Principal

Greenfield Community School