6th December 2018

PE Observation - Louise Twaits

I was very lucky to receive a demonstration of the new fitness circuit by the children in Year 1. The children were keen to show lots of different ways that the equipment can be used; climbing over and under, running round, balancing, throwing .......... the opportunities are endless! It is clear that the fitness circuit has been a very positive addition to the school and that the children thoroughly enjoy using it!

21st November 2018

Foxes Class Assembly - Leela Senior

What a delight to spend a rainy Wednesday morning watching Foxes class assembly. The children performed wonderfully with clear voices and incorporated many aspects of learning into the assembly to conclude their learning about light and dark. English, drama, art, science and dance combined to make an entertaining and informative assembly enjoyed by parents and children.

9th November 2018

Kestrels Class Visit - Louise Twaits

What a fantastic Year 2 class assembly I have just watched! All the children looked amazing in their Victorian or beachwear outfits - was that a rubber ring I spotted?! The children thoroughly entertained the parents with acting, dancing and songs, while sharing their learning about the Victorian era. Well done!

8th November 2018

Kestrels Class Visit - Louise Twaits

Today I spent a lovely hour with the Year 4 children. They showed me some beautifully written letters they are taking home to their families later this week. I was also lucky enough to watch them practice their lines for their upcoming Anglo Saxon assembly. I won’t give anything away, but it’s going to be amazing!!

31st October 2018

English Subject Visit - Leela Senior

On Wednesday 31st October I spent some time with English lead Mrs Everton looking at the School Action Plan for the current academic year. We discussed the English targets that have been set for the school. Mrs Everton has been working closely with her Hayeswood First School counterpart as well as the trust as a whole to ensure a joined up approach. 

Foxes Class Visit - Leela Senior

It was a pleasure to meet the class I am linked with for this year, I felt very welcomed by polite children in the colourful and motivating classroom. I was lucky enough to visit during an English lesson based around light and dark non fiction books. The children in the class confidently shared their knowledge of texts of this nature and worked hard to write several facts. I look forward to visiting again soon. 

19th June 2018

Sports Day - Leela Senior, Louise Twaits, Katie Ramsden and Chris Minns

The sun shone over Colehill First School for their annual sports day. We were thrilled to be able to attend both as a parents and Academy Committee members and join in the excitement of the day. Reception and Year 1 enjoyed a mixture of skill based races with the emphasis very much on fun followed by the more traditional sports day races using the track for the older children. It was nice to see the children not only racing for themselves but for their teams. Congratulations to Yellows!

22nd March 2018

British Values Learning Walk - Leela Senior, Chris Minns, Dave Torring and Louise Twaits

On the 22nd March, a group of Academy Committee members attended school to look at how the School Action Plan objective concerning British values has been progressing. After a highly informative tour, we met with the school council and had some time out at play. It is clear that the children have been engaged in many activities to promote British values and as a result of informative displays in the classroom, hall and corridors their use has become an integral part of school life.

13th March 2018

P.E. Visit - Louise Twaits

I was lucky enough to be invited into school to observe a Year 1 PE lesson followed by a discussion with the PE subject leader, Mrs Everett. The children spent a very active hour learning all about throwing and catching outside in the playground. All looked to be thoroughly enjoying the session and they went back to their classroom with rosy cheeks and big smiles on their faces!

I then had a very useful discussion with Mrs Everett about the provision of PE at Colehill First. I found out more about how the pupils are assessed and how overall progress is tracked throughout the year. We also discussed the Sports Premium and how this is allocated. I look forward to seeing the new 'fitness circuit' outside the library soon!

14th December 2017

Christmas Lunch - Leela Senior, Chris Minns and Louise Twaits

There was Christmas spirit aplenty during Christmas lunch at Colehill First School. The children tucked into a roast turkey lunch with all the trimmings after pulling crackers and sharing the jokes. What a lovely occasion to be involved in.

Review of School Data and Action Plan - Leela Senior, Chris Minns and Louise Twaits

A very constructive 90 minutes with Mr Turrall running through Ofsted's latest data published for the school and the newly written action plan. The data provides a very positive snapshot for the school. A lot of hard work has gone into the action and the school will benefit from its ongoing execution.

6th December 2017

Christmas Concert - Louise Twaits

I had a lovely afternoon watching the Colehill First School concert titled 'An English Christmas'. The songs were performed with great enthusiasm and I came away well and truly in the Christmas spirit! Well done to all the children and teachers at Colehill First School!

Christmas Concert - Chris Minns

Wow! What a show!The children have worked really hard to produce a great show which follows a small English villiage through the ages telling the traditional Christmas story. There was great narration, great acting and all of the children were singing loudly and clearly. Fantastic musical support from Mrs Radford and the Year Four recorders also. 

17th November 2017

Kestrel's Class Assembly - Leela Senior

What a delight to be able to watch Kestrel’s assembly based on their learning about Anglo-Saxons. The children worked hard to produce a smashing performance with information and entertainment in equal measure. It is evident that the children have really enjoyed their topic, I look forward to their next production! 

10th November 2017

School Assembly with Lindsay Chapman - Leela Senior

On Friday 10th November Colehill First School welcomed Invictus Games gold medalist Lindsay Chapman to assembly. She talked honestly about her struggles, perseverance and then success.

The children were able to see the racing wheelchair she competed in and her gold medal. Her story was an inspiring one which the children were encouraged to think about in relation to their own personal goals and learning journeys in school. 

06th October 2017

Kestrels Class Visit - Leela Senior

On Friday 6th October I was lucky enough to spend a lovely morning with Kestrels class.

Their English lesson was based around the utilisation of strong adjectives to support and embellish their written work. The children demonstrated an ability to offer increasingly advanced words to the class and employ a thesaurus effectively to find further interesting words.

Maths focused on the development of column addition using the Maths No Problem scheme, a format the children are used to and work well with.

The lesson was concluded by some cross curricular work in the ICT Suite - writing word problems incorporating the use of column addition and subtraction. The children clearly enjoyed working in this manner and indeed told me so!  

07th July 2017

Science Learning Walk - Dave Torring, Phil O'Connor and Leela Senior

A great visual experience showing how each class was involved in science in different ways.

All the children were actively involved and seemed to be enjoying the experience, this is how learning should be.

04th July 2017

English Lesson - Leela Senior

It was lovely to join the Year 3 children for an English lesson based on writing a diary as if they were a Roman slave. The children showed empathy for what their lives would’ve been like and also used their experiences from their residential trip to The Ancient Technology Centre to support their writing.

30th June 2017

Class Assembly - Leela Senior

Badgers presented a very entertaining and informative assembly about the Romans which drew on their experience and knowledge gained from their recent trip to the Ancient Technology Centre. 

13th June 2017

SEN Provision Discussion - Leela Senior

On Tuesday 13th June, I was invited into school to talk to the SENCO, Sarah Lemon. We discussed how Colehill First School addresses and acts upon children with additional needs and the monitoring tools utilised to guage progress. The school employs varying levels of help to children who might need it, keeping parents informed and staff able to amend as required throughout the school year.

29th May 2017

English Learning Walk

Leela Senior, David Torring and Juliet Gould spent the morning in school on an English Learning Walk, particularly looking at grammar and punctuation. We had allocated time with the subject leader, Ruth Everton, before visiting the children in their classrooms, classes 2, 3 and 4. There were opportunities to talk to and see the children working. It was obvious that we were all impressed with the standard of work, understanding, confidence and articulation of the children.

8th December 2016

Open the Book Assembly – Leela Senior

The Open The Book assemblies happen each Thursday by visiting members of the community. I was able to watch the one on 8th December which was based on the Christmas story. They included the children by way of inviting them to participate in simple acting. 

October/November 2016

Operation Christmas Child – Leela Senior

During October and November I was able to work with the school council to introduce Operation Christmas Child to the school, to provide parcels for children who might not receive anything for Christmas.

What an absolute pleasure, the children are an asset to the school. They were interested in learning more about the cause and eager to answer questions and contribute to group discussion.

In all, their efforts resulted in a total of 60 boxes being donated.

16th November 2016

Year 3 Bovington Tank Museum visit – Leela Senior

I was lucky enough to accompany Badgers on their trip to The Tank Museum on the 16th November.

Accompanying their obvious enjoyment and interest of the topic as a whole, was the very real sense of a class which work well together whilst exhibiting politeness and the ability to empathise with a life different to their own.

12th July 2016

Year 2 PE visit – Mike Guilmant-Cush 

Today I enjoyed a superb Year 2 PE lesson with Mrs Self and Mrs Hurlstone, the PE consultant who helps deliver PE at Colehill First School. We practiced our throwing, catching and batting skills and didn’t a bit of rain spoil our enjoyment! I was able to find out more about how the school assesses pupils’ attainment under the new curriculum, in non-core subjects, and it was clear that Colehill is developing effective ways to measure each pupil’s progress. 

The pupils were also clear that I’ll never become a good fielder if I turn up to a wet PE lesson in flip flops!

7th March 2016

Pupil Premium learning walk

Four governors completed a learning walk around the school to find out how Colehill First School spends its Pupil Premium to support pupils who are eligible for free school meals (FSM).

The Pupil Premium is used to fund a wide range of interventions (specially targeted extra teaching support)

14th March 2016

Learning Lines

On 14^th March governors toured the school to find out more about how ‘learning lines’ are helping all pupils to make even better progress and overcome challenges.

The learning line models the journey we all take when learning something new, from being a little worried at first, to maybe finding things hard, doing our best and making breakthroughs, and finally reaching the place we want to go with our learning.

Every classroom has its own unique learning line on display and children are using the ideas to think about their learning and develop their ‘resilience’, to have a positive view of challenge and the confidence that they can bounce back and achieve their best when they find learning hard.

Find out more about learning lines here on the Colehill First School website.

14th April 2016

Reception Class Visit – Julie Walter

I visited Hedgehogs on 14 April – a very enjoyable experience where I witnessed very happy children engaged in different types of learning.

4th March 2016

World Book Day

I was able to pay a flying visit to the school today and observed some great storytelling sessions, with pupils of all years highly involved in the activities. It’s great to see pupils demonstrating their love of reading and stories!

Remember that regular reading at home is a great way to help your child develop valuable literacy skills and build a lifelong love of reading.

Mike Guilmant-Cush, Chair of Governors

20th November 2015

A morning with year 2

Year 2 gave a terrific assembly based on puppets and a re-telling of the classic Pinocchio story, which explored the importance of honesty and not talking to strangers.

After sharing their puppets and ideas with their families, pupils were really quick to settle into guided reading activities where they were eager to show and explain to me their favourite books, and show me their progress with handwriting and spelling.

We then spent the rest of the morning doing some fascinating science, as pupils explored ideas about hot, cold, melting and freezing. Pupils had thought up and planned their own investigations which they finished on the day, using all their scientific ideas to explain what they had observed. We all learned a lot about melting, freezing – and what everyone’s favourite flavour of ice cream is!

It was a real pleasure to share a morning with year 2 and I had a great time – thanks, year 2!

5th November 2015

I visited Bovington Tank Museum 5^th November 2015 – a very enjoyable experience where I witnessed very knowledgeable and happy children being taken on a tour of the museum and life during WW1.

Phil O’Connor

2nd November 2015

The ‘Learning Line’ comes to Colehill