Dear Parents and Carers
And so we reach the end of another fabulous year at Manor Primary. It has been a year of growth in many areas. Our Little Wandle phonics scheme that was introduced in January 2023 and our prioritising of phonics and reading has given real strength and depth to this key area of our school. We are seeing those results coming through such as 100% of our Year 1's passing the Phonics Screening Check and strengthening reading results right through school.
Our maths results have continued to be strong and our use of Kapow as a scheme of work supporting our foundation subjects has improved the curriculum we are able to provide across school. Even writing, which we have identified as our next area of focus, has seen 90% of our Year 6 children reaching the expected level this year. Well above the national average.
Of course, we need to say a fond farewell to those 10 Year 6 boys who are leaving us for new adventures at their chosen High Schools next year. They have been a lovely group of boys who have made us proud and are always welcome to pop in and say hello in the future.
There are a small number of children who are leaving us from other year groups too, all moving to other counties around the UK. We wish them the best of luck in their new settings.
We are also looking forward to an influx of new children, to our Early Years as well as to other year groups, who will join us in September. Overall, a slight increase in numbers of children at Manor.
We will be saying goodbye to some more staff today too:
Kim Lowe, our catering assistant who has worked in the kitchen at Manor for many years, is moving on to a different role in another Fierté school in September. Ms Lowe has been a friendly, cheerful and ever willing assistant who has always made the food taste better by serving it with a smile and a kind word for the children. We thank her for all her hard work over the years.
John Littler has been our 'Super Coach' provided by his company, Progressive Sports, for about 4 or 5 years now. Mr Littler has progressed from being a good coach to an excellent one who has been promoted within his company to supervise other coaches. That, along with the fact he lives in Stafford with a young family (a long commute for half a day of work with us!) means he has been redeployed. Miss Goodwin, who has been with us this term, has also been redeployed. We wish them both all the best. Mr Littler will probably visit at some point in his supervisory role. We have been assigned a new 'Supercoach' who came to visit this week. Miss Cole (though her upcoming wedding may change this name!) is a qualified primary school teacher who has chosen to specialise in PE and sport and seems lovely. We look forward to her starting with us on the Monday and Wednesday of the second week back.
Finally, Mrs Cowell has landed her dream job as a full time teaching assistant at Millfield School. Mrs Cowell first joined us as a lunchtime supervisor 10 years ago. She subsequently took on the roles of breakfast club then after school club leader. She has done a huge amount of voluntary work with us that has supported her training in getting a teaching assistant qualification. Mrs Robinson is stepping into her breakfast and after school club roles in September but we will need to recruit a lunchtime supervisor in September.
Thank you to all of our Manor family for making this a fabulous year and we hope you have a wonderful summer. See you fresh and ready to go again in September!
