Dear Parents and Carers
We are approaching the end of the school year and we are of course planning ahead for staffing for September. Once again we have the benefit of our teachers all continuing at Manor for at least 7 years now. In that time we have had some changes in other staff but many staff have been here for a many years.
That stability in staffing is not common in other schools but most people who work at Manor like it enough to want to stay. This is a major strength of Manor with our excellent staff having built up a great range of skills and knowledge and even those who joined us as newly qualified teachers are now experienced leaders.
On the other hand, we do need to guard against any complacency that can naturally set in if people become too comfortable in a role. Staying in one classroom for a long time can also mean that clutter can build up and we need to keep setting our teachers new challenges to develop them in their careers as well as to keep a fresh and vibrant environment around Manor.
To that end, we have decided that all teachers are going to move class in September!
Mr Forman has been in EYFS for 7 years and has taken EYFS from Requires Improvement at our previous Ofsted to 'Good' at our recent one. The recent Ofsted did ask us to improve aspects of EYFS and SEND which both fall under Mr Forman's remit. We felt it would be better if Mr Forman could focus on the SEND aspects and let someone else move EYFS to the next level from the firm foundations he had made. With his long experience of teaching he has taught every year group so we are moving him into Owls in September.
Following several years in Year 3/4, Mr Culff has shown dedication in becoming an excellent KS1 teacher in Swans, giving him a very important skill set around phonics and early reading in particular. He has though, always been keen to teach the older children so he is going to get his wish and move to Penguins where his maths leadership, organisation skills and high expectations will stand him in good stead.
Mr Lloyd has only taught KS2 since being at Manor and we agreed that the next step for him would be to take on Swans and KS1. He has the warmth and patience required for working with younger children but also has great subject knowledge and now knows where they need to get to by the end of Year 2.
That leaves Mrs Armstrong and EYFS! Mrs Armstrong is a passionate and experienced teacher who worked in pre-school settings before training to teach. We were keen to give the EYFS environment a refresh and felt that Mrs A was the person who would do that. It is a steep learning curve going from Year 5/6 to EYFS with a completely different curriculum, but Mrs Armstrong has already read and researched around this in her own time, we have visited other excellent settings in the Trust and she has a list of things she wants to do already. There is no question that she will do a great job wherever we put her.
So, all change for September... and yet, the staff will all still be here (including teaching assistants, office staff, lunchtime and site staff) and will be working together to support each other. Any questions they have about their new year group can be answered by the previous teacher. The curriculum is in place as Ofsted saw, but there will be a fresh new look to the line-up as we play a different formation.
We will be holding our usual 'meet the teacher' sessions after school at the end of this month:
19.06.25 Mrs Armstrong - 5:30pm - Nursery and Reception induction for parents as well as home visits.
30.06.25. Mr Forman - 3:30pm - Year 3/4
01.07.25. Mr Culff - 3:30pm - Year 5/6
03.07.25. Mr Lloyd - 3:30pm - Year 1/2
