Headteacher blog 5th October 2018

I got a newsletter this week from an organisation called Learning Outside the Classroom. This is a subject close to my heart and it is great that we have groups promoting this approach to learning. I would like to think that this is already a strength of the school and this week we have had a Y4 class at Ledston Hall for a day about trees and our Reception children in RH had an exciting day travelling to Leeds on the train and enjoying a workshop at the impressive Leeds Central Library. Many of these four year olds were exhausted by the time they got back to New Pudsey: we might just pop a couple of minibuses down to pick them up when the parallel class do the visit.  Year 1 also had some fun learning outside the classroom as they visited the farm to harvest some vegetables to contribute to the vegetable soup that they later served to parents and family members. There has been further excitement on the farm this week with the first use of our new PTA-funded fruit press: it is hard work but almost every child involved has enjoyed a glass of apple juice and it has gone down well on the after-school food stalls.

Today, we have had another minibus out taking a group of children to an Inclusive Sportshall Athletics event. We like to do well in the traditional city-wide sports competitions but it is equally important to have high levels of engagement with participation events: especially events such as today that are more accessible. Tonight we have our first league football fixtures of the year away at Horsforth Newlaithes and I would like to thank those staff that run these – on this occasion Mr Cooke and Mrs Harding – for their commitment and time.

Finally, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the government’s response to an unprecedented demonstration by headteachers last week. School budgets are being squeezed and funding for high needs is particularly tight. It has now been shown that the government’s assertions about education spending on the day of the demonstration were disingenuous at best. If a school leader was as misleading as this in their presentation of school data to governors or Ofsted, I imagine that they would be in serious trouble.