Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School, Welcome back to everyone for Term Two.

This is always a very busy term with winter sports getting underway fully and a number of outings and visitors timetabled. Later this term we will continue on with our reporting regime: initially you will receive a written report that will report on your child’s achievements against National Standards. This years report will also have a section where the teacher can comment on the general achievement and attitude of your child. This written report will be supported by an interview. The interview will give a chance for the teacher to let you know how your child is doing in all curriculum areas but also it will give you a chance to ask any questions that you have.

Most studies show that for a child to achieve academically there needs to be a mutually supportive relationship between home and school. This doesn’t mean formal teaching needs to be done at home but it does mean that school based learning needs to be supported at home. It also means that we need to acknowledge that a lot of important teaching and learning takes place in the home or out of the school environment. This can be attitude and values learning but it can also be the learning that takes place just by talking to your child, reading to them at night, watching and discussing a documentary with them.

To further support the home and school partnership we will be holding an evening where we will outline the homework policy of our school, what our expectations are and give ideas on how to make learning at home fun. It would be great to see you there, please remember that we all want what is best for our pupils and working smarter together is the way to achieve the very best results.

Have a great term.

Mike Brosnahan