Welcome
Welcome to our small and friendly village school. We have enthusiastic pupils and staff, who are passionate about engaging in rich learning experiences.
Welcome to
Yattendon C of E Aided
Primary School
A small school with a big vision
.
Miss Trunchbull kept a watchful eye on our pupils on World Book Day!
A big thank you to those who supported the Yattendon Santa Dash charity run on Sunday. It was a huge success, with over 200 attendees enjoying a 1km or 5km run through the beautiful Christmas tree fields with kind permission of the Iliffe family. The total profits are being calculated but are expected to be in the region of £5,000 - some of which will be donated to our school and the rest to the Charlie Waller Trust, which provides vital mental health support to children and young people. The organising team was led by school Dad, Charlie Rudge, supported by other parents including James Hole, Ian Jones, David Turnbull, Alistair Comrie and Adam Pusey. Michelle Yam (who runs exercise classes in Hermitage) led energising warm-ups. Watch this space for a re-run next year!
Do you have an interest in local education, care about the status of schools in our communities and believe you can make a positive contribution to the future of Yattendon Primary School? Are you active within your church community, or simply sympathetic to the Christian values and ethos of our school? If so, we would like to hear from you.
We have a Governor vacancy on our Board for a foundation governor – a governor approved by the local diocese as someone willing to uphold and promote the school's distinctive Christian foundation. This might particularly suit a local grandparent or retired person, who perhaps has the time to give to this worthwhile role. No previous experience of being a governor is necessary and training and support are provided. OFSTED awarded us ‘Good’ and Church Inspectors designated us as ‘Excellent’, their highest award. Our school punches well above its weight. We’d like to keep it that way, so why not join us to ensure its future? “Being a School Governor has been a hugely rewarding experience for me. Yattendon is an exceptional small school with a strong Christian ethos which serves the local community brilliantly and it is a privilege to be involved with every aspect of school life.
Getting to know the dedicated staff and the happy, confident pupils has been a pleasure and I am glad to be able to volunteer in a way that affects the outcomes of the children of our community.”
If you would like to find out more about the role and what’s involved, please get in touch. For an informal chat or to source an information pack, please contact Sarah Barron, Chair of Governors sbarron@yattendon.w-berks.sch.uk
Our fabulous choir of KS2 children performed as part of the Junior Music Festival at The Anvil in Basingstoke. Focussing on climate change and pollution of the oceans, the children performed a range of songs with a massed schools choir of 500 children!
After many months of rehearsals, learning lyrics, making percussion instruments and learning sign language to accompany a song, the children's efforts were showcased within the spectacular performance. What an amazing event!
Our fabulous Rainbow Room facility was installed at
half term. It includes cooking facilities and a hard floor that will make it an ideal space for home economics and creative activities in particular. The room has been extremely well used already –
from Breakfast Club, to small group work and even a
second bubble staff room! We are very pleased with
the space which seems even bigger than it was
before! Our thanks go to the Waterhouse Trust for
funding this facility.
Tuesday 8th June was World Oceans Day. More than 140 countries take part and pledge to consider the importance of our oceans. Almost three quarters of the Earth's surface is water and it holds thousands of plant and animal species. Many people around the world rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. We marked this day in school by exploring the importance of our oceans and the many threats that they face. In Kingfishers, we discovered that one of the biggest threats to our oceans is plastic - 12 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans every year and much of this is non-biodegradable. We were inspired by Police officers in Wales who re-use their riot shields to build greenhouses instead of sending them to landfill. We came up with a range of further possible uses for non-biodegradable plastic products.
Owls looked at a PowerPoint about the day and named the oceans of the world and talked about ways we need to save the oceans. Then we coloured pictures of the ocean and made a save the ocean display - with net, fish, jelly fish etc. The children created signs for the display.
Robins reminded themselves of our world oceans and discussed everything they give us and how we can damage them. Swallows thought about the importance of the oceans and created some beautiful art in response to their discussions and learning.
Years 4, 5 and 6 experienced an engineering challenge on Tuesday. In ambitious Yattendon style, Mrs Manley had signed us up to something a bit different – a live stream challenge. The Tim Henman Foundation aims to raise aspiration by giving access to new skills and opportunities. The
children were taught about the elements and purpose of each part of a glider. They then worked through design, testing and evaluation stages.
Although wet, we walked to the woods behind the church safely. The children all had a sense of road safety and could talk about why we had our high vis jackets on so vehicles could see use all easily. When we arrived we sung our Forest Friday song and the children began to join in with some of the words.
There were then a range of challenges to enable the children to explore the environment - all were able to stick the the given boundaries and safety instructions.
The children had to collect a variety of things from the woodland floor - leaves that they described and said why they had picked their leaf. Thin/short sticks which we compared and discussed.
They then had the freedom to explore for themselves - many explored the established den areas, some lifted the tree stumps to look for mini beasts and others continued collecting things of interest.
At the end of the session, we enjoyed a drink and a snack and talked about our first trip to the woods.
Dear Parents,
At 5.15pm today, the Secretary of State for Education gave a public statement that all state-funded schools in England would be closed from the end of the school day on Friday.
Having indicated that all schools would be closed, he then indicated that they would be expected to remain open for the children of key workers and for those in various vulnerable categories – providing a safe place and access to meals. We are expecting a definition of ‘key worker’ tomorrow from the Cabinet Office. It will take time to determine the nature of this provision. If you think this may apply to your household, it would be helpful if you could let the office know by email. office@yattendon.w-berks.sch.uk
Although we have been anticipating such an announcement, and prepared for various scenarios, the limited details so far released raise considerably more questions than answers. You will all have your own legitimate concerns and queries.
The Secretary of State gave no undertaking that schools would be expected to sustain a pattern of normal learning during the closure; rather that any available staff would be expected to support other front line efforts.
I will be working tomorrow with staff, to clarify as best we can what this announcement means for the school, for our pupils and for you. I anticipate providing more details later tomorrow. I am literally receiving information at the same time that you are. Whilst very happy to receive emails from 7am until 10pm, I am waiting for information and guidance.
Thank you for your support and for your patience in the meantime.
For the next two days, pupil attendance is expected to continue as normal within the COVID-19 Public Health England guidance.
Best wishes,
Mrs Manley