| Dear Parents, The autumn term is well underway and we are now in full swing. Teachers and students are very busy and the atmosphere around the school is great. It is wonderful to be in a school where there are so few disciplinary problems to get in the way of our main objective i.e. to raise the attainment of every child to its maximum. I hope you agree with me that the environment of the school has improved. I walk around the school with Dougie, our caretaker, looking for problems to sort out. We try to identify any hazardous, dangerous or potentially dangerous situations. We have dealt with many of these, for example, by creating small ramps where trip hazards may have been; by removing loose shelving from classrooms; by removing trophies stored loosely above head height in the reception area, and others. Despite this pro-active approach there are still hazards around. Only this week a child fell from one of the `monkey bars` and broke a bone in his hand. I am having the bars removed immediately and looking into ways of replacing them with safe, affordable and purpose designed equipment for our children to play on. If you are concerned about any hazards that I may not have noticed then let me know immediately. PTA Annual General Meeting:The Annual General Meeting of our Parents Teachers Association will be held in the school hall on Monday 10th December at 6.00pm. All parents and teachers are encouraged to attend.Bullying:I spoke in the last newsletter about my contempt for bullying, however it manifests itself. I am concerned about bullying that may occur within the school but I am equally concerned about bullying that may take place outside the school involving our pupils. I have had to deal with a number of incidents in recent weeks. The nature of the `bullying` varies enormously. Often the perpetrators are not aware of the hurt they are causing and often the victim is reluctant to speak for fear of making matters worse. Whenever I have spoken to children accused of bullying their response is generally encouraging. They often appreciate the enormity of the hurt they cause and are genuinely remorseful. Parents can help by talking to children about bullying. If you as a parent are concerned that your child is a victim of bullying, inside or outside of the school, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me immediately. Click here to read the Anti-Bullying Policy on this website.I would appreciate it if parents of children in Years 4 – 6 (in particular) would talk to their children and ask them about any concerns they may have. If anything emerges from such conversations and you feel I should know, please get in touch. Staff work room:It is difficult for you to fully appreciate how demanding and stressful a teacher´s job can be. Teachers are in a continuous cycle of planning, teaching, assessing, monitoring, reporting and watching out for the general well-being of children. Our teachers do all of this with good humour, tolerance, professionalism and dedication. I am amazed at what our teachers produce given the limited resources they have to work with. So I am addressing this in a small way. We are developing a new staff workroom where the teachers will be able to prepare, mark and assess pupil´s work, research internet resources and develop their own knowledge base. This has been an area neglected for too long. If we want the best teachers we must give them the best resources to do the job. The new work room should be operational within a fortnight.No smoking environment:Please be aware that we are now officially a no smoking environment. There is a total ban on smoking anywhere within the confines of the school site. This applies to everyone, including parents dropping off and picking up children.Wider Reading Action Programme (WRAP):In the last newsletter I talked about extending reading throughout the school. We are looking at ways of promoting reading. One strategy is to raise the profile and significance of reading helpers. I have asked our Year 2 teacher, Antonia Ryan-Brown, to help me to promote this. You will soon be hearing about this and a number of other initiatives to advance the development of reading. In the first instance you should be being contacted by class representatives who will ask you to donate any books you may have lying around that others could usefully use. Antonia has also asked that parents donate books for sale at our Christmas Fair. You can drop books off at the office. Thanks!Contact:Our office is staffed between the hours 8.30am to 4.30pm. Should you wish to make contact with the school or any member of staff please do so through the school secretary D. Patricia, at tel: 289 398 328, fax: 289 398 298 or by e-mail: eisl@mail.telepac.pt Please ensure that we have up-to-date contact details for you.Assessment, Recording, Reporting and Tracking:I talked in the last newsletter about developments in this area. We have made substantial progress over the past weeks. Every pupil from Year 7 will now have a clearly defined and challenging target in every subject. T he targets are based on our assessment of ability and potential. Targets are intended to act as motivators and, as such, push the pupils to the highest level of attainment. In addition to this we have modified our reporting procedures. You will receive a brief report at the end of each half term that will indicate the target for a particular subject; the current level of attainment that your child is operating at; and the level of effort being put in by the pupil that is driving them to the achievement of their target. Our emphasis will be on `effort`. We are telling the children that the best that we can expect of them is that they try their hardest. I will explain our new system more fully with the first report before half-term.United Nations Day:There will be a variety of activities taking place on 26th October enabling our students to develop a better understanding of the United Nations.Visit to the Gulbenkian Art Gallery, Lisbon:A group of 49 Year 10-13 students will be visiting the Gulbenkian Art Gallery on Friday 19th October. This will be a great opportunity for them to experience the wealth of art exhibited in this superb environment.Christmas Photographs:All children will have their photograph taken on Monday 22nd October. Please ensure that they are dressed smart and in full school uniform.Samaritans Purse:Many of our children contributed to this special collection of gifts for under privileged children. Their effort and generosity was fantastic. I was proud to see how many shoe boxes were collected and filled with great gifts and treats. Again, our pupils of all ages demonstrated the spirit of caring and generosity so evident in this school.Alison Stovold:I would like to welcome Alison who has joined our administration staff. She is a well-qualified and experienced person who will add substantially to our team.Thanks:Goldra Animal Shelter/Quintinha dos Animais Abandonados would like to thank all parents and children who gave donations on World Animal Day. They raised Euro 510,60 and lots of dog and cat food.Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award:Congratulations to our Year 11 pupils who gained the Bronze Award after successfully completing an expedition at the weekend.Mamamaratana:Thanks to everyone who sponsored Mrs Liz Tilson. The walk was a great success with over 2000 people. Please give any money pledged into the office. Your support was much appreciated.
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