Headteacher Update

School Improvement Update

Last week we were delighted to welcome a number of visitors into school as part of our ongoing school improvement journey. These visits focused on quality assurance and provided an opportunity for external professionals to work alongside our leaders and staff.

The Director of Education spent time reviewing our SEND provision alongside our SENDCos, while our linked Maths Hub consultant and Talk for Writing consultant carried out learning walks and book looks with our Maths and English subject leads. In addition, a Surrey Early Years consultant worked closely with our Nursery teams to review and support practice in the Early Years.

We were extremely pleased with the outcomes of all the visits. The feedback highlighted improvements since the previous visits, and importantly, the identified next steps closely matched priorities we had already set out in our School Improvement Plan. This gave us external validation that we are focusing on the right areas and moving in the right direction.

One particularly successful area noted by visitors was the quality of learning evidenced in the children’s books. This reflects the hard work of both pupils and staff and the high expectations across the school. We are confident that the recent introduction of our school learning behaviours will strengthen this even further, supporting children to take pride in their work and deepen their learning

Ofsted Update

Since our last Ofsted inspection in November 2024, the Ofsted Framework has changed considerably, with the new framework coming into force in November 2025. Ofsted has been clear that the previous inspection gradings cannot be compared to the new ones, as the process is now more similar to an MOT: schools will receive separate judgements for different areas, with no overall headline grade. Please see the link below for a short video that explains the new inspection process in more detail. I will also be hosting a Parent Forum on Wednesday 4 February at 5.00pm, where I will talk through the progress we are making on our school improvement journey and explain the new Ofsted Framework. I look forward to seeing you there.  New Ofsted report cards and grades: a guide for parents

School Dinners on Arbor

This is just a reminder that the SD (Special Diet) option on Arbor should only be selected if your child has dietary needs. If it's selected, and your child has no known dietary needs, option 1 will automatically be selected for them.

This half-term we are collecting responses from parents and carers to give an opportunity to share your views, celebrate what is working well, and let us know how we can continue to improve our school. We warmly encourage you to add comments where invited.

Parent Survey

This half-term we are collecting responses from parents and carers to give an opportunity to share your views, celebrate what is working well, and let us know how we can continue to improve our school. We warmly encourage you to add comments where invited.

Please see the link below for the parent survey.

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/CWfixP5yb3

Have a lovely weekend

Denise Coady

Bletchingley Community Garden

Our growing group of volunteers meets on the last Sunday of the month in the garden – if you’d like to join us this Sunday (25th January), please come along between 10am and 12 noon. You can join us for a chat or help with some weeding and general gardening. If you’d like to help, please bring your own gardening tools and gloves if you have them.

We continue to look for any items we can use in the garden to attract wildlife, such as bird boxes or any plants/flowers we could add to one of our planting areas. Please email us if you can help - bletchingleycommunitygarden@gmail.com. You can also stay up to date on Facebook via our page - Bletchingley Community Wellbeing Garden.

Please can you share the above message with friends and neighbours if they may be interested in getting involved.

Penalty Notices to Address Poor Attendance at School

A Penalty Notice may be issued as an alternative to the prosecution of a parent/carer for their child’s unauthorised absence from school (absence without the agreement of the school or not covered by a medical note) and will be used by Surrey County Council in the following circumstances :-

Just to remind parents/carers that if they take their children out of school without authority for 5 or more days (which do not have to be consecutive), then the following will apply:

1. If you have not incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children in a rolling 3 year period since 19 August 2024, then the penalty notice will be charged at the rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80.00 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

 2. If you have incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children since 19 August 2024, the rolling 3 year period will be activated from the date of the first penalty notice and the second penalty notice will be charged at the flat rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. There will be no reduction for payment within 21 days. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

 3. If you have incurred 2 penalty notices relating to this child/children in the rolling 3 year period since the first penalty notice was issued, then you will NOT receive a third penalty notice – Surrey County Council will have no option but to consider a prosecution, per parent/carer per child, in the Magistrates Court under s 444 Education Act 1996.

Surrey County Council is not responsible for authorising pupil absence and therefore cannot withdraw any Penalty Notice requests without the written permission of the Headteacher.