Re: Infant School Strategy Update

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last year we began sharing strategy updates at the beginning of each half-term highlighting what we have been working on and what our next steps are to continue to drive school improvement and provide the children with the best possible outcomes.

The staff have been back for almost a week and have been eager and motivated to get started. We had two meaningful INSET days focusing on our school development priorities as well as some training from the local authority on the updated Ofsted Framework.

School Improvement Priorities 2026-2027

• Maintaining high levels of achievement in Phonics

In June 2025 and June 2026 we were incredibly proud of the Phonics Screening Check results for both Year 1 and Year 2 children. We have achieved above the national average now in both of these year groups for two consecutive years and will continue to maintain these results.

Phonics lessons begin today for Year 1 and Year 2 and in the next few weeks for Reception (in line with Little Wandle guidance). We will continue to assess children regularly, put support in place for those who need it and will be running several workshops in the coming weeks to support parents with understanding Phonics and how to help your children at home.

• Writing attainment and progress

We will have a strong focus this year on writing as we know that this is a more challenging area for our children. The increase in use of technology in our society means that children see writing happening less and find it harder to see the purpose in the same way as many of us may have growing up. We have already refined our writing curriculum and are excited to see how the changes we are making to lessons will impact the children positively. We’ve followed guidance from ‘The Writing Framework’ as well as other recommended strategies and will continue to work carefully on this area throughout the year.

• Continuing to develop outdoor areas

Outdoor learning is a high priority for us at Farnham Common Infant School. We know children love it and there are so many opportunities for children to learn through exploration and play. Last year, we had a stage built in the Reception outdoor area where children now regularly perform songs, poems, make music and put on shows together. We are committed to continuing to develop this area for the children.

Over the las year we have been fundraising for canopies outside of Pine and Cherry classrooms. We secured a grant from a local company which has helped us on our way, but there is still more to raise. We will continue to raise money with support from the Friends of Farnham Common Village Schools and work towards having these canopies built so that the children have more access to outdoor learning.

• Marketing and continuing to increase pupil numbers

As many of you are aware, our pupil numbers have been lower over the last two years, which has a significant impact on the financial position of the school. However, we are pleased to report our Acorn numbers for this year remain high with just a few places available in some sessions. Reception numbers are also higher this year, and we have had a number of new families join us in September. We are hosting another Forest School Taster Session on Saturday 26^th September at 10:15-11:45, which is a lovely opportunity for prospective pupils to explore the forest and meet many of the school staff. We plan to repeat these sessions at regular intervals throughout the year as well as offer parent tours on a weekly basis.

I highly value the support from our parent community. Please do get in touch if you have any ideas or suggestions to support the continued development of the school.

Miss Wright

 

 

Re: Junior School Strategy Update

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you had a great summer. I am very excited about the year ahead and look forward to seeing you soon.

This year the Junior School’s core aims are to…

• Raise standards in writing to be above the national average through teacher training and tracking of targets.
• Making sure provision for the disadvantaged and vulnerable children is high quality.
• Ensure our attendance levels are above the national average, which is currently 96%. Last year we were below 95%.
• Support our SEND children with targeted teaching using a newly set-up group for Maths and English.
• Have consistent and high-quality teaching across all year groups, through regular monitoring and support.
• Develop reading fluency and phonics, particularly in years 3 and 4 and a ‘love of reading’.
• Strengthen core number skills in Mathematics by working with the Maths Hub and using the 'Mastering Number' scheme.

We will also be working on the following:

• Making sure we communicate efficiently with parents so that everyone is aware of what is going on in school.
• Marketing the school to share all the things we do and celebrate achievements.
• Using Google Classroom, which is an online platform that we can share homework and assign home learning in case of school closure.
• Parental involvement in their child’s learning through workshops and lessons where parents are invited.
• Developing our after-school club provision so that there are clearly set out planned activities which are shared with parents.
• Working well with Friends of FCVS and Governors who support the school so well.

I will update you on how we are achieving these aims through half-term updates.

Best wishes,

David