THE “thrilled” new leadership team at a Lichfield school say they are keen to work with the community to help shape the school’s future.
Head James Chapman and assistant head Alfie Eke have begun plotting the future of Scotch Orchard Primary School following their appointment.
The pair say they are keen to invite families to take a more active role in shaping the school’s policies going forward.
James said:
“The thing everyone notices when they visit Scotch Orchard is that our school is at the heart of a community that really cares and wants to be involved.
“The first thing I did as acting head was work on enabling our community connection to flourish even further. We opened the school to parents more regularly and got them involved in things like our attendance and behaviour strategies. Their feedback has been absolutely vital.
“We get lots of positive praise from parents, but we also encourage them to challenge us and bring their concerns to us.”
Alfie added:
“We’ve conducted a lot of surveys with parents, and the common theme was that they could tell the teachers really care.
“We had more than 95% of parents recommend Scotch Orchard, and they were celebrating how the school has transformed over the last 12 months.”
Scotch Orchard implemented an “ambitious” new curriculum in October.
James said:
“The way we’re working with the children has completely changed – and it’s been overwhelmingly positive.
“We now have a greater focus on critical, core content for each topic so that children can build on their knowledge lesson after lesson, and we revisit these essential points frequently.
“Our children are so proud of the things they can remember.
“Our vision as a team leading this school is that we want Scotch Orchard to be an irresistible place for children, for families, for teachers, forever. We want learning to be brought to life in a happy, joyful environment.
“Alfie and I want the children to see that while teachers have high expectations for them, we are also warm, loving, trusting, safe people – and we truly care about them beyond just the classroom.”
