A message from the Chair...
Five highlights from a big year at Fair Field It's been a very busy year at Fair Field. A record of all the important milestones would be a very long one. So I've chosen five big moments from the long list to celebrate.
Enterprise Week!
Any school year that includes an Ofsted inspection counts as a big year. In November, the inspectors visited Fair Field and spent two days talking to staff, pupils, parents and governors. They made their inspection under what they call 'the new framework', which is significantly tougher than the old one. But Fair Field did extraordinarily well - improving by almost every measure. Although the rigours of the new framework meant we weren't able to improve our overall rating from 'satisfactory' this time round, the inspectors found that almost every aspect of the school was good or better and they observed some teaching that they rated 'outstanding' - the best possible rating. Mr Johnson provided a detailed explanation of the report back in November, which is well worth a read. Our Ofsted inspection was only one of this year's good news stories but it was the most significant - and it's an enormous tribute to Mr Johnson and everyone on his team that we did so well.
In the kind of torrential rain you only really see at a British Summer Fete, the combined St John's and Fair Field school choir, led by ultra-professional musical director Helen Street and accompanied by Judit Igary, brought some sunshine of their own to the Patchetts Green Summer Fair at the end of May. The accomplished and confident performance was only one of several outings for the choir this year - a mini-tour of local venues that really allowed the children to shine. The choir is an example of Fair Field's growing ambition and confidence and a showcase for the school in our community. They did us proud.
In June, the school hall was transformed into an arena for junior entrepreneurs as the children, organised into teams, pitched the assembled dragons (six school governors) their quite breathtaking products. It was a design and technology project, organised by Miss Sinclair and class teachers, that saw the children design and make products from scratch - doing market research and business planning for their inventions too. It was Fair Field at its enterprising best - the 'dragons' were pretty sure that all of the ideas presented - from a handy case for your Nintendo DS and accessories to a personalised t-shirt printing business - could have had a life beyond the school.
Swimming is important at Fair Field. It's fifty years since parents clubbed together to pay for (and then build) the school's outdoor swimming pool. Generations of swimmers have those parents to thank for their confidence in the water. So when it became evident that we could no longer keep the old pool going, it was really important that we find a way to offer the children swimming in a really distinctive Fair Field way. It's a tribute to our headteacher's imagination that we've achieved this by building a useful partnership with Edge Grove school, just along Watford Road at High Cross. If you get a chance next year, pull on a hi-viz jacket and walk with the children along the road and through Edge Grove's grounds to the pool - you'll see real teamwork and organisation - and a valuable new partnership for the school that everyone intends to last for a long time.
Looking at the long list of achievements from Fair Field's year, one that jumps out for its huge positive effect on the daily experience of the children is the rearrangement of the classrooms. All of the children now have their classroom inside the main building and the white classrooms across the lower school playground have been turned into a brand new computer suite. It was an imaginative and ambitious thing to do and bringing the whole school together under one roof will have real benefits for all children as they pass through the school in years to come. The transformation's not finished yet, though, and when we formally dedicate the new computer room next year we'll be thanking our friends at the Bhaktivedanta Manor for their generous support in paying for new computers.
A simple idea but hard to achieve and immensely rewarding for everyone involved: the school's gardening club graduated from small producer to fully-fledged supplier to the kitchen. Produce from the Fair Field garden is now routinely served to children and staff at lunchtime. How's that for green fingers?
That long list of achievements for Fair Field during this year would include: the Rotary Club carol concert, the school's triumphant appearance at the Radlett Festival, the outstanding lower- and upper-school plays, the choir's performance at Meadow Wood School, happy and productive trips to Devon, Kingswood and York, the PTA's constant hard work in putting together the Christmas and Summer fairs, discos, film nights and much more; the group of Year 6 children who appeared on 'Are You Smarter than a ten year-old?', a successful cricket tournament, important victories in speed stacking, the Christmas carol concert, an inclusive and genuinely competitive sports day, constant improvement to the school's ageing buildings from our hard-working caretaker Mr Cappellina... and much more. Like I said, it's been a busy year!