Brodetsky Termly Review

Brodetsky Primary School Termly Review
Review of Spring Term 2009

The Jewish Year
Purim was fantastic in Brodetsky this year! Children had a great day and fulfilled the four
Mitzvot on the day of Purim. The circus theme for fancy dress was superb and the children
looked spectacular. Thank you to all parents (and grandparents) for big effort with
costumes. Maybe we should start planning the theme for next year! Rabbi Kleiman
commented how fantastic our pupils were during the Megillah reading – they were a real
credit to the school.

Years 5 and 6 took part in a fruit seder which was organised by JNF linked to Tu B’Shevat.
Our collection of fruit trees at the back of school continues to grow as ongoing signs of
Tu B’Shevat and our link with Israel.

The annual Oneg dinner was well attended – thank you to all who supported.

Inspection
Without a doubt the highlight of the term was a visit from four inspectors! We had been
planning for this for some time. Our 48 hour notice of inspection was made slightly more
complicated due to the snow and tricky weather. However, the outcome was really
pleasing for both the school and the wider Jewish community. We were delighted that both
the Ofsted and Pikuach inspectors recognised how much the school has improved. It was
great to have some elements of our provision identified as outstanding. The staff and
governors will, of course, continue to evaluate the school and build on existing strengths in
any way possible.

In addition, the school has been granted the Financial Management in Schools status. This
is a government accreditation which looks at how well the school handles its finances and
accounting systems.

Extended services
All schools in Leeds are part of an extended services cluster. We are part of the Alwoodley
Extended Services Cluster. Extended services is about providing services to the
community, which include education. We are part of a very well developed group. The
cluster website www.alwoodleyextendedservices.com provides more information.

Visits and visitors
Children in Reception enjoyed a visit from the fire service (in the snow). This was linked to
their work on people who help us. Year 3 and Year 4 had a great day at Magna Science
Centre in Sheffield linked to their science topic; the children were a credit to the school.
Year 4 have had the opportunity to work with sports coaches over the past half term. This
was provided free by Carnegie, part of Leeds Metropolitan University. This world
culminated in an end of term festival at Carnegie (completely paid for by Carnegie).
Parents should note that when we have these additional sports opportunities they
inevitably stipulate which year group they are for – usually linked to a government
initiative.

Year 6 spent an afternoon at Harlow Carr Gardens in Harrogate working on a science
revision session linked to SATs. They also enjoyed a visit to the Alhambra Theatre in
Bradford to watch a production of ‘Why the whales came’.

School council
The school councillors have worked on the following areas:
• worked with their class council to devise content for the revised behaviour policy;
• evaluated the behaviour policy;
• evaluated outcomes from the pupil questionnaire and fed back findings to class
councils;
• judged a poster competition

Theme week
We had a really good theme week. The whole school worked on a circus theme; this
involved each class taking part in a circus skills workshop. Over the week all classes
linked their work to the circus theme. The outcomes from the week represent learning in all
areas of the curriculum. Our next theme week will involve children learning about life in
different cultures.

We wish all families a Happy and Kosher Pesach.
Chag Sameach.