Archive blogs:

• Idyllic village school

  Fri 21 Sep 2018 Mrs Roberts

  We are tucked away in the beautiful village of Aston Rowant, lucky enough to have the Chiltern Hills on our doorstep and the wonderful, rolling countryside of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire nearby. There are horses in the lane, cows in the field, frogs in our pond and squirrels on the playground.

   

  So what is it really like to go to a small rural school?

   

  Well, the school is like an extended family, the children have a tremendous sense of belonging. We have acres of space for the pupils to play and learn in, parent volunteers help in sorts of ways and the community links are strong, long lasting and intergenerational. Our links with St Peter and St Paul's church are rooted firmly in our distinctively Christian ethos.

   

  What do Aston Rowant children say about our school?

   

  • It's easy to work hard here because it is so peaceful
  • You get much more attention because the class sizes are small
  • It's quiet and we have calm places where we can just 'be'.
  • There's enough space to play football every day.
  • In our Xmas play and at the end of the year, everyone gets at least one part in the show.
  • You are noticed more.
  • We all know each other really well.
  • We learn outdoors all the time - even in the snow!
  • We came here because we wanted to.
  • You know everyone and everyone knows you, so it feels safe.
  • The lessons are really good because you have a say about what you learn.
  • We have lots of responsibilities. I am a school councillor, I organise the music for our collective worship and I am an eco warrior. So we get to have more opportunities to take a lead role.
  • Everyone is kind because nobody spoils it for others.
  • We all have someone to talk to.
  • I am really good at maths and my teacher noticed really quickly so it just got harder!
  • We have time to enjoy school - it's not rushed and busy.
  • Nobody shouts here. We talk things through.

   

  It is idyllic and working in a small tight-knit team means all the staff feel a sense of belonging and job satisfaction. We all work towards a shared goal and it really feels like we are making a difference together. 

   

  There are challenges though, as bubbling beneath this rural paradise are the pressures of per pupil funding. The main determinant of school funding is the number of pupils. At Aston Rowant and other rural schools there may be as few as 4 children in a year group or as many as 15. This brings chaos to school budgets. Each year we have to ask ourselves if we can afford a teacher? Can we afford new resources? Can we afford repairs to our Victorian school building? Can we afford to send our teachers on new training courses?

   

  With such supportive parents and a strong PTA we are able to raise significant funds for additional projects in school such as the upgrading of our soft play area which is a focus for fundraising this year. We are lucky in that respect.

   

  Maintaining our pupil numbers is so important to keeping afloat. We all consider ourselves so lucky to work in such a wonderful place. Our  school community, as small as it is, makes up an important part of our children's primary years that they will remember for a lifetime. Often when I see past pupils they always reflect on the fun times and great foundations that were built at Aston Rowant. We develop a nurtured bespoke learning environment second to none.

   

  If you would like to come and visit our school, we are still holding open mornings on a Friday mornings from 9am -10am. Alternatively, if you would prefer a 1:1 tour of the school with myself, please make an appointment via the school office.

   

  

• Welcome Back!

  Fri 14 Sep 2018 Mrs Roberts

  Welcome back to school everyone! How lovely it is to see so many happy faces starting school this week. I hope that you have all had a lovely summer break. The children have come back amazingly well and seem full of energy and positivity for the year ahead.

   

  In this day and age, a lot of people wonder why we still even go to school when everything has become readily available to us at the click of a button. Need to know when man first landed on the moon? Google it. Want music? Go on YouTube. Need to know what’s 67 percent of 110? We have calculators on our phones for that.

   

  Yet, although we have all this information at our fingertips, Aston Rowant School is about so much more than mastering equations or memorizing dates. Not only is the learning we do in the classroom still fundamentally different than a few rushed minutes in front of a small screen, a huge – and I’d argue the best – part of our school life is the personal connections our children make with each other and with our adults in school. We offer a small nurturing environment where children can feel confident and learn in a safe and friendly environment both inside and outside the classroom.

   

  It has been a very busy summer at school with the arranging of our new playground markings and organising the classrooms. Teachers and support staff were in a great deal over the holidays to ensure the classrooms and our wonderful outdoor areas are ready for learning. As you can see from the photographs below they have done a sterling job!

   

  We have welcomed two new teachers this term. Mrs Hall and Mrs Broadwith who will be working in Hedgehog Class with Year 1 and our Early Years children alongside Mrs Surman for the whole of this academic year. We also welcome Mrs Winspear who is teaching PE across the school and supporting in Hedgehog and Squirrel class. We are really lucky to have found three such experienced and talented teachers to join our team. Thank you to the children and parents for making them so welcome.

   

  Hopefully your children will have come home and talked a little about our school values - Respect, Responsibility, Compassion and Wisdom. Our distinctively Christian ethos, in partnership with our local church and the wider community, confirms our provision for spirituality, reflection and mental well being. With such busy and hectic lifestyles today, it is important for us that we offer spaces for the children to stop and think, to ask big questions and wonder about the world around them. This culture of reflection, responsibility and consideration for others gives the children a self confidence when expressing their inner thoughts and feelings..

   

  We had many successes last year - Our SATs results and pupil progress were outstanding. The children worked so hard and made us all very proud. Parental feedback from the children's reports and on our parent questionnaire was particularly positive - thank you!  We are so proud to achieve a silver award in Science which evidences our excellent teaching and learning in Science, Technology Engineering and Maths. We are thrilled to bits with this award and looking forward to the presentation ceremony in November.

   

  Our Forest activities are now well embedded with the children learning so much more about the world around them in our beautiful outside areas with sensory spaces so the children can grow and learn.

   

  As we look to the year ahead, we will be promoting writing so that we develop more of our writers to confidently showcase their work at a higher level, demonstrating that they have a deeper mastery of the subject.

   

  To see our wonderful school in action, come to our open mornings. New parents looking for school places are welcome to visit every Friday morning in September from 9-10am. I am also taking bookings for 1:1 tours of the school if preferred.

   

  For now....on with the important job of educating our children!