ATHELSTAN LEARNING FAMILY (ALF)

At the beginning of the 2018-2019 academic year, we introduced Athelstan Learning Family (ALF).  These sessions or workshops were designed for parents and carers to come into school and find out more about specific areas of learning. 

In the past, ALF has included:

• Attending Read Write Inc Phonics' lessons in Key Stage 1 and learning side-by-side with your own child.
• Observing a model phonics lesson in Reception.
• A series of workshops for parents/carers of pupils in Reception and Y1 led by the Deputy Headteacher and two of our specialist phonics' teaching assistants.  The pupils were also able to come along and teach their parents/carers all about how they learn their sounds and use Fred Talk to blend them into words. 
• A workshop led by our Maths Leader for parents and carers of pupils in Y3 and Y4, looking at methods of calculation.
• A workshop for parents and carers of pupils in Y6 with a focus on greater depth readers. 

VOLUNTEERING IN SCHOOL

We actively encourage our parents and carers to volunteer in school and prior to the pandemic, we had a number of adults who used to listen to children read, help out in class or volunteer their time in Forest Schools in Reception and Y1.

Application forms are available from the office.  DBS checks are carried out, an interview is arranged and references are sought in line with our Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment policies.   

SHOWCASES

Every term, we invite parents and carers to come along and join a 'Showcase' of the children's work.  These are generally held in the classrooms where parents and carers are able to walk around and find out about what the children have been learning about.  They're very interactive and our children love nothing more than to test the adults on their spelling skills!  At certain points in the year, the showcases have been organised as an Art Gallery in the hall.  Here, two year groups join together to produce a fabulous exhibition of their work following an Art Day in school.   Showcases are mostly held at 2.30pm and are advertised on our weekly newsletters. 

During the showcases, there is usually the opportunity to have an informal chat with either our Headteacher, Deb Halliday, or one of our Deputy Headteachers, Lisa Watson.  This is a great way to get to know some of the Leadership Team and to raise any concerns, ask questions or simply to let us know what we are doing well. We have also introduced a special 'Showcase Book' in which we ask parents and carers to make comments in during and after the Showcase.