I hope all parents and carers received the letter about the unfortunate school closure to pupils which is going to take place on THURSDAY JULY 2ND and FRIDAY JULY 3RD ( apart from those pupils undertaking College Transition or Duke of Edinburgh training).  This situation has come about due to severe damage to our water tank which needs draining and repairing as soon as possible. I have explored every option available before coming to this decision as I appreciate the difficulties this school closure will cause for some families. I obviously had wanted to wait until the summer holidays but the experts say the tank wont wait that long! Again I can only apologise for this disruption.

On a positive note the building extension is going to be finished this week with an official soft handover scheduled for Thursday - it really looks amazing and we are all so excited and can't wait to be using it!

I would like to say a very big thank you to all the staff who organised our wonderful Family Fun Picnic at Rowan Adventure Park last Saturday June 13th. We all had a wonderful time with the objective of introducing the Park to families for quality family experiences being 100% met! Have a look at the poster photographs of the event and have a chat with any of the families who did attend if you would like to know more about how to access the Park and the benefits of having your own key.

There are only four more weeks left of this term and having read through the diary this morning there is so much going on I am sure I will see most of you during this time! This Wednesday is the Lower School Sports Afternoon on the front playground so pray for good weather and come along to support from 13:45

Once again apologies for the school closure next week

Sue

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE we need your votes!!!

Merefield has been shortlisted to be Southport Sainsburys Charity of the Year but we need your help! The decision is a public vote which closes on Sunday June 28th - please vote and encourage all your family, friends, work colleagues and anyone you know to vote! This would be a wonderful opportunity to work with Sainsburys to provide valuable life skill experiences for our pupils and also raise much needed funds to create a super Adventure Playground!

You can vote either online at www.sainsburyslocalcharity.co.uk or in the Southport Sainsburys store

Spread the word!!!!

Class 8 were commended for their entry in the Sefton Rubbish Friends Design a Poster competition.  You will be able to see their art work on posters adorning the large litter bins in and around Southport.

Southport OTS News also covered the competition and you can read their article here.

MEREFIELD SCHOOL AND BRITISH VALUES

The DfE have recently reinforced the need “ to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”

The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy and these values have been reiterated by the Prime Minster this year. At Merefield School these values – in line with the individual pupils’ capacity to understand the concepts and ideas of these values – are reinforced regularly and in the following ways:

Democracy

Pupils have the opportunity to have their voices heard through our School Council and Person Centered Annual Review meetings. Children and young people are elected onto our school council by their peers. The school council holds full in-school meetings every term and sends representatives to regular local and regional school council meetings.

The rule of law

The importance of laws, whether they be those that govern the class, the school or the country, are consistently reinforced throughout regular school days as well as when dealing with behaviour and through school assemblies.

Pupils are taught the value and reasons behind laws, that they govern and protect us, the responsibilities that this involves and the consequences when laws are broken. Visits from authorities such as the police and fire service are parts of our curriculum calendar and help reinforce this message.

Individual liberty

Within school, pupils are actively encouraged to make choices, knowing they are in a safe and supportive environment. As a school we educate and provide boundaries for all our pupils to make choices safely, through the provision of a safe environment and empowering education.

Throughout the Merefield Curriculum Pathways pupils are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and receive appropriate advice of how to exercise these safely, for example through e-safety workshops and PSHE lessons. Whether it be through choice of challenge, of how they record or of participation in our extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, pupils are given the freedom to make choices.

Mutual respect

Part of our school ethos and Positive Behaviour Management policy revolves around core values such as “respect” and pupils have been part of discussions and assemblies related to what this means and how it is shown. Displays around school promote all aspects of this alongside Merefields’ commitment to the UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award. We achieved the RRSA Recognition of Commitment in December 2014 and are currently working towards achieving Level 1 within a timeline of July 2016.

Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs

This is achieved through enhancing pupils understanding of their place within a culturally diverse society and by giving them opportunities to experience such diversity. Assemblies and discussions involving prejudices and prejudice-based bullying have been followed and supported by learning within RE and PHSE lessons. Pupils also participate in cultural themed days e.g. Diwali and Chinese New Year

This morning I have just waved goodbye to Class 4 going to visit the Fenery in Botanic Gardens as part of their curriculum study this term and to Class 5 going for their first class visit to the café in Ainsdale Village - wonderful examples of real life learning for our pupils which is an integral part of their holistic development. We have received four different groups of visitors in the past month who had heard about the new Merefield Curriculum and wanted to find out more - very positive feedback from all suggests that other schools similar to Merefield will be adopting a similar life skills context approach to their future curriculum design. A Quality Assurance visit from an ex HMI Ofsted Inspector also confirmed the outstanding curriculum provision now available throughout Merefield School - a glowing testimony to all the hard work from all staff during this past academic year.

I am very proud to announce that we have submitted our request for final assessment of our LPPA - Leading Parent Partnership Award - this is now scheduled to take place on Monday July 13th. I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard all year on this framework which has enabled Merefield to critically review and evaluate the partnership there is between school and home.

The new building extension is now in its final stages with completion scheduled for June 22nd! The space looks amazing - it is the size of two large classrooms with a collapsible wall facilitating its use as either one large space or two smaller spaces. There is also a small work room, fully equipped hygiene room and cloakroom. Great care and consideration has been shown by the contractors throughout the build which has resulted in minimal disruption for the school for which we are very grateful. We will post photos as soon as possible to share the addition of this wonderful space within our school facilities.

The refurbishment of the swimming pool however is another matter altogether - problems regarding the delivery of the correct tiles and the actual retiling process itself have resulted in delay after delay - frustration does not begin to describe our feelings about this project! Hopefully I will have more positive news about the pool next month.

The redesign of the sensory light room is scheduled to begin on June 29th with completion due within 3 weeks

Unbelievably this academic year will end six weeks tomorrow - mind you there is so much in the diary to fit in during this next six weeks that I know the time will fly by!