School News

School Travel Plan

Thanks to all the hard work done by Amanda Wackett to collate a School Travel Plan, the bid for considerable  funding has been successful. The plan includes provisiion of cycle storage and a shool crossing patrol. The position will be advertised as soon as we get the money. Well done, Amanda. Parents and Governors will be delighted to see hopes for a solution to  the road safety issues being realised.

Walking Project

A ground-breaking piece of research is being carried out by Sports Science researchers from Christ Church University. They are investigating the effects of regular walking on the physiology of children at Petham.. A feature of the body measurements is the "Bod Pod." Read more >>

Whiteboards

The school now has three interactive whiteboards, thanks to the PTFA and funding from the local cluster of schools.. Classes 1, 2, and 3 mow each are fully equipped and a representative of the suppliers, Promethean. recently gave tuition to the teachers who will be using them.

Long Serving Governor

First appointed in 1962, Tom Castle is by decades the longest serving governor. His dedication was recognised at the last meeting when Chair Roy Pickup presented him with a certificate signed by the leader of the Kent County Council, Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart.

New Loos

We are grateful for our refurbished toilets and thanks are due to Sarah Waters who made this a priority in her assault on the local authority and Stephen Brett who managed the operation on behalf of the governors.

Smart new washbasins, toilets and automatic hand driers have been installed. There is a new floor and walls have been painted in colours chosen by the children.

Workforce Remodelling

Teachers nationally are to be allowed time during the school day to carry out some of their lesson preparation and marking. Some schools are using Teaching Assistants to take classes to enable this to happen. At Petham, governors have decided we shall use qualified teachers and this will be timetabled into the weekly arrangements.

One consequence will be that it will no longer be possible for the same teacher to be with with one class for the whole of the time. We are trying to keep continuity as far as possible by arranging for specialist teaching to be provided when the class teacher is released, Music, for example, PE or Art

SATS 2004

Results published 02 December 2004 -
Percentages of children at Key stage 2 (11 year-olds) who reached Level 4 (the "expected standard") were
English 100%        Maths 84%        English 100%
This gives the school a score of 284. Nationally scores ranged from 300 to 47

The "Value Added" score of 100.9 places Petham in the top 25% of schools nationally.

Congratulations to children and teachers!

Chair of Governors

Dear Parents and Carers

I welcome this opportunity to introduce myself as the new Chair of Governors. Although, I have only been a co-opted governor of Petham School for the last year, I do have experience of the education system, having been first a secondary school teacher, an adviser and then an Ofsted inspector.

I trained as a teacher of Craft, Design and Technology; and first taught in Hertfordshire comprehensive schools.  I have been director of two major curriculum development projects in the area of technology. I have also been an inspector in the London Boroughs of Sutton and Croydon. Before retirement, I was Principal Adviser and Head of Croydon’s Advisory Service, as well as an Ofsted Inspector.

I should like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Jane Andrewes, who has been Chair of Governors for the last four years. Jane has made a tremendous contribution to the work of the governing body.  She has led the governors through difficult and changing times.

Jane had the vision, enthusiasm and commitment to help the school achieve new buildings. She has always been well informed and kept us up to date; her chairmanship has been a great inspiration to all the governors.

At the first meeting of the governors in the new school year Jane was elected as Vice Chair of Governors.  The governors also welcomed four new parent governors: Erika Lawal, Helen Nicholson, Katie Kinnersley and Mark Johnstone. The governors thanked Sue Shaw, the retiring  Clerk to the Governors, for her hard work and commitment during the last two years.  The governors are very fortunate to have appointed Mrs Chris Smith as the next Clerk of Governors.

Roy Pickup      Chair of Governors
Little Kroft
Vicarage Hill
Petham
Canterbury
Kent  CT4 5RE          Telephone:  01227 700858

Governors' Meeting

Minutes of meeting 20 October 2004 >>

SATs Results 2003

This year's test results have now been published and we can be proud of the achievements of our children, reflecting on the hard work done by them and their teachers. Well done, everyone!!

In the tables, the national figures for 2002 are shown for comparison but care should always be taken when looking at statistics based on a small "population."

Key Stage 1
Key Stage 2