Dear families

I am absolutely delighted to share with you that we have a full cohort of 15 pupils joining us into Reception in September.  This is quite remarkable as there continues to be a drop in school-age children in our locality.  Old Town Primary’s reputation for providing an outstanding experience has filtered into the community and I have all of you to thank for that, as well as our hard-working and dedicated staff, of course.    

From September, we will be re-configuring the classes once again in order to sensibly accommodate the different sized cohorts.  Wainsgate staff will teach pupils in Reception and Year 1, Wadsworth staff will teach pupils in Years 2, 3 and 4 and Chiserley staff will continue to teach Years 5 and 6.  We have already begun work on the curriculum schedule alongside our planned programme of improvement and refinement.

Despite the increased number of children joining the school, our overall numbers on roll remain largely the same due to the large cohort in Year 6 that will leave us at the end of the Summer Term.  It could be some time before we return to having four classes – total numbers on roll will need to increase significantly to secure that.  In the meantime, I would like to reassure you that the standard of education that we provide is in no way limited.  We are experienced and skilled in the curriculum design of mixed age classes and we deploy skilled staff to ensure that all pupils have access to the best possible education.

If you would like to chat with me about any of the changes, or indeed, about any other aspect of your child’s education, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Jo Buckley