Dear parents and carers,

As we move towards the close of another school year, and my second full year as substantive Head Teacher at Cliftonville Primary School, I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to you for your continued support. We have made great progress again and it has been wonderful to receive so many positive comments from parents, carers and the local and wider community which reflect the growing confidence in our school.  The building has grown, too, with the wonderful new teaching block and hall and we have celebrated the tenth anniversary of the opening of the pre-school.

We are hugely proud of the children who are a real credit to our school & to you as parents and carers.

Our Year 6 data is above the national figure for children achieving the expected standard in all three subjects of reading, writing and mathematics and attainment in the three individual subjects is above national, too.  This represents an incredible achievement for the children, especially given the new curriculum which has raised the standards required, considerably.  Our mathematics is a particular strength and is 9% over the national data – we were already sharing our best practice with local schools in both English and mathematics and this is set to be extended to even more schools. The work year on year to improve the quality of education is evident in your children’s success and is testament to their hard work and the skill and dedication of all the staff.

It is a joy to see happy children every school day, achieving and succeeding every step of the way. This year, we have increased the number of school trips, clubs and performance opportunities, strengthened our support of children’s emotional well-being and resilience and worked very hard to ensure that academic success reaches new heights. Our high-quality partnerships with various organisations provided opportunities for our pupils to enrich and extend their learning outside the classroom.  We have worked with many partners including the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, Music SoundHub, BBC 10 pieces project, Kent and Medway Maths Hub, numerous local, national and international charities, Parliamentary Teachers Institute, Margate Lifeboat Station and Motiv8 Sports and supported fantastic local community groups such as ‘A Better Cliftonville’.  We have had visits from the Kent Greyhound Trust, Local Councillors, MPs, Olympic athletes, Pets at Home, work experience students from our secondary schools, CBeebies and a local tree surgeon for national tree week!

We have been truly amazed at all the accolades received again this year from compliments from members of the public about the exemplary conduct of Year 4 children at Howletts Zoo to the sportsmanship of children in tournaments and festivals.  We were so proud of Mrs Adams winning Kent Literacy Teacher of the Year…Rhys (Y5) winning the Thanet Earth recipe challenge…School Games Silver Mark…Platinum KM Green Travel Award….Kieron (Y6) winning Thanet MP’s Christmas Card competition…National Mathematician of the Year regional team…and raising nearly £3,000 for charity...to name just a few of our amazing successes.  You have supported our book fairs, raising £3650 in commission which is ploughed back into reading resources across the school and school fund-raising through activities such as the sponsored walk which raised over £2,000. 

We have been very grateful to parents who serve on the Parents' Forum.  Their feedback, detailing both our strengths and areas for development, has such a positive impact on the success of the school.

I have also been privileged to represent all the Thanet schools by serving on the Kent Association of Head Teachers board, working hard to secure the best possible outcomes for all the children in the area.

On behalf of the Cliftonville Primary School staff, I would like to wish you all an enjoyable and safe summer holiday.  We wish all the very best to staff leaving us and thank them for their commitment to the school and their relentless focus on making sure your children have the very best education.  We also wish our Year 6 pupils all the very best for a bright and successful future – we hope they look back at their time at Cliftonville with fondness and happy memories.

I will see you all as school opens at 8.50 am on Monday 5th September 2016.  There are already lots of dates on the school calendar so please keep an eye on changes, even through the holidays. I look forward to seeing our pupils in their smart Cliftonville Primary School uniform, ready for the challenges of a new academic year.

Yours sincerely

Jane Troth

Head Teacher