As another successful academic year comes to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to share with you, our reflections on the year gone by and our vision for the new year.
This has been another exciting and eventful year for Beddington Infants’ School. We started the year with intentions of further developing our provision, especially outdoors and of branching out into providing training to other schools who wish to follow the ethos that makes Beddington Infants’ School so special. Unfortunately, as happens to even the best prepared plans, we have not been able to progress these as much as we would have liked. But who could have foreseen the pandemic and wide-reaching impact that the Coronavirus has had on us all, let alone for our school?
Despite the recent months being a very difficult time for us all, the school has shown how well it can react in these circumstances by being flexible, pragmatic, adaptive and supportive. The team at Beddington Infants have responded to a very fluid and constantly changing situation with the professionalism and integrity you would expect from such a dedicated group. They have maintained three Key Worker pods as well as bringing back all of our year groups into the safe and welcoming environment enjoyed by our children. In doing so, they have helped us all on the road back to normality and for this, they have our thanks and gratitude.
We have continued to work closely with our colleagues as part of the Sutton Education Trust. It was a big step for us to become part of the Trust back in January 2017 but one which has paid us many dividends. Not only do we have the ongoing security and support of being part of this group but also it allows us to share best practice, review & assess individual provisions, benefit from greater purchasing powers and especially maintaining successful outcomes for all of our children.
Over the last year, the Governing Body has undergone some changes. Ann Robinson stepped down as one of our Parent Governors, while Glen Smith switched from a Parent to a Co-Opted Governor. We would like to thank Ann for all her hard work and also Glen for accepting the new position. We also took this opportunity to add three new Governors and following elections, we were very happy to welcome Kirsty Styles & Andrew Daines as Parent Governors and Alan Rowe as a Co-Opted Governor to the Governing Body. We look forward to taking the school into the new academic year with a renewed focus.
Looking ahead to the new academic year, there are many things to be excited about. The school has been successful in securing funding for a number of new initiatives including a new canopy for our Reception building, new boiler system for Nursery as well as enhanced site security upgrades. Beddington Buddies have been fund raising to replace our climbing frame and to help us develop our outdoor learning provision further. We have been working on improving our online presence and the staff have added many new video clips to our website. We will also be updating our site signage and increasing our overall profile in the community. Please help us by continuing to spread the word about how fantastic a school Beddington Infants is and how it provides the best environment for young students to commence their academic journey.
Finally, we would like to say thank you for the continued support that you have given the school through the year. We are genuinely amazed by the offers of help & support we receive from our parents and Beddington Buddies. Like you, we expect the best for our children and you have our commitment to continuing to ensure they have all that they need to succeed.
Wishing you all a restful Summer break.
Stephen Allen
Chair of Governors
