2017 was a busy year for Shaw School, with some notable successes in the last few months.
Simon White, headteacher at Shaw CofE Primary said, “Along with many other schools in Melksham, we were delighted to have achieved our Healthy Schools Bronze award in recognition of our work to improve children’s health and fitness. Prior to this in the early autumn, the school received recognition of its work to encourage children to get involved with growing and harvesting, with awards from Melksham Produce Show and an “outstanding” award from South West in Bloom.
“In early October, the school was visited by an inspector from Salisbury Diocese who found the school to be good in all areas. He particularly commented that; “Children and parents alike talk about Shaw as a vibrant, happy, nurturing school. Children feel able to try new things and take risks, and talk enthusiastically about times when they needed to demonstrate courage and perseverance in order to overcome an obstacle to learning and make academic progress.”
“The school has been rising to the challenges posed by Ofsted in April. One area of focus has been in the teaching of mathematics. The school has fully embraced a “mastery” approach to this subject and children in all classes can now be seen learning the small steps in maths, applying these skills in a large range of contexts and learning how to explain their thinking as mathematicians. Staff training to support this approach has even involved watching expert teachers from Shanghai demonstrating this mastery approach. The feedback from the children is that they love it!”
