Some of the highlights of the report include:

‘Parents and carers are delighted with the school, and this is reflected in very positive questionnaire responses and comments.’

Pupils’ ‘outstanding behaviour underpins their very positive attitudes to learning.’

‘The outstanding curriculum is stimulating for pupils, and planned carefully to suit them.’

‘The school’s rate of progress has far exceeded the national trend.’

Ofsted confirmed Prof. Claxton’s conclusions that pupils “develop very positive attitudes to learning and a thirst for knowledge”, and leave with “a strong set of higher-order skills to sustain them for a lifetime of learning”.

Headteacher Andrea Curtis stated: “We are very proud of our achievements and delighted to have them acknowledged externally. There is a real and tangible team spirit at Bushfield between children, families, staff and governors that sustains our ambition to ‘be the best we can be’ ”.

Chair of Governors Simon Buckingham Shum spoke on behalf of all the governors, adding “It’s a privilege working with such an expert, dedicated team, who have created something special here at Bushfield. We’re delighted that the inspectors were able to experience that when they visited!”

Read the full report Bushfield Ofsted Report 2010.

Internationally leading Professor of Learning Sciences, Guy Claxton, visited Bushfield this week to see for himself how the school has been teaching pupils to “learn how to learn”. This gives them a new language to talk about being skilful learners in all aspects of life, not just in school. Children talk naturally about building “learning muscles” like managing distractions, collaborating, and questioning — just what they’ll need to thrive in a fast-changing world.

Prof. Claxton’s visit followed a colleague’s review of the school who reported that she’d never seen such rapid, effective adoption of the approach.

After observing lessons and meeting with staff and pupils, Prof. Claxton commented,

“I saw 7 and 10 year olds collaborating and talking about their learning in ways that would have defeated many Cambridge undergraduates. I was thrilled to see what Andrea and her team have been able to achieve, when you coach children in the right way – and trust them to take more responsibility for their learning. Fantastic!”

Bushfield Year 3 pupils in Mrs Truan’s class, working in pairs during Prof. Guy Claxton’s visit

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/year-3-chickens-2010

First we met a man called Dave so he could tell us about the chickens and we could have a look at them. There was a turkey, when the bottom of its neck goes red that means it is showing off, and when it’s white it is not showing off.  There was also a female turkey, it went “Gobble, gobble,” it was talking to us!

There were different coloured chickens like black, yellow, white, grey, multicoloured and brown. Then we collected the two chickens we were keeping and we came back to school.  All of us got an egg each while we were there!

Tye helping to collect the eggs

Our chickens are different colours, one is white, and the other is brown. The man told us they were Silkies. We have a rota to feed and give water to the chickens. We’re really looking forward to looking after them, and getting the first egg!

Courtney

Our new chickens!

Fairtrade Fortnight (22 Feb- 7 March)

The children at Bushfield have been learning about Fairtrade week as part of our whole school assembly. The staff at the school have pledged to drink only Fairtrade tea and coffee in the run up to Easter. The children have been asked to swap something they would normally buy for a Fairtrade alternative, showing our support for the developing world producers. The children will also have the opportunity to buy fruit from ‘Fairtrade Friday Fruit Stop’ on Friday 12^th March, when all the fruit being sold will be Fairtrade.

Athletics Squad

The Bushfield athletics squad have tried out to represent the Radcliffe cluster (five local schools) in the Milton Keynes Athletic event later in the year.  Of the 16 children selected to represent our area, 10 of them were Bushfield children: a testament of the hard work and dedication of the children and the sports team at Bushfield.

Year 5 visit to religious buildings in Wolverton

On Thursday the 4^th February the children in Year 5 left the school to find out more information about religions in our local community as part of their RE lessons.  The children visited the Wolverton Evangelical Church, St Francis de Sale Catholic Church, St Georges Church and the Wolverton Mosque.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the day; exploring the buildings and listening to the inspiring faith leaders inform the children about their faith. The day was very successful with the children’s exemplary behaviour being noted by all the people they met.

Hockey Tournament

The Year 5/6 hockey tournament has now started and will continue for the next three weeks on Thursdays after school, we wish all the children well and were impressed by the effort put in by all during the first day.  We will hopefully have some match reports to share with you soon.

By Jack W

Bushfield starting line up:

Goalie: Jamie

Defence: James and Dominic

Midfield: Kit, Elijah and Jack W

Striker: Daniel B

Subs: Joshua C, Dan W and David T

Kick off. Stanton take centre and start the play.  They send a long ball down the centre of the pitch which is then collected.  The play stretches across the pitch to a winger.  He takes a shot but it goes across the face of the goal and there is no one in the box to take a chance.  Mr Hill asks the Stanton manager how many players he has on the pitch.  Apparently he thought it was 9 a-side but Mr Hill was playing 7 so then he put on his three subs.

It’s a Bushfield goal kick.  Jamie boots the ball down the left wing.  It is quickly intercepted and goes out of play.  Jack takes the throw on down the line.  The ball is crossed in and… GOAL! We didn’t catch the scorer but hold on; Mr Hill was playing 10 a-side! Unfortunately the goal has to be cancelled because Mr Hill can’t count (that is what he said) and was playing an extra man during the goal! Then Dan W had to come off.  Play starts again at the throwing.  This time Stanton clears the ball down to the Bushfield half.

The Stanton right winger or right back passes the ball down the line to the striker.  He weaves in and out of James, Josh and Dom and then neatly finishes into the back of the net. 1-0 Stanton.

Bushfield break on the counter attack and Elijah runs down the right wing.  He is shut down by the right corner flag with no space to run into.  Stanton stick a leg in and it’s a Bushfield corner.  Elijah takes it low and hard. One of the Stanton defenders miss-kicks the ball and it goes straight above his head.  Kit rises high and volleys the ball whiskers away from the goal.  The Stanton goalkeeper takes his goal kick to the striker who is in no space.  He lays it back for his team mate who blasts the ball in the top corner out of Jamie’s reach. 2-0 Stanton.

Jack has the ball on the wing.  He chips it over the Stanton defence. Dan is through on goal but the goalie was there to make the challenge. Jack is on the wing again. He chips the ball over the defence but it was out of reach for Dan to get a shot in.

Finally, Bushfield grab a goal back. Dan just slots it home for Bushfield. 2-1.

Stanton has the ball once again, steadily moving towards goal. Their striker is in and out of the defence again to score one more. 3-1.

It is now half time. The managers and players have their team talks and then start the second half.

Stanton passes down the line to the winger who then crosses the ball into the box.  It is deflected away but is then smashed on the volley and hits the crossbar.  Afterwards the Stanton striker cuts into the box, has a shot but hits the crossbar once more.

Dan W has the ball.  He gives a nice ball through the defence to Dan B. He gets the ball, knocks it round the goal keeper, chases it and finishes in the net. 3-2.

Stanton then make another promising attack.  The ball is in the box in a flash and is then scored. 4-2.

Jack runs down the wing with the ball.  He passes to David and then receives it back.  He looks up and the goal is wide open! The keeper was in completely the wrong position! He just has a simple shot in the open net. 4-3.

The Stanton striker is on fire and again is dazzling the defence.  His trickery beats the defenders once more to score. 5-3.

It’s a Bushfield corner; there is only a few minutes remaining.  Jack crosses it in.  A shot was made in the area.  Both teams are scrambling to get the ball in the net or clear it.  Bushfield are having shot after shot but still can’t find the net.  Eventually the ball is cleared and Stanton are on the break.  They look menacing on it, and they are.  Another goal is scored bringing the score to 6-3.  We are into the last minute but no chances are created.

The final whistle blows with the final score being Stanton 6, Bushfield 3.

Here is an account from Safia and Yasmina of their trip to Milton Keynes Theatre with the Bushfield Dance Exchange team:

After weeks of practise, we finally arrived at Milton Keynes Theatre on Wednesday 20^th January.  We put on our outfits and entered the stage for a dress rehearsal.  We were all very exited, yet nervous, as the music started.  After two practises, we gathered our belongings and went back to school.

Later on, we returned to the theatre.  After watching the first half, we were called to our dressing rooms.  We had a dressing table, and there were even lights around the mirrors! We made our finishing touches and watched the act before us on the TV screen.  Standing on the stage wing waiting, we were all very nervous.  The curtains closed and we crept into position as the presenter introduced us we heard, “Bushfield School” followed by a loud cheer.  The curtains were pulled back and we performed.

We got a massive applause as we skipped off the stage.  A while after our performance, there was a big finale where all of the children who took part went back on stage and waved at the crowd.  We had a really memorable experience and want to do it again, we loved Dance Exchange 2010!

Safia and Yasmina

Today the pupils and staff at Bushfield all saw the pantomime of Beauty and the Beast.  The performance took place in the afternoon in the school hall.  The story had been updated and included many modern songs that the children knew.  The cast were superb and really got the audience participating, including Mrs Stock who enjoyed a full dance with one of the main characters, much to the amusement of the children!  The children really enjoyed the afternoon and were raving about the performance all the way out to the gates at the end of the day.

Last week the children took part in a basketball tournament, here is their account of what happened:

It was a great experience for the whole of the Bushfield basketball team.  We started with a friendly game against Two Mile Ash, which resulted in an 18-18 draw. That match gave us a little practise for the tournament.  In the main tournament we faced many good teams from other schools such as Emerson Valley, who beat us 18-4.  We won three games and came 5^th out of the 55 schools, which we were really proud of.

We also met the MK Lions which lifted our spirits even more.  We really enjoyed the experience and hope to play more games.

Ebony and Jamil

Back in November 2009, Bushfield School was one of the locations visited by the Tree Appeal team as part of Santander’s 2009 tree planting activities.

In November, Santander planted 1000 broad leaf trees in schools across the UK, helping pupils and students to make the world a greener place.

Staff from local Santander offices were on hand to help the children plant the trees in the school grounds.

To find out more about this day please follow the link below.

http://www.treeappeal.com/Bushfield/planting.html