We have wonderful children at Merry Hill, and we take delight in watching them grow and develop physically and emotionally as they progress through the school.
Visitors to the school often compliment our children on their confidence and courteousness.
At Merry Hill, we recognise and praise pro-social behaviours and attitudes. This is in line with our school curriculum, ‘The Merry Hill Way’. Children’s behaviour here at Merry Hill is excellent! You only have to witness first hand the smiles in the morning and after school to believe this and to see the desire and thirst for knowledge in our children and the way they are always eager to learn.
We celebrate pupils in the following way:
| Recognition Boards | In addition to ongoing positive noticing, each classroom has a recognition board on display. Each day the children will afford the opportunity to be recognised for going over and above and their name will be added to the recognition board in order to celebrate their efforts. Any adult visiting the classroom will ensure they view the recognition board and will positively acknowledge the pupils whose names are on display. |
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| Birthday Book Club | In class assemblies, we celebrate all children who have recently had a birthday and contributed to our birthday book club. |
| Home Achievements | We believe it is equally important that parents are made aware of their child’s achievements, so that positive behaviour is celebrated both at school and at home. Staff may share successes verbally at pick-up, via a quick message, or through our existing communication channels such as seesaw, tapestry, newsletters and blogs. Achievements such as being recognised on the class recognition board, or demonstrating a core value in action may be celebrated with parents so that children know their success is valued by both school and family. |
| Team Points | Team Points are recorded in each classroom. At the end of each week these are collected in to determine the winning team across the school for the week. Team points are celebrated in Friday Achievement Assembly and the Team Point Trophy is displayed in the Reception (area outside the school office) along with the winning team’s colour. |
| Outstanding Work | During a Friday Achievement Assembly a piece of outstanding work from each class is shared and put on display in the Key Stage 1 corridor for all to see. |
Leadership and Responsibility
In KS1 we have expanded our leadership responsibilities to provide all children with an opportunity to serve on a council. The Leadership groups meet at least fortnightly with the nominated class teacher. The children are able to choose from:
School Council
The School Council meet fortnightly with Miss Stringer. They discuss British Values and civic responsibility and consider how our school culture reflects this and what changes and improvements could be made. We are often amazed at the maturity of the suggestions for school improvement that the children come up with!
Digital Leaders
The Digital Leaders meet fortnightly with Miss Honnor. They love having an input into how technology is used within the school and are always particularly excited when they get to be ‘mini teachers’ and help children in Early Years to use the iPads and laptops.
Eco Warriors
Miss Bates meets our Eco Warriors fortnightly. The children are learning about ways to reduce single use plastic as a whole school and how to improve our school environment and local area. All children are given an opportunity to express their views but also the views of their peers as well as passing on information from eco meetings.
Mini Rangers
Miss Finch meets our Mini Rangers fortnightly and children discuss behaviours they have noticed on the playground and identify things the children need support with. Together they think of ways they can best support the children’s social interactions. Sometimes new games are learnt and then feedback given on the success of these on the playground.
Military Children
April is the Month of the Military Child and each year we love taking the time to celebrate our military children here at Merry Hill. Service children can face challenges with parents in the armed forces. Yet these children are also an amazing asset to families, schools and the local community. The Month of the Military Child helps us remember this and helps us celebrate their achievements.
Did you know the official flower of the military child is the dandelion because its seeds are blown far and wide by the wind but it will always plant roots and blossom wherever it lands?
The children celebrate ‘Purple Up Day’ every April; purple is a colour used to represent all military services and shows unity with each other. This day is to celebrate the wonderful contributions our military children make to our community, bringing experiences from around the world. We celebrate our military children and thank them for their service.
What support can we offer you as a military family?
We have a Forces Liaison Mentor (FLM) who has first-hand experience of military life and therefore understands the unique challenges faced by military families.
Our FLM works alongside our military families and within our school to:
- Support transition to and from our school
- Provide bespoke support for children whose parents are deployed
- Work alongside our Y2 Forces Ambassadors to instil a sense of pride and share their life experience with our learning community
- Forces Club – to further establish links amongst our military community and provide support for our forces children
- Liaise with Northwood Headquarters to provide further support and celebrate military life eg Padres leading assemblies, visits from PTIs into school
- Organise events such as Purple Up Day and Remembrance Day which celebrate our military families and the sacrifices made for our freedom