Dear Parents/Guardians,

On behalf of the Governors and staff may I welcome both you and your child into our family at Belvoir. I believe that I have been richly blessed to be given this opportunity to serve the needs of our local community.

The Board of Governors and staff will do all in their power to make your child’s stay at our school as happy as possible. We will endeavour to provide high quality learning at all times. I set very high standards for leadership, learning and teaching.

Good discipline is the key to a happy school therefore I do not accept any behaviour or language which will lower the standards in school. Your child will be treated with respect at all times and, if required, disciplined in accordance with our discipline policy. Self-discipline will be highly valued and rewarded within school.

The prospectus has been designed to give you some basic information about our school. It is hoped that we have covered all the relevant aspects of school life. During the year a review of all policies and procedures will be carried out and the information contained within the prospectus will change to reflect the changing needs of the school.

These changes are required to meet the challenges of the Human Rights Legislation and the Freedom Of Information Act, as it applies to children. You will be kept up-to-date with any changes, which are relevant to you or your child. The Governors and staff will be committed to the rights principles set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It will be my intention to have an open door policy at school where parents and staff work together to enhance the quality of learning for all pupils. Parents, children and staff will have an opportunity to comment on the quality of learning and leadership in school. This will be carried out using a questionnaire whenever you child reaches primary 3 and repeated in primary six.

The following quote from Professor John West-Burnham encapsulates my philosophy of education.

If culture is the personality of an organisation then a quality school is restless, constantly questioning, never satisfied, challenging norms and believing that things can always be better.

(John West-Burnham, 1992)

Belvoir Park will become a self-evaluating school to meet the standards set out by the Department of Education. There are eleven factors, which must be present to be an effective self-evaluating school. I assure you that our search for Total Quality Learning will be sharply focussed on the development and maintenance of the factors listed below:

Leadership.

Shared vision and goals.

A learning environment.

Concentration on teaching and learning.

Purposeful teaching.

High expectations.

Positive reinforcement.

Monitoring progress.

Pupil rights and responsibilities.

Home school partnership.

Learning organisation.

 

The choice of your child’s school is a big responsibility and I encourage you to pray for the right decision to be made on their behalf. If you wish to find out more information please feel free to make an appointment to see me after school.

yours sincerely,

Billy Tate