Friday 19th September 2025
Our children all had a morning or afternoon of Forest School last term and a huge thank you to The Friends for funding this for us.
Forest School is a unique educational approach that uses natural environments, like woodlands, to facilitate learning. It's a child-centred, hands-on experience that fosters confidence, self-esteem and social skills through regular outdoor activities and exploration. The core idea is to build independence and resilience by allowing learners to engage with the natural world in a supported, risk-assessed way.
Mere Town Council kindly cleared an area of woodland at the edge of Duchy Manor Field for the children to work in and we were extremely lucky with the weather.
We are hoping that this will be a regular experience for our children which we will run ‘in house’ in future years.
None of this would have been possible without the funding raised from our fireworks event and we are delighted we are able to enrich our curriculum in this way. We are hoping to raise even more money this year – please come along on Saturday 8th November 2025!
Catriona Williamson
Friday 5th September 2025
We have been thinking about our leavers this week, hoping that they have settled well into their new schools.
They had a wonderful final, short week in school. Their performance was incredible and we enjoyed sharing their memories of life at Mere School during their final presentation assembly. There was not a ‘dry eye in the house’!
Connie wrote this poem and wanted me to share it with everyone:
Mere School
Thank you!
For all that you have given us to set us on our way.
For all the laughs and memories that shaped the best of days.
How we smiled over the rumours of the ghost deep under the stage.
How we fretted over meat-free Mondays and complained that we were slaves!
At the end of the day Mere School never became a bore.
We will miss you!
But a ship is safest in the harbour, but that’s not what ships are for.
We look forward to hearing about their success at their new school.
Catriona Williamson
Friday 18th July 2025
LOST FOR WORDS …JUST A QUARTER OF CHILDREN SAY THEY ENJOY WRITING
This is such a sad headline I found in the paper recently.
A report by the National Literacy Trust says ‘this is a worrying state of decline and has ‘concerning implications’.
They say children’s enjoyment of writing has plummeted over the last decade.
Just 27% of children said they enjoyed writing in their free time, compared to 29% last year and 47% in 2010. Last year just 72% of children in England met the expected standards in writing in the KS2 SATs.
I am delighted to report that this is not the case in our school. We already know that 89% of our year 6 children have achieved the expected standard in writing in the KS2 SATs this year with 15% achieving a greater depth standard.
Governor monitoring of writing this year also noted:
”All children interviewed were happy to read aloud with enthusiasm and enjoyment. All were aware of their own progress and were proud of their achievements. It was evident from looking at progress records and work over time in the books that all of the children were making secure and often good progress”.
Catriona Williamson