Portway 2 the Power of 2!

We have recently been amazed to discover that we are not the only Portway School in the UK! There are, in fact, two others based in London and in Derbyshire.

Keen to establish a link, we contacted Mrs Maggie Van Loan, headteacher of Portway Primary and Mr Ray Sims, Community Manager, to begin a partnership that will benefit both our children and staff.

Mrs Van Loan and Mr Sims came to visit Portway Juniors and Infants last year and were impressed with what they saw. They especially liked our large green spaces and enjoyed meeting our hardworking staff and children.

Speaking of their visit Mrs Van Loan said, "I really enjoyed our first visit to Andover. Although the environment in which the 'two Portways' are situated is very different, there are clearly a number of similarities between our schools. The welcome we received from Portway Junior School Council was lovely, and I loved visiting all the classes to see the children working so hard. I am very excited about our schools working together, and developing this relationship."

Mr Sims said, "It was a real pleasure to visit a school in such a beautiful setting. The welcome that staff and children at Portway Andover afforded us, has inspired Maggie and myself to explore exciting opportunities for our schools to work together in the future for the benefit of both our school communities."

Portway Primary School is based in Plaistow in East London and, although there are many differences there are also many similarities. Both Portways are friendly and welcoming places, both have pupils and staff who work extremely hard and always try their best and both are excited about the link and working together.

Our School Council have already been in touch with the council at Portway Primary and are hoping to have our first meeting via video link very soon! 5DI at Portway Junior have been in touch with 5DO at Portway Primary and have discovered they share teachers with the same name and the same sense of humour!

When Mr Deery and Miss Windross visited  Portway Primary there was the opportunity to discuss the possibilites of some exciting projects that will link us together. These could include video conferencing, School Council and staff exchanges, as well as an annual Portway Schools Sports Tournament!

We are very much looking forward to developing close friendships with our new cousins at Portway London on a wide variety of exciting projects.

For further information about Portway Primary School, why not log onto their website?

http://www.portwayprimary.org/index.html