Dear Parents and Carers,
We have made it through to the end of the year. The time has gone so fast.
This week class 3 went on their trip to Antwerp Zoo. this related to the work they had done on John Lyons. They particularly loved the aquarium, the sea lions and the actual lions. The male was roaring very loudly from time to time and cuffing the almost grown cubs. The class also had the opportunity to buy some items from the zoo shop. Following covid and the prevalent use of cards these days some of them did not realise they could get change. It was a great learning experience working out the cost of items and seeing which ones they could afford and then checking their change. I think all parents need to give their children real life money experiences at the moment.
The week before the whole of Early Years went to the farm, saw the animals, had pony rides, drove the tractor and generally had a thoroughly good time. It is a lovely location and Mrs Harwood has shared more details of the trip in her newsletter.
We have had a lot of very exciting events these last two weeks. First of all, sports days.
EY to class 2 sports day was a great success with all of the students participating in every event. The teachers helped them get the most out of the experience. They were busy all morning and we are convinced they all slept well that night!
The class 3 to 11 sports day was a bit more formal. The heats had taken place in the sports lessons and these were the finals that took place on the day. It was great to see the commitment and talent of some of our most athletic students.
Our Primary Student voice had reported that our students would like a Movie afternoon. We set up the theatre for classes 1 to 5 and they watched the cartoon version of Robin Hood. There were plenty of snacks and everyone enjoyed this old but unfamiliar movie. The teachers were very helpful in supervising the snack deliveries to the students. Thanks teachers.
We were able to live stream our award ceremonies. In these ceremonies we like to recognise the hard work of all students and highlight a few individual achievements. It was of course a very special ceremony for class 5 who will be in secondary school next year. They shared some of their funny memories and some of the important lessons they had learned in Primary. The feedback we received from parents was very positive.
EYF also had a moving on ceremony, but this was much more informal. EYF had set up a museum of some of the work they had done this year. They had class curators to talk about each exhibit and as visitors we learnt all about the things they had done. It was a great experience. We also gathered together and talked about our last days in this class and about moving up to class 1. Each child then received a presentation as a souvenir of the class. The children had some lovely things to say about their teachers. It was very nice.
The Primary Student voice also requested a dance. So on Monday evening the teachers set up the theatre and on Tuesday afternoon the children,dressed in their finest, sung, danced and played games in the theatre. It got very warm but everyone had a lovely time. I was very impressed with the dancing I have to say. As always the snacks went down very well too. Early years had their disco the next day. I suspect Mrs Harwood had a lovely time too. She is a great dancer.
Our final assembly was Thursday morning. We were able to thank our wonderful team of teachers and let our students know how proud we are of them. We said our goodbyes to Mr Haycroft and Ms Anna and to those students who are moving away. After break we had the class parties. As we discovered when we were learning online, the social side of school is very important developmentally. I feel our students really learned a lot and had a very enjoyable last two weeks.
The reports went out yesterday and today we have our first face to face parent conferences for a while. It is so important to maintain our connections and keep them strong. If a teacher has asked you to practise something with your child over the holiday, please do your best to keep it going. Just for a few minutes a day. It makes a big difference the following year.
All that is left is to wish you all a wonderful summer. It is important that our students relax, have new experiences and just play during the holidays. I hope your holiday plans go well. We will expect to see you all for the Parent Orientation day on the 30th August and all of the students on the 1st September.
Very best wishes,
Sharon Short
Head of Primary
Lead Safeguarding Officer.