My, what a first week back! We really have celebrated the Queen and had our own special party in school. Within classes children have explored our Monarchy and looked at the history of our Royal family. Whilst doing so they have reflected on the qualities required to be such a successful leader; many of our virtues appeared in these discussions which have made us all realise how important it is to work hard on developing each one. This term we will be trying hard to be both attentive and discerning, thinking hard about the choices we make and the effects of those choices on others; something the Queen has had to do continuously throughout her reign. It was a joy to be able to bring all this learning together on Wednesday with our red, white and blue day. It was such a delight to be able to unite as a whole school outside for our afternoon of celebration, starting with a rendition of God Save the Queen, very patriotic. Then seeing all the children mixing, laughing and having such fun as they danced and played games really was a reminder of what we have missed over the last two years and that we always have to be grateful for our community, and never again take things for granted.
Our Jubilee Picnic was very successfully catered by Jacqui and her team and it looked very jolly in the individual red white and blue boxes - thank you Jacqui and team - we ended up with a record number of dinners for this first week back. It was a pleasure on the day of the Jubilee to have a book about the Queen and our country provided for each child in school which we gave out along with a specially minted Platinum Jubilee commemorative coin which was provided by money raised over time by the whole school community. Reminders in years to come of a very special time.
The learning continues…
The children have slipped straight back into their learning and it has been a joy seeing them using their retrieval skills to access prior understanding and then jump to those next steps with confidence. This time of the year is always a time when such progress can be seen and the children themselves can see just what they have achieved and what they need to continue to develop over these last six weeks. They have all been reflecting and writing their section of their annual report, thinking about their successes and what they need to do next, and most importantly what they have learned about themselves. There is such determination to achieve those final goals.
Office News
We are on a final countdown now for the completion of the school year with paperwork for Year 6’s transitioning to secondary and preparing for a new Reception class to join us in September. Mrs Hodges is now minus her shoulder sling but still slowly typing her way through documents! Any help in terms of cutting down work is appreciated as we want to ensure that everything is ready to complete the year and be ready for next year. So please do bear with us when we chase for outstanding dinner money payments etc - it does take time out of a busy schedule and we have to make sure that we have no outstanding debts for the end of the year. Similarly we want to ensure that if any of our Y6 leavers have overpayments on their accounts, we will refund these by the end of term.
Please can we confirm the date for Miss Hornby’s Retirement Mass which will be at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church on Monday 18th July at 6:30pm. We will be inviting you all and checking numbers nearer the time as there will be a cuppa and a biscuit afterwards at the Parish Centre.
Attendance
All classes had a minimum attendance of 96% upwards this week with Year 6 at 99% so it was lovely having such good numbers in after the half term holiday. Frighteningly we only have just over 5 weeks (and 3 days!) left of the summer term - where did our year go?
Finally
It has been lovely to finish the week with such beautiful sunshine! Let’s hope this continues through to next week when we will be holding our Sports afternoons. The children are all very excited to welcome you back to these much loved events. The question is, which House will be victorious this year? Please check the calendar to confirm when your child is competing. We are starting with our youngest children on Monday (Nursery and Reception) at the slightly later time of 1:45pm.
Enjoy the weekend and have some relaxation with your families. After all the busyness of the Jubilee Weekend (many of you looked to be having a wonderful time in Ashton Gardens) it will be good to have a little bit of peace especially if the weather is good.
God bless,
Miss Hornby