After a lengthy and rigorous recruitment process I am pleased to inform you that the Governing Body have appointed Mrs Gregan to take over as Headteacher of Our Lady Star of the Sea, following my retirement.
As you know Mrs Gregan has worked at Our Lady’s for the past twelve years and over the past six years she has been part of our leadership team. She knows, and has shared the journey we have taken as a school and understands the importance of working in partnership with yourselves in order to keep growing our very special school. I have no doubt that she will continue with the journey we are on and take Our Lady’s to a new and exciting place. She has the passion, drive and faith to place this next part of her career in the hands of God to ensure that the school continues to be a place where Christ can inspire us all to ‘become the best versions of ourselves’.
As Mrs Gregan is currently on maternity leave her new post will commence in January 2023 on her return. In her absence Mrs Hotchkiss, our Deputy head, will take on the role of acting Headteacher during the autumn term and will ensure that the school community continues to flourish and grow. She looks forward to taking on this new challenge and working closely with you all.
Our experienced Governing Body will support both of these staff members as they commence their new roles. Please click here to read a letter from Mrs Dee Hills, our chair of Governors.
Now that decisions have been made we can plan ahead and begin to organise key transition points which will ensure that every child is secure in the knowledge of where their own learning journey will be taking them next year. On Friday 8th July their current class teacher will confirm who will be teaching them next year and then during the week beginning 11th July their new teacher will join them as part of their present class for one or two lessons so that they can begin the process of getting to know them.
Meanwhile!
What another exciting week! Inside the hall there is so much activity going on and we are getting glimpses of our play, Mary Poppins, and hearing some beautiful melodies as our upper juniors rehearse their lines and sing their hearts out. It's going to be a wonderful show and, most importantly, the children are enjoying putting it together along with Mrs Harrison. I watched scene seven on Wednesday and was nearly knocked over by three very enthusiastic jockeys who were simply supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!
We are thrilled that we will be able to welcome a real audience to watch this year but remain constricted due to the ongoing high virus rates and the size of our hall. With only two performances we will have to limit ticket sales to 3 per child at £4 each, across both performances. I know this will be disappointing for many of you as I know how family members enjoy these special moments, however we have to put the safety of everyone first. We will be also producing a film of the performance which can then be shared with those family members who have missed out. This film will be produced digitally. and will cost £12, orders have to be received and paid for by July 4th. To order your allocation of tickets and film please click here.
New Starters
On Thursday evening we had the pleasure of welcoming the families of the new starters for September - many are already familiar faces and some are new to us and new to our school family. It's such a privilege to have parents entrust their child to our care and we love meeting everyone on this induction evening. Our staff were there to greet our new parents who had the chance to sample delicious food from our kitchen and visit so many different areas of the curriculum. The Reception class team were on hand to talk to parents and pass on important information. A highlight of the evening was listening to Ava and Clayton, our head girl and head boy speak to parents about life at Our Lady's and hearing their reflections on their own school journey. When parents are preparing for their child to start Reception, it's lovely and hopefully reassuring as well to meet some of the Year 6 children who are about to leave us and take the next stage of their education journey up to high school. This was a beautiful evening, thank you parents for being so enthusiastic, we hope you found the evening useful.
Gym Jam Jog
Today we have brought the week to a conclusion with a combination of fun and health as we've completed our Gym Jam Jog. It was such a glorious event with a real community spirit, we’ve so missed these events, the children have loved every minute .
The children arrived from 8am onwards with great enthusiasm as they ran around the field with their friends, all trying to beat old records; I do believe that some even reached the golden 100! With great support from parents and grandparents, some even took to the field themselves - there were smiles everywhere. This was followed by toast in class. We are now in the process of collecting all sponsorship monies so once collected from your sponsors, please can you pay on ParentPay or send back to school. All money raised will help us to build that castle and it will always be remembered that we did this together with our Gym Jam Jog!
Office News
We are busily trying to finish off this year’s tasks - (we have a long way to go yet), and start next year’s as there is always much to attend to at this time of year and oh how we value your support - parents are very thoughtful and it is so appreciated.
Next Friday, we will be putting a form on the website as you are all invited, along with your families to Miss Hornby’s Mass at OLSotS Church, celebrating her time with us and praying for a happy, healthy and adventurous retirement! Our celebratory Mass will be on Monday 18th June at 6:30pm and it would be lovely to see you there and afterwards at the Parish Centre for a cuppa and a cake! We do need you to fill in next week’s form on the newsletter if you can come as we need to have an idea of numbers. The staff are taking a lot of tissues, Miss Hornby means so much to us all and whilst joyful for her chance to finally have some time for herself, we are sad because we will miss her greatly. Every year end is a poignant time for us as we say ‘au revoir’ to our Year 6 and any other leavers, this year it will be even more so. We have faith though, we know that as God closes one door for us He opens another. Miss Hornby has taught us that our mission is centred in Christ and it will continue as we are guided by new leaders. I can share with all of you that, from the day I met her, twenty years ago, Miss Hornby’s mission has been to get as many children as possible to heaven and alongside that she has nurtured and developed her staff and wanted each one of them to fly higher and higher. We are all in good hands!
Attendance
This has been a challenging week on the health front with pockets of covid and other nasty germs striking where least expected. It’s as if having had some time off and fewer people to infect, viruses have come back with a vengeance but we are being careful and vigilant. Our highest attendance this week was in Year 5 with 97.3%. Parents have been so supportive of attendance this year - we’ve all missed chunks of time through covid and it has been so good to slowly ease back towards more ‘normal’ times in school, having small assemblies etc.
Returning Home!
What a lovely surprise it was when four of our past pupils returned to school on Thursday to say hello before enjoying their Year 11 prom. They arrived at the main entrance with huge smiles and heads full of happy memories wanting to take in their old primary school. A tour was definitely needed and in every classroom they remembered something with great fondness. It was a delight to spend time with such fine young gentlemen who I’m sure you’ll all agree looked rather dapper in their suits! We hope you enjoyed your evening gentleman and danced the night away!
Finally
It really has been another lovely week in school. With so much to fit in, it feels like we haven’t stopped but there is such joy in this busyness. Today we shared assemblies together and reminded ourselves of just what Jesus did for each one of us. We then reflected on how we can truly become His hands on this earth. Listening to the children sing with real understanding of the words in each hymn makes me realise just how much their faith is growing on a daily basis. Next week on Wednesday we will be joining the parish to celebrate the feast day of St Peter ad St Paul at 9:30 mass. Please join us if you are able.
I hope you all enjoy a restful weekend and have some time to relax. It is Lytham Club Day tomorrow and I hope that it will stay fine so that you can enjoy the procession with your families. It’s been a very busy June with the Platinum Jubilee and other events, July looks rather busy too, so do try and have those moments of rest…as a Priest friend once said, ‘Take time to let the cream rise to the top of the bottle!’.
God bless,
Miss Hornby