My goodness, another very busy week but one full of fun, laughter and such joy! It is said that music is the language of the heart and you only have to walk through school at the moment to know this is true. Every song heard from the hall as Mary, Bert and all the cast raise their voices with such enthusiasm, brings a smile to your face; you can’t fail to sing along and tap those feet. It’s such a wonderful story too, one which makes you really consider what is important in life. Such poignant scenes which get you thinking about yourself and the actions you take.
Just like our school virtues; my how challenging these are! But then as we always tell the children, becoming the best version of ourselves is not easy, in fact it is a life’s work. Poor Mr Banks, he doesn’t realise what he has missed until he’s made a catalogue of mistakes… and you know the rest…
I know how much everyone wants to see Mary Poppins and I really wish we had more room in the hall, that we hadn’t been hit by a pandemic and that we had time to put on more performances. Despite all adversity and many frustrating constraints, we feel such gratitude at being able to welcome a live audience. We have looked at numbers as everyone has been given their allocated tickets and we can now offer Year 6 families one extra ticket each. This seems the right thing to do as this is their final performance whilst our Year 5 children will be able to enjoy another play next year.
So, for any Year 6 families who would like another ticket please click here and order 1 extra ticket. You will then need to pay on ParentPay for your ticket to be released.
Sadly, this year will be Miss Mallinson’s final play at Our Lady’s as she is leaving us on Tuesday following the final performance. She has worked alongside us for the past eight years and we can only thank her and wish her well; she has definitely brought music to life. Thank you, Miss Mallinson, we will all miss you.
We also said goodbye to Madame Jefferson this week as she retires after forty years of teaching. She has worked at Our Lady’s for fifteen years, providing all children the opportunity to fall in love with French. We will miss you too Madame Jefferson.
Amidst all the goodbyes and rehearsals children have continued with their exciting learning. After much reflection they are now working hard on their identified areas and are trying desperately to reach their goals. I know they will all continue with this over the summer, ready for next year.
Reading reports over the last two weeks, I have been so impressed with the self-knowledge that children have demonstrated. I know you will enjoy reading their reports and reflecting with them.
Looking forward
Today all the children have been told who their new teacher will be next year; there were a few surprises as we have new teachers joining us next year and some familiar faces returning to classrooms. Next week, each class will be visited by their new teacher so that they can begin to start that important relationship.
We do have so much to look forward to. Reports will go out on Thursday next week and will include various pieces of information for next year. Please spend some time looking at the information included so that you can celebrate the year but also look ahead to September.
Office News
We are definitely running out of time and of term but we are keeping busy until the end, trying to fit everything in! Please can you help us by responding to messages about unpaid dinner money etc - it does so help.
Reminding Year 5 and Year 6 Parents re the Play that there will be a Digital Film version available online once Ed of ‘The School Play’s The Thing’ has done his magical editing - every year he has complimented us on our productions, even bringing family along as paid audience members when tickets were more freely available, so impressed was he! If you wish to purchase a digital film copy, please go onto ParentPay to order. If any parents from other classes wish to purchase, please let the office know as we can add your name onto the list.
We are still collating numbers for Miss Hornby’s Mass of Celebration and Thanksgiving - we would appreciate it greatly, if you haven’t already, to fill in the form attached here, to let us know if you are able to attend - it is at 6:30pm on Monday 18th July at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church and afterwards there will be a cup of tea at the Parish Centre.
Attendance
This week, attendance has ranged from 90.6% to 98.6% which was the attendance percentage for our Reception Class! Well done children, we still have some pockets of illness in classes and are hoping that germs will soon be banished and that we have as many children in as possible for our final days.
A tree from Our Queen
This afternoon we were visited by a representative from Fylde in Bloom who delivered our Platinum Rowan Tree to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II which we promptly planted with the help of our Student Council and our Head Boy and Girl. As you can see The Queen joined us for this special occasion.
Finally
I hope that you all manage a restful weekend with your families and have some time to relax together. The Lytham festival is still drawing crowds and the weather has been a little kinder this week, many people have enjoyed the wide variety of shows. As we enter our final 8 days of this year we are all taking a deep breath as there is so much to fit in. The question is, Bob the Builder style, ‘Can we do it?’ 'Yes we can!’
God bless,
Miss Hornby