With just one more week until Year 6 return to school, today sees their final formal lessons. For the past 14 weeks, the children have worked incredibly hard despite all of the disappointment that they have faced. Week in and week out, they have continued to produce the work that I have come to expect from them as a pupil in Year 6.

I was so unbelievably happy to hear that we can now open the school to more pupils. A school’s heartbeat is definitely the laughter of the children and the smiles that we see everyday. The past 12 weeks was not how I intended the children to finish their primary school journey but I am so grateful that we get to spend the last week together. It will be a little different and we will be in two learning bubbles, but I am busy being creative and trying to plan ways that we can celebrate the last week together - but afar! The children have been putting their own ideas on the class blog. I am really excited!

It seemed really appropriate that we started our final half term ‘Service with a Smile,’ that we focused on saying thank you and looking at our ‘everyday heroes’ who are currently serving our communities during the pandemic. It is so important to often stop in our tracks and just reflect on what this period of time at home has brought us. Over the next few weeks I will be asking the children to reflect on this time and to think about the positives that have come from it.

This year has been one big adventure, and even more so during these last 10 weeks. Adventures improve our communication, resilience, problem solving and we take more risks. I really hope that all of these skills have been developing and that the children will take these with them through their life.

Each week, I am trying to create virtual experiences of the things that you may be missing from your final term at Our Ladys. You are a wonderfully talented class and at the end of this week, you should have been sharing your talents with each other at Water Parks. I am really proud that I can share your talents, not only with our class mates, but with our whole school community. For those children who didn’t manage to send me anything, you are all talented. Listen carefully…your voice is there for all to hear!

Another heartfelt thank you for all of your efforts this week. If you are anything like me, you will have had a little sadness in your heart this week as I feel this was the first big thing that the children would not experience this year. I was determined to try and get something out of SATs week and give the children a smile along the way.