I find it really hard to believe that next week will be week 8 in school. It seems to have gone in the blink of an eye. I have constantly talked to the children about marginal gains this half term. The notion that getting just 1% better at something each time you do it demonstrates progress. When the 1& gains are added together, the progress is amazing!

We have all been totally captivated by the moving and inspiring story of Anne Frank this week. From learning about the regime that the Jewish people had to live by, to the surrender of the Frank family to go into hiding and then the joy that Anne’s diary has brought to so many people world wide - we have all been totally involved in her story. The events that surround the ordeal that the Franks and other Jewish families were incredibly harrowing and so very hard to believe. We have also discussed how this segregation still affects people, communities and cultures today - we pray continuously that they find a place of safety and that they are loved for who they are.

With so much going on at the moment, it can be hard to stop and reflect and think about everything that we have achieved. Sometimes we only think about the things that we have yet to master or our gigantic to do list. This week I made myself do just that - stop and reflect.

Today, we have had our first class council meeting in class. I have to say, this group of children are the most organised group of councilors that I have had - they are just great. I am really looking forward to seeing just what decisions they lead us on this year. The collective human instrument of our class is the most perfect instrument of all.

A group of nervous children arrived in class on Monday morning, eager to hear what positions of responsibility they had been given. Although I kept them waiting until 2.30pm to hear, the children all day we celebratory and excited for each other, not just themselves.

Collaboration is key - especially in Year 6! This week we have collaborated and shared in every lesson - this has helped us to learn from each other. We have collaborated to understand number in maths, making decimal numbers and then partitioning them. We have collaborated in geography, making graphs on Purple Mash to show the rainfall in two places in South America. We have collaborated in english, collecting words that are a root word and a prefix or a root word and a suffix. We have also been sharing who we find inspirational through our biographies. I hope you like our display that we have created this week.

As I opened the gates on Tuesday morning, I think we all had a little apprehension about what school would now be like and how the children would settle back in again after time at home. By 9.05am, that apprehension had completely vanished and from that moment, Year 6 have been just wonderful. I have loved getting to know the children this week and to learn all about them and their thoughts about different things.

Welcome back to school! Way back in March, I did not think that it would be September that our school community would be reunited - I could not be happier to be welcoming the children back to school on Tuesday. And into Year 6! Over the past few days, our school staff have been busy bees getting the school ready and organised ready for when the children come back.

Hello Year 6, I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer with your families and that you are excited to be coming back into school in just a few weeks. I will be putting a video together next week that will explain more about the year but until then…this is all about house captain speeches!

I took lots of photos last week whilst the children were in school and I do not want you to miss one moment of your child’s final week at Our Ladys. Please find photographs of your children using the new trim trail and a few videos from the talent show.

And here we are. This year has certainly been a roller coaster on emotions and events, which when we look back at them can only make us stronger. This week we have reflected on the past 17 weeks which each child telling me what they have learnt about themselves. I cannot tell you how humbling this experience was. The children have all learnt just how independent and resilient that they can actually be…they can definitely be the change they want to see in the world.

Today has been beautiful, nothing short of beautiful. The children have spent a day in prayer and reflection, considering what our interpretation of ‘You are precious in my eyes really is.’

Today has been all about saying thank you. You should have all received a little something from the children tonight as a way of thanks for everything you have done for them. We have been saying thank you to our school community, to our parents and to our friends.

I have absolutely loved seeing the children today and they have seamlessly fit back into school life. It may be a little different and the classroom was set out but the people are still the same and it was great to have so many children back in!

I hope the children are excited about tomorrow and coming back to school. Each day I have created a different focus for the children which will then lead their learning for the day. By the end of the week they will have created a lovely keepsake.

It feels like Christmas Eve - it is the same excitement. I am really happy that we will get our Year 6 family back together next week to celebrate and reflect on their primary school life. We know that this is not how we intended the year to be and that the children have missed out on some of the things that they were looking forward to. I am really hoping that we can make their final week in school full of smiles and laughter.