Headmaster's Message
Dear Parents
I would like start by wishing all of you and your families a very happy New Year. I hope you got to spend some valuable time with your families during the festive period and that your plans and preparations weren’t too badly affected by the challenges of illness, testing and isolation. I managed to get to my niece’s wedding in Lancashire, which had been in question beforehand, so it was lovely to meet up with my wider family for the occasion.
Here in school, we began the term on Tuesday with a very useful and interesting training session (online) looking at strategies for managing behaviour in the classroom. We have also been updating anaphylaxis and educational visits training for the staff.
We are all very aware of the rapidly changing situation around the pandemic and I hope you found the letter that was sent out on Tuesday helpful as a summary of our current protocols and advice. Even in the short intervening period, there have been changes to guidance for lateral flow testing, and we will continue to keep on top of all of these as we move forward into the term.
Elsewhere in today's Courier you will find a hopefully helpful guide to expectations for work for those children who aren't in school due to a coronavirus related issue. This is something we issued just over a year ago but with all of the updated guidance we felt it needed something of a rewrite.
Despite the current climate, there are lots of things to look forward to this term and I hope you have had a chance to look through the Lent calendar to give you a taste of what lies ahead. There is plenty of sport, parents’ evenings, workshops, bird watches, performances, fund raising and focus weeks in store. As well as the continued emphasis on promoting growth mindset for the children.
Returning to school on Wednesday this term has had the additional benefit of an early weekend and means that the children have been able to ease their way into the new term. I look forward to seeing them all back in school, bright eyed and bushy tailed, on Monday morning.
Best wishes
Joe Thackway
Headmaster
