The Courier

Dear Parents

I hope that your week has gone well, and it has been a productive one for you and the family. With February finally here, I have seen the very first signs of snowdrops appearing in the hedgerows on my drive into work. They seem to be a little late this year, perhaps with all of the cold weather that we have had, but it's always such a welcome sight when they come along. I know a number of the children took part in the great garden bird watch last weekend, and in my hour in the garden it was already noticeable that the birds are changing their behaviour and pairing off for the spring that is to come.

With these little glimpses of a changing season, it's always tempting to look ahead too far. Winter can always come back to bite at any moment. In the meantime, the children have been hard at work here in school and enjoying the splashes of sunshine in the playground when they have come along.

One very nice initiative in the playground this term has been Year 6 play leaders setting up games for the younger children to take part in. This is a win-win situation in many ways, with the older children loving the responsibility of taking charge and the younger ones taking simple pleasure in the games that are provided. We do a lot of work on building responsibility and care into our school life, it is a key part of our ethos. This fits in very well with our school promise message at the moment which is ‘we are gentle and caring’.

On a similar theme, we have a visitor to our assembly next Tuesday from the Birmingham Children’s Hospital who will be presented with a cheque from the school for well in excess of £3,000. The fundraising towards this excellent sum has been a genuine community effort, which I know will be incredibly useful for the hospital in Birmingham that all of us hope we will never have to take our children to. Thank you to everyone who has contributed along the way over the last two terms or so.

I hope you all enjoy it restful time with your families this weekend. 

Joe Thackway
Headmaster