Headmaster's Message
Dear Parents
I started my assembly this week by asking the children why it was so important to remain calm and sensible to be a good learner in school. This is our new school promise for the week and I wanted to highlight this important idea. You are never quite sure how long it will take before you finally get the answer that you want in these situations but I was delighted with the very first answer I got. A very bright girl in Class II (they are all very bright) put her hand up very quickly and told me that ‘If you’re calm you can concentrate more and if you concentrate more then your work will be better.’ I couldn’t have put it any better myself and this was an excellent way to start the week.
I have also been sharing with the children my attempts to attract woodpeckers into my garden with a rather cunningly designed nest box. I showed them pictures of where I had located the box in my garden as well as looking at other signs of spring that they could look out for. Given the crazy weather we have been enjoying, the theme of spring was a good one, although it might pay to remember that we had some serious ice and snow deep into March last year.
Again this week we have had parents coming into school quizzing with the children and for the second round of English for Parents’ sessions which took place for the Year 3 class. I hope this regular contact with the children and their learning is helpful for you as methodologies in education change so much over time as I have mentioned before. In the teaching of maths, for example, many of the old systems are no longer used and yet many of us as adults still rely on them. Of course, these methods still have validity but children can be easily confused if they are being given conflicting messages at home and at school. Our maths scheme of course includes some important home-school links and I hope you get the chance to have a look at those to familiarise yourself with the way your children are learning in school.
This week we have had two of our staff members trained in the use of our new defibrillator. They will be cascading this training to the rest of the staff next week but the defibrillator machine is already available for use and located in the library at the front of the school. This is of course intended as a resource for the whole community, including parents from Crescent and Pathfinders, as well as any potential members of the public nearby who might need it. Please do discuss this and pass the word on to friends and family members who collect from school as none of us know when we might need it.
I note that the warm and sunny weather has broken just in time for the weekend although we are not yet back to normal temperatures. Whatever you do, perhaps you could look out for the signs of spring with your children that we discussed in our assembly on Tuesday.
Have a great weekend.
Best Wishes
Joe Thackway
