The Courier

Dear Parents

Whilst the weather has got colder and windier as the week has gone on, we have kept up the sunny spirits here with a number of exciting events that have been enjoyed by both staff and pupils.

As I mentioned in my newsletter last week, I managed to get over to the football match with Crackley Hall earlier in the week and was delighted to see the boys in Year 5 and Year 6 really getting stuck into their football matches, enjoying the opportunity to represent the school and first and foremost playing their games with the utmost sportsmanship and respect for one another.

In fact, Wednesday was an excellent day all round for the Year 6 children. Not only did the boys and girls have fixtures in the afternoon they began the day with a celebration breakfast in the hall. This was the first time we have run this event and it was an opportunity to say ‘well done and thank you’ to the Year 6 children for all of their achievements this year. From what I saw, the combination of yummy pastries, lovely fruit salad and cereals went down very well. At the same time, the children received their leavers’ hoodies which they have been wearing with pride over the last three days.

On Friday we had the second of our learning mentor meetings, where every child in the school met up with their special member of staff to talk about their targets and progress. Our plans to roll this out this year have been somewhat abbreviated due to home learning but it was great to get this going again today. The children love to share what they have been doing with adults and it is a great way to build relationships with members of staff that they don’t normally work with. These meetings will finish with a final one before we break up and this is an initiative we very much hope to build on over the coming years.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

As you know, work on the Horton Centre will begin during the half term break. Although we are confident there will not be any significant impact on the children, I wanted to keep parents fully informed about what you and the children are likely to see when you return for next half term.

Contractors will be setting up their work compound at the top end of the playground and fencing will be erected to clearly demarcate the contractor's area and where it meets the playground. Clearly marked Heras fencing will be erected and no children will be able to access the work area.

Later work will involve the main corridor and hall, but these parts of the project will not start until we have broken up for the summer break.

The contractors will be very clearly briefed and will not have any access to the main school site and will have no contact with children. The Foundation has robust policies on health and safety in the workplace as well as contractors in relation to safeguarding. All of these will be followed throughout the project.

I will be meeting with the contractors directly next week and let parents know if there is any updates on this information.