The Courier

Dear Parents

With only one week to go now until half term we seem to have turned a corner from a weather point of view although with the winds of the last couple of days we have had quite a lot of small twigs coming down off the trees around the site to keep us on our toes. We have also had the ground staff over preparing the beds and borders for the spring and the front of school is already looking much refreshed. We have plans to put up a storage shed for the grounds team on site which will make it easier for them to store and access their tools which will make life easier for them to stay on top of the grounds work going forward.

It has been a great week for the school on the sports field. I mentioned in the last Courier about the logistical difficulties of getting our teams out to various fixtures, tournaments and galas during the week but I am delighted to report that all worked out well and we have enjoyed considerable success. You will be able to read more details in the sports section of today’s newsletter but I would like to say an enormous well done to everybody involved. I was able to get over to Rugby School to watch the under 11 hockey team qualify for the national IAPS finals for the third year in succession. Considering that the team was made up of mostly Year 5 boys this represents a tremendous achievement, as well as boding well for the future. After a career teaching team sports in a range of schools I know just how difficult it is, even with a good crop of players, to achieve this kind of success, and to do it year in year in a small school like ours makes it even more remarkable.

Another highlight this week was the session put on by the pre-prep staff to share our strategies for promoting and nurturing reading with our younger children. I know this was very well received by those parents who attended. The home-school partnership is absolutely key to success in education across the board and this is particularly true in the primary age range. Many thanks to all of the parents who came along to support this important initiative.  

This weekend I will be off with my family to visit my eldest son who is at university in Nottingham and celebrate his birthday with him. On Sunday we will be back on the touchline watching our youngest playing football for his local league team. Whatever you have planned for the weekend I hope you are able to spend some quality time with your own wonderful children.

Joe Thackway

For a two or three week period this year we will be focusing on one of the sayings in the new School Promise. We will talk about this in assembly and in form period. It would be great if you could discuss this with your children at home and support the messages we are emphasising in school.

This week’s promise is in the category of Good Friends. In our Promise Assembly the children learnt about the life of St Kevin of Glendalough and his love of animals. The story of St Kevin and the blackbird was a lovely example of the qualities of gentleness that we are promoting.

‘We are gentle and caring’