Newsletter 20th January

Flourishing!
Well it has been a hard week for many of us with travel on the roads worrying and problematic and with footpaths treacherous. The buses that bring so many of our children to and from school could not operate as usual and parents had that and other challenges to deal with. 
Well done and thank you to everyone who managed to keep things ticking over and helped to keep our children safe and happy.

Of course, for the children, a little snow was pretty much a treat. We lvoed watching the youngest enjoiying what was for many of the their first 'proper' snow. It's hard to stay grumpy about the weather when so many little faces are shining so brightly.

Chinese New Year
We enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year on Friday. Children worre red for good luck or something with a bunny on to remembr the Year of the Rabbit.
We loved seeing the effort some families had gone to - we had traditional clothes, chinese banners and a brilliant head dress. 
In class children heard the story of 'The Great Race', made lanterns and learned to say 'Happy New Year' in Chinese.
It was such a fun and positive day and, hopefully, the children reflected on a valuable lesson - people around the world are very different, and people around the world are very much the same, and it's great to celebrate those similarities and differences as that's what makes us all special and unique.

Celebrating the Earth
Year Four have written a wonderful poem to perform, the school have rehearsed 'Roller in the Coaster' to sing. It will be a beautiful evening in the Church. Please do come along and join us from 5:30 to clebrate our Earth and our very special place on it. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of children and families there.

The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Our pre-school and reception children have been enjoying the classic 'Tiger Who Came to Tea' and had a brillaint time today having thier very own tea party. They loved making and eating their jam sandwiches and they loved playing 'Musical Statues', 'Simon Says' and (more uniquely) 'Pass the Clownfish'. Fortunately, no one drank all the water in the taps.
​There are few parts of my job as headteacher that enjoy more than spending time with our youngest pupils. They make me smile every single day. Thank you to Miss Pollard and her team for making such lovely opportunities for these children.

Attendance
Attendance today was 94%, for the year so far we have an average of 94.2%. That is just a shade above the national average which is currently sitting at 93.4%.
Back before the pandemic we would have expected a typical school to have an average of around 97% so, as in so many orher parts of our lives, we really aren't 'back to normal' yet.
Sickness has certainly palyed a part in this - there have been some really horrible coughs, colds and bugs around. However, that's not the only reason that numbers are down. We are seeing term time holidays happening far more than we used to and that does make me worry. Children who are away from school for a chunk of time are missing a chunk of learning and it's not easy to see how a teacher, with the best will in the world, is going to catch up a whole unit on fractions, or those four great lessons when we designed and made our automata, while conbtinuing to teach the rest of the class. Teaching is planned and delivered in sequences - it is progressive - not cumulative.
Added to which, childrren who are aay in term time are missing elements of the social aspect of schooling.  Bits of the shared experience that builds community.
I would dearly love to see our attendance creep back up towards 97% as the year goes on - there's my challenge!