Dear Parents,
As often happens at the beginning of the summer term, the children returned to school delighted to be with their friends and teachers and settled quickly into their weekly routine. Walking through the school, I am struck by the size of the children. They have suddenly shot up in height and grown in maturity, so despite the exciting term ahead, they are ready for their next class. The summer term has always been a gentle goodbye to our oldest pupils, with every event marking the end of their time at the school. Thankfully, this year the goodbye is affecting only a few leavers, including me. After so many decades at this wonderful school, I feel a mixture of excitement about its bright future and sadness at leaving such a tight and supportive community.
You will be pleased to know that we have had our longest ever waiting list for Reception places and have a number of children joining Years 2 and 3 in September. Although we limit the size of our classes, we want the children to have a large enough social group in which to find friends. With such an encouraging demand for places, the future of the school seems assured.
There was great excitement on the first day of term when everyone arrived to find the refurbished playground. The mini sports pitch is safely fenced off and the new climbing frame is challenging enough to encourage constant balancing practice. Work begins on the halls on 9th May and alternative rooms for violin, music, dance, PE and Spanish lessons have been organised. Lessons requiring large spaces, such as dance, will take place in the hall behind the adventure playground, five minutes’ walk from the school. PE lessons will take place on the full-sized sports pitch 100m from school.
We were very sorry to hear from our wonderful singing teacher Hannah, that she has so many professional commitments this term, she can no longer teach at the school. She has an exceptional voice, so this news was unsurprising. Her friend and colleague, Sarah Wilkinson, will teach singing this term. She has taught the children at regular intervals over the past year, so knows them well. Sarah has a lovely manner with the children and many years’ experience, so we are pleased to have her join the staff.
Taiba has returned after a long convalescence and is working in the office this term in her role as assistant head. Although she has regular contact with the Reception children, they now regard Zoe as their teacher. Zoe has agreed to remain in Reception next year and Taiba will work in another part of the school.
Once again, we have had several children test positive for covid and parents have kept them at home until symptoms have disappeared. There are no covid regulations, although there is a recommended isolation period of three days for children. If you suspect your child has covid, please look at the revised flowchart on the school website. Below, you will find the most recent list of covid symptoms published by the government. There have been a number of chicken pox cases in the school, but parents have been very supportive in keeping children at home until symptoms have ended. Thank you.
I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend ahead and that the sun shines for at least some of it.
Warm wishes,
Kate