Behind the scenes - a few small updates:
* We are expecting delivery of new guided reading books to supplement our existing collection with new and exciting titles for children from Y1 - Y3. We have moved to an in class guided reading model, where children read the same book in small groups together, which promotes collaboration, confidence and critical thinking.
* We are working together with iBricks, an after-school club, who will visit on Thursdays for the remainder of the term, to provide new activities for our care club. Yesterday the children worked together to build bridges out of Lego, next week will be origami. We plan for iBricks to run Care Clubs on Mondays and Thursdays in the new year, with the hope that the children find these new activities fun and exciting at the end of the school day.
* We have recently had a visit from Islington Council to talk through our bike storage issues and the potential for off-site storage in the future. They warned us that this will require extensive consultation within the Council, and even though we are one of many schools with this need, we have been assured that the Council want to help us. More to follow in future and we ask for your patience with congestion at the gate in the meantime.
* Our school minibus was ordered in March and was due for delivery in October. Sadly, like so many waiting for new vehicles, global events have held up delivery. We will continue to use Fox Transport and Naughton's to move our children between sites and offsite to educational and sports venues.
* We have now confirmed use of a large multi-use sports court at the Finsbury Leisure Centre for Years 2 & 3 for next term. These year groups will be taken by bus to the leisure centre each Friday after lunch for a games session together.
* We are delighted that so many parents have volunteered for our Parent Forum. We hope to have our first meeting before the end of term to propose a structure of parental involvement and feedback, separate to and more informal than the activities of the Parent Committee. We look forward to collaborating with our parent body more closely as we move forward with our expansion. Ainsley will email separately in the coming days to fix the first meeting date.
* We have booked our Christmas Concert for Upper School children and parents at the St Matthias Church on December 8th. More details and directions to follow separately - we hope you can make it.
* Term dates went out this week and can be found on our website, including a printable version. Please note that we have included the Friday before each half term as holidays for children and INSET days for staff, allowing parents to take advantage of cheaper flights and clearer roads if setting off on holidays. This does not reduce the amount of teaching days and sessions in any way. We have tried where possible to align our holidays with other schools in order for families with children in different schools to get away together.