Friday, 23rd May, 2025

In line with the rest of the school, my half-termly newsletters will now come in the form of a half-termly blog. I hope you are enjoying keeping up to date with your child/ren's learning through the weekly class blogs. The photos really showcase the amount of things going on throughout the school and I'm enjoying looking at them each week too!

It's been a fast and furious half-term with our Year 6 children working particularly hard as they navigated their SATs tests and are finishing their portfolios of writing ready to be assessed. Test week dawned bright and sunny and the children enjoyed breakfast with their friends in the hall before they settled down to the tests in exam conditions. I was very impressed by their excellent attitudes and focus during these. They were well-prepared by Mrs. Riggs and Miss Vanner and I hope that the results reflect the hard work of everyone involved. The children certainly tried their very best and we are very proud of their efforts.

At the beginning of May, we celebrated the eightieth anniversary of VE Day with a street party in the area between KS2 and the KS1 building. We had bunting, more sunshine and a wartime-style packed lunch. Then the children were serenaded by a World War Two soundtrack and the atmosphere was wonderful with children singing, getting up to dance and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Many of them commented on how much fun it was and so we plan to have a few more al fresco lunches before the end of term.

Our School Council continue to work together to make positive changes for the school. With some of the proceeds they have made from the Choosing Day earlier in the year, they voted to purchase some motivational stickers to display around the school. They are all now in situ and we are very pleased with how they look on our walls. I thought this was a great idea from our Senior School Council and, again, the stickers have been well-received by the other pupils and hopefully provoke lots of positive thoughts as children make their way around the school.

As the weather improves, we have been taking part in some friendly competition with neighbouring schools which is an invaluable experience for the children. Our Year 6 football team visited Stanway Fiveways this week to take part in two friendly matches against them; they lost 5-2, 3-2 but, more importantly, kept motivated and well-behaved - they represented the school brilliantly. After half-term, the Upper KS2 netball team will be playing two friendly matches and the football team will have the chance to compete against other local schools in the Stanway Cup which is very exciting. It is lovely to see the field in use at lunchtimes and breaktimes and Year 5 have enjoyed the start of their swimming lessons too. The forest school area at the side of the field seems, more or less, to be in constant use; it is great to see our school grounds being appreciated so fully.

Hendra and Rosen classes and Year 5 benefited from some Road Safety Workshops last week, and it was pleasing to be able to welcome Reception parents into school to share in these also. I have seen some brilliant Road Safety Raps from Year 5 which they also enjoyed showing other classes. Today we had the half-term tea parties which were taken outside with Mr. Godwin to take advantage of the weather. It is always very uplifting to end the half-term on such a positive note.

There are lots of things to look forwards to during the next half-term of school but, for now, we will take a well-deserved break and I wish you all a relaxing and fun-filled half-term holiday. 

Warm wishes,

Rebecca Loader