Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful half term. I must admit, I found myself wishing I’d made the drive to Scotland for that match!
We began our first week back with a whole school assembly, revisiting our school vision – Unlocking the Potential in Every Child – and reflecting on what it means to truly belong to our school community. The children came up with some wonderfully thoughtful ideas, including the clubs they take part in, our school uniform, their year groups, and the sports teams – just a few of the many ways they feel connected and included.
Our Eco Council has also been busy over the last month contributing to the RSPB Bird Watch. It’s a fantastic initiative to be involved in and the children have really enjoyed taking part.
This week our Year 4 pupils headed out into the local area for their geography fieldwork. They visited Hatherley Brook, where they measured the velocity of the water and examined how the course of the brook has changed over time, particularly in relation to deposition.
The children represented the school beautifully – their behaviour, enthusiasm and teamwork really shone. The trip brought our classroom learning on rivers to life, and being able to apply their knowledge in a real world context was hugely beneficial. They thoroughly enjoyed getting “wellied up” and entering the brook to measure its width, depth and speed.
They also had thoughtful discussions about the clarity of the water and why some parts were clearer than others, and it was fantastic to see the children using practical fieldwork skills so confidently and sensibly. The class were particularly shocked by the amount of litter we found in and around the brook, which led to a valuable conversation about environmental responsibility. As a result, we’ve already decided that when we return next year, we’ll bring a litter picker with us. It was lovely to see how much they genuinely care about their local environment and want to make a positive difference. Thank you to Mrs Wintle and Mis Pietroni and our fabulous parent helpers who enabled this trip.
And something very exciting happened this week – the kit drop for the Dawn Patrol Riders team! We are incredibly proud to be a small but significant part of such an inspiring project. Seeing our school name and logo proudly displayed on both the front and back of the team shirts was a real moment. We’ll be sharing information soon about how our children will be involved, and I can’t wait to show the shirts to them in next Monday’s assembly.
Our Reading Ambassadors have been busy promoting this year’s World Book Day theme: “If you’re into it, read into it – go all in!” A huge thank you to all the children who persuaded their parents to take photos of them reading in unusual places! These wonderful snapshots will be displayed in the stairwell frames right up until WBD. We are such a reading rich school, and I remain incredibly proud of the genuine love our children have for books – something wholeheartedly championed by our staff as well. Our class libraries stay fresh and current thanks to the monthly book drops from the brilliant Bronnie and Bob at Bookwagon.
That just leaves me to say: have a wonderful weekend.