The end of term has finally arrived. I know all the children are very happy because it means that Christmas Day is getting closer and Father Christmas will finally be making his deliveries. It has been an enjoyable week in school for them though because of all the Christmas activities. On Monday we had our Christmas Carol Concert which was well attended and very well received. I would like to congratulate all the children on their very good performances, especially those that did readings or performed solos. It takes great courage to stand up in front of a lot of people and all our children did it very well. I would also like to thank all the staff for their hard work in putting the concert together.

On Wednesday and Thursday we had our Christmas parties which the children really enjoyed. Father Christmas actually turned up at the Foundation and KS1 parties so the children were very pleased about that. This morning we have had our Annual Christmas pantomime. I am typing this whilst it is going on and I can hear whoops of delight coming from the children. I do like to send the children off on a high for the Christmas holidays and the pantomime certainly helps to do that. The last thing we will do this afternoon before we break up is to all sing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ together. This performance does not have much musical merit but is hugely enjoyed by the children.

All that is left for me to do now is to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I would also like to thank all the people who sent me Christmas gifts – they are all lovely and very much appreciated. I look forward to seeing you all again in the new year when we return which is on Tuesday, January 7^th.

What a week this has been - it has passed by in a whirl as it has just been one event after another. We had the great pleasure this week of watching the Foundation stage and KS1 Christmas performances and all the people who have watched them said what amazing performances they were. The Foundation children sang some Christmas songs for the parents (and played instruments to accompany the songs). This was then followed by the KS1 performance which was called ‘Lights, Camel, Action’ and it retold the events surrounding the birth of Jesus through a made up dance show that could certainly give ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ a run for its money. As well as congratulating the children on their amazing performances I would like to thank all my staff for their hard work in putting the shows together.

We had our Christmas lunch this week which all the children really enjoyed. So that all the staff can eat lunch together, some parent volunteers came in to help supervise the children and I would like to thank them for doing this. During this occasion, the Year 6 children serve the staff with their meal (after all the staff have served them first) and I have to say that they did a very good job this year.

We also held our ‘Christmas Café’ on this day. We cancelled it last week because of the rain but it rained even harder on the actual day so we had to hold the event inside. The children still had a good time though and enjoyed taking part in the treasure hunt in the school – I was watching some of them and they did get very excited when they found their clues so they could get their ‘treasure’ at the end. I would like to thank all the parents who supported the event and I would like to give special thanks, again, to all the members of the PTA who organised the event. The PTA do an amazing job in fundraising for the school and without them we would be a much less well-resourced school. The next items they intend to purchase for the school are a new piano and an electronic keyboard which will help enhance the quality of the music lessons.

To end the week, we had Christmas Jumper Day. Thank you to everyone who sent in donations. ‘Save the Children’ is a very worthy cause so I think it is good that we support it. We have made our video today and when it has been edited we will put it up on the website. The children had great fun making it so I hope that comes through in the final cut (although please do not judge me on the quality of my dancing - I now have renewed respect for all the contestants who take part in ‘Strictly Come Dancing’).

Next week is almost as busy. On Monday we have our Sharing assembly and then the KS2 Carol Service in the evening at Christ Church. On Wednesday and Thursday we have our Christmas parties – there will be more on the class blogs about those. We finish the week with our pantomime ‘Dick Whittington’ on Friday which I know the children will all love. As it is the end of term we will be finishing at 2.00pm so do not forget about the early finish.

Have a great weekend and I will see you all again on Monday.

As you know we had to cancel the PTA Christmas Hunt because of the forecast of bad weather. It has been rescheduled for next Thursday when we can guarantee that it will take place as it will be held indoors if it is raining outside.  I hope we will still be able to see many of you then as I know the children love events like this. Those of you who are attending the Foundation stage and Key Stage One Christmas performances will be able to buy tickets for the Christmas hampers in advance of the Christmas Café (where the draw will be held) as tickets will be on sale at these performances.

You may not have seen me around much this week as I have had a lot of meetings to attend – I think they have all been held this week so that they do not interfere with the Christmas shows. I am just telling you this in case you have been wondering where I have been and so I can assure you that I have been working – I have not been giving myself time off to go Christmas shopping.

However, now that I have mentioned the ‘C’ word I can let you know that we are in full swing with our preparations for Christmas. Next week, as I mentioned above, our younger children are performing their Christmas shows for their families and friends and I am very excited about seeing them. These shows are one of the highlights of my year and I know parents really look forward to seeing them as well.

On Wednesday afternoon we have our ‘Open afternoon’ where parents who have children in classes Year 1 – Year 6 can look at the learning their children have produced over the last half term. It runs from 3.00pm – 4.30pm. We start it during the school day as the children really enjoy sharing their learning with their parents. If your child is in Year 1 or 2 you can look at their books after the show and take your children home early rather than wait around for the end of the school day. You can also take any older children home early as well.

We have our Christmas lunch next week on Thursday. The children look forward to this because it is the only time in the year when the teachers serve them their meal. The teachers also sing some carols to them but I do not think that they look forward to that as much.

On Friday it is Christmas Jumper Day. This is a national fundraising event which supports many people in need. The charity asks that everyone brings in £2 for being allowed to wear a Christmas jumper at school or work but if that is too much at this time of year please just donate £1. We are hoping to put together a little video of all the children in their Christmas jumpers so if you would rather your children did not take part in this video please let the school office know.

That is all for now. As you can see it is a really busy week next week in school so please try and let the children get some rest over the weekend. We have had a few children going down with viruses which is common at this time of year but we would like them all to be in for the last two weeks of term as there are lots of fun activities taking part for them to enjoy.

I have had quite an exciting day today because I have spent the majority of the day at the Royal Veterinary College planting some trees with a few children. This is part of a campaign run by the Woodland’s Trust called ‘The Big Climate Fightback’. The official day for this campaign is tomorrow but they chose to do the tree planting today to enable more people from the local community to attend. It was a thoroughly enjoyable event and all the children I took really enjoyed the experience.

I do not think that we can deny that Christmas is on the way. We have started some preparations in school in readiness for the festive season but we do tend to ‘keep a lid’ on Christmas until December as the children can become overexcited which can make them tired and irritable. However, next week we are putting up our Christmas trees and decorations and we will also be starting our daily Christmas card delivery service. For this to happen, we put a post box at the entrance where the children walk into the school (not the main office area). During the lunchtime, the Year 6 children empty this and then deliver the cards to the correct classroom. To make this possible, we do ask parents to ensure that when their children are writing their Christmas cards they put the full name and the year group of the child they are sending it to.

Another Christmas event that is being held next week is our PTA’s ‘Christmas Café. This is taking place in our Foundation unit and outdoor classroom on Friday, 6^th December from 3.15pm onwards. It is going to be similar to the Easter event in that the children will be able to take part in a treasure hunt where they have to hunt for clues so that they can claim their treasure at the end. Refreshments will be served in the Foundation block and you will be able to toast marshmallows in the fire pit in the outdoor classroom. There will also be a raffle draw with the possibility of winning a Christmas hamper full of goodies to treat your loved ones over the holidays. The outdoor area is going to be decorated with Christmas lights so it should look like a Winter Wonderland and be a great experience for the children to take part in –I hope to see many of you there.

I am sure that all your weekends will now be busy in preparation for Christmas but I do hope that you find some time to relax. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

Another Friday another non-uniform day. Today the children were allowed to wear their own clothes as long as they brought in an item for a Christmas hamper. We now have a lovely pile of Christmas treats in school. With such temptation in front of me I just hope they last until December 6^th when we have our Christmas treasure hunt.  More details about that event will follow shortly.

This week in school has been called ‘Just Talk’ and it has been about highlighting the importance of taking good care of your mental health. It is called ‘Just Talk’ because it has been proven that people who can talk about their concerns have less mental health issues than people who keep their concerns to themselves. As I have discussed in the past, the amount of children suffering with mental health issues has increased dramatically in recent times and so I think it is very important to teach children strategies to use when they feel overwhelmed by the world. A very popular strategy that we have introduced this week was the ‘Daily Mile’. We did not actually run a mile this week (and we are not doing it daily) but we got all the children to move continually for 5 minutes. In the coming weeks we are going to up this to 10 minutes and then eventually 15 minutes to ensure all children can complete a mile.

We ended the week with a real treat as it was the Year 4 assembly. They were presenting to us a selection of work that they have covered this term and it was both enjoyable and informative - I particularly liked their adaptation of the ‘Friends’ song where they had changed the lyrics to explain what they have been learning in class. I would like to thank the children for putting on such a good performance and I would like to thank Miss Bradford, Mrs Farrell and Miss Russon for helping them put it together.

Next week is a relatively calm week in school. I am glad for the calm though because the following week we are in December and that always brings lots of excitement into school - not least because the children are really hyped up at the thought of Father Christmas coming.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

There have been lots of strange sights in school today. This is because the theme for ‘Children in Need’ is do your thing and we allowed the children to ‘do their thing’ with their hair and they certainly did that. It is all for a good cause though and with the donations brought in today we managed to raise £174.35. Thank you to everyone who kindly donated.

As I predicted last week it has certainly been a busy week in school. On Tuesday it was ‘Odd Socks Day’ which is all part of anti-bullying week. The theme this year has been ‘Change starts with us’ meaning that for bullying to end, changes have to be implemented by individuals and not by waiting for somebody else to put something in place. The classes have each written a verse for a whole school poem about why bullying is bad and when we have put it together we will put copies on our website for parents to read. I have also emphasised to the children that they must carry the principals of non-bullying beyond the school gate. I receive too many comments about children making unkind comments about other school children outside of school, especially online and it needs to stop. Parents should also be checking what their children are posting online to make sure that the children know they will not get away with this form of unacceptable behaviour.

We have had some success in school this week which is always good to write about. Some pupils from Years 3 and 4 took part in an indoor athletics tournament this week and won!! They were really happy and excited about it as were the rest of the school when we did the presentation in assembly. As always we had a lot of supportive parents who went to watch their children take part and I have to say that when they were telling me about the event, I think they may have enjoyed it more than the children. I would like to congratulate all of the children on their wonderful performance and I would like to thank Mr Mills for preparing them so well for the event.

It is a themed week in school next week and we think it is a very important one. It is called ‘Just Talk’ and it is all about how children should cope with their mental health, especially anxiety, whether or not they are experiencing it themselves or they know somebody who is. We will be discussing how people feel when they are suffering with anxiety and depression and we will be discussing strategies of how to cope with it. The week is called ‘Just Talk’ because it has been proven that if people could just share and discuss their worries then the amount of people suffering from mental health problems would be greatly reduced. As the amount of children suffering from anxiety and mental health problems has greatly increased in recent times I am sure that you will agree with us that this is a very worthwhile topic for us to cover in school.

As well as covering ‘Just Talk’ during the week we have a Mufti Day next Friday for the PTA Christmas Café event on December 6^th. For being allowed to wear their own clothes for the day, we want the children to bring in an item that could be put in a Christmas hamper such as mince pies, chocolates, bottles of wine, biscuits etc. I know that you have all been very generous in the past so I am sure that you all will be again. We also have the Year 4 Assembly to look forward to next Friday so it is certainly going to be an action -packed day.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. The weather is not going to be the best but I am sure you will still be able to enjoy yourselves. I am going to the O2 to watch the tennis so the weather is certainly not going to affect me.

 

Welcome back after the half term break. I hope you all had a good time and have come back feeling refreshed and re-energised. You can certainly tell that winter is on the way because there has been a drop in temperature but at least we have had lots of sunshine which does help everyone to feel better. I do find the dark evenings hard to get used to though.

We had an early start to the week because we were all in school on Sunday for our annual fireworks display. It was the first year of us doing them ourselves and it was a brilliant event – everyone was talking about how good the fireworks were. I would like to than the PTA members for all their hard work in organising such a successful event and to all the people who helped them run the event on the day. When the final total has been calculated I will let you know how much money we raised.

This week we had someone in from the Herts and Essex Air Ambulance Service in to talk to the children about what they do. This is a very important service that has helped save the lives of thousands of people who have been involved in serious road accidents. The surprising thing is that it is funded totally by charity donations which I think is quite shocking considering the vital job that it does. The children were very interested in what the presenter had to tell them although I did point out that they should hope that they do not need to have the helicopter come and rescue them. As it provides such an important service we have decided as a school that all the donations that we receive at our Christmas shows and Carol Concert will be sent to the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance service.

There is a lot going on in school next week which you will already know about from our newsletter. On Monday we will be holding a minute’s silence for Armistice Day at 11 o’clock. A lot of the children have already purchased a poppy product from the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal but if they have not done so already they will have another opportunity to purchase one on Monday.

On Tuesday we are allowing the children to wear ‘Odd Socks’ as part of Anti Bullying week. Although we do highlight how unacceptable bullying is throughout the year I think it is good to have a special day to help bring attention to the fact that bullying is unacceptable. The children can wear any odd socks that they like but must wear normal school uniform with them.

‘Children in Need’ is on Friday and the theme this year is ‘Do Your Thing’ so we are allowing the children to style their hair any way that they want as long as they bring in at least a £1 to donate to ‘Children in Need’. The children also do not have to wear their school uniform on that day.

With so much going on next week I do hope that everyone has a relaxing weekend so they have plenty of energy for next week. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

 

The half term is upon us and I think everyone is glad. We have just completed the longest half-term of the year and we do have some very tired children in school. I do smile when I see some suggestions from people who obviously do not work in schools that we have longer terms because they just have to come into a school to see how the children are before a holiday and they would realise what a bad idea that is.

I have seen a lot of you in school this week as it has been Parent Consultation Week. I have heard lots of positive comments back from my teachers regarding the meetings. For the autumn consultations I always sit in on the Year 6 who have to present their learning and targets to their parents and I always really enjoy taking part in them. Even though the Year 6 pupils always get nervous before these presentations (and some more than others) they always do a good job and appear to enjoy the whole process. I would like to remind you that if you do have any concerns about your child you do not have to wait for a parent consultation to discuss it and you can make an appointment at any time with the class teacher throughout the year.

It has been brought to my attention that some children are wearing trainers to school and not school shoes. It does state quite clearly in our uniform list that children should wear ‘formal, non-casual, waterproof black shoes (not sneakers or canvas shoes)’ and a lot of children are wearing canvas trainers which is not uniform. If you have any problem ensuring that your child does have the correct footwear please do not hesitate to contact me. May I also remind you that all KS2 children should be in winter uniform after the half term break which includes a tie. I have seen a couple of children in school in winter uniform not wearing a tie.

I hope you all have a great half term but before I sign off may I remind you all about our firework display on Sunday, November 3^rd. The gates open at 4.30pm and the fireworks are being set off at 6.00pm. The PTA are still looking for some volunteers so if you have not signed up to help and would like to the list is at the school office. I hope to see many of you there as I know it is going to be a fabulous event and it is finishing early enough so that the children can go to bed at a good time to ensure that they are ready to return to school on November 4^th.

I would like to start my blog this week with the good news that we raised £490.65 at last week’s Harvest Festival. This is an impressive sum and I know that the Water Aid charity that we are sending it to will be really pleased to receive this donation. I would like to thank everyone again for their kind donations of cakes and money which helped to make this possible.

We had a lovely end to the week with the Year 5 assembly. It was all about work that they have covered this half term and was very informative – some parents were amazed at the amount of work that they have covered already. I would like to thank all the pupils for giving us such a good assembly and I would like to thank Mrs Zegallo, Mrs Hayden, Mrs Alimadadi and Mrs Onley for their work in helping the children put the assembly together.

I was also told that the children who had their Sharing assembly on Monday did a very good job and there were lots of parents there to see them present their learning. I would like to remind everyone that whilst we love to see younger siblings attend any of our assemblies and shows, that if the youngsters do start to get a little noisy we ask that you take them outside of the hall. A lot of hard work goes into putting on our shows and assemblies and it is a real pity if people cannot enjoy them because they cannot hear what the children are saying. Some children also get very nervous about performing in front of others and their anxiety can be heightened if there is disturbance in the audience.

A highlight for me this week was going to see the choir perform in a ‘Sing Out’ event at Lochinver School with choirs from other local primary schools. It was a really enjoyable event and our choir really did the school proud, especially when they had to perform their individual song which was ‘A Little Bit Naughty’ from the musical ‘Matilda’. I would like to thank all the members of the choir for putting on such a good performance and I would like to thank Mrs Lawrence, Mrs Robinson and Miss Bradford for all the time they have given in preparing the choir for the concert.

The main events for next week are the parent consultation sessions. They run from Monday – Thursday and if you have not made an appointment yet you will need to go on the School Gateway to do so. The first parent consultations of the year are a chance for you to see how your child has settled into the new school year and how they are progressing with their learning. We all love to have parents in school because we do understand how important parent support is to children doing well in school but may I ask that you do stick to your allocated time slot when speaking to the teacher. If there is something that you would like to discuss in depth with the teacher, then please make an appointment to see them at a later date. If only a couple of appointments run over, then it has a knock on affect for all other parents waiting to speak to the teachers.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing many of you in school next week when you are attending the parent consultations.

I am writing this blog after a very busy morning. As you all know we had our ‘Harvest Festival Coffee Morning’ and as usual it was very well attended. It was lovely to see so many of you this morning and I know you all enjoyed the children’s songs. Due to building work we could not have our harvest event last year so it was good to hear the harvest songs again –there are only a limited amount but the children do like singing them. This year we were collecting money for Water Aid which I think is a very important charity and is helping to ensure that all areas of the world have access to clean drinking water and sanitation. We have had our financial people in today so we did not have the opportunity to count the money but I will let you know next week how much we raised. I would like to thank you all for your kind donations of cakes and I would like to thank all the members of the PTA who helped to run the event.

The year seems to be flying past and I cannot believe that the October half term is almost here. However, we still have lots to get through before we break up for our holiday and we certainly have lots of events happening in school next week. On Monday we have our first Sharing Assembly of the year which unfortunately I will not be at because I have to attend some safeguarding training. If your child is taking part you will have already been informed by letter.  The choir is also taking part in a music event at Lochinver School on Monday which I am very much looking forward to watching. On Wednesday the Reception children are having a presentation about their oral health and on Thursday the Year 4 are going down to the Potters Bar Museum to learn more about local history. We are then ending the week with the Year 5 assembly on Friday which is the first class assembly of the year. I know the children are excited about presenting it to their families and the school.

I look forward to seeing you all at the school gate on Tuesday as I will not be there on Monday as I will be attending the training that I mentioned earlier in my blog. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

I think we can all agree that autumn has definitely arrived this week but I am not complaining because it is my favourite time of the year -  I could do without the rain though. It is colder now which is why I am surprised that so many children are coming to school without coats. We only keep the children inside during extreme weather conditions so they will need an outdoor garment to keep them warm during break time. I know some children do not feel the cold but they should bring in something that they can put on when they first go outside which they can then remove after they have run around for a while.

I would like to thank everyone who bought a book at our ‘Book Fair’. We sold an amazing £1234.51 worth of books which means that we are able to purchase £740.71 worth of books for the school, which is great. Without such generous and supportive parents, we would not be able to provide such rich resources for the children.

The next big event on the school calendar is our Harvest Festival Coffee Morning which is next Friday, October 11^th. This was advertised in our newsletter so you should know which time slot has been allocated for your child’s class but, as was explained in the letter, if you have more than one child in school you can bring both your children to join you in one time slot if you cannot make both. All donations of cakes can start to be brought in from Wednesday onwards and we do ask that if you are donating home baked goods that you bring them in a named container so we can return it to you. On the day of the coffee morning you make a donation for the cakes and drinks that you have and all the money raised goes to charity. This year we are supporting Water Aid which is working to ensure that all parts of the world have access to clean drinking water – a fact that we take for granted in the United Kingdom.

I hope you all have a good weekend. Let us hope that storm Lorenzo does not have too negative an impact on the weather to stop us enjoying ourselves. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

I mentioned in my blog last week that we had some children taking part in a football tournament and I am pleased to announce that one of our teams won the shield competition. I would like to congratulate all of the children who took part for giving a hundred percent effort in all of their matches and I would like to thank Mr Mills for all of his work in training and organising the teams.

Unfortunately, we have had some children absent this week as we have a number of viruses going around the school. This can happen at the beginning of a new school year when the children are all back together and their immunity has to build up again. May I remind you that children should be off for 48 hours after their last bout of sickness or diarrhoea. eg. if they are sick on a Monday the earliest they should return to school is Wednesday. Being a working mother myself I know that organising this is not always easy but it does help keep sickness in the school down to a minimum which benefits the whole community in the long run.

The children all looked very smart today in preparation for their individual school photographs. The process all went very smoothly today and hopefully you will all be pleased with the proofs when you see them.

The Book Fair has been with us in school for a couple of days. I really get excited when I see a load of new books and I look forward to looking through them all. Thank you to all those people who have already purchased a book but to those of you who have not purchased one you still have plenty of time -  the Book Fair is with us until Tuesday 1^st October. If your child would like a book but when you go to purchase it you find it is sold out, please let us know and we will order it for you. Remember the more books we sell the more books we can purchase for the school library.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend – I think the autumn has definitely arrived so I will have to start preparing my winter wardrobe in readiness for the cold weather. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

It has been a very pleasant week in school this week and it has been helped by the lovely weather that has been with us. I know it is going to be a lovely day on Saturday when we have some teams taking part in a football tournament which will be good for the spectators if not the players. I would like to wish all the teams taking part every success in the competition.

I am really pleased with how the children are looking at the moment and I would like to thank you all for ensuring that they come to school looking so smart in their uniform. May I remind you all that if your child has pierced ears they are only allowed to wear stud earrings for 6-8 weeks after they have had their ears pierced and during this time they should come to school with their ears covered in tape. We do have tape in school to replace any that falls off but we should not be providing it to children every day. The reason we have this no earring rule is to protect the children whilst they are in school. During PE and play times the children run around a lot and if anything catches onto an earring it could pull the earring out causing damage to the earlobe. I have seen this happen and it is not pleasant and I would not want it to happen to a child in Little Heath.

The big excitement for next week is the arrival of the Book Fair. The children love to see all the lovely new books and I do love to see the children getting excited about books because being able to read well is the core to all learning. You will be able to purchase books from Thursday 26th September until Tuesday 1st October and the fair will be open from 3.15pm – 3.45pm. It will be held in the main school hall. In the past the school has always done very well from this event and hopefully it will be the same this year. Remember that the more books you purchase the more funding the school will be awarded to purchase books for our library, so it’s the perfect time to start your Christmas shopping early.

Please also remember that the children are having individual photographs taken next Friday. You may wish to take extra care with their appearance on that day to ensure that they look really smart in their photographs.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Thundery showers have been predicted for Sunday but at least the gardens will appreciate it as we have not had a lot of rain recently. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

It well and truly feels like we have been back forever - all the school clubs are now running as normal and we will be getting ready for the half term break before we know it. It is good that we have had some sunny weather this week though so we can all still pretend that it is summer although the misty windows on my car in the morning are letting me know that autumn is on the way.

I am going to start my blog with a little moan this week. As the weather has been so nice the children have been removing their sweaters and then forgetting to take them with them. We are finding sweaters all over the school but unfortunately we cannot return all of them because they do not have their names in. We do ask that all the children’s uniform is clearly labelled so can you please ensure that all their school items have their name in it.

My second moan is that we have clear signs outside the school asking the children to disembark from their bikes and scooters at the first school gate and wheel them into the bike shed. This is to ensure the safety of all the people who use the school grounds. I have already witnessed two children crashing into each other on their scooters. Fortunately, they were both alright but we do not want a child to get seriously hurt before people start paying attention to our request.

Next week we have much to look forward to in school. There are the House Captain elections where the Year 6 have to present a rousing election speech to try and get the rest of their house to vote for them and we also have our first Friendship group of the year. On Saturday some of the older children will be taking part in a pre-season football tournament - I always feel we are properly back when the sporting calendar gets underway.  

I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning. I will not be on the gate because I have to attend some training but I will be back there on Tuesday morning.

Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a fabulous summer and feel well rested and ready for the year ahead. The children have all settled very well in school and all appear to be happy being back in school. They may be different for you at home as it can take a little adjustment to get back into the ‘school’ routine after the long summer holiday - I know some of the staff have had to have a couple of early nights as their bodies adjust to being back at work.

We have started the term with a ‘Waste Aware’ week as we think it is really important that the children understand how important it is to take care of their environment and the world they live in. Through a variety of resources we have been teaching them the importance of how they deal with their waste and how to keep the amount of waste we produce to a minimum through recycling. I am sure they have been talking to you about it at home and hopefully you can support what we are teaching them at home by keeping your waste to a minimum and recycling products whenever possible.

Next week all the clubs start up again and so if you have not done so already please sign your child up for the relevant clubs on the school gateway – if their name is not on the list they cannot attend. May I also take this opportunity to remind you that if your child is attending a club and they cannot attend for any reason can you please let the teacher in charge of the club or the school office know because this is a safeguarding issue – once a child has signed up for a club we are responsible for them until the club finishes and need to know where they are.

That is all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend – the weather is not as good as it has been but we are still getting some sunshine so we should enjoy it while we can.

  .

I cannot believe the end is in sight - or that another year is over. I can remember the end of last year like it was a month ago and yet another whole year has passed –I will probably be writing the same thing next year. I am looking back on this year with a lot of happy memories and I feel that the school has moved forward after a successful Ofsted and major renovations which have greatly improved the quality and look of the building. There is some more decoration due to take place in school over the summer so the building is not finished yet but hopefully it will be by the end of the year. We have also ordered the furniture for the new tech room and that should arrive by September and the room will be fully operational for the new term. 

 

As you know Year 6 held their ‘Apprentice’ event last week which was very popular and well received. I am pleased to let you know that the event raised £645.27 which will be donated to a number of charities which the children have selected. The group that won the event was called ‘Snacks and Soaks’, and they did exactly what their name suggested – they sold some snacks and they allowed you to throw sponges at members of their group and Mr Mills. I would like to congratulate the Year 6 on running a successful event and to Mr Gradwell, Mrs Ilott and Mrs Alimadadi for helping them to organise the event.

 

I did mention in my blog last week that the children had not been behaving like it was the end of term and I hoped that I was not going to jinx their behaviour by mentioning it. I am pleased to report that the children’s behaviour has remained chilled and they have remained really focussed on their learning even though it is the end of term. It has reminded me that the main reason I applied for a job in this school was because the children were so engaging and love to learn and I still think that now and it continues to make me feel really lucky to work here. I also think that how children behave is a reflection of how they have been brought up so the fact that they are so lovely is down to you their parents and for that I thank you all for that.

 

This is my last blog of the year as I will not be writing one next week. Please remember that we finish at 2.00pm on Tuesday. I would like to wish all the Year 6 every success for the future and I hope you all have a brilliant holiday. I look forward to welcoming you all back on Tuesday, 3^rd September.

 

The end is almost in sight - just one more week and two days till we can start our summer holiday. I know the children (and staff) are all looking forward to it but, I have to say, the children appear to be still applying themselves to their learning and playing well together outside. I hope I have not ‘jinxed’ the situation by saying that but I will let you know next week.

It has been quite a busy week in school because we have had parent consultations. It is nice to have a catch up with parents when they are in school. I know the children love sharing their learning with their parents. Most parents were very good and stuck to their allocated times so things did run quite smoothly which is always good. Apart from Year 6, you will all be back for the next parent consultation in October before you know it.

We also had our new children who will be joining us in September visiting the school this week which was lovely. What is hard for me to grasp is that I can remember when our current Year 6 were in the same position and that just seems like two minutes ago when it is actually eight years. I do tell parents this and they find it hard to believe but before they know it their children will be moving onto secondary school and beyond.

I am afraid that I am going to have to have a little moan. I have noticed that when some adults are picking up children from after school clubs that they are bringing their dogs onto the premises. For health and safety reasons dogs are not allowed on the school premises at any time. If you do bring your dog the child will have to come and meet you at the school entrance when their club has finished.

As it is Year 6’s last full week next week a lot of the events taking place which involve them. They have got their Leavers Party on Friday night and they are performing their show, ‘Paws and Claws’ to the school next Friday. I have glimpsed one or two rehearsals and I am very excited about seeing it.

There are no school clubs now until September 9^th so if your child did attend one of these please remember to pick them up at the normal time. Have a great weekend and I will see again on Monday morning.

At last the summer weather has arrived and we can actually believe that the summer holidays are nearly upon us. Even though that is a pleasant thought I am also feeling a bit panicky because there is still so much to do.

We had ‘Little Heath Fest’ last week and I know we always hope for sunshine on these days but it was very hot and people actually had to find shade to sit in. The event was well attended though and it was a very chilled afternoon for everyone – people could relax in the sun while they listened to the live music. Some energetic people took part in a bounce session which was very popular in spite of the heat. I do not know how much money was raised but when we find out I will let you know. I would also like to give a big thank you to all the members of the PTA who made this event possible and I would like to thank all my staff who supported them.

In school this week members of Year 4 have really excelled. Firstly, the class had taken part in a poetry competition organised by Queenswood School and the three pupils whose poems were judged to be the best were invited to Queenswood to take part in a poetry writing workshop. The three pupils that were selected were Anastasia, Daisy and Annabelle so well done to them. The winning poems from all the schools were then re-judged and from all the schools that took part Daisy was judged to be the runner up.

On Thursday, Veeram from Year 4 took a whole school assembly. He had prepared a presentation for his class about the importance of recycling and looking after the planet so it will last for future generations. He feels so strongly about the topic that he asked if he could do it for the whole school and I allowed him to do that. I must admit that I thought he would need a little support so I was ready to jump in to help clarify points to the school. However, he did not need me at all. His presentation was brilliant and he spoke to the whole school confidently and clearly. This is a topic that a lot of the children feel very passionate about and we have agreed to do some fund raising for it next term. I am also going to have to ‘up my game’ with assemblies because he has set the bar very high.

Next week is a very busy week because it is Parent Consultation Week. I know parents are always eager to find out how their children are doing in school and the teachers are eager to share the information with you because they know that children achieve better with parents’ support. However, may I just remind you that the appointments are 10 minutes long and can I ask you to stick to that. If you do feel that you want to spend more time discussing an issue with the teacher, please make an appointment to see them at a later date. One parent overrunning can have a huge impact on the rest of the appointments.

Next Thursday is known as ‘Transition Day’ in Hertfordshire when most of the Year 6 visit their new school. We also have the new children who will be joining us in our Reception class in September join school for lunch. I can actually remember our present Year Six class’ first day in school so it is scary how quickly time flies by. The rest of the children will also be finding out who their new teacher is going to be for the next academic year and I will send letters out on Thursday so parents know who their child’s new teacher is going to be as well.

I hope you all have a great weekend – apparently the weather is going to last so we should all be able to get out and about.

 

The big event of this week has been our ‘Sports Day’. The weather was just perfect and it helped to make it a really good day. Grangewood won this year but all the children really gave it their all and for that I think they are all winners. It was a very well organised event and for that I have to thank Mr Mills for all his effort. I particularly liked this year, the addition of the new ‘swimming’ event this year which had the children pulling themselves along on skateboards. It was very popular with all the pupils and was totally Mr Mills’ idea. I would also like to thank all my staff who helped to support the event.

Those of you who go in the infant playground will have noticed that our new piece of play equipment is now complete. It is a pirate climbing frame and the children are really pleased with it which makes us happy because we know we have made the right choice. It took slightly longer to complete than we thought because the original slide did not fit the equipment and it took a long time to get a replacement. However, it has been brought to my attention that children are climbing on it at the beginning and end of the school day. May I give everyone a gentle reminder that children can only use school equipment when they are being supervised by school staff. Can I ask that parents do not allow their children to climb on any of the apparatus when they are dropping off or picking up their children from school.

As well as organising ‘Sports Day’ Mr Mills has had a very busy week because he has had to take the children to three sporting tournaments. On Tuesday he took the Year 3 and 4 boys to a football event at Wroxham where both the A and B teams finished second in their sections. On Wednesday afternoon he took children from Years 5 and 6 to a Rounders tournament and this time we were fortunate to finish first. He then had to rush back to school to take girls from Year 3 and 4 to a football tournament where, like the boys, they also finished second. I think Mr Mills will certainly be looking forward to the weekend after such a busy (but successful) week.

The next big event on the school calendar is ‘Little Heath Fest’ which is on tomorrow. This is replacing out traditional summer fayre and promises to be a really fun event. The main entertainment is going to be a live band as well as lots of fun activities (including large inflatables) to keep the children entertained. The weather forecast promises brilliant sunshine so everything is in place to make it a great day. The event runs from 3.00pm -  6.00pm and I am sure that I will see many of you there. I would like to thank in advance our wonderful PTA and all the parents and staff who support them for organising this event and making it all possible. Whilst you are on the school field you may want to pop in to have a look at our external classroom which has been purchased with funds raised by the PTA.

Apart from being at ‘Little Heath Fest’ I hope that the rest of your weekend is enjoyable. If you do see me at the Fest please do come across and say hello to me – you will find me for part of the afternoon on the raffle ticket stall.

I am recovering today after a very busy night in school due to our ‘Talent Night’ last night. It was very well received and all the children who took part gave excellent performances – they certainly did themselves proud. The little staff number at the end was also (surprisingly) well received but we did have a very sympathetic audience which always helps. Fortunately, nobody was injured when the end of my cane flew off – it is a good job it is plastic! I would like to thank all the pupils and my staff for all their hard work and I would like to thank the members of the PTA who provided and served the refreshments.

The ‘Talent Show’ was not the only excitement for the children this week because on Tuesday the whole school was invited to Manor Lodge School to watch their school production of ‘Mary Poppins’. It was a fabulous show and all the children had a really good time. The staff at Manor Lodge all commented on how well our children behaved so hopefully we will be asked back again next year.

Last Friday, thanks to the kindness of some parents and staff who volunteered to help, we managed to complete our outdoor learning area. We now have a lovely woodland path that weaves into our wildlife area and leads into our outdoor learning classroom. We were hoping to show the children it this week but unfortunately the weather has not been kind to us and it really has been too wet to show them, although the weather was slightly better today (excluding the heavy downpour that happened during lunchtime). The weather is predicted to be better next week so hopefully it will allow us to start to use this facility more before the end of term.

I am hoping for better weather next week because I am joining the Year 6 on their school journey to Kingswood on the Isle of Wight. I used to do lots of residential trips earlier in my career and I am really looking forward to going on one again.  It does mean that I will not be in school so if you feel that you need to see me regarding anything you will have to make an appointment to see me the following week. In my absence, Mrs Robinson will be in charge.

I hope that you have a fabulous weekend and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday morning before I leave for my trip to the Isle of Wight.                                                                                                                                                                        

Everyone is back in school feeling refreshed and revitalised after the half term break and is ready for the last part of the school year before the long summer break. This is always a very busy half term and even though it is quite long it always appears to fly in a whirlwind of activities.

The first of these activities starts this weekend because we are participating in the ‘Potters Bar Carnival’ on Sunday. We are taking part in the art show and we are entering a walking float. The event is celebrating all the work of the NHS and so our float has a medical theme and we will be pushing a bed through the streets of Potters Bar.

On Tuesday the whole school is going to Manor Lodge School on Tuesday to watch their production of ‘Mary Poppins’. Manor Lodge are very keen to forge links with our school and have already helped us with the set-up of our outdoor classroom. If our liaison with this school proves as successful as our links with Stormont and Lochinver we will be very lucky because using the resources of these schools has greatly helped to enrich the provision that we provide for the children of Little Heath.

 ‘Little Heath’s Got Talent’ is also on next Thursday night at 7.00pm. We hold this show every two years and it is always a popular event. All the children who are taking part are very excited at the thought of performing in front of an audience. Tickets have already been offered to the parents of the acts and from Monday, anyone can purchase a ticket to watch the show. They cost £4 and can be ordered through the School Gateway system.

We are completing work on our outdoor classroom this weekend so all the classes will be able to use it from next week. I would like to thank all the parents who have volunteered to do this and Mrs Robinson for co-ordinating the whole project. I know that it is going to be a great addition to the school and would like to thank the PTA for donating the money to make this possible. Our new tech room is also almost complete. We just have to order the furniture to complete it but we cannot do this until all of our windows and doors have been put in as classes have to use this space while work is carried out in their classrooms.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I am sure I will see many of you either in school working on the outdoor classroom or as I walk around Potters Bar in the parade. Please wave if you see me.

There has been a lot going on in school this week. We had a ‘Sharing Assembly’ on Monday which I always enjoy because I do like seeing what the children have enjoyed learning over the last half term. I know some of the children get very nervous presenting in front of the whole school but I think that this is an important skill that they will need in their future lives and the more they practise the better they will get.

We had an ‘Open Afternoon’ for parents of children Year 1-6 on Wednesday afternoon and I am glad to say that it was well attended as usual. This is good because it has been proven that when parents take a positive interest in their child’s learning then it has a positive impact on the progress that their child makes. It also has a good impact on their progress if a parent engages positively with their child’s school.

Yesterday, all of Key stage 2 took part in the Oakmere mini – marathon. This is an annual event in which lots of the primary schools in Potters Bar take part. The principle behind the marathon is that all the children take part in a fun, active event so it will encourage them to exercise and they get an opportunity to socialise with their peers from other schools. Where you finish is not important although we were pleased that Nathan in Year 6 finished 3^rd in his race. However, we also had another special mention for one of our pupils because Aayan in Year 4 had injured his leg before the marathon and could not run it but he did still take part and walked the course. He may not have finished first but it was still a great achievement and truly captured the ethos of the whole event.

I have also been holding auditions for the ‘Talent Night’ which will be held on Thursday, 13^th June at 7.00pm. We do have a lot of talent in school and I know it is going to be an enjoyable evening. I hope to see many of you there. Tickets will be on sale after the half term and will be £4 each.

That is all for now. We have a half term break ahead of us which I know everyone is looking forward to even though it has only been a very short half-term. I hope you all have a very enjoyable break and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday, 3rd June.

It has been quite an exciting and busy week in school. The Year 6 have completed their SATs tests, Year 5 have been to Lincolnsfield and the Reception class performed their class assembly this morning. With all that has been going on I found myself quite shocked to realise that at the end of next week it is the half term holiday – the year is just flying by.

The assembly this morning was really good. I know that the ‘Reception’ children have ‘cute ‘ appeal which helps them to please an audience but their assembly was very entertaining and well presented. It was all about what they have been learning in class. I would like to thank the children for their great performance and I would like to thank Mrs Sheenan, Mrs Howe and Miss Chandler for all their hard work in putting it together.

The KS2 SATs are over for another year and I know that Year 6 are happy about that. As I predicted, the children all said that they were not as bad as they were expecting and they all thought that the week passed very quickly. The results for them will come out in July but I do ask parents to remember that they are only evidence of what the children can do in a test and that the real evidence of what they can do is evidenced in their books and in the classroom –and also what they can remember when they leave us and are not in the pressure situation of an exam!

Next week is another busy week in school. It is ‘Walk to School Week’ so please encourage your child to walk, cycle or scoot to school. If you drive please park a little further away from the school so that your child can walk part of the way. On Monday we also have our half termly Sharing Assembly and if your child is taking part you will already have been informed. On Wednesday it is our Open Afternoon for parents of children in Years 1 – 6.  This is an opportunity for parents to see the work that their children have completed over the last half term. It has only been a very short half term so I hope parents remember this when they look at the books but I know that the children have still produced some quality work in that time.

On Thursday it is the annual ‘Oakmere mini - marathon’ and all the children in KS2 take part with many of the other local primary schools. Although medals are given out to the winners, the main focus of the event is participation and the children can run it at any speed they like - the focus is on finishing. I always love this event and it is good to watch. If you are free at 10.30am next Thursday you may want to pop down to Oakmere to watch. In the afternoon I am also holding auditions for our talent night which we hold once every 2 years. It is always a popular event and I am sure that it will be no different this year. The date for the talent night is Thursday, June 13^th .

After that it is half-term. I am hoping that we have good weather because I am staying in England for this break. I also hope that the weather is good this weekend because I am attending a wedding and my outfit would not really do well in the rain –I may have to see if I can buy an umbrella to match!

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend. I am sure that with all the events that are happening next week I will see many of you during the course of the week.

I am thinking of changing the name of the school from ‘Little Heath Primary School to ‘Half Finished School’. This is because we have got many projects going that are half finished. This includes our windows, our new tech room, the new outdoor classroom and the new climbing frame in the KS1 playground. I am trying to get excited for when everything is finished and imagining how great the school will look. All of the projects are expected to be finished by the second half of the summer term at the very latest so let us hope there are no hiccups to get in our way to hinder our progress. The weather certainly has not helped us this week and I did receive some sympathy from parents about us having to get windows removed and replaced in torrential rain. The worst affected were the office staff and I have to say that they did not complain much. The new windows are looking very good and hopefully they will also help to keep the school warmer during the winter months.  

We did have a lovely end to the week thanks to our Year 1 assembly. It was an excellent assembly about some topics that they have covered in class and everyone who watched it said how enjoyable it was. I think that if I am ever getting a new house in the future I will certainly get one of them to design it for me. I would like to thank all the children for giving us such a wonderful performance and I would like to thank Ms Davis, Mrs Reusch and Mrs Lawrence for all their hard work in putting it together – it is much appreciated.

Next week is the week that all Year 6 dread the most because it is the KS2 ‘SATs’ tests. Quite naturally the children do feel anxious. However, I would like to reassure them by saying that after the first test, past children have all said that it was not as bad as they thought it was going to be and then before they know it all the tests are over. I am sure that it is going to be the same this year. I would ask that all the Year 6 parents make sure that their children get plenty of sleep next week.

As well as the SATs, Year 5 are going to Lincolnsfield next week for their first school residential trip and I know that they are looking forward to it.  As I am helping to administer the SATs test I will not be able to ‘wave them off’ but I will make sure that I see them before they leave. I know they are going to have a good time and I would like to thank Miss Davis, Mrs Robinson and Mrs Pittson for giving up their free time to make this trip possible.

Apparently the weather is going to improve by Sunday so hopefully we will see some sunshine over the weekend. Whatever the weather, I do hope that you all have an enjoyable time and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning –I may even see some of you at the PTA quiz tomorrow night. 

We have had quite a busy week in school. On Monday we had a representative from the railway come and talk to the children about how to keep safe when they are on the train. Year 4 were then taken down to Potters Bar station and had a ride on a train so they had first-hand experience of how to stay safe when using the railway. They all had a great time although some of them were disappointed that they only travelled to the next station and back and not to London as they had first thought. I think they were hoping to spend the afternoon seeing all the sights and possibly have a nice lunch in a restaurant. If that had been so I definitely would have joined them.

On Tuesday we had class photographs taken. As requested the children did all look extra smart - I could tell that many of them had spent a lot of time on their hairstyle for the occasion. We will see whether their efforts have been worthwhile when the photographer sends the proofs of the photographs to the school. While I am talking about uniform can I just remind everyone that in the summer girls can wear socks that are grey or white and boys can only wear grey socks. I am seeing some of the pupils wearing a big selection of colours which are not school uniform. Please support the school in ensuring that your child is in the proper uniform all of the time.

We do have a treat this weekend as it is a Bank Holiday weekend so we do not have to come back to school until Tuesday. I do not think that the weather is going to be as good as it was over the Easter weekend but I am sure that will not stop us all enjoying our extended weekend. When you come back next week there may be a little disruption in the KS2 entrance as workmen are due to come in to replace all the windows in the office area of the school but we will let you know if you need to come in a different entrance.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday morning.

I always start my blog after a holiday by saying how quickly everyone has settled back into the normal school routine and it has been exactly the same this term – you would think that we had never been away. However, I did have a lovely holiday and the wonderful weather that we had over the Easter weekend helped us have a great end to our break – I just hope that we have more weather like that this term because it does help to make everyone feel better.

You may have noticed that we have had some more work done to the school during the Easter break. The majority of the windows in the old part of the building have all been repaired and painted and the train in the infant playground has been removed and a new piece of equipment will be installed next week. Work on the windows in the rest of the school will start over the first bank holiday weekend and should be finished by June. I have been thinking that with all the work that we have had done to the school it would almost have been cheaper to knock it down and start again but the powers that be decided differently. When all the windows have been completed we will be doing some more internal decorating in the summer holiday and then hopefully, when we come back in September, we should not require any major alterations and we can have a school year free from disruptions.

Next week all the clubs start again which really adds a buzz to school life - there are many new clubs in the summer term so make sure you have signed your child up for the activities they wish to attend on the School Gateway. On Monday representatives from Thameslink and Great Northern will be talking to most of the children about how to stay staff when they are using the railway. We also have class photographs being taken on Tuesday –  you may want to make sure that your child looks extra smart on that day. Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

I must admit that I am glad that it is the end of term because I am ready for a break. I think because the clocks went forward an hour on Sunday and then we have had such a busy week in school I am ready to just collapse – I think that a lot of the children feel that way as well. However, as far as the end of term goes, it has been a fabulous week to finish on.

We started the week with our Sharing assembly where all the children shared work that they felt proud of. Then, on Tuesday night I went to the Wyllyots Theatre to watch some of the children take part in a music evening with children from other Potters Bar schools. It was based around the theme of space and it was an excellent evening –I certainly hope that we have more concerts like that in the future. I would like to praise all the children for how well they did and I would like to thank Mrs Robinson and Miss Bradford for giving up their free time to help prepare them for such a marvellous event.

We have also had our own big production in school this week as Years 3,4 & 5 have been performing in ‘Rock Bottom’. It has been a great show and everyone has been coming to tell me how much they enjoyed it. The children did an excellent job and they really did the school proud with their performance. I would also like to thank all the staff in Years 3, 4 and 5 for all their hard work in putting the show together, especially Miss Davis and Miss Bradford who co-ordinated the whole production.  

You will have read in our newsletter what a big success the PTA Easter Egg Hunt was last week. They managed to raise over five hundred and sixty pounds for the school which is brilliant. As well as that though all the children had a really good time and it was a lovely way to end a Friday afternoon. I was very happy because I won four chocolate eggs on the tombola –I will have to wait to eat them though because I have given up chocolate for Lent. I would like to thank all the PTA for organising the event and to thank them for their continued hard work for the school.

Have a great Easter break. Let us hope that the weather is good and I look forward to seeing you all again on Wednesday, 24^th April.

I think it is really starting to feel like spring this week - we have had some lovely weather and the world is starting to look green again. Unfortunately, as is usual when the weather changes, we have had a few bugs in school with a few of the children having to be sent home because of upset stomachs. May I remind you that children need to be out of school for 48 hours after their last episode of sickness/diarrhoea before they return to school. This helps to stop the infection spreading to everyone else in school.

We have sent out our Ofsted report today and you will see that we still remain a good school. We were pleased with our report, especially as it was a more detailed inspection than the last one so it means that all elements of the school were inspected. Although it was only a year (almost to the day) since our last inspection we were expecting it and this is because we had to have a section 5 inspection this time.  A Section 5 inspection has to be carried out by the end of the academic year 5 years after your last Section 5 inspection and so we knew they had to come to us by July 2019. I am only clarifying this point because some parents thought that an official complaint may have triggered this inspection and that was not so.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my staff for all the hard work that they give to the school all of the time, without their dedication and diligence our good report would not have been possible. I would also like to thank all of you, the parents, for the support that you show to the school and this was reflected in the many positive comments that we received on ‘Parentview’. We will put together an action plan to address the targets Ofsted set for us and once it is ready we will publish it on our website so that everyone can have access to it.

With the warmer weather we have a lot more children cycling and scooting to school. This is great but may I remind everyone that children are not allowed on their bikes or scooters within the school grounds. This is because in the past, members of our school community have been injured when they have been collecting or dropping off their children by other children accidentally running into them. If the children only ride their bikes or scooters outside of the school grounds we can greatly reduce the risk of this happening again.

A lot of the children have been very excited today because the PTA have organised an Easter Egg Hunt for after school. I would like to thank the PTA for doing this because these events have a real positive impact on school life as well as raising lots of money for extra resources for your children. You will see from the letter they sent out yesterday that they have lots more activities planned for the summer term which will enhance school life further. Next Friday is the PTA AGM and we really need as many parents as possible to attend this to make sure it is quorate and that the PTA can operate for another year. Please make an effort to attend, without the PTA and the events they run, school life would not be as much fun and it would certainly have less resources.

As well as the PTA AGM next week there is lots going on in school next week. On Monday we have a Sharing assembly and if your child is taking part in this you will have received a letter. On Wednesday afternoon it is our Open Afternoon for Years 1-6 from 3.00pm – 4.30pm. This is an opportunity for parents to see the learning their children have covered over the last half term. Years 3, 4 and 5 are also putting on their show ‘Rock Bottom’ next week. I have seen glimpses of this and I am very excited about watching it because it looks excellent and I know the children are excited to perform to their families and friends. Also, remember that school closes at 2pm next Friday.

Have a fabulous weekend – I am sure that I will see most of you at some point next week.

With all the excitement that happened last week I forgot to mention an important event that took place. Some of the children from Years 5 and 6 took part in a primary indoor athletic tournament at Dame Alice Owen School and won it. I was really pleased and even the lead inspector commented on my competitive attitude. I would like to congratulate all of the children who took part and I would like to thank Mr Mills for organising and supporting the team.

We had a lovely start to the day today because it was the Year 2 Assembly. The children were presenting a selection of the work they have covered this year and they did it very well. It was lovely to see how proud they were of all they have achieved and they really seemed to have a love of learning which is what we want to achieve with the pupils in our school. I would like to thank all of the pupils for giving us such an enjoyable assembly and I would like to thank Mrs Beadle, Mrs Fordham and Miss Southwell for all their hard work in helping them put it together.

In recent times I have given up eating chocolate for Lent so it has been a particularly trying day in school today because of all the chocolate that has surrounded me. This is because of all the Easter eggs that you have sent in for the tombola at the Easter Egg hunt next week. I would like to thank you all for your generosity – without it the PTA would not be able to raise the money that it does. As I have mentioned in past blogs we have recently purchased an outdoor learning space with PTA money and over the Easter holidays work will finally start on our technology room which is also being financed by PTA funds. It should be ready to use by May half term and will be a fantastic addition to our school.

I had to look twice at the calendar when I realised that we break up for Easter in 2 weeks - I do not know where this term has gone. Before we break up we still have a lot of events to look forward to starting with the Easter Egg Hunt which is being held after school next Friday. This is something that the PTA introduced a couple of years ago and has proved very popular with the children so I hope to see many of you there.

That is all for now. I hope you all have great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

It has been ‘Red Nose Day’ today and it has been a mad end to what has been quite a mad week. We have danced ourselves dizzy today in school and I am now well and truly ready to drop. The children all appeared to enjoy themselves even if the staff are flagging but the staff have had quite a busy week. As we know we had a Section 5 inspection which we were expecting after our last Ofsted and hopefully this means that we will not see Ofsted for quite a few years. The report should be out in about three weeks, hopefully before Easter. Until then I cannot talk about the inspection but I would like to thank everyone for their good wishes this week –it has been much appreciated.

It has also been Science Week this week. I know the children have all loved the workshops and I am sure you will be able to find out more about them on the class blogs. The children have also enjoyed making birds and there have been some exotic and wonderful creations made. I am glad that the children have had a good time because just as reading underpins all learning science encourages children to develop the skills to solve problems which is a key life skill for success.

I am sorry but I am going to have to have a little moan. We do have clear signage on all our playground equipment that children should not play on it outside of school hours. However, when I went into the infant playground at the end of the school day I found children on the climbing frame. I even had to remove one child from the climbing frame because they were too small to get down themselves. Can you please ensure that your child does not use the apparatus at the end of the school day – it is for their own safety.

Next week should be a more straightforward week but we still have plenty to look forward to. Friday is going to be another Mufti Day for the PTA. In exchange for not wearing their uniform the PTA would like all the children to bring in an Easter egg for a tombola at the Easter Egg Hunt which will be held on Friday, 29^th March. Year 2 are also holding their class assembly on that day which I know all their parents are looking forward to seeing.

Have a great weekend – I know that I am certainly going to enjoy it.

We have had a ‘back to normal’ day today after everyone dressed up for World Book Day. All the children looked really great and I think that is down to a big effort from the parents organising the costumes so I would like to thank you all for that. The children really love days like yesterday and ‘World book Day’ does help to highlight the importance of reading which is a key factor to accessing all other learning. It is important that the children realise that you can never read too much.

The excitement continues into next week as it is Science Week in school. We have booked some workshops to carry out some class investigations with your children. To make these a success we do need some extra helpers and I do know that some classes are still a little short of help so if you could check your child’s class blog to see when their workshop is taking place and if you are free you could volunteer to support them – I know would appreciate your help. The whole school is also taking part in a ‘Brilliant Bird’ challenge in which the children have got to try and create an imaginative bird that can fly using a limited amount of resources – I am looking forward to seeing the results.

It is also ‘Red Nose Day’ next Friday. We have already started selling noses in school which are proving very popular with the children –they are very excited to open the box to see which nose they have got. On the day itself the children can come in non- uniform if they make a donation of £1 towards the Red Nose fund. We are also going to hold a ‘Danceathon’ in school where one class is always going to be dancing throughout the school day and then at the end of the day the whole school is going to go into the hall to dance together. Some of the older children will also come outside at the end of the day with buckets to collect any small change that you may have to put towards the Red Nose charity. This campaign does support a lot of good causes which is why I do think it is important that the school supports it.

I hope you all have a good weekend – if the weeks continue to go as quickly as this one it will be the Easter holiday before we know it. After the couple of lovely days that we had two weeks ago the weather has got colder again and it is expected to get even colder over the weekend but we can comfort ourselves with the fact that spring is on its way. I look forward to seeing you all again next week.

I hope that you all had a pleasant half- term. I went on a trip to Iceland called ‘The Northern Lights Tour’ and although I did have a very pleasant trip I did not get to see the ‘Northern Lights’. It gives me the excuse to return to the country although I will have to save for a while as Iceland is a really expensive place.

It was Pyjama Day in school and I felt like I had entered a parallel universe – it felt like it was a Saturday morning and we had all have spent the night in school. The children have been very excited in school in their pyjamas and the School Council are very pleased at having raised money for new playground equipment. The total raised is £208 and the school are matching that amount which means the School Council will have £416 to spend on playground equipment. We will let you know after their next meeting what equipment they have decided to buy for the school.

Although it has been an exciting day some children may have been worried about going home because the annual school reports went out today. I have to say that after reading them all none of the children really have much to worry about. We do ask that when you share the report with your child you focus on the comments and targets and do not discuss the grades with them.

It is another busy week in school next week. On Monday morning some pupils from Chancellors School are going to do some workshops with the pupils from Year 2 – 6 on celebrating differences which will help reinforce the work we did with the children last term. On Wednesday the children in Year 2 are having a ‘Great Fire of London’ day which I know they will really enjoy and then on Thursday it is ‘World Book Day’. All the children can come to school dressed as their favourite book character and then each class will be basing their day’s learning around a book selected by the teacher. The children always enjoy this day and it does help to reinforce the importance of books and the enjoyment that reading can bring into your life.

We are also going to be selling red noses to the children in preparation for ‘Red Nose Day’ which supports Comic Relief. This time the noses have been priced at £1.25 which is not as easy as collecting pounds so if your child wants to purchase one could you please try and bring in the correct money as we will not have enough change. There are also lots of different designs so you may find that your child wants to purchase more than one! Unfortunately, you cannot tell from the box which nose is on the inside so there is a chance that they could purchase the same nose twice. Remember that all the money goes to the charity.

That is all for now. We had a few really lovely days this week which made us feel like we were in the middle of spring but it is going to be more winter-like this weekend. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

 

A lot of people have been taking it easy today after dancing the night away at the Valentine’s Disco – and when I say a lot of people I mean the staff who were there - the children seem to have as much energy as ever but that is a perk of youth. Both the discos yesterday went very well and all the children appeared to have had a great time. I would like to thank all of the PTA and staff who organised and helped to run the events – without these people giving up their time the school would be a much duller place and we would also not have the resources we have due to all their fundraising.

At Little Heath we take our safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. One of these responsibilities is to ensure that all the children from Nursery up to Year 4 are collected from the classroom door by a responsible adult. In recent times a couple of parents from these year groups have tried to wave their children over from their classrooms to join them in their cars in School Road. This is not acceptable and no school staff will let the children go unless parents come to the classroom door.

I will not be seeing any of you next week as it is half term. I am glad it is here because in the last two weeks there has been a lot of illness in school and I think we all need a break from each other so we can all become ‘germ-free’. When we come back we have lots to look forward to including a ‘Science Week’, ‘Red Nose Day’ a pyjama day organised by the school council and ‘World Book Day’. With so much to look forward to it will be Easter before we know it.

I hope you all have a fabulous half term and I look forward to seeing you all again on February 25^th.