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.

I know I have said this many times but I cannot believe that a whole week has passed since I last wrote my blog. I have had a really busy week with lots of meetings and courses so I feel like my feet have not touched the ground because I have been so busy. I did realise that I had been out of school a lot when I was sitting in my office and one of the staff members was surprised to see me there – they actually said they thought it was a mirage.

Even though I have not been around much there has still been lots going on in school. One of the main things that has happened is the completion of our outdoor classroom. We have not had a lot of people in to have a look at it because the ground where it has been built has to be allowed to ‘settle’ but as soon as it is okay we will have an ‘Open Day’ where people can go down and have a look inside. I know the children (and staff) are going to love to use it. Once again I would like to thank the PTA for raising the money to pay for this latest addition to our setting.

I know it has only been a short half term but I am pleased that we do have the half term break at the end of next week because I feel as if the whole school needs a break. However, before we break up for our half term holiday we have a busy week in school next week. On Monday we have one of our half termly Sharing Assemblies and if your child is taking part you will already have been informed. On Wednesday afternoon it is our Open Afternoon where parents who have children in Years 1- 6 can come into school to look at the learning their children have completed over the last half term. This event runs from 3.00pm – 4.30pm. We start it before the end of the school day so that parents can share their children’s learning with them but you can still bring your child back to look at their learning if you have to return to school after the end of the usual school day. On Thursday evening the PTA are also holding Valentine’s discos for KS1 and KS2 and you have already received the information about these events.

That is all for now. I hope you all have a pleasant weekend – I myself hope for a better weekend than the last one because I was struck down by the flu virus that has been going around the school and I spent most of it in bed.  I look forward to seeing you all next week.

I must start my blog this week with an apology. This is because last Friday Year 3 put in an amazing class assembly and I forgot to mention it in my blog. The assembly was a representation of all the work that Year 3 have covered so far and the children presented it really well. I would like to belatedly thank them for a great assembly and I would also like to thank Miss Davis, Mrs Reynolds, Miss Russon and Mrs Ameen for helping them plan and organise it.

The big news today is the snow – all the children have been very excited and enjoyed the session on the field when we let them play on the field. I know some people were expecting a snow day but it was only a couple of inches and most of the roads were clear. I know a few people did not want to risk it because of icy back roads but if I can get enough staff in and the school is warm I do not have a reason to close and need to open the school. The snow was really lovely and fluffy and the children had a great time playing on the field during the morning break.

You may have noticed some workmen in the school today working in an area of the school field. This is because they are preparing the area for a new outdoor learning space that will arrive next week. From the outside it looks like a marquee and on the inside it will contain enough wooden seating for a whole class to sit down and a fire-pit so that it can be used in the winter. We are also having the wild life area overhauled so that a footpath will run from the outdoor classroom into the wildlife area. We are very excited about this addition and, along with our new technical room which we hope will be finished very soon, the provision for the children will be much improved making the learning experience for them even more exciting. The funding for both these areas has been provided by the PTA and we cannot thank them enough for their help in improving the quality of the provision at Little Heath.

The choir have had a very exciting time this week because they performed at the O2 in the ’Young Voices’ choir. They have been practising since September and all their work and preparation has certainly been worthwhile because they did an amazing job. Mrs Robinson and Miss Bradford have helped organise the children and I would like to thank them for all the work they put into preparing the children for the Young Voices’ event. Mrs Reusch and myself went along to help chaperone the children and we were delighted because Tony Hadley, the former lead singer of Spandau Ballet, was performing. We are big fans of his and so were joining in with him whilst he sang ‘Gold’ and ‘True’. The children, who did not know who he was, were bemused by this and were wondering why he was there. They have left me feeling very old! 

I cannot believe that it is February – where did January go? We are all going to have to wrap up warm this weekend because it is very cold but I am sure that will not stop us enjoying ourselves – I look forward to seeing you all on Monday.