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.