I think we can all certainly agree that winter has arrived this week –the drop in temperature has been very noticeable and I am now having to wear all my winter layers. There has been talk of snow but on my weather app all it is showing is a little sleet for the weekend but it has let me down many times recently so it cannot be relied on totally. I know the children would love it if we did have some snow but I always have mixed feelings about it because of the decision about whether to keep the school open or not. Let us hope that if it does come we just get a light smattering so it can help us all get in the Christmas mood whilst not missing any more time off school. As the weather has changed can you please ensure that all your children bring in an outer garment to wear outdoors because some children are playing outside in shirt sleeves and I certainly think it is too cold to be dressed outdoors like that.

Last week I told you about how much we had raised for ‘Children in Need, up until the point I wrote my blog and I am now pleased to tell you that we have exceeded that amount and we raised £642 in total. This is the most we have ever raised for this very worthy cause and I would really like to thank you all for your generosity in supporting it. We have another Mufti day next Friday but this time the event is being run by our own PTA and we do not want money this time but items to put in our annual Christmas Hamper draw such as Christmas puddings, mince pies, chocolates etc. Once all the items have been collected the PTA arrange them into wonderful hampers which you can then buy raffle tickets for to try to win one. My family has been very lucky with this draw and we have managed to win a couple of these hampers over the years. They have helped our Christmas celebrations get off to an early start and they have certainly contributed to our festive fun.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

 What a week it has been! We started with ‘Odd Sock day’ for Anti-Bullying Week and ended the week with ‘Children in Need’ and a wonderful Year 4 assembly. After all the excitement I am certainly ready for the weekend.

The year 4 assembly covered all the work they have completed so far in the term but did focus on their rain forest work. I was amazed about how much knowledge they have covered and I am now far better informed about the rain forest than I was before and I know that all the parents who watched were amazed at the quality of work that their children produced. I would like to thank all the children for putting on such a great assembly and to Mrs Bidder and Mrs Stevenson for all their hard work in co-ordinating the whole event and all their wonderful teaching throughout the term that has allowed the children to learn so much.

I have been seeing spots in front of my eyes all day because a lot of the children have been wearing their ‘Children in Need’ merchandise. This is a wonderful charity to support as it helps make the lives of children with additional needs so much better. Today the children could have brought in cash or made a contribution to our ‘just giving’ link for this event and so far - combining both amounts  - we have raised £535.06. If you have not made a contribution so far you can go to our ‘Just Giving ‘ page  -I have copied the link below:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cin21-0003229

Last Friday I spent a wonderful evening at Ashridge House in Berkhampsted as it was the Herts Catering Awards and our cookery team were up for an award. Unfortunately, they did not win but I still think we are very fortunate to have a team of wonderful cooks who got down to the last three in their category. Below is a picture of them receiving their award – all glammed up and looking very different to how they normally do in the kitchen. I do wonder if the children would be able to recognise them from this photograph!

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

 It is always at this time of year that I feel the weeks really start to fly by –I cannot believe that a week has gone by since we were preparing for the firework display. I am sure that all of you who attended that will say what a great night it was. We have not had so many attend for a long time and, as I wrote in my newsletter, I think we have raised in the region of £9000 which is just amazing. I would like to thank everyone who helped out for making it such a great night, but especially to Clare Creswell, Laura Boillot and Lindsey Williams who co-ordinated the whole event and have been leading the PTA for the last couple of years. They are now going to stand down so I would like to thank them for all their work in supporting the school for the last couple of years – they certainly went out with a big bang.

Next week in school is also going to be a busy one. We are starting of Monday with ‘Odd Socks Day’ which is part of Anti-Bullying Week and it helps us celebrate how great it is to be unique. The theme this year is ‘One Kind Word’ and we will certainly be putting across the message of how one kind word or act can positively impact a person’s life. On Tuesday we have a Diwali workshop coming into school and they will be carrying out dance sessions for children in Years 1-4 – I know they are all looking forward to that. We are then ending the week with ‘Children in Need’. This is a big national fund raising event and one that the children love taking part in –the little ones in particular take great delight in wearing all their ‘Pudsey’ paraphernalia to school. We also have the ‘Year 4 Assembly’ taking place on Friday so we certainly have lots to look forward to.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. The weather looks quite pleasant this weekend (if my weather app is accurate) so there is plenty of opportunity to get out and about.

 I hope that you all had a great half term. I cannot believe that it is already November and that the ‘C’ word will soon be dominating our thoughts and conversations (not just yet though). At the minute the thing that is dominating our thoughts is our annual firework event which is tomorrow night. If you have not bought your tickets already there is still time to do so but get in quick because tickets are selling out fast. All the money raised is used to buy extra resources for your children and in these challenging times we are going to have to raise more funds so that we can ensure the quality of your child’s education is not affected by a lack of quality resources. I cannot thank the PTA enough for all the effort they have put into organising this event.

I know you have all received my letter informing you of how masks are now compulsory for all adults to wear when they are in the school building (staff will not wear them when they are working with the children). This is a Hertfordshire initiative and has been introduced because we do have high rates of Covid infection in the county and do need to take extra measures to ensure that we curb the spread of the virus. This does mean though that when you come into school (even if it is just to pop into the office) you must wear a mask (unless you are exempt on medical grounds).

You will all also know that we are selling poppy products in school to help support The Royal British Legion Poppy Charity. This is a very worthy cause and one that we support every year. This year they have out down a minimum amount for each item and we will be sticking to this – however you can pay more if you want to. What we cannot do is give change as the donation pot is sealed so if you do send money in with your child can you please ensure that they have the exact amount that you want to donate.

That is all for now. I hope to see many of you at the fireworks for what I know will be an amazing night. There is no rain forecast so that is good news. Next week in school we are having our first Sharing Assembly in almost two years so I will also see some of you there. Have a great weekend