It is just a short blog today as you have just received a newsletter yesterday. I would just like to thank everyone for all the lovely gifts that I have received - they are not necessary but very much appreciated. I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and a great new year and I look forward to seeing you all again in 2023 on Monday, 9th January

 It has certainly been a week to remember in school. I know everyone dreams of a white Christmas but I just wish that that dream had come true about a week later and I would have had a lot less headaches. I truly hoped that when the snow arrived on Sunday night (and it had not even been predicted to fall on Saturday) that it would all have gone by Monday morning but unfortunately that was not the case. I know it has looked very picturesque but on Monday I thought that after having two Christmases blighted by Covid we were going to have a third affected by the weather. Fortunately, that has not been the case and we have managed to run all our Christmas events this week.

We started with the Foundation and KS1 Christmas performances. The Foundation stage sang and performed some Christmas songs for us and then KS1 performed their show, ‘Prickly Hay’. Everyone who watched the performances thought they were great and it was lovely to have Christmas shows back in school after a 3-year absence. The children all did themselves proud and I would like to thank them and all my staff for all the hard work they put in to help put the performances together. The younger children also had their Christmas parties this week and they had a fabulous time at them. It was really great to see the excitement in their faces after they had had their visit from Father Christmas.

Another treat that we had in school this week was a visit from the ex- Arsenal and England footballer, Jack Wiltshire. It was really kind of him to come and see us in school and the children in Years 1 – 6 really enjoyed his visit (some Tottenham supporters even said that they are now going to support Arsenal). They asked him some very thoughtful and pertinent questions and he answered them all very well. He certainly got the message across that to achieve success you have to work hard and not to be put off by negative comments that some will make –he was a definite supporter of a growth mind-set without even realising it.

We ended the week with the choir performing at Mandeville Court. The old people (I had better stop calling them that because from my perspective they certainly are not looking as old as they used to) had their afternoon brightened by our choir’s beautiful singing and the choir really enjoyed performing all the carols for them. I really think doing things like this at Christmas is important because it helps bring joy to others which is what Christmas should all be about.

Next week we are only here for 3 days but there is still plenty to look forward to. On Monday night we have the KS2 carol concert which is on at the church at 7.00pm –children should start arriving at 6.45pm. On Tuesday KS2 are having their Christmas party and details about that will be in the class blogs. On Wednesday a company is performing the pantomime Cinderella to the whole school to help end the term on a high.

With so much going on and Christmas being so close the children will need to rest this weekend so they have the energy to get through to the end. The autumn term is a long term and with all the extra events that take place the children do get tired which can impact their behaviour so please do make sure that they do get enough sleep so they can enjoy the last few days of term. I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

 Time just seems to be flying by at the moment –I cannot believe that another week has passed and there is just one and a half weeks until the end of term. I know people are starting to feel a little tired because it has been a long term but I can still remember the beginning of September like it was yesterday. It is actually starting to feel a lot more like Christmas because of the frost that has appeared this week –the children were very excited when they came into school and saw that our field was totally white because of the frost.

We had another lovely end to the week again as the children who are learning to play the piano put on a recital in assembly this morning. They played a mixture of Christmas songs and exam pieces that they have been learning in their lessons and it was a very enjoyable event to watch. I would like to congratulate all of the children for the commitment they are obviously giving to their piano learning and to their teacher Ms Moldova who is inspiring them to achieve great things. I look forward to their next performance

As you all know we had our first Christmas event this week. We had our Christmas lunch on Wednesday and we also made this our Christmas Jumper Day to help with the atmosphere. We played Christmas music in the playground for the children outside and then we finished the afternoon off with a film. I do love occasions like this because fun events have such a positive impact on the children. I would like to thank all the parents who volunteered to do playground duty with me so the majority of the staff could sit down to have their Christmas lunch served to them by the Year 6 (another thing that they really look forward to) and I would also like to thank everyone for their contributions towards Christmas Jumper Day – we raised £226.

Next week there are lots more Christmas events taking place in school. The Foundation Stage and Key Stage One will be performing their Christmas shows to the school and their parents and I know they are very much looking forward to doing that. If you have not ordered your tickets make sure that you do get them quickly because any unclaimed tickets will be made available to those who want additional tickets for their families and friends. Foundation Stage and Years 1 and 2 also have their Christmas party on Thursday afternoon but their teachers will have provided you with more details about that.

Raffle tickets for the Christmas hampers and the World Cup football and coins are still open so if you have not purchased tickets for those please do so. They are both very good raffles and the prizes are worth winning.

I am sure that along with most of the rest of the country you will be watching the football to see if England can beat France in the quarter finals of the World Cup. According to my husband (who thinks he is an expert about such matters) the teams are evenly matched so it is hard to predict the result. As it is so cold outside it is good to have events that we can do together indoors. Let us hope that we are still in the World Cup when we all return to school on Monday. Even if we are not we have lots to look forward to in school to help cheer us up. 

 Christmas has definitely arrived in Little Heath as we put up all of our Christmas decorations in school. We had hoped to do it yesterday but there had been a mix up with our tree order so that the trees did not arrive until today but it is now officially Christmas in school. The Christmas atmosphere was added to by all the children not being in uniform in exchange for bringing in contributions for the Christmas Hamper. I hope you all do buy raffle tickets for a hamper because having won one in the past it does give your Christmas a boost.

We had a visit in school this week from Karen Trew who is a deputy Lieutenant for Hertfordshire. The role involves her supporting the royal family with their projects and she was in our school because she is supporting the Queen’s Green Canopy scheme. This was set up to help celebrate her Platinum Jubilee by planting a million trees across the country. This target has been surpassed but King Charles has kept it going until March 2023 because he wants to see how many trees can be planted in this time. A picture of the ceremony is below.

We were donated two trees and decided to plant our trees near the entrance to the school so they can be seen by everyone who comes to the school. You may have noticed something if you have been into school but do not worry if you have not because they are very small at the moment. However, I am sure that they will soon grow and will be an attractive addition to our school grounds.

You will have seen that as well as our usual Christmas Hamper raffle we have a World Cup Raffle for an official ball and a set of commemorative coins. I am not sure of the price of the coins but apparently the ball is worth £130 because of the special technology that has been used to build it. I am sure that like me not many of you would be mad enough to spend £130 on a football but if you could get one by spending a few pounds on a raffle it is worthwhile. It also means that with the money we raise we will be able to buy some regular priced balls for the children to play with during their breaks. We do go through a lot and it is hard to keep up with demand so if we can get a few extra many of the children will be very happy.

Next week we have the first of our Christmas events with our school Christmas Dinner. We are making this our Christmas Jumper Day as well to help add to the atmosphere of the occasion. We make this into a bit of an event by allowing the children to watch a film afterwards. Please do not forget to make your contribution towards ‘Save the Children’ which is the charity that Christmas Jumper Day supports.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I expect you are all very busy with Christmas activities now and we also have England to watch on Sunday night to see if they can win and get through to the quarter finals of the World Cup. Let us hope they do so we can have a joyous start to our week. 

 We have had a lovely end to the week as Year 4 performed their assembly to the school this morning. Their assembly was based on all the learning they have covered this term and was thoroughly enjoyed by all who watched it. One of the best things about it was I could tell how much the children enjoyed presenting it to all their families and the school. I would like to thank all the children for all the hard work they put into their assembly and I would also like to thank Mrs Bidder and Mrs Stevenson for all their hard work in helping Year 4 put the assembly together.

Last Friday was also an exciting day in school because it was ‘Children in Need’ and if you can remember we all came to school wearing spots. I am delighted to inform you that we managed to raise an impressive £265.15. This is up £50 on last year’s donations which I think is really amazing when you consider how all families’ budgets are being stretched due to the significant increase in the cost of living. It just proves how everybody wants to support this amazing charity and all the good cause they support.

It has been a very busy time in school sports wise because the children have been taking part in a lot of sports matches. Below is a picture of me with the netball team just after our 6-5 victory over Cuffley School.  

 

 

 I do think that it is great that all the sports leagues have started again and I know by the numbers of parents attending that you all enjoy it as well. May I just give you all a gentle reminder that when you are watching that you do need to respect the referees and their decisions. I did hear some children talking this week about how they had been robbed of a victory because of an unfair decision and part of their judgement had been based on adult comments that they had heard. We insist that all children need to abide by the decisions of the officials running the games and we expect parents to follow this policy as well. 

I hope you all have a great weekend. Preparations are well underway for Christmas in school and I expect they are for you as well –the great day will be upon us before we know it. I look forward to welcoming you all back to school on Monday.

 I have been seeing spots before my eyes all day. I have not taken ill or gone mad – I am sure that you have guessed that it is because of all the spotty clothes that the children have been wearing for Children in Need. We have received a lot of donations so far but if you have not made your donation online please do so soon, so that we can send our contribution through to the Children in Need appeal.

It has also been ‘Anti- Bullying Week’ in school this week. I think that this is a very important week because we highlight the importance that nobody has the right to bully anybody else. It also ensures that children know what to do if they think they are being bullied so they can make sure it stops. As I keep reminding the children, ‘80% of bullying would not exist if people reported incidents of unacceptable behaviour within 10 minutes of them happening’.

I think that we would all agree that there has been a drop in the temperature and that autumn is definitely with us. However, even though it is cold, a number of children are coming to school without a coat. A significant thing that the ‘Covid experience’ taught us all was the importance of the outdoors for children’s wellbeing. Unless the weather is really bad we do send the children outside for their breaks and after their lunch so can you please ensure that you send your child into school with a coat that is suitable for the outdoors.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I do not want to mention the ‘C’ word yet but I think we know that it is fast approaching and that we will have to start our preparations for the festive season soon (if we have not already started them) but I do hope that you can all still find the time this weekend to relax. I am sure many of you are also looking forward to the football starting next week. On Monday the first England game starts at 1.00pm so we will be showing it in  classes. Let us hope that we can go one step further than we did in the European Championships and bring home a trophy. 

 I know that I saw many of you at the fireworks on Saturday and it is hard to believe that they took place almost a week ago. Even though we did have a little bit of rain it managed to hold off for our display. The event was very well attended and all those that I have spoken to have said what a great event it was. I would like to thank again everyone who attended and give a massive big thanks to our wonderful PTA who organised the whole event. This really is a huge undertaking for those who take it on and the fact that the event ran so well is all down to them. We do not know yet how much money we raised but as soon as I know I will inform all of you.

This time last year many Covid restrictions were still in place which meant that many of our inter school sporting events could not take place. Thankfully, that is not the case this year and we are starting to have competitive matches against other schools. We had some football matches this week and they were well attended by parents which is great. However, may I remind you all that the same parking restrictions that take place during the school day still apply after school so can I ask that if you do attend a match to support your child that you do not park near the school. That happened this week and a couple of parents were upset as they felt it was rather unsafe for their children going home.

There are more sports matches taking place next week and there are lots of other events taking place in school as well. On Monday it is the start of Anti-Bullying Week and for the first day we are asking the children to come to school wearing odd schools to help celebrate how we are all different (the children must wear normal uniform apart from their socks). On Friday it is ‘Children in Need’ day and to celebrate it being the ‘Great Spotacular’ the children are allowed to come to school in non-uniform as long as one of the items is spotty. We are asking for all the children to make a donation of at least £1 and you can do this by sending in cash with your children or by making a donation online to ‘Just Giving’ (the link was on the newsletter).

I hope you all have a great weekend – you do not have the fireworks to look forward to but I am sure you will still all be able to find enjoyable things to do. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

 I hope you all had a wonderful half term. I actually went away and had a lovely relaxing break although I still have the cold virus that I had before the half–term break. I have been checked out and told that a lot of people are suffering with this at the moment and it could be another 4-6 weeks until the cough goes. I just hope that it has gone in time for Christmas!

Before half–term does feel like a long time ago but I am sure that you can remember that on the last Friday all the children came to school dressed in red to support the ’Red for Racism’ day. We did ask for a £1 donation in exchange for not wearing uniform and I am delighted to inform you that we managed to raise £151.00 for the anti-racism movement. I would like to thank everyone who made a donation towards this cause.

It has been brought to my attention that some parents are encouraging children to enter the school before we officially open the doors at 8.40am. We already open the doors 10 minutes before our official opening time of 8.50am and we open the gates to the playground so people do not have to stand on the road. Children should not enter the school before 8.40am (unless they are a Year 6 pupil carrying out their morning job) and if they need to enter the school before 8.40am for any reason they should do so via the school office. If we find that people do not follow our expectations, then we will have keep our playground gates locked until 8.40am so that we can make sure that children do not enter the school before the correct time.

The big event for this weekend is our annual firework display. I know that this is a very popular event and all the children look forward to it. The forecast is not promising but as long as you are well wrapped up you will not notice the weather once the fireworks start. You also cannot rely on the weather apps because they all said it would rain all day on Thursday and it only rained in the morning. It would be a real shame if your children missed out on a fun packed evening just because of a little bit of inclement weather.

I will be there on Saturday so do say hello if I pass you. We can then talk about all the fun we had at the fireworks when we return to school on Monday. 

 It is the end of another busy week in school. I know that many of you have been in school for your parent consultation meetings and I hope that you all feel they were useful- the teachers were certainly very positive about the meetings and the supportive way that parents engaged with them. I know that we are all joined in the one goal of wanting to do the best for the children in Little Heath and having parent support makes that so much easier to achieve. As you all know Mrs Nixon was unfortunately unwell and so had to cancel her appointments but we will re-schedule these after the half term.

It has been a little bit of a sad day in school because our school cook Louise left us today. Everyone here was sorry to see her go because she has been an excellent cook (her chicken pie is legendary) and she has twice been nominated for ‘Cook of the Year’ in our region. All the children said goodbye to her in assembly and although she is looking forward to the challenge of her new position I know she is going to miss everyone in Little Heath. I have not been informed about who is going to replace her as I think at first they will be covering her post with a cover cook but as soon as I know who she is I will inform you.

As you know we have had an Equalities Week in school and it has been very successful. There has been a sea of red in school today because we were supporting the ‘Wear Red for Racism’ day and I would like to thank you for all your donations. However, we have been covering all aspects of equality this week including stereotyping, sexual orientation and disability and I know that all the children have really engaged well with the learning. I do think it is important that we nurture acceptance of everyone in our children and that they grow up being tolerant of everyone for being who they are.

We now have the half term to look forward to and I am sure that like all of us you are all looking forward to it. I have to admit that it has come at a good time for the school because we have had a lot of illness in school and that hopefully this holiday will give us the ‘circuit break’ we need and everyone will return to school healthy. I hope that you all have a great time and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday, 31^st October.

 We have had another lovely end to the week because we had the Year 5 assembly this morning. It was lovely to watch all the learning that the children have covered in this half term –they covered so much that it was difficult to believe that they have only been in school for six weeks. Although some of the children were a little nervous they did themselves proud - it is not easy presenting to a crowded room when you are not used to it. I would also like to thank Mrs Cresswell and Mrs Onley in helping them prepare for their assembly.

I did say how last week was a challenging week in school because of illness and although not as many staff have not been ill this week we have still had illness passing through the school - it has even reached me. I have been battling a cold virus this week and even though it has not been necessary for me to be absent, those of you who have spoken to me will have noticed that I have had rather a strained voice. Hopefully the weekend will allow me to return to my healthy self.

Next week is going to be a really busy week in school because it is Equalities Week and it is Parent Consultation Week. It is great to have parents in school and I know that you all love to meet your teachers so you can support your children’s learning. As I did in my newsletter, may I remind you that you must stick to your allocated time slot with your class teacher. If you feel that you need more time to discuss any issues you may have you will need to book an appointment to see them at a later date. It is unfair on other parents if you run over and then everyone’s schedule gets disrupted.

During our Equalities Week we will be covering items such as racism and gender stereotyping . I think it is important to cover this because children need to learn that everyone should be who they are and not feel it necessary to change themselves just to please other people. It is also important that children learn to accept people who are different to themselves. We are ending the week by taking part in ‘Wear Red Day’ which is a celebration of the anti –racism movement. The children do not have to wear uniform on this day but must wear at least one red item. They should also donate at least £1 to the ‘Wear Red’ charity. It will certainly give us a very colourful end to the half term.

As I have just mentioned, it is going to be half term at the end of next week. I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed. When the year starts you feel that the half term is ages away and yet in what feels like the blink of an eye here we are.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing many of you in school next week.

 I do like ending the week with something uplifting and I do think that our Harvest Festival gave us that this morning. It is great to have everyone in school and I know that parents and family members always enjoy listening to the children sing songs. I would like to thank everyone for sending in donations of cakes and biscuits and also for donating so generously this morning. We decided to support UNICEF this time because there are so many horrible things happening in the world at the moment that it was hard to choose one so I chose UNICEF because they support all children who are suffering in the world. We managed to raise an impressive £632.79 so everyone who contributed should feel very proud of their efforts.

It was good to have an enjoyable event this morning because it has been quite a challenging week in school. We have had a horrible virus going through the school and it has meant that a lot of staff have been absent as they have been unwell. This has caused a little bit of disruption in school but fortunately the staff who have remained well have managed to cover their colleagues. As school staff all know the children and where they are with their learning it has meant that the disruption to the children’s learning has been kept to a minimum.

There are more exciting events to look forward to next week. On Monday we have our first Sharing Assembly of the year –the parents of children who are taking part will have been informed by letter. On Friday we then have our first class assembly of the year. We are starting our cycle with Year 5 as we always do. I know the children love putting these on and get very excited performing in front of their parents and the whole school. I also love watching these and whenever I watch them they always give me an uplift for the weekend so I have something to look forward to at the end of next week as well.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I am hoping that the weekend will provide a ‘Circuit breaker’ for this virus that is going around and that everyone is well by Monday so we can all have a more settled week. 

 The most common thing that I have heard this week is, “Hasn’t it gone cold!” I think we have certainly all noticed the change this week. I thought that my summer wardrobe could last another couple of weeks but I certainly think that I will be getting my winter wardrobe out of the loft this weekend.

I am afraid that I am going to have to have a little moan this week. As usual, a lot of the children have been leaving their school jumpers out in the school playground (they do not appear to feel the cold like I do). Unfortunately, we have only been able to return half of these jumpers back to their rightful owners because the other half did not have any names in. Throughout the year I am constantly reminding parents to label children’s clothes and yet we still find uniform that is unmarked. We do have a lost property box which is overflowing with un-named uniform and that is a real shame. I do have some parents complaining that their children have lost uniform but if it is un-named it makes the job much harder to return it to its rightful owner. Please do check your children’s uniform over the weekend to make sure that it is all clearly labelled so that if they do lose it they can have it returned to them.

The main event of next week is our Harvest Festival event which is happening on Friday. The time slots went out in the last newsletter but I have listed them below to remind you of when they are. Remember that if you have two or more children in the school you can just have them all in one slot if that is more convenient for you. We are asking for donations of cakes and biscuits to serve at the event and these can be brought into school from Thursday.

Harvest Festival Times

9.30 – 10.00am – Years 1 & 2

10.00 -10.30am – Nursery & Reception

10.30 -11.00am – Years 5 & 6

11.00 – 11.30am – Years 3 & 4

I hope you all have a great weekend – even though it is getting colder we are due to have some sunshine. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

 It has been a very busy day in school as all the children have been having their photographs taken. I do laugh at the different approach that the children take to getting their photograph taken as some children make a big fuss with their appearance and others just plonk themselves in front of the camera without a care of how they look. I do admire people who have this attitude towards having their photo taken as I am not a fan of having a camera placed in front of me. They say a mirror never lies but I do think it is kinder than a photograph - especially for those who are advancing in years. 

Next week is a very busy week in school because we have the ‘Bikeability ‘ team in school to help the Year 6 improve their cycling skills. I do think that this is a very important thing to do because there is a lot of traffic on the roads and if children are going to ride their bikes to and from school they need to know how to keep themselves safe. As the children bring their bikes into school on the Monday morning it may be a little more crowded in front of the school when you drop your children off at school.

We also have a Book Fair arriving in school next week and it will be open to purchase books from September 29^th –October 4^th from 3.15pm -4.00pm (Nursery parents will have an extra session on Monday, 3^rd October from 11.45am -12.15pm). We have not held one of these for the last couple of years because of Covid restrictions but I do hope that as many of you as possible can attend. Remember – the more you buy, the more money will be awarded to the school to buy books for our own library which means that all the children benefit. You have all been so generous in the past and I hope you will be able to show the same generosity again.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again next week.

 The summer seems like a dim and distant memory now – not just because we are back at school but because there has been a definite change in the weather. There is certainly a chill in the air now and it is strange to feel this because it has not been cold for such a long time –I will have to start digging out all of my winter woollies soon if the weather gets much colder.

All the extra school clubs started this week which gets the children very excited and this year all the sporting leagues and events should be running as normal which is even better for the children. Let us hope that nothing happens this year to stop all these events taking place because it can be very disappointing and demoralising for the children.

Fortunately, this year there are no sanctions in place which affect how the children arrive and leave school. However, may I remind everyone that children are not allowed on the school climbing equipment before or after school and they should not be playing football at this time either. I have had a couple of complaints from parents about children being hit in the face by balls at this time and this is not acceptable. We will be reminding the children in school about this and we would appreciate it if you can remind your children about not doing this as well. We do not want a child to get seriously injured before we all start following this request.

We have not had a full normal start to the term because of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. As you know Monday 19^th September has been declared a Bank Holiday so that most of the country can watch her funeral. I will certainly be watching because I really think that she served the country the best she could during her reign. I look forward to seeing you all again Tuesday, 20^th September. 

 I am sure you would all agree that the main event of this week is the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. This was always going to be a sad time because she has always been a part of everyone’s life and it is going to be very strange knowing that we will never see her again. However, she served this country well and when looking back at her life there is a lot to celebrate and be proud of. For me she set a brilliant example with her work ethic and the fact that no matter what life presented her with on a personal or public matter she kept going, keeping all her troubles to herself or trying to inspire the country to keep going through a difficult period. This morning we did an assembly with the children to commemorate her life and her service to the country. Next week we are planning to do a couple of age appropriate activities with the children based on her life and her service to the country.

We wanted the children to have a really good first week back at school so we have had a themed week based around ‘Outdoor Learning’. The purpose of this week was to allow the children to gain from the benefits of outdoor learning and also emphasise the importance of the need to take care of it so that we can sustain the quality of it for generations to come. We did plan to have this the first week back because it is usually very sunny when we return to school but there has been some heavy rain showers this week which I know we should be happy about. Fortunately, the majority have taken place outside of school hours so the children’s learning has not been affected apart from some of the surfaces being a little wet for them to complete their work on. They all appear to have had a very good week and have settled back into school life well after their long break.

Next week all the extra-curricular clubs start again which really helps add a buzz to school life. If you have not already done so, please make sure that you sign your child up for the clubs they want to attend on the Arbor system.

I am sure this is going to be an unusual weekend as the whole country mourns the passing of the queen. When we find out any details about how the national mourning may affect the running of the school we will let you know as soon as possible.

 It is finally here – the last day of term and although the weather has presented us with a few hiccups we have reached the finish line. The holidays now stretch before us so let us hope that the hot weather does not disappear and we have six weeks of rain. Looking at my weather app this is not going to happen (although some rain is predicted for later on today but should quickly disappear).

I know that many of you attended the Funday Friday event last week, and, like me, found it a most enjoyable evening. I would once again like to thank the PTA for all their efforts in organising and running the event and to everyone who supported the school by attending the event. I think it is great that we can run events like this again. When all the money has been counted I will let you know how much is raised.

As I mentioned last week the last week is focussed around the Year 6 as they will be leaving us. Although the weather did hamper their leaving schedule they managed to perform their play which was called ‘Jill and Fred’s Most Hysterical Historical Adventure’ and their Leaving Assembly this morning. They did themselves proud with both productions and I know that all their families felt both proud and emotional watching them. We ended the day with the Leavers Parade when the Year 6 bid a fond farewell to all the school. I know that you will join me in wishing them all well for the future.

As it is the end of term many of you have been very kind and generous by bringing in gifts for the staff. I have been lucky enough myself to receive some and would like to thank everyone who gave me a gift – it is nice to feel appreciated.

All that is left for me to do now is to wish that you all have a great holiday. Thank you for all your wonderful support over another challenging year and I look forward to meeting up again with you all on Monday, 5^th September.

 I know in the past I have complained about our lack of summer but we certainly cannot complain about it this week. We have had glorious sunshine all week and I do feel that it has helped get us into the holiday spirit in preparation for next week. I know some of you have been concerned about how your children are managing the heat but we have been taking sanctions to support them such as bringing them in early during the lunchtime to make sure that they do not spend too long in the midday sun. As you will know from our text that we sent out today due to the temperatures rising next week we are going to abandon school uniform for the rest of term and allow the children to come into school wearing loose light coloured clothes to help them remain cool in school. They cannot wear open toed shoes because this will be dangerous for them as they move around the school and will increase their chances of tripping or injuring their feet.

Due to the predicted heatwave for next week we held our annual ‘Teachers v Year 6’ rounders match first thing this morning. The rest of the school came out to watch (they sat in the shade of the trees to keep them cool) which they thoroughly enjoyed although I do think that there was more cheering for the Year 6 than the teachers (how rude). The Year 6 did end up as the winners but they only just beat the teachers as the score line was 5-4 in their favour.

The end of term is upon us though and I do find that quite hard to believe. I can remember the beginning of the academic year so well that it feels like it was just a couple of weeks ago. We did not know what the year held in store for us then and although we have had a couple of blips due to Covid outbreaks I think we have managed to get through the whole year really well. I would like to thank all my staff for their hard work and dedication in helping us to get to this point because they have all had to put in a lot of extra work to make this possible. I know you will join me in thanking them for all their efforts and wishing them a happy and restful holiday.

Next week is all going to be about Year 6 as they leave us to join their various secondary schools. I know they are all going to be happy in their new schools but it is always sad to see them go. We do try our best to give them a good send-off though and I know they are all looking forward to performing their show and sharing their memories of school in the Leavers Assembly as well as having a big rave-up at their Leavers Party. Let us hope that these occasions will be a few of the happy memories that they take away from Little Heath.

The good weather is going to remain with us so I am sure there are going to be a lot of barbeques held over the weekend – I know I am thinking of having one if I can get to the butchers before they run out of produce. I hope you all have an enjoyable time and I look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday for the last time in this academic year.

 I am writing my blog early this week because I am out on Friday which is a shame because I know that it is going to be a really good day in school. We are starting the day with a piano recital where all the children who have been learning the piano in school are putting on a performance for the school and their parents. I have heard them practising over the year and I have really enjoyed listening to them as I move around the school. I know you are all going to have a good time watching them perform.

Friday is also ‘Break the Rules’ Day which has been organised by the PTA. I would like to see how everyone looks with their uniform infringements (although some pupils try to break rules on a normal school day). It is all for a good cause though and I know that all the goodies that are brought in will help to make ‘Funday Friday’ next week extra special. The Year 6 are also holding their ‘Apprentice ‘event on Friday afternoon. This is always popular and I am looking forward to hearing all about it on Monday next week.

A highlight of the week for me was attending the POTSMA (Potters Bar School Music Association) concert at Wyllotts theatre on Wednesday evening. This is a concert put together with other schools from the Potters Bar area. They all practise songs in their own schools and then come together to put on a performance for their families and friends. It is great for local schools to come together to put on a concert like this. This year the theme was ‘Flight’ and all the songs they sang were based around this theme. It was a great show and the pupils from Little Heath did the school proud. I would also like to thank Mrs Robinson and Mrs Lawrence for all their hard work in helping the children prepare for this event.

Next week is action packed in school as well. We are starting the week with our last ‘Sharing Assembly’ and on Tuesday Year 3 will be visiting the Celtic Harmony Camp. On Thursday we will have the new Reception children in school and it is also the day when the children meet their new teacher. In the evening parents will be able to meet their child’s new teacher as and find out all the information they will need for next year. On Friday we are having a mufti –day in school because we have the PTA ‘Funday Friday’ to look forward to after school.

It is certainly an exciting time in school which is typical for the end of year. It is always great fun at this time but may I remind you that the holiday has not started yet so please make sure that your children are still going to bed at their regular time so that they are not too tired during the day. It can be tempting to relax the rules as the end of term approaches but we find that the children can be a little more fractious at this time and being tired just makes things worse.

I hope you all have a great weekend. The weather appears to have realised that it is summer and the sun is shining down on us so I hope you all can get out to enjoy it. I am a tennis fan so will have to spend some time indoors so I can watch the end of Wimbledon. See you all on Monday.

 I have seen many of you in school this week because it has been ‘Parent Consultation Week’. It has been good seeing so many of you in school and I hope that you found your consultation useful. I know that the teachers found them a positive experience. Do remember though that if you do have any concerns about your child you do not have to wait for a parent consultation to discuss it with your child’s teacher –you can contact them anytime by email or telephone.

As well as the parent consultations we have had parents in school for two assemblies this week. On Monday we had a Sharing Assembly where children present work they are proud of. This can be quite a daunting experience for a child but we like the children to have experience of presenting in this way because it is a good skill for them to acquire. Very often, as you would expect, our Year 1 children need support from the older children to be able to do this but I am very pleased to tell you that all of the children managed to present their own work without any support from anyone in this assembly. They should all feel very proud of themselves.

Our Reception children also did themselves proud this morning when they put on their class assembly for their parents. It was a lovely assembly based around some of the learning that they have covered in class –we certainly enjoyed all the songs that they sang for us. It was a lovely end to a very busy week in school. I am so pleased that we have been able to re-introduce the class assemblies this year because I do think that they are an important part of school life. I would like to congratulate the children on presenting their assembly so well and I would like to thank Mrs Sheehan and all the foundation staff for their hard work in helping the children prepare for their assembly.

After such a busy week I am glad that we have a long weekend to look forward to so that we can recuperate and be refreshed for our return to school on Tuesday, 5^th July. Remember that on Friday next week (July 8^th) it is the PTA’s ‘Break the Rules Day’ where the children can break some of the uniform rules in exchange for bringing in some wine or chocolate towards the ‘Fun Day Friday’ which is the following week. Next Friday is also the day when the Year 6 will be holding their annual ‘Apprentice’ event so the children can bring in some money if they wish to purchase items from the stalls. All

Have a great weekend everyone!

 The highlight of this week has been our ‘School Sports Day.’ As with most events that we hold, the children have been very excited for this to happen. Even though we did hold this event last year all the classes had to be kept separate because of Covid restrictions and I think the children missed taking part with other year groups. It was great to see so many parents and friends in attendance and I hope you all had a good time. For those of you who do not know, the results are listed below:

1^st Osborne

2^nd – Thornton

3^rd – Frampton

4^th -Grangewood

I would like to thank the PTA for serving refreshments at the event and I would like to thank all my staff for their work in helping it run efficiently. I would like to give special thanks to Mr Mills for co-ordinating the whole event. I know that for a couple of weeks before the event he is busy with preparations for the Sports Day and although he does enjoy the occasion he always sleeps a bit more soundly when it is all over.

Next week is a very busy week in school because it is parent consultation week. I know that the teachers do look forward to speaking to parents so that you know exactly how your child is progressing in school. However, may I remind you again that these appointments are for 10 minutes so please do keep to your time slot. If you feel that there is an issue that you would like to discuss in more detail, please make an appointment to meet with the teacher again at a later date. One person overrunning can have a huge impact on everybody else who is waiting to speak to their child’s teacher.

As well as being Parent Consultation Week we also have the Reception assembly to look forward to next week. This is the first time these children are performing an assembly for their parents and I know they are very excited about it. I have seen some of the rehearsals and I know we are in for a treat. Year 2 also have their ‘Florence Nightingale Day’ to look forward to on Tuesday. Days like these are great for the children because they help commit learning to their long term memory because the experience is exciting and such fun for them that they remember it for years to come.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you again next week.

 I am coming to the end of a slightly longer week for me because the school took part in a walking float in the procession on Potters Bar Community Carnival Day which was last Sunday. I am not complaining though because it was a lovely day and it was great that so many of our school community could join us to help represent the school. Our procession was led by an amazing carriage with a model of the queen inside which was put together by Mrs Robinson (with some help from some of the children). It was admired by everyone and it quite rightly was awarded a highly commended sticker on the day.

We also had a lovely end to the week with the Year 2 assembly this morning. I know the children have thoroughly enjoyed preparing for it because they have been talking to me about it all week and they certainly did themselves proud this morning. It was obvious from watching this that they are enjoying their learning in Year 2 and I would like to thank them all for putting on such a great assembly. I would also like to thank Mrs Beadle, Mrs Blatch and Mrs Chapman (formerly Miss Southwell) and Ms Weller for all their hard work in preparing the children so well for their assembly.

As it is the end of term there appears to be extra events on every week and next week is no exception. On Monday we have a Sharing Assembly and you will have received notification if your child is taking part in this one. Unfortunately, I will not be present so the assembly will be led by Mr Gradwell as I have to attend some compulsory training. On Thursday we will be holding our annual Sports Day and I am sure that I will see many of you there. As I stated in my newsletter can you please ensure that during the running races you remain behind the taped fence because if you stand in front of this or in front of the finish line we cannot guarantee the safety of the children. Most parents do kindly follow this request but I always get one or two who do just want to get that bit closer but if I let one person through I would have to let everybody through and then it would defeat our objective which is to keep the children safe.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Originally this hot weather was meant to end today but after checking my weather APP the much predicted rain is now not coming until Sunday so you should have at least one nice day to look forward to over the weekend.

 I hope you all had a great half-term break. As we had an occasional day on Monday and with all the Platinum Jubilee activities that have taken place I feel that I have been away from school for a very long time and it did feel a little strange returning to school for a ‘normal school day’. The school had a really enjoyable Jubilee event on the Friday before the half–term break and it was great to see so many family and friends in school. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the PTA for serving the refreshments – their support makes a big difference to the success of events like the jubilee event. The next time that they will be helping us out at is on our school Sports Day which will be taking place on June 23^rd (weather permitting).

It is great that we are able to hold more school events with parents present after a very unsettled time because of Covid and in school many of the restrictions that we had to have in place because of Covid have now been lifted and things are returning to how they used to be. One of the modifications that we did make during our Covid time was with the uniform when we allowed children to wear extra layers in class because of the cold. As the weather is becoming warmer children do not need the extra layers in class so do not need to bring in the additional sweat tops etc. in school. I am also noticing other slips in uniform - especially with socks and shoes. May I remind you that children should be wearing formal, non-casual, waterproof black shoes (not sneakers or canvas shoes) and their socks should be grey. If you need to check exactly what the uniform is, please look it up on our school website in the parent section.

We have another event to look forward to this weekend as the school is taking part in the parade for Potters Bar Carnival Day which is on Sunday. We have not done this for a couple of years and we are really looking forward to it. For those who are joining us for the parade remember we need to meet on the tennis courts of Mount Grace by 12.15pm. For those of you who are watching the parade remember to wave at us as we walk by.

If you are not joining me for the parade, I hope you have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

 It has been a very exciting week in school because of all the jubilee activities going on in school. As I type this we are preparing for our last activity of the week which is to have our little jubilee concert on the field and hopefully many of you were able to join us. I would like to thank everyone who sent in donations to be served at our refreshment stall. The children have had a lot of fun with all the baking and art activities and hopefully, those of you with children in Years 1-6, will be proudly displaying the jubilee plates your children have made in your homes.

Another exciting event that we had this week was the return of the ‘Oakmere Mini Marathon’. It has not been held since 2019 so it was great to be taking part in a sporting event with all the other schools. I know that some of the children (and parents as well) worry about this event but when I spoke to the children afterwards they all said they had a great time. I think the word ’marathon’ puts a lot of people off but the course is actually just over a mile long and the important part is the taking part and not where you finish. I know that the Oakmere head was particularly pleased to be able to hold the event as she is leaving the school this summer and she wanted to hold one more mini marathon before she left. Hopefully the new head continues the tradition of hosting this annual event.

All that is left for me to do is to wish you all a fabulous holiday. I hope that you enjoy any jubilee events that you attend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday, 7^th June. When we booked the occasional day for the 6^th June we did not realise that it would follow an extended bank holiday so it will allow everyone a day to recover from all the celebrations before they return to school.

 I am typing this whilst I am waiting for Year 6 to return from their trip to Kingswood. I know they have had a great week which I am very happy about and I am sure it will take the whole weekend for them to recover. The Year 6 school trip is one of the highlights of a primary pupil’s life and I am very pleased that it has been able to take place this year – it will give the children pleasant memories for many years to come. Of course it would not be possible if members of staff were not willing to leave their families and join the children for the week and so I would like to thank Mr. Gradwell, Miss Russon, Mrs D’Avella and Mrs Friedman for giving up their free-time to make this trip possible –I expect they will be very tired over the weekend as well.

 In school we had a wonderful end to the weekend with the Year 1 assembly this morning. Due to Covid restrictions this is the first assembly that this class have done and I think they did themselves very proud. The assembly covered the learning that the children have done in class and everyone who watched it was very impressed with what they saw. I would like to thank the class for putting on such a great assembly and I would like to thank Miss Davis and Mrs Alimadadi for their hard work and support in putting the whole assembly together.

As you know we are carrying out activities to help celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next week. Children in Years 1-6 are going to be decorating plates to bring home to help commemorate the event. We are asking for a £3 donation towards this so if you have not already done so can you please make your payment on Arbor – if you have any problem doing this please contact the school office. Children will also be preparing work to put in time capsules which we are going to hide in the school to be opened in 70 years time – who knows what the world will be like then. We will be ending our week with our Jubilee Event where we are inviting parents to come and watch the children perform songs from across the seven decades that the queen has been on the throne. This will begin at 2.00pm next Friday.

As well as all the jubilee activities some of the children will be taking part in a Sharing Assembly on Monday morning and the KS2 children will be taking part in the Oakmere mini marathon on Thursday morning. With such a busy week in place I am glad that we have the half term holiday the following week so that we can all recover.

Enjoy your weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday morning. I have to attend a meeting on Monday morning so I will not be in school until the afternoon.

  It has been a week that all Year 6 pupils dread– SATs week. However, the tests finished yesterday and, as usual, the Year 6 found they were not as bad as they were expecting and they were over before they knew it. I know that all our children did the best they could and that is all we can ask of them. They have their school journey next week so I am sure they will have a more relaxed weekend compared to last week with that to look forward to. They can also enjoy the rest of their time with us without that black cloud hanging over them.

It will be quieter in school next week as Year 6 will not be in but there will still be plenty going on in school to look forward to. Firstly -it is ‘Walk to School Week’. This is a week when we highlight the benefits of coming to school either by walking or riding a bike or scooter. The health benefits of not coming to and from school by car are huge (both emotional and physical) so even if you have to come to school by car you should try and build time into your journey to allow yourself to park 10 minutes away and walk the last part of the journey. I hope we can all make an effort next week to get out of our cars and use our legs to either walk, ride or scooter to and from school.

As well as the ‘Walk to School Week’ event we also have some of the older children taking part in an athletics event at Dame Alice Owens and at the end of the week we have the Year 1 Assembly. I am really glad that events like this can take place again. Life in school during the Covid sanctions was very monotonous and it is nice being able to hold all the extra- curricular events again because they really enrich the school life of the children.

I hope you all have a great weekend. It looks like it is going to get a little warmer so let us hope that summer is finally on its way and we can start enjoying the great outdoors without having to wear lots of layers.

 

 I know that I say this a lot but I truly cannot believe that a full week has passed since I last wrote my blog – if the weeks keep going as quick as this one it will be the summer holidays before we know it. Unfortunately, the warm weather that greeted our return appears to have disappeared and although the sun has been out there has been a definite chill in the air. I am certainly following the old verse of ‘Never cast a clout till May is out’ and keeping all my winter clothes close at hand until at least June.

All the additional clubs started again this week and I can tell that the children are really happy about this. However, we have had a lot of children coming down to the office to ring home because they are not sure if it is on, they have forgotten their kit or they are not sure if they are supposed to attend. Going forward, can you please ensure that all your children are aware of what clubs they are attending and that they have the correct kit that they need to attend the club before they leave for school in the morning. The office staff already have a heavy workload without the additional burden of having to make extra phone calls about clubs.

Next week I have to attend a course so I will be out of school on Thursday and Friday and in my absence Mr Gradwell will be in charge. I am disappointed that I will be out on Friday because Year 3 will be presenting their class assembly. I am really pleased that we can hold these events again because I really feel that they enrich school life. If you have not done so can you please check the newsletter to ensure that you know the new dates of the re-arranged class and sharing assemblies.

We have a long weekend ahead of us to look forward to so we will not all be together again until Tuesday. I hope you all enjoy your extra day off. There will be no head’s blog next week as I am not in school.

 Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a great Easter break. It has been nice to return to some sunshine although if my weather App is to be believed it is going to be a little cooler next week (as it was today). Still, it would not be England if the weather remained the same all of the time.

The children were all looking very smart this morning as they were all ready for their class photograph. It was a very exciting time in the hall as they all posed for their photographs. We will see the results in a couple of weeks and I hope you are all pleased with them.

As usual the children have all settled back into school well and are enjoying being able to play on the field again –having that bit extra space appears to get them very excited as does having their packed lunch on the field. However, as I stated above you can never really rely on the English weather so can you make sure that they do have appropriate clothes in school so they can go outside for their breaks no matter what the weather is like – this includes having a cap in school and wearing sun block in sunny weather and bringing in some sort of jacket in case the weather turns colder.

Next week will get even more exciting for the children as all the after school clubs are starting up again. As it is the summer term there is a change to some of the clubs so if you do not know what they are please check the website and ensure that if you have not already done so you have signed your child up on Gateway as some of the clubs have limited spaces.

I hope you all have a good weekend – it looks like the weather is going to remain warm so we should be able to enjoy the outdoors. I look forward to seeing you all again next week.

 The big event in school this week has been the Year 3, 4 and 5 performances of ‘Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies’. I am sure that all of you who watched it would agree that it was a fabulous show and that all the children put on an amazing spectacle for all to watch. It has been lovely to put something like this on again and have an audience in school to watch it. Events like this make the school a more exciting place for the children and hopefully we will now be able to return to our full programme of the extended curriculum now more Covid restrictions are being lifted. I would also like to thank all my staff in Years 3, 4 and 5 who have worked extremely hard on putting together such a great show and to the PTA who helped us serve refreshments in the interval.

When we put performances on in school we never charge for tickets for people to watch the show but we always have a collection for a charity. This time it was for the Disaster Emergency Committee which is supporting the people in Ukraine and I am pleased to let you know that we raised an impressive £592.60. I would like to thank all those people who kindly donated towards this very worthy cause –especially when the cost of living in our own country has gone up dramatically in recent times.

There has certainly been a contrast in weather this week compared with last week and it has been feeling more ‘fresh’ this week which is a great shame since the Easter holiday is upon us –at least the sun is shining though. Even though the term feels like it has flown by an awful lot has happened since we returned after the Christmas holidays so I am sure we will all enjoy our break. I hope you all have a great holiday and I look forward to seeing you all on your return on Wednesday, 20^th September.

 I think I am really beginning to believe that winter is finally over and spring is on the way. It has been really lovely to have some warm weather. I do think that everybody does seem to be in a better mood when the weather is warm and the sun is out. I do not believe that it is going to last so I think we will need to make the most of it while we can before the colder weather returns next week.

As you know I did not publish a blog last week because I was away with Years 3 and 4 on a PGL trip to Claythorpe. I really enjoyed being away with the children and they all appeared to have a fabulous time as well. I did not realise how much we have missed doing these sort of activities with the children until we went away and I really hope that that these can become a regular feature in the school calendar again because the children learn so much from these socially as well as experiencing all the different activities. Let us hope that with the lessening of the Covid restrictions that our 2 other residential trips go ahead this year although we have not received any updates on further restrictions being lifted. We did think that all restrictions were going to be lifted on April 1^st but I do know that there has been an increase in cases recently so perhaps the government are reviewing their plans before they make this decision although we often do not hear about it until the last minute.

Next week we are all looking forward to seeing the Y3, Y4 and Y5 production of ‘Robin Hood and the Hoodies of Sherwood’ and I know that they are all very excited to perform it. Hopefully, we will not have another outbreak of Covid which could prevent us putting this show on but if we do we will just postpone it until after Easter and then the children will perform it on their return.

I am sure that I do not have to tell you but next week is the last week of term and then we are off for Easter. Please do not forget that we finish at 2.00pm next Friday as it is the last day of term. I hope the weather remains warm so you can all have a lovely weekend. 

 As you will all know from my newsletter that we have had another outbreak of Covid in the school. I did think that we would have finished with this now but obviously the virus had other ideas. I would like to thank parents who have been testing their children for letting us know and keeping their children off for five days which is the guidance we have been given. As testing is no longer a legal requirement we can no longer tell you how long to test for but what I do ask is that if any child is unwell you do not send them in and you keep them off until they recover. This is soon going to be the only way we manage Covid now it is moving to endemic status. The only measures we are being asked to keep in place are good ventilation, frequent handwashing and an enhanced cleaning programme and I would like to assure you all that we are maintaining all of those.

At least the weather is improving which means it is becoming more bearable to have the windows open in classrooms and the extra layers will soon no longer be required. It also means that more outdoor sports can take place and we have been making the most of that this week. Some of the Year 3 and 4 took part in a football tournament yesterday morning and the older boys took place in a football match last night. The Years 3 and 4 finished 5^th in the tournament and the older boys won one and drew one of their matches so it was a pretty successful showing across the board. Tonight the girls have a football match against Ladbrooke and next week they have a netball match against Oakmere. I do like it when all these additional events can take place in school because it makes it a far more fulfilling experience for the children in school.

Next week the excitement continues because, as I stated above, some of the children are involved in a netball match and it is Red Nose Day on Friday. To help celebrate this day the children can come to school in no uniform and as long as they are wearing a red nose they will not have to make an additional donation to the charity – unless they want to. Children who are not wearing red noses will need to bring in at least one pound and they can hand their donation to their class teacher and we will send it in along with the money we have made from selling noses. I am sorry that we ran out in school – in the future we will have to make sure that we buy even more noses to sell in school.

It is also a major week for children in Year 3 and 4 because they are going on their PGL trip which is taking place at the Caythorpe Activity Centre. They are only going away for a night but I know they are going to have a fun-filled action packed time and they will be able to recover over the weekend so they are all refreshed for the following Monday morning. As I am joining them I had better make sure that I get plenty of rest over the weekend so I can keep up with them. It also means that I will not be producing a blog next week but I will tell you all about my trip the following week.

 It has been a much calmer day in school today compared to yesterday. As you will all know (because you had to provide the costumes), it was World Book Day and the children all came to school dressed as a host of different book characters. I thought that the children looked really good this year and I would like to thank you all for all the effort and preparation that you put into their costumes. I was in some of the classes yesterday and the children were really engaged with the World Book Day activities that were taking place. You will have noticed that the school staff had a theme and that we were all wearing t-shirts with popular book characters on them. I wore Winnie the Pooh because I think that he is such an endearing character and I loved reading about all of his adventures when I was younger.

As I said in my blog last week, children should be engaging with reading activities all year round and the purpose of World Book Day is to highlight this fact. You can support your children with reading at home by ensuring that you listen to young readers reading their school book most evenings and ensuring that older children who are independent readers read for at least 10 minutes every day.

I know that many of you will have been disappointed that not many of the after school clubs have not been running this week even though we promised that they would be last week. This is because unfortunately Mr Mills has been unwell for most of this week so his clubs have been unable to take place. I know a lot of people are becoming very confused as to when clubs are running and when they are not and this is understandable because of all the disruption that has been caused by Covid. Hopefully, Mr Mills will be able to return by next week but if he still needs to be off we will contact you as soon as possible so you have plenty of time to make alternative arrangements for your child.

If Mr Mills does return next week we will hopefully be playing some football matches against other schools which will be great. I am actually going to be attending some meetings which are taking place outside of the school in person which will be the first time I will have done this in two years. I am so glad because meetings run a lot smoother in person compared to when you are in a virtual meeting and the signal goes off or the volume switches itself off for no apparent reason.

I hope you all have a great weekend. For those of you who follow my blog the alterations in my home have still not been completed so I am still living in chaos at home – I am beginning to think it would have been quicker to knock the whole house down and start from scratch but who knows? I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

 It has been good being back in school again. I was fortunate in that I only experienced mild symptoms when I had Covid but being stuck in a room by yourself is not as good as it sounds - especially as I was not even in my own room because it is in the process of being refurbished. Luckily I was able to come out of my holding pen on the first Monday of half term so I was able to enjoy a good break before returning to school.

As we had such a major outbreak before the half–term we had to operate in ‘outbreak’ mode this week so next week is going to be far more exciting for the children. Because we have very few cases of Covid in school now, as I explained in the newsletter, we will be returning to our ‘normal’ mode of operating on Monday and, hopefully, we will be able to remain like this for the foreseeable future. All the extra-curricular clubs are starting again (with the exception of karate which will now start after Easter) and it is World Book Day on Thursday. The children love coming dressed in their character costumes and the staff are also doing something but you will have to wait to see what it is on Thursday!! Children in Year 2 have also got their ‘Fire of London’ day to look forward to. This was cancelled because of our Covid outbreak and although we were offered an online version we thought the children would get far more from the ‘live’ version and they will finally get to experience that on Friday.

I know that a lot of children will be going home nervous today because it is when they receive their annual school report. I do not think that any of the children have too much to worry about. Do share the reports with your children but please do focus on the comments which offer constructive advice on how they can improve in their learning. We work hard on developing a growth mind set in school and it would be good if this is followed up at home.

I hope you all have a great weekend with no Covid restrictions. It will be interesting to see how we manage with that or whether they will need to be re-instated in the future – only time will tell!

 

 Many of you will probably have noticed that I have not been on the school gate this week and this is because I have fallen foul of the dreaded Covid virus – for the SECOND time. Fortunately, my symptoms have been very mild and I have been able to work from home. I know that a lot of people in Little Heath have been in similar circumstances and I hope everyone who has had Covid or has still got it is well on the way to recovery. The Covid team from Hertfordshire did contact me and, fortunately, they did say that as a school we could not have done anymore to restrict the spread of the virus. Apparently, although the Omicrom variant presents with milder symptoms, it spreads far more readily and as primary children have not been vaccinated, they have been more susceptible to catching it. As we have had such a significant outbreak, the children will remain bubbled and all after school clubs will be cancelled for at least the first week after our return. We will review this situation at the end of the first week.

May I also remind everyone that if your child is feeling unwell that you do not send them into school. With so many Covid cases in school I do ask that you get them checked for Covid before sending them back in and if their symptoms persist you test them for a second time. As I mentioned in my last blog even if your child does not present with typical Covid symptoms can you please get them tested for Covid because many people who have tested positive have had none of the typical symptoms.

I would like to wish you all a good half term. Hopefully, this holiday will give us the break we need and when we return Covid will have left Little Heath. I look forward to being back in school and seeing you all again on February 21^st.

 What a week it has been - just when I think we are ‘out of the woods’ with Covid it comes back to haunt us. It has not made too much difference to the lives of the children in school because we have had Covid restriction strategies in place since Christmas. However, I do ask that if your children are feeling unwell and you do think it is Covid please test them before you send them into school. As well as the usual symptoms of a persistent dry cough, a raised temperature and a loss of smell or taste children can also develop a headache or an upset stomach when they have Covid so please test your children if they do show these symptoms. It is highly unlikely that schools will shut because of Covid but we do want to keep as many children as healthy as possible so they do not miss any school time because of illness.

Anyhow, enough about Covid - let us discuss what is actually going to be happening in school next week. Next week is national Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Week and the children will be carrying out a number of activities related to this in school. We think that these activities are very important because taking care of your mental health and personal wellbeing helps ensure that you have a happy and healthy life by allowing you to manage all the ups and downs that we all experience in our everyday lives.

As well as Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Week it is also Safer Internet Day on February 8^th. This is a very important event because children use technology for everything and whilst it is an excellent resource to have they need to know how to use it safely to ensure that they do not engage with any unsuitable people or websites. After we have had this day it may be good to have a discussion with your child to see what they have learnt so you can reinforce the safety message that we will have delivered in school. 

I would like to finish by thanking you all for your support during this very challenging time. You have all been very understanding about the adaptations we have had to make and you have been very good in getting your child tested if you think they may have had Covid. This support has made my job a lot easier and I am most grateful. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

 I heard someone say during one of my many meetings this week that January was passing very slowly - but I could not disagree more. I cannot believe that it is a whole week since I was last writing my blog – it literally just feels like a day since I was last writing this. It is going to be half –term before we know it and then Spring - Hurray!

Things have been going very well in school this week although, because we have had a couple of confirmed cases of Covid, we are still implementing a couple of strategies in school to help reduce the spread of Covid across the whole school. We are still running our full clubs schedule as I feel that it is important for our children to have these positive experiences to look forward to and hopefully we will be able to maintain this but if we do have to make any changes which will impact on these we will let you know.

In my last newsletter I did request that parents ensure that children come to school in their full uniform but I am sorry to report that a number of children are still not adhering to our dress code. I am a little disappointed by this because I do feel that we have a very good parent body who are very supportive of the school and I do feel that we are being let down by a few not following our expectations. I hope that this will be rectified next week.

I am sure you are all looking forward to a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. I am still having work completed on my house so things are a little chaotic in my household so I will just have to make sure that I get out and about to get away from it. I look forward to seeing you all again next week.

 It was great to start our outdoor clubs again this week and, all being well, the indoor clubs will be starting next week. I am really happy when all clubs are running because I do think that the extended curriculum is just as important for children as the mandatory curriculum. As it has been a while since all clubs were last running, you may want to check our website to check which nights the different clubs run. We also have two new external clubs staring this term as well. They are a chess club on Tuesday night and a Karate Club on Friday evening. If you have not already signed up for these and you think your child may be interested in starting them, please enquire at the school office for contact details.

I am also very pleased to say, that as our Covid cases have been so low we will be getting rid of class ‘bubbles’ next week and returning to our normal routines for the running of the school. I am sure that you will agree that this is great news but if rates do rise within the school we will have to return to our ‘bubble format’ for running the school.

I know that some of you that have read my school letter may have thought that I was complaining about many things. Can I assure you all that was not the case. I brought up the watches and earrings as they are health and safety issues and I do not want any harm to come to the children. I mentioned the uniform because after a couple of lockdowns and the children being allowed to wear additional layers in the classroom to help keep them warm I think some people have become confused as to what the actual uniform is and it is important that we re-establish our expectations to those that existed before the pandemic.

That is all for now. I have really enjoyed this week because although it has been cold it has been sunny for most of it which has been very uplifting. Let us hope it that we see more sunshine over the weekend.

 When I was writing up the dates for next week I could hardly believe that it will be 17^th January on Monday – we are already halfway through January. If the weeks keep passing this quickly it will be Spring before we know it. Not that we have much to complain about because we have had some lovely sunshine this week. I know that it has been frosty (and a little slippery on some days) but I do think that we can all cope with anything as long as we have a bit of sunshine in our lives.

I am afraid that I need to have a little moan this week. As I have been moving around the school I have noticed a few lapses in the children’s uniform e.g. incorrect footwear, the wrong coloured socks or tights or KS2 pupils not wearing ties. Can you please make sure that your child is dressed in the correct uniform when they are in school. If you are unclear about what they should be wearing you can check the uniform list which can be found on our website in the parent tab. (I am not including in this the extra jumpers/coats that children are wearing to help keep them warm in the classroom). We will be sending texts home to parents for children who are not dressed appropriately or who have forgotten their PE Kit (another thing which is happening too often).

Although we are still operating the school in ‘bubble’ mode indoors there are still lots of exciting things happening in school next week. On Monday Year 5 are taking part in a Viking workshop and on Tuesday the children in Nursery through to Year 2 will be taking part in a jungle drama workshop. We are also starting the outdoor clubs again next week (netball, rugby and football) and I know a lot of the children are looking forward to taking part in these again.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend. I have to prepare my house for some renovations that I am going to have so I hope many of you have more exciting things to look forward to than that. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

 Welcome back and Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful break. I certainly had a better time than last year when my whole family had Covid but fortunately we were all well this year. I know that some of our families had Covid over the break this year but I hope that if that was you that nobody was too ill and that you all managed to get some rest over the holiday.

As you will know we have a number of cases of Covid in school at the end of the autumn term and because of that we were bubbling the classes. As requested by county (and because the rates of Covid are still high across the country) we will be keeping the classes in bubbles for at least the first couple of weeks of term to ensure that we do reduce the risk of the infection spreading across the school and children having to be absent from school. As well as keeping the classes in bubbles we will continue with our enhanced cleaning routine, the frequent handwashing and keeping the classrooms well ventilated which are also effective measures in reducing the spread of infection in school.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I know the temperature has dropped but according to my weather App (which has not always been the most reliable) Sunday looks like it is going to be sunny so we should be able to get outside for some of it. I am of the opinion that as long as it is sunny it is enjoyable to be outside. I look forward to seeing you all on Monday morning.