Welcome back! I hope you all had a pleasant half –term. For those of you who remained in this country I know that you experienced a lot of rain and we have certainly had our fair share of it this week. I just hope that when we get to May and we get our first glimmer of sunshine that they do not try and tell us that we have a shortage of water because I do not think that anybody would believe them. I have also just depressed myself with that last sentence because I certainly do hope that we get a glimmer of sunshine before May!

It has been a busy week in school since our return and I think that as it is such a short half term (only 4 weeks and 4 days) that every week until the end of term is going to be a busy week. We have started our ‘Eat Them to Defeat Them’ campaign which involves the school kitchen encouraging the children to eat more vegetables. As an adult I truly like all vegetables but I can remember as a child being less than happy at eating more than a small range of vegetables so I certainly think it is a worthy campaign to support. I have to say though that when I discussed the benefits of eating vegetables in assembly I was very impressed by the amount of knowledge and information that the children had about vegetables. They are certainly better informed than I was as a child.

Year 2 also had an exciting day on Wednesday as it was their Great Fire of London workshop. Dressed in their authentic costumes they had a wonderful day experiencing crafts and activities which reflected how people lived at the time of the Fire of London. To make this event possible we needed a number of parent volunteers to come in and support the children and I would like to thank them for giving up their time to do so. When I spoke to some of them I think that they enjoyed the event as much as the children.

Today is a day that a lot of children dread because the annual school reports have been sent out. After reading all the reports I do not think that any of the children have too much to worry about although I do advise them to read their teachers’ comments carefully and follow their advice because it will help them improve their learning. I would also ask, as I do in the letter that accompanies the report that you do not compare your child’s grades and report with other children as this can cause distress.

There is a lot happening again in school next week but I think that the event that will excite them the most is World Book Day which is on Thursday. I know that the children are coming dressed as book characters again this year which they love and it always makes it a colourful day in school. I will not be in school in the morning but I will be in later to see them in their outfits.

I hope you all have a great weekend – let us hope that the rain stops for a while and we have a little sunshine – roll on spring!