Well once again it seems that we are clearly seeing the effects of climate change now and the severe weather warnings keep coming. After the pouring rain of last week, we have then had the opposite extreme today with this intense heat which is forecast to continue for much of next week. I have said this before but I wanted to assure you all once again that we take the health and safety of all of our children very seriously. All classes have fans or coolers in them and we have been ensuring that the children are keeping themselves well hydrated throughout the day and that during lunch and break times, they stay in the shade as much as possible. We also opened up the main hall at lunchtime today to all of the children to watch a film in a quiet, calm space if they wanted to.

Following on from this, despite it getting warmer in the afternoon yesterday, I am pleased to say that the weather was a lot kinder to us this year and we were able to go ahead with the sports day and it all ran as smoothly as it could have done. I want to thank all of the children for taking part and I want to give a special mention to the Year 6 children and work experience students who I hope you will all agree did a grand job at leading the events. I also want to thank all of the parents for coming to cheer on their children and especially those brave enough to take part in the parents’ races at the end –there were some lightning fast runners so I’m glad I didn’t come up against them! Finally, I want to thank all of the staff who helped to run it, but especially Mr Mills for all of his hard work in organising and putting it all together on the day. Grangewood were the eventual winners for the second year in a row, so well done to them for taking home the trophy once again this year.

Next week, Year 6 are going to be away for the week on their PGL residential, rest day and visit to Stanborough lakes. Mr Chanter and I will be attending this also and I will only be in school on Thursday so if you have any queries or concerns in our absence, please make contact with Mrs Robinson who will be only too happy to help. I am sure that the school will feel much quieter without us around.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Well, I know I often talk about the weather in my blogs but I certainly do not remember a time when I was having to write about the incessant rain in June before quite like what we have experienced this week. I am not too sure that there are many people in schools who enjoy ‘wet play’ –children or adults alike –but unfortunately we’ve had a fair few of them this last week so I am hoping that this does not continue next week.

Whilst I was not actually able to be there in person to see it, I am pleased to report back on our Reception class assembly that took place this morning. I hear from all of the staff who watched it how amazing it was and though I did get to see the final rehearsal yesterday which I thought was superb, the children brought it up a notch in the real thing today and so I’m even more gutted not to have seen it. The learning that the children have clearly developed and the way in which they are able to recall and present it is absolutely fantastic and they are destined for great things as they move through the school. I would like to say a huge thanks to Mrs Sheehan and all of the Foundation Stage team for putting together such a brilliant assembly; a well done to all of the children who performed it; and a big thank you as well to all of the parents who joined us to make it so special.

Today also saw Year 4 out on their visit to Stanborough lakes which judging by the reactions of the children and staff on their return was yet another brilliant trip out. We try to encourage a wide variety of educational visits across the school and we firmly believe that the more ‘adventurous’ types of visit have many positive benefits, from developing team work and resilience to building the children’s confidence in attempting things otherwise out of their comfort zones.

Next Thursday, weather permitting, we have our Sports Day events planned. You will have received the information about this already, but for those unfamiliar to the make-up of the day, KS1 will be taking part in the morning and KS2 are in the afternoon. The events involve a ‘round robin’ of activities first of all for the children to earn points towards the overall House competition followed by the individual races held after that. It is always an enjoyable event and I look forward to welcoming as many of you to it as possible.

In the meantime, have a good weekend everyone.

 

 

After all of the rain, hail and chilly temperatures that we have had this last week, it is nice to be looking at the sun shining outside again, but unfortunately I’m not so sure that it is going to warm up that much over the weekend! We are forecast much warmer temperatures for next week though so let’s hope we can be outside at break times every day without disruption.

A parent commented to me while I was on the gate this morning how quiet it seemed and I had to agree but there was a good reason for this as most of the Year 3 and 4 children went off on their residential visit to PGL Caythorpe early yesterday morning. As a result, it has been very strange in school these last 2 days, as with the two classes missing, it seemed particularly quiet outside at break and lunchtimes. I have heard some wonderful things about the trip from the staff who attended and I am sure from looking at some of the very tired faces of the children as they got off the coach that they will sleep well tonight -and probably tomorrow too! The children get so much out of the residential visits which is why we will continue to offer and encourage as many of our children to attend these invaluable experiences during their time here at Little Heath.

Whilst we have all missed having the swimming pool in school this week, it does mean that we are able to resume our assemblies once again and we have our next Sharing Assembly on Monday. If your child is taking part, you will have been sent a letter and we look forward to welcoming you into the school then. Unfortunately, I will not be around on Monday morning so I will not get to see the assembly but Mr Chanter will be leading it and I am sure he will tell me all about the wonderful learning that will no doubt be shared by the children.

As well as the sharing assembly we have a couple of other notable events to look forward to next week. On Monday, we have a visitor who will be speaking to many of the children about space travel which will no doubt inspire the next generation of children wanting to become astronauts when they grow up. Skipping forward to Friday, we then have the Oakmere Mini Marathon with all of the children from KS2 getting to take part in this annual event. It is always good to see the parents cheering on their children and I’m sure this will prove as popular as ever and we look forward to seeing those of you who can make it there. All we ask is that you remain in the spectators’ section and cheer on your child from there.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

So here we are at the end of the first week of the summer term already. It may have only been a short one, but it does feel like a lot has happened this week. I hope everyone had a good Easter break and the children certainly all came back raring to go so it seemed like a well-deserved rest was had by all.

This week there was a lot of excitement from the children due to the return of the temporary swimming pool in school and we have seen many happy faces after the children have had their swimming session. It has been a bonus that for much of the week, the weather has been sunny and warm which has certainly helped in keeping the water temperature as warm as possible. May I remind you to send the children in with their swimming kit every day as they will not know what days they will be going in as this will change week by week.

We also had the children’s class photographs today which went as smoothly as possible and the children all looked very smart for these. The photographer said how well behaved the children all were as ever which was particularly pleasing to hear since we had to change the usual ‘studio’ venue due to the hall being out of action.

As well as having the pool, there are a couple of things going on in school which are out of the ordinary next week. We start the week with Years 4 and 5 taking a visit to Legoland on Monday which through an engaging, hands-on workshop, is designed to bring aspects of STEM to life as the children become rollercoaster designers and engineers. As Mr Chanter and I will both be attending this, if you have any questions or queries on Monday, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Robinson who will be only too happy to help.

As prior communications have explained, we then have an exciting day planned on Thursday which is our Spanish Day. It will be great to see the children dressed in their red and/or yellow clothes and I am sure there will be lots of fun to be had in the flamenco dancing workshops as well as the classroom activities and there will be lots of tasty food to be eaten for lunch which will also have a Spanish theme. 

Let’s hope that this sunshine continues and I hope you all have a good weekend.

Well here we are at the end of the term and whilst I often say how quickly the time has gone, this one seems to have gone quicker than ever. I suppose that I should not be too surprised though as it has been a shorter than usual term.

This week saw the latest of our Sharing Assemblies which unfortunately I was not able to be at but Mr Chanter did tell me that there was some wonderful learning shared which is brilliant to hear. It is always great to see and hear what the children have been up to in their classes and the wide variety of work that was shared shows the importance that we put on all subjects here at Little Heath and long may this continue.

Later on in the week, we had our amazing Middle School (Years 3-5) Performances of ‘Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies’. Despite some absences of key cast members, some technical issues and a whole host of other setbacks, the children really personified what we mean by resilience and I want to applaud all of them for how they put on such wonderful shows. From the brilliant singing and dancing of the choir to the acting and solos from the older children that would not be amiss in the West End, I want to thank and congratulate all of the children for their fantastic performances. I also want to thank all of the staff involved but especially Miss Davis for directing it all –I know from years of experience how stressful it is to put together something that looks so effortless on the night but it is all worth it in the end.

When we return after the Easter break, we are very pleased to be getting the temporary pool back again and I saw first-hand how excited the children are when I spoke to them about it in the assembly yesterday morning and I know we will see good progress as a result of the extra lessons that we will be able to offer. Let’s hope that the weather is as kind to us as it was last year.

I want to finish this week’s blog by wishing everyone a Happy Easter holiday and let’s hope the sun begins to shine soon!

I will keep my blog brief this week but I wanted to start by saying how amazing the Year 2 class assembly was this morning and a huge well done to all of the children for taking part. From wonderful stories which would be equally as impressive if a Year 6 child had written them, to creative pieces of art and D & T, it was clear to me and all of the parents that the children have learned an awful lot this year and a big thank you needs to go to Mrs Beadle for this as well as all of the staff who have supported. We had a number of children off today so a well done needs to go to all of the children who stepped up at the last minute as well as a special thanks to Miss Russon for sorting the technical aspects of the assembly also at very short notice.

Next, I wanted to give a huge thanks to all of you, our parents and children, for your support of Red Nose Day today. We managed to raise yet another £420 from the sale of the noses which is fantastic and this money is going to a very good cause which will help so many people living tough lives both in the UK and around the world. For those of you watching the Comic Relief show tonight, I’m sure there will be lots of laughs along with the harder hitting clips showing where the money will be spent.

It has been a very short half term and next week, we have our Middle School (Years 3-5) Performance, which this year is called, ‘Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies’. It promises to be a fantastic show and I look forward to welcoming all of the family members who will be coming to watch.

Wednesday afternoon is our Open Afternoon, where we invite you all in to look at the books with your child(ren). This begins from 3pm (or whenever the afternoon performance finishes if slightly earlier than this) and you are more than welcome to take your child home once you have had a chance to share their work with them. 

Finally, as it is the end of term next week, we will be finishing school at 1:15pm on Friday.

In the meantime, the sun is due to continue to shine this weekend so do enjoy getting outside and we will see you all on Monday.

I want to start by saying how fantastic it was to see all of the children in their wonderful costumes yesterday celebrating World Book Day. The day started off with an assembly where we were lucky enough to receive personal World Book Day messages from Andy and Ben from Cbeebies and Abi from Blue Peter! The assembly then continued with a wonderful presentation from the author Stewart Henderson who was equally as impressed with the children’s costumes as we were. Then Stewart spent the rest of the day leading workshops with the children that they were all inspired by. As well as this, we had another fantastic character scavenger hunt that took place during lunchtime to engage the children which was great to see and lots of fun was had by all of those who took part!

The fun continues next week, as it is Science Week and the children will be completing science activities in class throughout the week, further enriching their scientific skills and knowledge. Thursday and Friday will see the children taking part in Science workshops as well so there is plenty for them all to look forward to.

As well as the above, two trips are taking place next week, with Years 1 and 2 off to Hertfordshire Zoo on Tuesday and Year 3 heading off to Celtic Harmony on Wednesday. I have said it before, but these outside learning opportunities are great ways for the children to learn in a practical, hands-on way and they are the things that they will remember well into adulthood! Once again, I’d like to thank the PTA for funding these wonderful learning visits.

That’s all for now. I will see you all again on Monday, but in the meantime, let’s hope that the rain stops and the sun begins to shine outside again as it really does put a spring in the step when that happens -have a good weekend!