Posted on: 12/04/2019Headteachers Blog 12/04/2019
Dear Parents/Carers,
GOODIES’ TREAT CINEMA TRIP
This week, our pupils who have not had a detention this term, visited Cineworld in Hinckley to watch a film and have a Munch Box treat (years five and six watched ‘Small Foot’ and years three and four saw ‘Sherlock Gnomes’).
As we were waiting to go in, a member of the public came over to ask which school we were from. He said that he was very impressed by the behaviour of the children as they were walking through The Crescent and whilst waiting to go in. This is always a lovely thing to hear and our pupils should feel proud of themselves.
Again, we have had some visitors to the school this week and they were impressed by our pupils who showed that they were engaged in their learning in the classes they saw and in the corridors where they opened doors, showing that they have good manners – they are a credit to you.
THE GREAT BIG SCHOOL CLEAN
On Tuesday lunch break our intrepid litter pickers (Eco Warriors, School Council and IH) spent time tidying the school grounds and recycling plastics as part of the Great Big School Clean.
I would like to thank the children who did this for the school as well as the staff who supported this worthwhile activity: Mrs Sodiq, Mrs Lewis and Mrs Elwell. Well done all!
We already recycle our plastics in school and Mrs Lewis is very strict about it – we have had to rethink how we use packaging. Everyone has to do something to help the environment and our children felt that they were doing this by taking part in this National initiative which lasts from 23rd March to 23rd April.
EASTER SERVICES
Today, our pupils attended an Easter service at St John’s Church on Coventry Road as is now our tradition. Again, our pupils’ behaviour was impeccable with nearly 400 children on the move to and from the church.
EASTER RAFFLE
Thank you to Mrs Elwell and our PTA for organising an Easter Raffle for the children. The number of prizes was brilliant – lots of work for an already busy person in the last week of term – but well worth it.
We hope you all have a lovely Easter break – this is my favourite time of year and no, it’s not because of the chocolate – well, maybe this is true...
Best wishes, Margaret Greig
Posted on: 5/04/2019Headteachers Blog 05/04/2019
Dear Parents/Carers,
AMAZING DANCE PERFORMANCES
Yesterday, five classes (3F, 4H, 5HW, 6L and Mrs Smith-Phelps’ class) performed the dances they have learned this term firstly to the school and then to their parents and families. Lower school and Upper School dances were so different but both brilliant. We could see the progression as the dances become more complicated as the children move up a year.
Erika, our wonderful dance teacher, will be working with four more classes next term plus year six will be preparing for the ‘dance off’ at the year six party taking place at the end of June (their music will be Queen classics – my request)! She will also be working in the school next year – we love the performance side of dance and try to ensure our children have a chance to have a go at other performing arts wherever we can. This is so important for children’s self-confidence. I wish I had been given the opportunity to do that at school...
VISITOR FEEDBACK
We have had some visitors to our school in the past week and ALL of them have commented on the work ethic of our pupils and the learning going on in the classrooms. It is so good to be able to show off our school to visitors and have positive feedback from them. We know we are doing well but we love it when other professionals agree. Well done everyone!
GOODIES’ TREAT
This leads me on to the Goodies’ Treat next week. The upper School (years five and six) are off to see Small Foot in the cinema and will have a munch box to eat also. This is on Monday 8th April at 10am. We will be back in time for lunch. The Lower School (years three and four) will be going to the cinema to see Sherlock Gnomes and will also have a munch box as part of the treat. This will be on Thursday 11th April at 10am and, again, we will be back by lunch. The children will be walking there and back.
EASTER RAFFLE/CHURCH
The Easter Break is fast approaching and on Friday 12th April we are off to St John’s Church on Coventry Road for an Easter service. We have so many children that we have to go in two groups: years three and four at 9:45 and years 5 and 6 at 10:45. The children will be walking there and back. Mrs Elwell and her PTA are selling raffle tickets for the Easter Raffle on Friday. This is always brilliant as there are lots of Easter Eggs as prizes. You have to be in it to win it!!
DON’T FORGET – IT IS COFFEE STOP TODAY!!
Best wishes, Margaret Greig
Posted on: 29/03/2019Headteachers Blog 29/03/2019
Dear Parents/Carers,
DANCE PERFORMANCES ON THURSDAY 4TH APRIL
On Thursday next week, our pupils in 3F, 4H, 5HW and 6L will be performing the completed dances they have learnt with Erica, our dance teacher. This is a chance for you to come into school to see your child performing what they have been learning this term. Years three and four have a Road Trip USA theme and parents/carers are invited for a 10:30 start. Years five and six are going for a Frozen theme and parents/carers are invited for a 2:30 start. All performances are held in the hall. Please be prompt as performances are short and sweet – we would not want you to miss them!
SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION ON WEBSITE
We have had a couple of issues with Social Media recently. Most children are very good with their phone behaviour but for a few, they get carried away whilst using Instagram or WhatsApp and say things which are unpleasant and downright nasty, at times. I spend quite a bit of my day sorting things out when we have these incidents as parents/carers often phone the school for help as they are not sure what to do and it is upsetting to read things about your child which are unkind/untrue.
I asked Mrs Mayne (our IT Lead) if she could source some parent guides which would give advice about protecting your child and have information about current Social Media Apps. She has done this, and we will be adding them to the Parent Area of the website ASAP - they are very readable. It is useful for you, as parents and carers, to know about these programs. Examples are: Live Streaming and Vlogging, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Yubo, Tiktok, Twitch and many others. It is always good to stay ahead of the game – for now anyway!
YEAR 6 PARENTS’ EVENING
It was brilliant to see so many year six parents/carers who came to speak to their child’s class teacher about their progress during the week. The books were available and test results discussed. I can reassure you that our teachers and pupils in year six cannot work any harder than they are doing. The Easter break is fast approaching and will be very welcome for them all!
YEAR 3 FAMILY BREAKFAST
This morning we had a year three breakfast. It was lovely to see so many people enjoying food with their families. This is always a good start to the day. Again, I would like to thank our brilliant catering staff as well as Mrs Holt, Mrs Elwell and Mr Stynes who all work together to make sure the breakfasts are such a success. They were in work before 7am this morning!!
Best wishes, Margaret Greig
Posted on: 22/03/2019Headteachers Blog 22/03/2019
Dear Parents/Carers,
AIR AMBULANCE SURPISE!
We had an Air Ambulance landing in our top yard yesterday after school as there was a medical emergency on Westfield Road. We texted you all as quickly as we could because we did not want you to worry that it was an emergency in school. The pilot, very kindly, asked if we had any children in clubs after school and would they like to come out to see the helicopter – so they did, and we took photos which were added to Twitter.
Apparently, some parents, whose children were at Kidzclub and in the nursery, thought that we knew that the Air Ambulance was arriving as they saw our children and staff outside and were upset that we did not tell the Community Centre in advance. We would like to make clear that this was not the case – we were as surprised as everyone else!
FARM VISIT IH and IC
IH pupils and Mrs Smith-Phelps’ class were lucky enough to visit a farm on Wednesday where they saw a lamb being born (mixed reactions to that) and had an interesting and fun time learning lots about living on a farm. They chose a great day to go out as the weather was lovely! Thank you to Miss Billings in the office for organising this trip.
TALENT SHOW WINNERS
On Monday, in Celebration Assembly, the winners of the Talent Show received their prizes: third place was Cameron Whittaker (IH) who played the part of the Greatest Showman brilliantly; second place was Aayan Dhungal (3S) who played guitar and sang ‘Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty). In first place was Grace Briggs in 6M for her wonderful dancing. We had some runners up: Megan Clark 6L (piano), Alisha Yolasan and Brooke Prosser 5LR (dance) and Abby Strong, Darcie Abbott and Chloe Taylor (piano and song). Well done to all who took part – I am always impressed by our children and their bravery in performing in front of the whole school. We sent the proceeds to Comic Relief. Thank you to everyone who donated.
4LM CLASS ASSEMBLY
This week is Coffee Stop and Mrs Mayne’s class assembly which was all about teamwork and co-operation. Again, this assembly shows what a creative group of teachers we have! It was wonderful to see.
Best wishes,
Margaret Greig
