Headteacher Message

Hello all,

I hope everyone is well.  I am finding it hard to believe that we have one week until the Easter break.  This term and school year seems to have sped by.  At times like this it is always good to reflect and on Tuesday I was given some inadvertent extra reflection time.  Our choir, led by the immensely talented Miss Carter, were singing at the Rose Theatre in Kingston.  I cycled there to assist with drop-offs.  There was a lovely feel to the morning, our children were excited and our parents supportive of the event.  Anyway, after seeing them safely I set off to cycle along the river towpath from Kingston.  Within minutes, I had a puncture and to cut a long story short ended up walking the remainder of the way into school.  It was much further than I thought! (Over 20,000 steps on Tuesday) The reason I am telling you this is that for the first time in absolute ages I allowed my brain to slow down and reflect.  I began to think about the children in the choir being on stage, giving their all and feeling part of something bigger than themselves. I sometimes think this is what we all strive for, to feel part of something, and it made me think about the school in those terms.  These were good thoughts and helped me to negotiate the muddy terrain in good spirits.  More of you are opting to take an active role in the school and I would like to extend a big thank you to all our volunteers who have been coming in and sometimes out on trips to support the school. As a parent I have not always felt welcomed at my children's school and this really drives my desire to ensure that our doors and gates are always open to you.  That you are able to feel an active part of something bigger than yourself.

We sent out the parent questionnaire last week and have been overwhelmed with the responses.  I gave Mrs Claridge strict orders not to look at it over the weekend, but she could not help herself and sent me screenshots on Sunday.  Such constructive and positive feedback, we are going to collate it and share it with you all as soon as possible.  It is so important to listen as it is so easy to become caught up in the business of school life and not be able to reflect.  One parent said that they missed the class assemblies whereby parents would be invited into school and see the curriculum come to life with a performance from their children.  What a lovely idea.  We stopped this because of Covid but will look to get this going again in the second half of the summer term.  As always, please contact me if you have any thoughts about how we can further improve our lovely school.

Joe Porter

Communications

Sent Home

• Whole School - Summer term menu

Stars of the Week!

Early Years Star of the Week

Wonder Class

Patrick - for making progress in his phonics and for sharing his ideas at carpet time

Peake Class

Lucy - for being aspirational in maths and fantastic mathematical reasoning. Well done, Lucy!

Weir Class

Oscar - for working incredibly hard to improve his handwriting! Well done for being an aspirational and responsible learner!

Walker Class

Dineo - for using lots of new words and talking more. Well done, Dineo!

KS2 Star of the Week

Newton Class

Allen - for being an excellent role model on our class trip to London & for being a supportive friend to all Newton children. Well done, Allen!

Thunberg Class

Nikki - for her engagement and enthusiasm in all subjects. Nikki is a new but very big part of Thunberg class

Darwin Class

Tyrese - for aspiring to improve his handwriting and focus in the classroom.

Attenborough Class

Whole Class - for their exemplary behaviour on our Science Museum trip.

Parks Class

Luke - for being aspirational in maths and fantastic mathematical reasoning. Well done, Lucy!

Rashford

Anthony - for his excellent contribution in class discussions and for his attention to detail in a recent piece of art work.