Headteacher Message

Hello all, 

I hope you are all well.  When I first came into teaching I imagined that the end of the summer term would be a time for winding down as we eased towards the break.  20+ years in and I now know this could not be further from the truth.  Writing reports, capturing data, organising transitions and productions means that if anything, the workload increases as we move to the end of term. There is definitely a sense of fatigue amongst the staff but to their eternal credit your children would not know this. They are still planning and delivering rich learning experiences for your children. Just a minute ago I had a bespoke salad made by Year 5 pupils delivered to my desk.  It was lovely if a bit radish heavy!  On top of this, our Key Stage 2 children have been diligently working on TT rockstars to compete in this week’s London Rocks competition. Darell is currently proudly sitting in the top 20 of all schools in London! Incredible! We also have Nursery, Reception and Mozart class attending Kew Gardens all day today.  It is so lovely to have our children out and about.

I also wanted to inform you that we have changed our school meals provider.  Without going into too much detail I feel very positive about this change.  I am really looking forward to exploring the new menu and ensuring that our children get the best food possible at lunchtime.  There is further information about this in the newsletter. 

We will be holding adapted sports days next week and guidelines regarding this will be sent to you.  The events span most of the week with each class having an allocated day when they will complete their activities.  While the races will be competitive, we are not giving out awards and we just want our children to enjoy being physical and most importantly, we want them to have some fun with their friends.  We are trying our best to adapt all of our planned events. While we recognise that they may not be the same as previous years, we are doing our best to maintain the spirit of these events. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the Year 6 end of year production outside in the playground.  If it is anywhere near as lively as their disco was on Wednesday evening then we could be in for a good show!  On that note, it is worth mentioning that their behaviour at this event was exemplary and a credit to them, their parents and the school.  I had better go now as I pledged that I would write a Headteacher’s comment on every single report written and I need to get a move on.  Have a lovely weekend, dodge the showers and enjoy time with your lovely families.

Joe Porter