Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a great Easter break and are looking forward to the summer term. I always enjoy the summer term as there are so many activities that take place and as this is going to be my last term as head this one is going to be even more special. I just hope that the weather becomes more settled and the rain finally disappears.

The children all looked extra smart this morning in preparation for their class photographs. I know the children always enjoy having these photographs taken - let us hope that you feel all your preparations in getting the children ready have been worthwhile when you see the results in a couple of weeks.

Next week in school is going to be really busy. Year 5 will be taking their cycling proficiency test so you will notice a lot of extra bikes on Monday morning. This should be the only day that this should happen because the majority of the children keep their bikes in school for the rest of the week whilst they practise and complete their test. On Thursday and Friday Years 3 and 4 will be going on their annual PGL trip to Caythorpe and we have football matches at the school on both of these nights. Some children from KS1 are also taking part in a sports festival at Oakmere on Tuesday so it is certainly going to be an action packed week in school.

I am going to be going on the PGL trip next week so I will not be in school on Thursday or Friday but if you do have any issues Mr Gradwell will be in school on both of these days so you will be able to contact him if necessary – it will give him some practice for when he officially takes over in September.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday morning.

 The Easter holiday has arrived and there have been a few glimpses of Spring weather to make us believe that it is actually on its way although the weather this afternoon is certainly not spring like. Let us hope that we do get more warm weather over the Easter holiday although if you look at the forecast it is not good news because there appears to be even more rain on the way. If this continues I think we are going to have to build an ark to ensure that we survive. 

The big event of this week has been the performance of ‘Rock Bottom’ by years 3,4 and 5. The children put on a great show and did themselves and the school proud. I have been amazed by the amount of lines some of them have had to learn and the bravery of those singing solo. It is something that I would never do and more importantly I think that is something nobody wants (or needs) to see. I would also like to thank the Year 3, 4 and 5 staff for all the work they have put in to make this performance possible. It has taken a lot of planning to put on a show in such a short half term whilst still ensuring that the children’s learning has not been disrupted too much. As a community we are very fortunate to have such hard working staff.

I hope you all have a great holiday and come back feeling refreshed and full of energy in readiness for the summer term. It is going to be my last term in this school so I would like it to be one that everyone really enjoys. I look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday, 16^th April.

 

 I wonder if you are like me and cannot believe that next weekend is Easter weekend – where did the term go? I think it has hit me more because next term will be my last term in this school and when I first decided to retire it felt like it was a long way off and now it is only a couple of months. It has suddenly become very real and I feel like I do not have enough time to get everything done that I want to do before I leave – you may have me visiting next year to finish off everything that I feel I should have done before I left.

This time last week everyone was wearing red because it was Red Nose Day and we had a lovely end to the day because we finished with a cake sale. I am delighted to inform you that we managed to raise £713.26 for the Red Nose charity and I would like to thank you all again for all your kind donations.

Next week everyone is looking forward to the Year 3,4 & 5 production of ‘Rock Bottom’. They have all been rehearsing very hard this week and I know the children involved are as excited to perform it as we are to watch it. If your child is performing and you have not yet reserved your tickets please do so - as those that are not taken by Monday morning will be made available for those who want extra tickets and tickets for these shows are always very popular.

Next week as it is Easter weekend we will be finishing on Thursday at 2.00pm. I hope you all have a fabulous holiday and I look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday, 16^th April.

 Another exciting day in school as it has been Red Nose Day.  I have not seen many of the children wearing their noses (even though I did have mine on this morning to greet them at the gate) but I do know they are looking forward to the bake sale after school. I do think that it is good to support causes like this and I would like to thank all the people who have bought noses or donated cakes. There are a lot of bad things happening in the world at the moment and I think that doing anything we can to support the people going through these terrible events is vital. If ever I think that life is not treating me fairly I just watch the news for 10 minutes and I realise how lucky I am.

It has been Science week in school this week and the children have been really enjoying all the different activities that have taken place. This week is a really popular event on the school calendar and I know that the teachers enjoy it almost as much as the children.  I would like to thank the teachers for all the additional work that they have put in to organising the extra activities - I would especially like to thank Miss Davis (Year 3) who has co-ordinated the whole event.

Looking after the wellbeing of the school community in Little Heath has always been a priority for us and we are pleased to announce that this has been acknowledged externally as we have been awarded a National Silver Wellbeing award. This award highlights how we put wellbeing at the heart of learning, teaching and leadership. We are very proud to have achieved this and I would like to thank all the people who work in the school who have helped to make this possible. I would especially like to thank Mrs Cresswell who co-ordinated all the material so we could achieve this award. Without all her hard work all our good work would not have been recognised.

The weather has been very changeable this week but at least we have experienced some better weather – especially yesterday. Let us hope we see some more of that kind of weather this weekend. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

 It has certainly been a very exciting week on school.  It started on Monday when the interviews were held to find who would replace me in September. As the children were involved in some of the activities it was quite an unusual day for them as well but I think they did enjoy meeting all the different candidates. It was an extremely rigorous process for all the people involved but as you all know Mr Gradwell was the successful candidate. I know that parents as well as all the school staff are pleased with that result. I am really glad that he was successful as I have worked very happily with him for 6 years and I know that Little Heath Primary School is very important to him and that he will work very hard to ensure that the school keeps moving forward successfully.

Yesterday was another exciting day as it was World Book Day.  I think it is very important to keep the profile of reading high as it is one of the most important life skills for children to acquire. The children all looked great in their costumes and I got a lot of compliments about my costume as I came dressed as Cruella De Ville. The worrying thing is that people kept telling me that it was a great costume but 85% of it was actually all my own clothes –perhaps I need to make some changes to my wardrobe! For those of you who did not see me, I have included a photograph of how I looked below.

We ended the week with the Year 2 Assembly. It was based on the learning that the children have covered this term and the class presented it really well. The continent song that they sang at the end was very popular with everyone in the assembly. I would like to thank the children for doing such an amazing job and I would Like to thank Mrs. Beadle, Mrs. Alimadadi and Mrs Rexhaj for their work in helping them put it together.

Next week is another action-packed week in school as it is Science Week. The children really enjoy this as they love carrying out all the practical activities and experiments. To help make it even more interesting for the children we have an external company coming into school on Thursday and Friday to carry out some additional activities with the children.

Just to add to the excitement it is Red Nose Day on Friday. I know the children have been purchasing red noses and they can wear them next Friday. They also do not have to wear uniform as long as one of the items they are wearing is red. As this is such a worthy cause I decided to hold a cake sale at the end of the day to help us raise some extra money for the charity. Items for the cake sale can be brought into school from Thursday. Please do not send in any produce containing nuts and if you want your cake container returned please make sure that it has your name on it.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. There have been glimpses of Spring this week so hopefully we will see some of them over the weekend.

 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!

 There has been a really party feel to the end of the week. It has been ‘Crazy Hair Day’ in school and people have certainly gone to town with their hair. This followed our Spring discos last night. They were both well attended and from what I saw all the children were having a great time. Both these events have been organised by our wonderful PTA and I cannot thank them enough for all the amazing events that they put on to help raise funds for the school. Little Heath would certainly not be the well -resourced school that it is without all their support. The next event that they are putting on is a quiz night on March 2^nd. I hope to see many of you there.

Apart from the PTA events there have also been a lot of other events taking place in school. Tuesday was certainly a busy day as Reception and Year 1 had a trip to the Snow Centre at Hemel Hempstead and Year 5 had a Viking Day in the hall. I went to the Snow Centre and it was lovely to see the excitement on the children’s faces at seeing the snow inside the centre. Most of them found going down the slopes very exciting although a couple were a little scared and I can understand that feeling as well. They all gave it a go though which is the main thing.

I did not take part in the Viking day as I was at the Snow Centre but I did catch up with the man running the event on my return to school and he told me that he had a fabulous day with the Year 5 children. He told me that their behaviour was exemplary and that he was amazed at the amount of knowledge that they knew about the Vikings –he said that they could answer questions that children from other schools had never been able to answer. I certainly felt very proud at that moment.

Next week it is the half term break which I am sure you are all looking forward to –I know that I am. I hope you all have a fabulous break and I look forward to seeing you all again on February26th.