It is hard to believe that this time last week I was on holiday because you very soon forget about all that when you return to work. I had a very enjoyable half term and came back to work feeling quite energised on Monday. Unfortunately one of the winter viruses caught up with me on that day and I started to lose my voice and it has not really returned all week. Although I have been struggling to speak I have to admit that until Wednesday I sounded a lot worse than I felt. I must say that parents and children have shown me a lot more sympathy than the staff. There have been a few remarks such as “it is a lot more peaceful now” and “at last we can get a word in edgeways”. I will get my revenge next week though when my voice returns to its full force!

This has been quite a sad week in school though and not because I have lost my voice. As you probably all know Mr Berridge retired as our site manager this week after 21 years at the school. Fortunately we are not losing him altogether as he will still be working at lunchtime for us but I know all of you will miss seeing him at the start and end of the school day. Thanks to your generosity we were able to give him some lovely leaving gifts. As he will now have more time to himself he wanted to get a dog for himself so the staff helped him to purchase a greyhound and we also bought him a sweatshirt which had a logo of a greyhound on it. With the money from the parents and pupils we purchased a print with some chickens on it (because everyone knows how he loves his chickens) and we used the rest of the money to purchase some garden vouchers as he really enjoys working in his garden. He was very touched by all the good wishes and gifts that he received and I would like to thank everyone who helped make his last days as site manager so special.   

Everyone (apart from those with a child in Year 3) will have received the annual school report for their child today. We are sending them out halfway through the year as opposed to the end of the year in response to parents’ requests last year. As we are sending the reports out now there will not be the usual spring parents evening as this has now been moved to the summer but if you would like to discuss any part of your child’s report with their class teacher you can make an individual appointment to do so. Remember as well as the report we also have half termly sessions when you can look at your child’s work and the next session for that is on March 27^th. There will also be two more sessions in the summer term.

Next week I have to be out of school for a lot of meetings but I can assure I am still working. If you would like to see me and I am not in school you can either see Mrs Zegallo or make an appointment to see me on my return.