I am writing this blog after attending the ‘Oakmere Mini Marathon ‘this morning. This is an event that is run every year by Oakmere Primary School for KS2 pupils and is a mini version of the London Marathon for all the local schools. I love the event and even though some of our children find the run quite a challenge they all achieve a sense of satisfaction in completing the course (as do the teachers who run the course with the children). All the children did really well but I would like to mention James in Year 4 and Caitlin in Year 3 who finished 4^th and 5^th respectively in their race.

The Year 6 could not join us this year at the mini marathon as they have been on their residential all week at a Kingswood Adventure Centre. From all the reports I have received from their teachers and the pictures I have viewed on the blog that Mrs Zegallo has been keeping, they all appear to be having a great time – I do think they are going to sleep well when they get back. They are returning to us this evening so after half term it will be back to normal in school. I think the Year 5 will be disappointed because they will have to sit on the floor again in assembly.

The Year 5 have actually had a very busy week because as well as taking part in the mini marathon they were invited to a performance of ‘Blood Brothers’ at Queenswood School.  This was after some of the boys had spent the morning taking part in a football tournament. They had to compete against a lot of Year 6 pupils but still managed to finish an impressive 3^rd (out of twelve teams). Then, some of the Year 5 had to leave ‘Blood Brothers’ early because they were taking part in a ‘Maths  Challenge’. Mrs Hopkins reported back that the pupils taking part worked together really well as a team and represented the school well. That is always good to hear.

Since I have been at Little Heath I have received many comments over the years about the children’s  lost property and how we manage it. One of the comments is that we do not make any effort to get it back to the children and just leave it to gather. However, I was on the field this afternoon after lunch and found that six jumpers had been left out there. When I went to return them to the children I found that only three had names on them and so I had to put three in the lost property bin. May I take this opportunity to remind you that all school clothing should have the child’s name inside in a form that we can read. If you could check this over the half term it would make returning lost property back to children a lot easier.  

As you all know next week is half term and even though it is just less than five weeks since we returned after Easter I think a lot of people are looking forward to the break. I hope that everyone has a relaxing time because when we return it is seven weeks before our next holiday and we have a lot of work still to be covered. I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday, 1^st June.

 

As I mentioned in my blog last week the Year 6 had SATs which has meant it has been quite a quiet week in school. However, they are all complete now and I am just as pleased as the Year 6. Even though I do not have the pressure of sitting the tests it I have to ensure that they are locked up safely and all bagged correctly (which is a harder task than it sounds) and when it is all over and all the tests have been collected I do feel like a small weight has been lifted from my shoulders. However, I am sure that is nothing compared to how the Year 6 children (or Mrs Zegallo) are feeling.

The week has not all been about tests though and there have been some really good events that have occurred in school. The first good thing was that our school netball team won the ‘Le Gros’ netball tournament. This follows on from winning the league so we are feeling really proud of them. They have never been beaten this season which is an excellent record but I was particularly pleased with how they conducted themselves while they played. In their semi-final they went 3-0 down before coming back to win it 6-3 but during the time they were behind they did not panic or get upset but just kept playing as a very tight unit. For those watching it was an excellent example of team play - Real Madrid could learn a lot from watching them. As well as the girls I would like to thank Georgina Parkinson for the excellent job she has done in coaching them. She is leaving us after coaching netball teams for nine years and I would like to thank her for all she has done for netball in the school. She will certainly be a hard act to follow.

We were also fortunate in that Mr Hall and Mrs O’Brien from the PTA took a school assembly on Thursday morning to inform all the pupils about the summer fayre which is on July 4^th and has an American theme . The children all appeared very excited by what they heard and saw so hopefully it will be a great success.  Remember, that if you can spare any time to help the PTA they will be grateful. They have a box in the entrance to the school where you can leave any notes or information you would like to share with them.

This morning we enjoyed the lovely Reception assembly. It was all about ‘Red Riding Hood’ and the children presented it well with some lovely songs with actions. I would like to thank them all for giving us such a lovely performance and I would like to thank Miss Jaegar, Mrs Aldridge and Mrs Beadle for all their hard work in putting it together.

After all the stress of this week the Year 6 have a huge treat next week because they are going on their school residential to a Kingswood activity centre.  It will be quiet in school without them but I am sure we will survive. It is also the ‘Open Afternoon’ for parents which gives the parents of children in Years 1 – 6 an opportunity to look at the work the children have covered in this half term. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

After our long weekend last week I feel like it is just two minutes since I wrote my last blog. It has been a very pleasant week in school despite the changeable weather which unfortunately meant that the ‘Le Gros Netball’ tournament had to be cancelled. The new date for the tournament is next Wednesday and if you would like to go and watch the girls compete it is being held at Mount Grace at the end of the school day.

We had another meeting for the Summer Fayre this week and plans are well in place to make it a great event. What will be needed to make it a success though is support from everyone in the Little Heath community. A letter will soon be coming out to explain what you can do to contribute. Remember that although the day is held to help raise money for the school it is also a big community event in the school calendar and we need as many people as possible to help add to the ambiance. The fayre is being held on July 4^th and it has an American theme.

We held our second literacy even this week for the Foundation stage and Year 2. Although those who attended found it very useful and enjoyable there was a disappointing turn out again. As I mentioned last week parents cannot complain that they do not get enough guidance with how to support their children with their learning if they do not attend events put on for this specific purpose.

This week I was informed that some parking attendants did come down School Road at home time and issued parking tickets to those they considered had parked inappropriately. To those who received them they cannot say that they had not been warned. I would also thank people for respecting our cones and not parking near the school. We are not restricting parking to be officious but to make the area a safer place for our children to walk to and from school.

Next week will be quite a quiet week in school because it is the SATs test week. I know our Year 6 children have all been working hard and I am sure they will do themselves justice.  I hope all Year 6 parents make sure they have a relaxing weekend because they will need all their energy for next week.  I will see you all again on Monday.

I am writing this blog after watching the Year 1 assembly. One of the best parts of my job is watching the class assemblies and the Year 1 performance did not disappoint. It is great to see children so young presenting so confidently and obviously taking such pleasure and pride in their learning. I know all the parents thought it was great and it is a lovely way to head into the Bank Holiday weekend. As well as the amazing children I would like to thank all the Year 1 staff for their efforts in putting together a lovely assembly.

This week we also had our Literacy workshop for the KS2 parents and pupils. My staff had prepared some lovely activities for the event and all those that attended found it a very enjoyable experience. I was a little disappointed in the number that turned out, especially after all the preparation that had been put in. I hope that next week when we have the Foundation and Year 2 workshops on Wednesday evening there will be a better turnout.  We get asked many times by parents how they can support their children’s learning at home and we run events like this to disseminate this information because we cannot do it by sending sheets home or putting something on the website.

Although it is only a four day week next week because of the Bank holiday we still have a lot going on in school. Wednesday is a particularly busy day as we have some drama workshops for Reception and Key Stage One during the day and we have the literacy workshops that I talked about above after school. We also have the ‘Le Gros’ netball tournament at Mount Grace for the older children and we wish them every success in that. Some pupils from Year 4 are also taking part in a technology challenge on Thursday morning so there is certainly a lot to look forward to.

 I hope you do all have a great weekend. The forecast is not good but that is typical for a Bank Holiday so I am sure we will not let it dampen our spirits. I look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday.