Friday 24 June 2016


I am writing this blog after the KS1 and KS2 sporting events. We cancelled the day yesterday because of the horrible weather forecast and although the rain did stop during the morning it was a far more pleasant day for the event today. I know parents love to attend ‘Sports Days’ and try to plan their work schedules around it but the office did receive an awful lot of phone calls on Wednesday about whether or not we were going to cancel it which took up a lot of their time. As I have mentioned in the past I do try and make decisions such as closing the school or cancelling sports days only at the last possible minute when I know I have no other choice and although the timing may not be convenient for everyone it is my duty to keep the school running as normally as possible. With our texting service we can also let people know very quickly.

Anyhow today’s event was a big success and Grangewood are the champions. I would like to thank all my staff for their hard work in making it possible and I would like to give a special thank you to Mr Mills who does put in a lot of hard work to make it all possible.

Next week is a very busy week in school because we have the parent consultations. As I have said before, these are great occasions to discuss with your child’s teacher how they are progressing with their learning. I know these conversations can become quite involved but may I ask (and I will also be speaking to the teachers about this ) that you stick to your ten minutes because the schedules can quickly become very chaotic if everyone is just a few minutes late. If you feel there is something that you would like to discuss in more detail please make an appointment at the school office to meet with the teacher at a later time.

At the end of the week on Saturday we also have our Summer Fayre. This goes ahead no matter what the weather is like so let us hope that it is sunny like last year. This is always a hugely enjoyable event that the children look forward to and I look forward to seeing many of you there. To make it a success takes a lot of organisation and planning from our PTA and the last time I spoke to some of them I know there were still short of volunteers for some of the events on the day so if you can spare an hour to help out please either contact one of them or the school office to let them know of your availability.

The money that the PTA raises goes a long way to enhancing your child’s education. The money that they have at the moment is going to help furnish a new foundation block we are hoping the school will get. Although originally the money was going to be used to build an outdoor classroom if we get this unit we will have an extra classroom in school so we will then just refurbish it (using some of the PTA money) and it will serve the same purpose as the outdoor classroom was going to do.

That is all for now. After an exciting day I am going to go home and ‘flop’ for the night. I look forward to seeing many of you next week at the parent consultations and the Summer Fayre.

Friday 17 June 2016


I know everyone starts to get excited for the end of term as they have the long summer holidays to look forward to but I always find myself wishing we had a little longer at school because there is just so much to fit in. Still, at least when you are busy the time passes very quickly and it will be the holidays before we know it.

I promised you in last week’s blog that I would let you know how the cricket team did in their tournament and I am pleased to tell you that they got through to the semi-final. As I highlighted last week this is an especially good achievement because the Year 6 were unable to take part because of their school journey so most of the children that the team were playing against were a year older. Well done to everyone who took part. I would also like to thank Mr Mills and Miss Kenwell for training and organising the cricket team.

As you know I allowed the children to watch the football in school yesterday. I have to admit I had not given it much thought until I heard that another school was closing for half a day to allow staff and pupils to watch it so I thought I would allow the children to watch it in school (if they wanted) until home-time and then they could catch the end at home. I never thought of those eager football fans who would not want to miss a minute (until it was pointed out to me) which was why I was ‘last minute ‘ in saying the children  could stay in school until the end of the game. I apologise for the lack of organisation and confusion that was caused and if England do proceed to the next part of the competition (which after yesterday’s victory is now looking likely)) and the game is on during the school day, I will make better arrangements.

We had an exciting day in school today with our school picnic to help celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday. It was really nice for the whole school to eat lunch together and it all had a very relaxed feel as the children were not in their uniforms. I would also like to thank everyone on behalf of the PTA as well for all the wine and chocolate that you generously donated this morning. It is only two weeks until our summer fayre which is on July 2nd and all your donations will go a long way in helping to make it a success.

Next week in school is also a very busy one because we have the Induction Evening for new parents and then on Thursday it is our Sports Day which Mr Mills is busying organising. Remember that the Foundation and KS1 Sports Day starts at approximately 9.15am and the KS2 event starts at 1.30pm. Refreshments are being served by our lovely PTA at both events and I know they would welcome any donations of cakes and biscuits to be served with the teas and coffees. These donations can be brought into school on either Wednesday or Thursday morning.

Have a great weekend and I will see you all again on Monday morning.

Friday 10 June 2016


It is always an unusual week in school when the Year 6 are away on their school journey as it feels like the school is only half full when we only have one class missing – perhaps it is because they are the largest children in the school. They have had a great week though, probably helped by the good weather. They are returning tonight and although they are probably glad to be back home they will have made some memories this week that they will keep for the rest of their lives. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff that accompanied the children on the trip - Mrs Zegallo, Mr Spring and Mrs Ilott - for willingly giving up their time to accompany the children on the trip. Without their support it would not have been possible.

The school has not been idle in the Year 6 absence and there have been lots of events occurring in school this week. On Wednesday our girls took part in the ‘Potters Bar Schools Girls’ Football Tournament ‘ and finished a respectable third. This morning the boys took part in a football tournament and finished third in their group and as I type this some of pupils are taking place in a cricket tournament and I will let you know how they did next week. I think the teams did very well considering that there were no Year 6 in school and it gives them good practice for next year when hopefully they will hold the tournaments when our Year 6 are not on school journey.

As some of you probably know our local church is looking for a new vicar to replace the Reverend Rees and our school has been involved in the selection. As part of the interview process the candidates had to be interviewed by some of the children in the school with questions that the children had made up themselves. I do not think the candidates were quite expecting the interrogation they got. I can quite happily report though that both candidates were extremely pleasant and articulate and I am sure that either one would carry out the role well even though they do have big shoes to fill following the Reverend Rees.

Next week is also going to be an exciting week in school and not just because we have the Year 6 back. On Monday morning the school team photographs are taking place and on Wednesday the school is taking part in the ‘Potters Bar Primary School Athletics’. At the end of the week we also have our celebration to commemorate the Queen’s 90th birthday. As you know we are allowing the children to come to school dressed in red, white and blue and then we are all having a picnic lunch on the field (weather permitting or inside if the weather is not suitable). As we are having our summer fayre in a few weeks the PTA is also allocating this day for families to send in their donations to the summer fayre. A separate letter has gone out explaining what these donations can be.

Have a pleasant weekend and enjoy the warm weather. It is not going to be as good as it has during the week but it is still going to be better than the miserable weather we had over the half – term break.