Thursday 26 January 2017


I am publishing my blog early because I am on a course tomorrow. Unfortunately this means that I am going to miss the Year 3 assembly which had to be rearranged as Mrs Costi was unwell but I am sure it will be great and I will hear only good things about it on Monday.

As some of you already know tomorrow is going to be a sad day in Little Heath because Miss Sofjan is leaving us. She is leaving the education sector to start a totally new career and although this is exciting for her she is also sad to be leaving the school and all the children. She has been a great asset to Little Heath and we will miss her but do wish her every success for the future.  Her replacement, Mrs Sharon Horsewood , will be joining us after the February half term.

As you will have read in my newsletter this week we are very excited because we are going to have the nursery building replaced by a new foundation block so that will mean that the nursery and reception children will be educated in the same building. This is something that we have wanted for a long time and we only got definite confirmation that it was going ahead last Friday. Although it will mean some disruption for the school and pupils I know that all the inconvenience will be worthwhile when the new building is complete. All work is going to be starting in the Easter holidays (although there will be some preparation on March 31st – the last day of the spring term) and should all be finished by the May half term. When this is completed we will then be able to convert the spare classroom into a dedicated D&T/Science room which will replace the outdoor classroom that we were fundraising for a couple of years ago but is now no longer required because of the new foundation block.

That is all for now. I am hoping that it becomes a little warmer this weekend because I have really noticed the cold this week. I am just hoping that this cold spell gets rid of all the germs because we have had a lot of illness in school recently. I will see you all again on Monday.

Friday 20 January 2017

Most people when they think of January think of it as a dull and dreary month that they are glad to get over but I have found it to be totally different. I feel as if my feet have hardly touched the ground since we returned to school and I can hardly believe how quickly the month is passing. This week I have had lots of meetings and appointments so it may appear as if have not been in school much but I can assure you I have been working.

A big treat for me this week was going to the O2 with the choir to take part in ‘Young Voices’. This is where our school joins with hundreds of other schools to take part in a concert which is staged at the O2. The choir gave it their all and did the school proud with their excellent performance and all the parents who came to watch said that it was a highly enjoyable show to watch. I would like to thank Mrs Robinson and Mr Spring for all their efforts in preparing the choir for the show.

As you know we have double yellow lines outside of the school to keep the area safe for children to walk to and from school. A parent was given a parking ticket this week for parking their car on them while collecting their child from school. Parking attendants do visit outside the school from time to time so please make sure you park in the correct areas. We do not want anyone to get a ticket but remember the lines are there for the safety of the children.

It has also been brought to my attention that some children have not had their PE kits in school this week. I do say this every term but children should bring all their PE kit in on a Monday and not take it home until Friday. This ensures that they have their kit in school and if their PE slot has to be changed (which we sometimes have to do) there will not be a problem. PE sessions are a compulsory part of the curriculum and children need to take part in these lessons like they would any other. It does not matter if their kit is a little dirty because it will probably get dirtier when they have their session. Can I ask you to ensure that your child does bring their all their PE uniform into school every Monday.

That is all for now – have a great weekend and I will see you all again on Monday.

Friday 13 January 2017


I cannot believe that we have been back a week and we are nearly half way through January. Although it seems a long time ago I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I did enjoy my break although it was marred slightly by having to have a wisdom tooth out at the very end but at least that is behind me now.

As usual the children have settled back into their routine very quickly. School will fully return to normal for them next week when all the extra- curricular clubs start up again so if your child participates in one of them make sure they have the necessary kit in school. Can you also make sure that they have warm clothes to put over their PE kits because it is the middle of winter and I do not think that shorts and T-shirt is sufficient to keep them warm in this weather. It does not have to be anything elaborate – just a well-worn jumper and some old jogging bottoms will be sufficient.

A bad thing about the winter term is that we have more illnesses in school. May I just take this opportunity to remind you that if your child suffers from any form of stomach upset that they stay off school for 48 hours after they were last unwell e.g if your child is  sick on the a Monday the earliest they should return to school is Wednesday. If your child still feels unwell they should remain at home because children’s learning suffers when they are ill and we do not want them passing their germs to everyone else in the school. We also do not have the facilities or staff to take care of them when they are unwell. If everyone could make sure they all follow this practice we will be able to keep the spread of illnesses down in the school to a minimum and help reduce the number of days the children are absent from school.

We had our first snow this week but thankfully it did not affect the running of the school. May I ask that when the weather is bad that you check your phone for updates about whether the school is open or not. I will only close the school if I absolutely have to so I do leave it as late as possible to make that decision so you may also want to have contingency plans ready for your children in case the school cannot open.

That is all for now. I hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the snow if it does turn up.