We had a lovely end to the week this morning as the Year 3 presented their class assembly to the whole school. It covered all the work that they had done this term and was very entertaining and well presented. I would like to thank all the children and I would like to thank Ms Pavlova for all her work in co-ordinating the assembly.

I looked in my diary before starting my blog this week and I saw that it is February next week. Where did January go? It is half term at the end of next week and it just feels like we have back 2 minutes. If the rest of the months fly by like this one it is going to be summer before we know it. Unfortunately, even though winter is flying by we still have viruses in the school and we have had some more staff off again this week. I know some parents worry about their child’s education when staff are absent but let me reassure you that we do stick to the planning that is set by the teachers and we always try to use staff that the children are familiar with so that their routine is affected as little as possible. If you do have any concern about your child’s education please do not hesitate to contact me.

As many of you know we subscribe to a number of computer programmes to help support your child’s learning. In maths, for the younger children, we subscribe to Maths Seeds and for the older children we subscribe to Mathletics. All the children have passwords to access these at home and they are specifically designed to support your children’s mathematical development in a fun and exciting way. Unfortunately, usage of these programmes has dropped off recently which is a real shame because research has shown that children’s progress in maths improves significantly if children access these programmes regularly. Could you please encourage your children to use this programme at home on a regular basis. If your child has lost their password please contact their class teacher and they will find out what it is.

The choir are very excited for next week because they are going to be performing at the O2 in a ‘Young Voices’ concert. Guided by Mr Spring and Mrs Robinson they have been practising for weeks so next week will be the culmination of all their hard work. We have performed in the past and all the children and their parents have really enjoyed it so let us hope that this show is just as good as those in the past.

Hopefully, as we slip into February the weather will improve and it will start to feel a little warmer (and be a bit brighter in the mornings). I hope you have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again next week.

It has been lovely to see some sunshine this week  - even if it has been really cold. I am hoping that the cold spell will have killed off all the germs because we still have had people suffering in school with a variety of ailments – I myself have had to dose myself up because I have been suffering slightly this week. I always feel that after Christmas is over winter is just not fun.

However, our theme in the assemblies this week has been looking after your wellbeing and one way to do that is to always look on the positive side so I am going to look at the positives that have happened this week. On Monday we managed to hold the Sharing Assembly that we had to cancel before Christmas due to the bad weather. I always enjoy the Sharing assemblies because I do love to hear the children talking about what they have enjoyed doing in school. However, I do get amazed at children with the loudest voices in the playground can hardly manage a whisper on stage. Still, I do think that it good to get the children to practise presenting in front of others as it is a skill that will serve them well in the future.

We also had 2 teams taking part in a netball match against Cuffley this week and I am pleased to report that we won one and drew another. All the girls who took part really gave their all and represented the school well – I am sure that they will have more success in the weeks to come.   The girls also have a football match tonight so I will let you know how they did next week.

I need to have a little moan again about uniform being labelled with the children’s names. This week I have found a couple of jumpers left outside (I am amazed that children have taken them off considering how cold it is) and when I have looked to see who they belong to there has been no name. I do have people complain to me about how we manage lost property but it would make our life a lot easier if everything was labelled clearly.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I have a lot of early meetings next week so I will not be on the school gate until Wednesday.

The dark and gloom outside has certainly let us know that it is January and, as is typical of this month, we have had a few viruses going around the school. We appear to have another sickness virus in school that has even affected some of the staff. May I remind you that if your child does have an upset stomach they need to be off for 48 hours after their last bout of sickness to make sure they are clear of the virus so that when they return to school they do not pass it onto others.   Eg. If your child’s last bout of sickness was on a Tuesday they should not return to school until at least Thursday. They should also only return to school if they feel well.

As we have just returned to school we have not had many extra-curricular  events taking place but that is changing next week. On Monday there is a ‘Sharing Assembly’ which is replacing one that we had to cancel before Christmas as the school was closed due to the bad weather. The older girls are also taking part in netball and football matches so let us hope that the weather is kind to us and allows them to take place. The forecast is certainly not looking promising for next week.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend and I look forward to seeing some of you at the Sharing Assembly on Monday.

I hope that you all had a brilliant Christmas and are all enjoying the New Year. As I explained in my last blog I had to be out on the last day of term so I would like to take the opportunity now to thank all the people who sent me Christmas gifts. I feel very fortunate to be working in such a generous community.

Coming back to work after a holiday is always difficult but I do like getting back into a normal routine after the Christmas break. It is such a busy holiday that the work environment always appears calm in comparison. The children, as usual, have also settled back into the school routine well although I have to admit that when I took assembly on Thursday morning one or two of them did look very tired – I am sure that they will get used to having to get up early by Monday. We are also starting all of the school clubs again next week so that helps school become even more exciting for many of the children.

Our return to school  yesterday was dampened by the weather which was not kind to us. It absolutely poured in the morning and then the wind blew in the afternoon. There have also been some forecasts predicting snow for the weekend but I have checked weather sites myself and this does not appear to be the case. May I remind you that if we do have to close the school for any reason we will inform you by text. I do always try to keep the school open and only close it if I think that there are health and safety concerns. I know this can sometimes mean that parents do not get the information as soon as they would like but it is my priority to keep the school open and only close it if it is absolutely necessary.

That is all for now – I hope that you all have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you all again on Monday.