Thursday 29 March 2018


At last the holiday is upon us. I am sure, like us, you are all looking forward to the rest. I know the children are and I have to say I am glad it is here because we have had a lot of viruses and infections in the school over the last term and they do not seem to be going away. We did think that the really cold spell that we had a few weeks ago would get rid of them but unfortunately it did not happen. It also appears to have been the same children who have been getting ill time and time again so they will certainly be glad that it is the Easter holiday.

We have had a very good end to the term as Years 3, 4 and 5 put on their production of ‘ What a Knight’ for us. It certainly was a mammoth production and all the children had to learn a huge amount of lines, songs and dances. Everyone who saw it has come and told me what an amazing show it was and I agree with them. I would like to thank all the children involved for giving us such a great performance and I would like to thank all the staff in Years 3, 4 and 5 who worked hard to ensure that it was such a high quality show.

I do hope that when we return the weather will have improved and we will experience less rain and more sunshine. I hope you all have a fabulous holiday and I look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday, 17th April.

Friday 23 March 2018


We had a lovely end to the week this morning with the Year 2 assembly. This was meant to be last week but, unfortunately, so many of the class were unwell that it had to be postponed until this week. It was well worth the wait though and they did a really good assembly about the ‘Great Fire of London 1666’. I would like to thank all the class for giving us such an entertaining performance and I would like to thank Mr Spring, Miss Southwell, Miss Russon and Miss Casey for all their hard work in putting it together.

We have had a very busy week in school because of the wheels activities that have been taking place in all the classes for ‘Sports Relief’.  This activity got off to a bad start because of the wintry weather (again) but luckily it improved enough by Tuesday to enable us to go ahead with the event during the rest of the week. I know all the children enjoyed it and were very enthusiastic in completing the circuit on their various forms of transportation. We ended the week with our ‘Walk a Mile’ where we allowed you, the parents, to join us. It was a very social event and I would like to thank all of you who joined us for helping to make the event such a success.  When I know how much money we have raised I will let you know. I would also like to thank Mr. Mills for organising all the extra sporting events during this week.

Tomorrow is also going to be a fun day because we have the ‘Spring Fayre’. I know that a lot of preparation has gone into the organising of this event and there is going to be lots to do such as an Easter Egg hunt and an Easter bonnet competition. It will be running from 1.00pm – 4.00pm and I hope to see lots of you there.

Next week is another exciting week in school because we have the Year 3, 4 and 5 production of ‘What a Knight’ to look forward to. I have only seen a few parts of it but what I have seen is very good and I am looking forward to watching the whole thing –and I know the children are looking forward to performing it for everyone. Before we see that though there is the ‘Sharing Assembly’ on Monday morning when some of the children can share learning that they are proud of with the rest of the school. We also have an ‘Open Afternoon’ next Wednesday from 3.00pm – 4.30pm when parents can come and look through their child’s books and share their half term’s learning with them.  On Thursday we have a treat for all the children as we are having an ‘Easter Egg’ decorating competition across the whole school. We are providing the eggs and some materials to decorate the eggs with but the children can also bring some materials from home to help complete their eggs ( as long as they make the whole thing in school).

Have a great weekend – hopefully the weather will be kind to us so we can enjoy the Spring Fayre in glorious sunshine.

Friday 16 March 2018


Another week has passed but certainly not a normal week for us. We had a special visitor with us for the day on Thursday and they have now left us. I know everybody likes to know the outcome but we cannot say anything until Ofsted publish the report so unfortunately we cannot discuss it until then. The report should be out in a couple of weeks but because of the timing that could be after the Easter holidays.

Due to all the distractions this week I had actually forgotten that today was a ‘Mufti Day’ for the Spring Fayre and was a little surprised to see children arriving for the ‘Breakfast Club’ not in uniform. As usual all the parents of Little Heath have been very generous with their donations and we now have a mountain of Easter eggs in the school – it is a good job that I have given up chocolate for Lent or I may have been tempted to take a couple to snack on throughout the day. Please remember that the Spring Fayre in on March 24th between 12noon and 3.00pm. I know there is going to be lots to do and remember that the more money that is raised the more your children will benefit in school. We have had to put our plans on hold for the technology room while we wait for the decision about what they are going to do with our building so the next purchase we hope to make for the school with the PTA money is Smart boards for all the classrooms.

That is all for now. Having looked at the calendar I cannot believe that we break up for Easter the week after next –where has the term gone! When are we going to get spring weather though? Apparently, the ‘Beast from the East’ is going to make a return this weekend. There are some snow showers predicted for over the weekend but hopefully they will not affect us opening on Monday. If I do have to close the school for any reason, I will inform you as soon as possible. Have a nice weekend.

 

Friday 9 March 2018


It is really great that we are coming to the end of a normal week . No constant looking out of the window to check how much snow has fallen and no checking the weather forecast to see what the days ahead are bringing. I feel like I have been given the gift of time because I have been able to do so much more work this week as I have been able to focus on it.

However, it has been anything but normal for Year 5 as they have been on their residential trip to Lincolsfield . After leaving early Monday morning they returned on Wednesday afternoon looking very happy but tired. On Thursday morning, in assembly, they all told me they were still feeling tired but they all got very little sympathy from me. I just told them that it was a good teaching point about how important it is to get plenty sleep. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr da Rocha, Miss Davis and Mrs Alimadadi for taking Year 5 to Lincolnsfield and allowing the children to have such a wonderful experience and help them make great memories of school life.

Preparations for the Spring Fayre are now well underway and I know it will be a great event on the March 24th. You will have received my newsletter about our current co-chairs Emma O’Brien and Simon Hall stepping down and we are now looking for a new chair. As I explained in my newsletter if we do not have a chair to help co-ordinate all of the events we will not be able to run events such as the Summer Fayre and the Fireworks Display and that will be a huge disappointment both from a financial and social point of view. I feel sure that there is someone out there who could carry out the role.

I hope you all have a great weekend  - Spring has officially started so let us hope we get some warmer weather.

Friday 2 March 2018


I want it officially known that I hate snow. I have looked at so many maps and weather charts this week that if I ever give up being a head I am sure I could get a job in a meteorology centre. The forecast is definitely for better weather next week so let us all hope that it is true because I do not want a repeat of this week. On a more positive note I would like to thank Rudi for all his hard work in clearing a pathway every morning so that the children could get into school safely.

Even though the weather was not kind to us this week, we still managed to go ahead with some of our planned events. The Year 4 visited the British Museum on Wednesday and on Thursday the Year 2 enjoyed their ‘Fire of London’ day in the hall. The rest of the school also looked great dressed in their costumes for ‘World Book Day’ so although the weather made it miserable outside there was plenty of enjoyment taking place indoors.

On Monday Year 5 are going to Lincolnsfield for 3 days so I am glad that the weather is going to be a little warmer for them although I  do know that they will have a great time regardless of the outdoor conditions. Unfortunately, I will not be there to wave them off because I have a meeting at Stevenage on Monday morning but Mr da Rocha will be sending regular updates of all their activities. We also have some sports matches planned for next week so, hopefully, the weather will allow them to actually take place. We are doing quite well in the leagues with many of our sporting teams presently and we do not want to lose our momentum.

As I mentioned earlier I will not be at the gates on Monday morning but we are planning on opening. We only closed on Friday because many of the side roads had not been gritted and the sub -zero conditions made many of these roads treacherous to travel on. I am certainly looking forward to a more straightforward week