Dear Parents and Carers,

Hello sunshine! It is great to see the weather has warmed up just in time for the break. Usually, the British weather has other ideas when school finishes, so this is a very welcome surprise!

This week, we hosted a Year Six post-SATs disco to celebrate all of the children's hard work and achievements this academic year. While the children deserve every bit of praise, a special shout-out must go to the adults who made the event possible. Thank you to our wonderful FODS team for volunteering their time on the night, and to our amazing school staff who once again went above and beyond, staying late to ensure that every single child in the cohort had the opportunity to attend and celebrate. Finally, a heartfelt thank you to the thoughtful parents who took the time to express their gratitude to the team organising and supervising. Your kind words are always welcome after a long day, week or term!

Today we hosted two talent shows here at De Havilland. Just like last year, it was wonderful to see the enthusiasm the children showed towards the events, and I would like to extend a huge thank you to our Character Curriculum team, Miss Colyer and Miss Black, for being the driving force behind them. The courage it takes to get up on a stage should never be underestimated, so a big well done goes out to all of the children who took part, as well as to everyone who supported them.

As families with children in Key Stage Two will know, this year we have been trialling an afternoon subject 'carousel'. While many of both the children and the teachers enjoyed the variety it brought, the model has presented some practical challenges. Therefore, given the busy nature of the upcoming second half of the summer term, we have decided to revert to children staying in their own classrooms with their own teachers in the afternoons. This will allow those valuable classroom relationships which we pride ourselves on  to thrive before the summer break and ensure a smoother transition to the next academic year. Rest assured, the full curriculum will still be covered, including our highly anticipated creative arts week and sports week!

Speaking of the next half-term, we are incredibly excited to welcome Olympian and Irish international racing cyclist Alice Sharpe to our school on Thursday 4th June! A huge thank you to Miss Kilby for organising this visit, where the children will have the unique opportunity to complete a fitness circuit with Alice before joining her for a whole-school assembly. As you will know from yesterday's correspondence, we would be incredibly grateful for any sponsorship to help support the day and raise funds for the school.

Wishing you all a very pleasant half-term break and I look forward to seeing all of the children back in school on Tuesday 2nd June.

Mr Bostock

Headteacher