Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you have all had an enjoyable week. If you are anything like me, the darker autumn evenings are being made a lot more enjoyable by some great television. The return of The Celebrity Traitors alongside the new season of The Diplomat on Netflix has certainly provided the perfect excuse to stay at home in the evenings!

Our school grounds have been positively buzzing with sporting action this week! On Tuesday, some of our Year Five and Six boys took to the pitch for a brilliantly run football tournament, expertly organised and coordinated by Mr. Power. Then, this morning, you could barely move for scooters and bikes on the playground. Seeing so many of our children embracing active travel and enjoying the outdoor space has been fantastic and I would like to place on record my thanks to Miss Kilby for her tireless work in planning and delivering these enriching opportunities for our pupils.

Many of our Year Six families will hopefully be aware of the exciting, high-energy arithmetic drive currently underway in their child's classroom. We are extremely fortunate to tap into specialist expertise from across our Trust to boost arithmetic confidence and raise outcomes this year. A special note of thanks must go to Mr. Cresswell, Miss Goel, Miss Moss and Mrs. Dunnington, who are working so hard to keep the children motivated and challenged, and hopefully squarely on track to achieve some ambitious targets! It goes without saying that parent partnership makes all the difference. Even in Year Six, quick-fire times tables practice, whether around the dinner table, in the car, or during daily routines, remains one of the single most effective ways to build recall speed and mental accuracy. 

As we approach the final week of the first half-term of the year, I want to thank you for all your support in settling the children into their new year groups. However, our overall school attendance continues to fall below the national average. Every single day of learning counts, and even a few missed days can quickly impact a child's confidence and academic progress. We know that autumn brings the usual seasonal coughs and sniffles, but we kindly ask for your continued support in prioritising punctuality and daily attendance whenever your child is well enough to attend. You can expect to hear regular updates about your child's attendance from their class teacher, who is now receiving weekly attendance reports. In addition, Miss Sorano continues to invest a great deal of time monitoring attendance and developing strategies to support our families. To truly make a difference and help every child thrive at school, we rely on your ongoing support. I hope to see a positive change in our attendance figures following the half-term break.

Thank you as ever for taking the time to read my weekly updates. I wish you all a pleasant weekend and look forward to seeing all of the children on Monday.

Mr Bostock

Headteacher