Dear Parents and Carers,

I think we are all grateful to have made it to the end of this week without melting! The weather has certainly reflected the mood around school given some of the successes which have been experienced over the past four days.

Firstly, it was so wonderful to see all of our school community come together last Friday and I would like to thank each and every one of you who came out to support at De Hav fest. We made a fantastic profit of over £1700 which smashes the amount taken last year and will go a long way to funding some exciting plans we have for our play and lunchtime provision next year. The highlight of my afternoon was undoubtedly having sponges thrown at me whilst trapped in the stocks! However, I must also pay tribute to Rosie in Birch class, who insisted on helping me pick up litter from around the field, even after most other people had left. It was an act of kindness which certainly gave me a nice warm feeling as I went home for the weekend. 

Secondly, on Tuesday we received our end of Key Stage Two SATs results. This included test results for English reading, mathematics, and grammar, punctuation, and spelling tests, as well as teacher assessments for writing. We are delighted to share that this year's results in reading, writing and grammar, punctuation and spelling exceeded the national average, with mathematics just slightly below. These represent an outstanding effort from first and foremost our Year Six children, who have risen to each of the challenges faced this year, but also all of the teachers and support staff who have worked with and supported the cohort throughout their time with us. The results provide further evidence of how standards and expectations at the school continue to improve under the staff team in place and I cannot thank them enough for this. A full breakdown of this year's results from statutory assessments across our school are now available on our website. 

Finally, I would also like to highlight what a successful transition day we had on Thursday. This can sometimes be a tricky day to navigate for our children, as they begin the process of saying goodbye to familiar adults and getting to know new ones. However, as a staff team we felt this year's in particular was a real success and the atmosphere all around the school was certainly one of calmness. It was lovely to see so many of our new families enjoy our stay and play offer and equally rewarding to hear of the positive experiences our Year Six children shared with us about their day as they returned to De Hav this morning.  

Next week, we look forward to a shorter transition afternoon on Tuesday and also our Year Six production, which is being shared with families on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday evening - I look forward to seeing many of you then!

Stay cool this weekend,

Mr. Bostock