Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to December! If your household is anything like mine, mornings now begin with a frantic search for the date, followed by the satisfying taste of pre-breakfast chocolate!

In addition to teaching in Year Six, this week I had the opportunity to teach some mathematics in Pine class. I was immediately impressed by the children's tremendous enthusiasm for the subject. Huge credit is due to Miss Mason and the supporting adults for cultivating such a positive learning environment. Special shout-outs for high levels of enthusiasm must go to Mason, Jola, and Scarlett (among others!) who contributed to a really enjoyable lesson. Coincidentally, I was pleased to receive a visit from children in Pine Class later in the week to find out about their current geography topic of rivers. Being a geography buff myself, I really enjoyed hearing all about their learning about the River Thames and the historical reasons for human settlements alongside rivers. Did you know that before the development of roads and railways, rivers were considered the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to transport goods, leading to the rapid growth of settlements along their banks?

We are thrilled to announce the launch of De Havilland's very first podcast this week! Full details are available elsewhere in this newsletter, but we must extend our deepest gratitude to the team who made this inaugural episode a success: Miss Colyer, Miss Black, Miss Durkin, the participating Year Six children, and a special thanks to Mr. Tate for his celebrity guest appearance. We are already looking forward to producing the next episode next term!

This week, we celebrated the arrival of our beautiful Christmas tree in the upper hall. If you have been in the school foyer recently, you will have also noticed the immediate spread of festive cheer throughout the school! A special thank you to all our dedicated adults whose efforts make De Havilland feel like an even more wonderfully special and festive place during this time of year. Next week, we are ramping up the festive spirit with our traditional Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumper Day on Friday! Staff always look forward to this day, as it provides a wonderful opportunity for us to share a meal with the children and admire all the fantastic, creative Christmas jumpers on display this year.

Wishing you a very pleasant weekend - stay warm!

Mr. Bostock