Dear Parents and Carers,
As we wrap up this penultimate week of the autumn term, it has been wonderful to see the school buzzing with holiday spirit today. I hope you too are full of the festive spirit and are looking forward to the upcoming break.
This week, our Year Five and Six children headed to Welwyn Garden City for a magical performance of Cinderella. The children were an absolute credit to the school, and contributed to a really positive energy in the theatre. A particular highlight for many - and a source of great Christmas cheer for me - was seeing Mr. Rolfe end up on the receiving end of a water spray during the show! It is wonderful to provide our staff and children with the opportunity to share some laughs together and I hope this is a tradition which we can continue over the years ahead.
On Thursday, we hosted a formal visit as part of our application to become a Talk for Writing Accredited School. After rigorous assessments and observations, I am delighted to share that the outcome of this is that we have been officially accredited as a Talk for Writing Showcase School! To achieve this status, we have had to ensure the highest quality of the teaching of writing across our school, as well as ensuring our writing sessions inspire and encourage our children to become confident writers themselves. Our teachers and children did themselves proud and our visitors were extremely impressed by the learning they saw. This partnership, which will formally commence in September 2026, will support us in ensuring our writing attainment and progress measures continue to significantly outperform the national average. Most importantly, it guarantees that our children remain inspired, confident, and deeply engaged with their writing. This achievement is a testament to the dedication of our entire staff, who have embraced our Talk for Writing journey. I must also extend a special note of gratitude to Mrs. Barnes, whose relentless drive and vision have been instrumental in ensuring our writing curriculum meets the highest possible standards for our children.
The school was a sea of Christmas colour today for our annual Christmas Jumper Day! It was heartwarming to see the children (and staff) in their festive knits. We also enjoyed our traditional Christmas dinner together which was absolutely delicious! I would like to extend a huge special thanks to Nikki and our incredible catering team. They work tirelessly behind the scenes every day, but today they truly went above and beyond to provide a delicious festive feast for the entire school community. We are very lucky to have them! After such a large dinner, I was grateful to have some music to listen to this afternoon: this was in the form of a memorable ukulele performance from our Year Three children. I now have the 'joyful' sound of those strumming ukuleles playing on loop in my head. Thank you so much everyone!
The term is not over yet and we are eagerly anticipating seeing many of you next week for our Christmas Productions and Christmas Enterprise Event. Thank you in advance for your continued support in ensuring a successful end to the autumn term.
Mr. Bostock
