Happy Friday! This week has been filled with excitement, adventure and celebration across our school community! It has been made better with the sunnier days too! 

Monday morning was a milestone moment for our Year 5 adventurers! There were a mix of emotions as they boarded the coach for their long awaited school journey. Mostly excitement and a few butterflies! For many of our children, this marks their first extended trip away from home, and we couldn't be prouder of the brave, smiling faces we saw waving goodbye from the windows.

Since arriving at Grosvenor Hall in Ashford, the children, along with Mrs Aliaj and Ms Mackinnon have thrown themselves into a week of new experiences, with laughter and bundles of energy. They have taken part in activities such as abseiling, canoeing, bushcraft, the giant swing, and orienteering—just to name a few! Along the way, they have built resilience, teamwork, coordination, and patience, while also growing in confidence and independence. It has been a joy to see them forge new friendships and embrace every challenge with enthusiasm. The children have shared nothing but positive feedback, and we couldn’t be prouder of them! We’ve included some photos in this newsletter, but you can find even more pictures and videos on Twitter @RockliffeManor—be sure to take a look! Before we know it we will be waving off our now year 4 children for their Year 5 school journey! How quickly time flies - it’s a reminder of just how much our children grow and achieve in a single school year. We are already looking forward to next year's adventures!

On Wednesday, it was wonderful to welcome so many families into school for our Maths Stay and Learn. We had a fantastic turnout across the year groups. Seeing parents and carers engaging with our maths approach and working alongside the children to solve problems, truly showcased the strength of our school community. These sessions are a wonderful opportunity for us to share how we teach calculations and reasoning in the Rockliffe classrooms. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to join us; your enthusiasm for your child’s progress is what makes the Rockliffe family so effective. Thank you for making the morning such a success! 

Our families were not the only visitors we welcomed on Wednesday, Rockliffe Manor also had the privilege of welcoming trust leaders and headteachers from across the Inspire Partnership to visit our school and see Rockliffe in action. Our visitors were absolutely blown away by what they saw—the children’s deep focus and pride in their learning, the calm and positive atmosphere, the outstanding behaviour, the inspiring displays, and even our fantastic sensory circuit! These were just a few of the things that left a lasting impression. We have always known how special Rockliffe Manor is, but it was truly heartwarming to see it recognised and celebrated on such a large scale. A huge thank you to our wonderful children, staff and families for making our school such an incredible place to learn and grow!

And a final update, from our feathered friends who we had the beauty of watching hatch.  It has now been a week since our hatching kit was collected and the ducklings returned to the farm. We are delighted to share that they have joined their fellow hatchlings in purpose-built brooding sheds, where they are staying warm and cozy under large heat plates. With constant access to specialized feeders and drinkers, they are spending their days zooming around their spacious new home and soaking up the sunshine. In a few weeks, once they’ve grown a bit bigger, they will be moved into lush grass paddocks to enjoy the great outdoors.

We are very much looking forward to the final week of the Spring Term. As a reminder, school will finish early at 2:00 PM on Friday, 28th March. Please note that while our Breakfast Club will run as usual that morning, there will be no Beachwood facility available in the afternoon. We appreciate you making the necessary arrangements for the early pickup.

Let’s make this final week of the term a fantastic one. As always, thank you for your continued support. 

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

With very best wishes, Mrs Cook and the Rockliffe Manor team.