This is one of the best times of the year for us teachers (and not just because of the upcoming summer holidays!).  Every teacher at Nash Mills cares deeply about our children and it is the time of the year that we are all able to take stock and look at the distance travelled over the past 12 months.  It has been truly fantastic to see so much progress being made.  

• In Early Years, the children have begun to read and write whilst developing the essential skills needed to be great, confident leaners.  

• These skills continue into Key Stage 1 where we see the children beginning to develop what they can do; we have had another great year in terms of high achievement and hearing some of the written work that the children shared in recent Class Worship was astounding!  

• In Key Stage 2, there is a big jump up in terms of the amount expected from the children and how much we have to pack into the curriculum, but it has been fantastic to see all of this being applied so well.  The level of discussion in classes over the past few weeks has been brilliant to see and, again, it really highlights how well our children learn to confidently work alongside each other.

The wider curriculum is a key part of our offer at Nash Mills and we believe that by providing the children with a raft of experiences, we can help to enrich their understanding of the world which in turn will support their progress.  Over the last year, our Biscuit Election, Year 2 trip to London on the train, whole school swimming and Early Years visit to the Zoo stand as particular highlights (among so many others) for me.  It has also been brilliant to see changes to our curriculum; the introduction of Forest School, for example has been a wonderful addition.  In these last weeks, it has also been a joy to watch our children all competing so skilfully and respectfully during our sports events, showing how their musical talents are shining through at our concert and the icing on the cake with our Year 5 and 6 production.

Of course this week we will see our Year 6 children leave us to move up to secondary school.  They will all be greatly missed by pupils and staff alike.  For some, the 8 years of primary school will have flown by and I'm sure they will have seen lots of changes in this time but will have many fond memories to take with them.  We look forward to hearing all about how they get on in their new schools and the fantastic things that they achieve on the way.  Year 6 - you will always be part of our Nash Mills family - please do pop back from time-to-time to see us.

In schools, there are usually a few changes at this time of year and we are really sad to be saying 'goodbye' to Mrs Thurgood, who has worked as a teaching assistant in our Key Stage 2 for a number of years, having been part of the Nash Mills staff since 2007!  We wish Mrs Thurgood all the best moving forward and hope to see her from time to time.  We are pleased to share that, last week, we recruited two new members of staff who will be joining us in September; Ms Finnis will be our new teaching assistant working in Year 5 and Mrs Paduchak will be supporting pupils in our Reception class.  Both will be warmly welcomed in the new school year.

None of the work we do would be possible without such firm and enduring support for our school.  To this, I would like to say a huge thank you to you, our families, for trusting us with your children and putting your faith in us.  I know how tricky this can be at times, but through your support, we are able to continue to develop and aim to offer the best that we possibly can for your children.  

It is also the perfect time to send our warmest thanks to the staff, all of whom have worked tirelessly this past year to achieve all of the amazing things listed above and have regularly gone above and beyond to ensure that you and your children are supported and cared for.  We are very fortunate to have the staff we do and hope that they all get a well-earned rest during the summer.

Plans are already well-underway for ensuring that next year is even better and we shall be busy over the coming weeks making sure that everything is ready for the next year.  The 2024/25 School Calendar will have been shared with you today and I hope gives a flavour of some of the things to come!

All that leaves me to do is to wish you all a fantastic summer.  I hope you all manage to find some time to spend with your families and, fingers crossed, to have some brilliant days with a little bit of sun!  We look forward to seeing you all again from Tuesday 3rd September!

Mr Maher

As the end of term arrived, we were able to confirm the final results of both our Sports Day and House Cup competitions.

For Sports Day, the house events and the Key Stage race scores have all been compiled.  The results are as follows:

1st Place - York (274 points)

2nd - Alban (253)

3rd - Canterbury (239)

4th - Durham (203)

These added into our final House Cup scores to give:

1st Place - York (1858 points)

2nd - Canterbury (1774)

3rd - Durham (1682)

4th - Alban (1639)

Well done to York House!

Our final TTRS leader board of the year reflects studio speed, that is how long it takes pupils to answer questions. We have two pupils from Year 6 on the leader board so there will be spaces up for grabs when we come back in September, who is going to fill them?

Also in September we will start our TTRS Teacher challenge to see who the real Rock Stars are!

Well done to our top 3 Rock Stars this week!

We were very proud this week to receive the School Games Gold Award for our work to develop PE and sport across the school.  Throughout the year, this includes the work within lessons, at break and lunchtimes as well as all of the trips and visits that pupils are offered.  We also report on how we try to help every pupil to be involved in sport, for example on events such as sports day and through our swimming provision.

It is fantastic to see all of the hard work recognised for this.  A huge thank you to Mrs Lewis, as our PE and Sports Lead for the work she has done!