Dear Parents and Caregivers

One of the highlights of the past fortnight was welcoming many of you into the MPH to watch our Primary Mandarin learners share their Lunar New Year celebration performances. Thank you if you were able to come and share the celebration. Take a look at our Recent Events tab for some photos.

As we have settled back into routines after the Lunar New Year break our teams have been focussing on planning the weeks ahead. Our transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning gives us many rich opportunities for authentic learning experiences, and as a primary school we pay particular attention to the core numeracy and literacy skills. We are proud to have a literacy rich learning environment that supports our learners to access a variety of different texts and prints in their areas of  interest. This week in News from the Year Groups the teams have shared about Spellings, Phonics and Writing Traits, and the transdisciplinary links they make in these areas. 

Over the coming weeks we have many year groups preparing for, and taking part in their residential trips. This is the first year since Covid shut the world down that we have been able to run these trips. As such we have taken a moderate approach, understanding that for many learners this is the first time they have slept away from parents. We have looked to build on the experiences year by year, starting with a one night sleepover in Year 3 progressing through to a full international camp in Year 6. 

The trips are always planned to enrich the curriculum however the experiences go far beyond this. These experiences allow your child to create bonds that are not easily replicated in other settings, and develop skills in areas that as parents we often want to step in and fix for them. Skills that support and develop: 

• Leadership

• Confidence

• Relationship building

• Resilience

• Problem solving

• Emotional regulation

• Independence

• Positive self-esteem

• Growth Mindset

All learners are expected  to attend the residential/sleepover experiences in full, unless they have a medical condition that prevents them from doing so. Details of trips can be found on the Upcoming Events tab. If you need more information or access to the the trip booklets please don't hesitate to contact us.

Finally this week has been bittersweet in some ways. We have sadly had to say goodbye to Ms Sanya one of our Classroom Assistants in Year 3. Ms Sanya has been with us for a long time and is a very respected and well-loved member of our team, she was farewelled with a gift and cards, and was particularly touched by the learner's comments. We wish her all the best and secretly hope we will get to see her again in the future. 

This week has also seen us welcome new Primary staff members, as we continue to grow we have opened several new classes in Nursery, Year 3 and Year 6; we have also seen our Primary Single Subject Specialist team grow too. Next week the last of our teachers will be joining us in our Art department, a big thank you to Ms Pia for supporting us in Art during this transition time.

If you would like to see further information our our new teaching team members, please take a look at the Important Notices tab.

Have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes

Fiona Lewis

Head of Primary