Dear Parents/Carers,

It has been an exciting two weeks at school as the children have been working collaboratively within their classes to redesign our school dining room. The aim of the project was to design and plan a new dining room space which will be a welcoming and warm environment which is inclusive to all. The children were tasked with using their skills from across the curriculum to create a pitch to present to our judges in a 'Dragons Den Style' competition this week. The children had to use market research, maths budgeting skills, art and design and persuasive writing to try to convince the judges that their ideas were the best. It was fantastic to observe the children present so passionately and articulately to our esteemed judges and it demonstrated what a vast learning experience this was for the children. Year 2 were named our official winners, voted for by the judges for their confidence and detailed presentation.  

Thank you for all our judges who gave up their time to support our school community:

• Mr Wheatley (CEO of ASCAT)

• Mrs Daley (School Governor)

• Mr Corrigan (Businessman) 

• Mr Oliver (Local Estate Agent Owner)

We look forward to working with the children to put their ideas into action,  and starting the work needed to redesign our dining room.  

Also, this week Mr Wheatley (CEO of ASCAT) spent the whole day at school, working alongside the leadership team to review the schools approach to supporting vulnerable children. Mr Wheatley also spent time with the children, observing in classes and speaking with the children. Mr Wheatley commented on the exemplary behaviour across the school, as well as the inclusive provision in place to support our children. 

Last week, the school carried out a planned lockdown practice as part of our ongoing commitment to safeguarding and pupil safety. These practices help ensure that staff and pupils know what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency and allow us to review our procedures to make sure they are as robust as possible. The practice was conducted in a calm and age-appropriate way, and pupils responded extremely well. We would like to thank families for their continued support in helping us keep our school community safe. 

This week we welcomed back Mrs Merrell, our Assistant Headteacher, who has returned from maternity leave. We look forward to having Mrs Merrell back as part of our school community.

A possible date for your diaries: Saturday April 25th. Our school is in the ballot for the TCS Mini Marathon in London - we are keeping our fingers crossed that we get a place and that many of the children and families in our school community will be able to join. We will keep you updated with any news from the ballot.

Kind regards,

Mrs Lavelle-Murphy & Mrs Reilly