Friday 7th March 2025

What a wonderful and lively week it has been at school! Our children continue to impress us with their enthusiasm for learning, their kindness towards one another, and their commitment to living out our values of Love, Serve and Grow in all they do.

A huge thank you to the church for warmly welcoming us on Monday to begin our week. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore our Bible verse for the week and reflect on what it truly means to live out a gentle and quiet spirit. The children engaged beautifully, and it was inspiring to see them thinking deeply about how they can show patience, kindness, and humility in their daily lives.

This week, we also explored Shrove Tuesday and the significance of Lent, reflecting on how this season is a time for growth and reflection. To help us prepare, we introduced our 40 Acts of Kindness challenge, encouraging children to think of small ways they can serve and uplift others throughout Lent. It has been great to hear their ideas and see them already putting this into action.

Alongside our spiritual reflections, this week has been especially exciting as we celebrated Book Week, culminating in today’s World Book Day. It has been fantastic to see the children fully immerse themselves in the joy of reading, dressing up in costumes linked to the author their class has been studying. The creativity and effort put into the classroom door decorations have been truly inspiring, making our school feel like a walk through storybook. Pictures of these are below and will be left on display so that you will be able to see them during parents evening in a few weeks.

Children also enjoyed exploring the wonderful selection of books at the Scholastic Book Fair, hopefully finding the perfect reads to persuade you to take home! Earlier in the week, we had a mystery reading session, where teachers swapped classes to share a surprise story—bringing a sense of excitement and adventure to our reading journey. Today, we were delighted to welcome Big Foot, who led an engaging Book Week workshop for all our classes.

Amidst all the literary fun, our Year 6 pupils received their secondary school offers this week, with a strong percentage securing their first-choice school in this initial stage. Please keep them in your prayers as they navigate this important transition and prepare for the next chapter in their journey. 

We are delighted to tell you that our display energy certificate has just been issued - the school had been previously rated F and we have now gone up to D which is amazing progress. A big thank you to our children, the staff, governors and parents for your support in helping us to get there. 

We also said a temporary goodbye today to Mrs Craythorne, who begins her maternity leave today. We wish her all the very best on this next exciting adventure, and we look forward to hearing her joyful news in the near future!

Looking ahead to next week:

• Harrisons will be introducing the children to our brand-new hydration station, salad bar, and cutlery trolley. Alongside water, children will now have the option to enjoy fruit-infused water, encouraging healthy hydration habits.

• Our Year 3s will be representing our school at the Spelling Bee competition—we wish them the best of luck!

• Years 4 and 5 will take part in an exciting French Workshop, bringing language learning to life in a fun and interactive way.

• On Friday, we are thrilled to welcome Philip Kavvadias—a talented author, playwright, poet, illustrator, and screenwriter—who will be visiting our school to inspire the children with his work and passion for storytelling.

As we have reflected this week on 1 Peter 3:4, we have been reminded that true beauty comes from a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. It has been wonderful to see our children demonstrating thoughtfulness in their interactions with one another. We will continue to reflect on this verse next week in our worship sessions and through our 40 Acts of Kindness which has been sent out to cover the lent period.

Thank you to our staff for their dedication and to our families for your continued support. 

Wishing you all a restful and peaceful weekend.

Mrs Harris

"Everyone is different, everyone is special"

"Pupils are inspired by RE and recognise it as a challenging but safe space to explore their own and others' religious, spiritual and philosophical convictions critically and responsibly"

(SIAMS Inspection Report: February 2019)

Lenten Prayer
 

Heavenly Father,

As I enter my Lenten journey, guide me to the path that leads to you.
Fill my heart with gratitude, patience, strength, and peace as I strive to become the-best-version-of-myself, honestly admitting my shortcomings and sins.

As I renew my resolve each day to become a better person, let me hear your voice in the deepest reaches of my heart. Give me rest in you.

Help me to accept others, showing them your great love instead of casting judgment. Stay with me through the busy days this week and remind me that when I need comfort, solitude, wisdom, or guidance, I can always turn to you.

Help me develop discipline and generosity through fasting and almsgiving, and come closer to you through prayer this Lent.

In your name I pray.

Amen.