Headteacher's Update 23rd January  

Dear Parents and Carers, 

I plan to send out a weekly update each Friday, capturing the highlights from the week. Seeing as this one is the first, it covers key events that have taken place at school over the past three weeks.  These updates moving forward, won't be as long!

It has been fantastic to see how well our children have returned after the holiday - they have settled straight back into routine of school life with enthusiasm and focus - even earning an extra 10 minutes on the end of one of their lunchtimes for exceptional behaviour.

In our Whole School Assembly at the beginning of the term, I shared a promise that I made to myself for this year, which is to read a book a month.  I'm an avid reader and in truth, when life gets busy, I let reading slip. 

    I'm already winning this month:  I've read three children's books already!  

    'Sinbin Island', by Doug Naylor, a book gifted to me by an independent book store:  The Bookwagon. 

    'When the Storm Comes', by Polly Ho Yen, a beautiful story about four mismatched students getting trapped in school overnight during a flood, learning to work together to survive.

      And 'Tyger', by S.F Said a recommendation by 5H and Mrs. Harnett.  

Books have the power to open doors, to change minds and to spark imagination.  I've lined my next read up, thanks to Quincy for recommending, 'Star', by Holly Webb.  This year is the year of reading!

Whilst the situation we found ourselves in on Friday 9th January, with no power at school, was not one that any of us would have wished for, I would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding.

    The day was made even more challenging as the power went out at 8am, leaving us with no means of communication. Phone lines were down, Wi-Fi was unavailable, and 4G coverage was extremely limited. This meant we were unable to contact you as quickly as we would have liked.

    However, every situation presents an opportunity to learn, and this is exactly what we, as a Senior Leadership Team (SLT), have done. We have reflected on the need for a contingency within our Communications Plan.  

    Should we find ourselves in a similar situation again, particularly close to the start of the school day, one key change will be to communicate directly with our Chair of the PTA, Carla Saxon, who will then share information with parents via the PTA WhatsApp group.

    Please also be assured that we do not work in isolation. Through co-ordination and collaboration, we work closely with Balcarras and CKIS to ensure the best possible decisions are made for our school community.

Thank you once again for your patience, understanding, and ongoing support.

Last week marked one of my favourite events in the school calendar: the Young Voices Concert. 

I have always loved hearing children sing, but to experience a choir made up of thousands of voices coming together in perfect harmony is truly something special. What an incredible opportunity for our children to perform in an arena alongside so many others! I am sure the parents who joined us for the evening would agree that the atmosphere was electric, the singing was astounding, and the experience was second to none.  A huge thank you to Mrs. Hart for co-ordinating the event and to all staff who supported the night.  

Another event that took place in school last week, and one that can also be counted among my favourites in our school calendar, was our Look Who’s Talking Oracy competition. As teachers, we were truly blown away by the number of children who entered, demonstrating incredible commitment to writing, editing, rehearsing and delivering their speeches with such confidence in front of their peers. Thank you for the support you provided at home to help make this possible.

    For the next stage of the competition, we invited external judges to elevate the event further and to reflect on the importance we place on Oracy within our school. We were delighted to welcome Reverend Paul, Mr Burke (Headteacher at Balcarras), Miss Niblett (Assistant Headteacher at Balcarras) and Amy Spring-Wallace (English teacher at Balcarras), who formed our judging panel. It is fair to say that the children gave them an extremely difficult task in choosing an overall winner from both Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2.

    The judges were incredibly impressed by the children’s confidence, their ability to memorise their speeches, and the level of detail and coherence within their presentations. We are pleased to announce that Harper and Millie are the CKJS winners and will go on to represent themselves and our school at the Regional Finals on the 9th February. We are extremely proud of you.  Very well done!

And finally...huge congratulations to Isla, Sheryl, and Ivy who were winners at the Cheltenham Young Artist Award.   As their prize, their artwork was framed and displayed at the gallery in Montpellier for all to admire.  Sheryl came 3^rd overall.  Sammy, Alannah, Josh, and Leo's entries all received a Highly Recommended commendation from the judges, and as a school we proudly won the School’s Best Entry Award out of 450 entries from schools across Cheltenham — an outstanding achievement!

That just leaves me to say, have the most wonderful weekend.

Warmest Regards, 

Mrs. Beccy Andrews