I was on the playground early on Monday morning for the first go at my random advent calendar. Monday’s was an easy one for the pupils who quickly worked out that for a biscuit treat, they just had to greet me in the appropriate way. It isn’t something that I did, or will do every day, particularly given the variable weather, but there were two further opportunities this week and I am sure there will be others in future weeks.
Straight after registration on Monday, the Year 3s headed up to Highbury to enjoy the dress rehearsal of their KS1 Christmas production. Chatting to both staff and pupils when thy returned, they clearly enjoyed themselves and remarked that they better put the finishing touches to their play. I am pleased to report that they did and received lovely feedback from the rest of the school when they performed it for the first time with an audience on Friday morning. There are three more performances next week including Monday afternoon when Highbury’s Year 2s will come and watch.
We received another award this week from the FA and Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnership. The Equal Access Award recognises the effort that Miss Gooderham, Miss King and Mr Ciepiela go to, to ensure that the school provides equal access to girls’ football for our pupils. When I show parents around the school, inclusion and access are two of the aspects of our sports provision I am proud of. This award suggests I have the right to be.
Tuesday morning was bonkers! It was exceptionally busy but as you would expect, still exceptionally productive. I showed a group of ten prospective parents (and two babies) around the school; we had the pond engineers in to service this vibrant resource; we had volunteers preparing the grass outside the front of the school for the spring bulbs and we had two other visitors working with individual pupils.
The Year 4 pupils went out and about on Monday and Tuesday afternoons to take part in a local history walk. The weather was kind on both occasions and the pupils enjoyed a whistlestop tour of some of the local history including the site of the former slums and our railway station.
Hitchin Girls’ School Sports Leaders were in this week working with pupils in Year 4 and Year 5. I popped out to see the students in action and could combine my roles as Headteacher and PE link trustee at HGS to gather evidence on the success of this programme.
It is good to single out individuals when they really impress. Lily-Ann (Year 5) is such a helpful and caring member of our school community. She will always offer to help me during lunchtimes and can be relied upon to carry out tasks efficiently and with a smile. Equally, she is kind towards the other pupils, spending much of Wednesday’s lunchtime, helping a Year 3 find her jumper. Thank you, Lily-Ann.
I received an email this week from a Year 3 parent who wanted to share with me how impressed she has been with two Year 6 pupils, Niamh and Sophie. These pupils, in different ways, have been supportive and caring, proving themselves to be real ambassadors. Both have received special Headteacher’s awards.
I went and found Lucas and Ambar (Year 4) on Wednesday afternoon after seeing their Dickensian book covers. The illustration and blurb were impressive and definitely deserved a Headteacher’s Award.
Seb and Leo (Year 4) came and showed me their computer work in which they were writing procedures to draw pictures. They had successfully coded a snowman, complete with hat and scarf.
Another recipient of a Headteacher’s award this week was Willow (Year 6) who came to show me her Raven-inspired artwork using inks. Her work is the main image, above. Willow’s class, Kahlo, also received a group award for their quality and accurate work using graphs this week.
Two more awards worthy of note went to Kahlo Class for their accurate work in maths this week and to Apollo Class who have been wonderful ambassadors (a phrase already used in this blog) each time I have brought a large group of parents into their classroom as part of my tours.
We had a group of lower school dancers out representing Whitehill this week. Miss King accompanied them to take part in a festival organised by the Sports Partnership and was very complimentary upon her return. Chatting with the pupils, they had a wonderful time which I believe also included a Christmas sing-song on the way back in one of the cars.
Once again, because of the Year 3 dress rehearsal this time, there was no Achievers’ Assembly. I have no doubt that next week’s is going to be especially busy.
I am heading up to the Friends’ Association Christmas Fair after school and although a previous commitment means I can’t stay for the whole event, I am keen to support the hard work of the committee and our volunteers. I hope to see some of you there.
Looking ahead to next week, the main event is probably the three Year 3 shows: one on Monday afternoon and then two more on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. All the tickets have now been handed out and we look forward to three appreciative audiences.
On Wednesday, we have Anthony Glenn returning to perform a Christmas show for the pupils and then we go into Christmas lunch. Don’t forget that pupils are invited to wear a festive sweater should they wish to, or perhaps a hat. You can still book a lunch through SchoolGrid.
We have a fun interhouse maths event on Thursday morning and on Friday, our Poetry Post Club are heading out and about to deliver some festive cheer to the Whitehill community.
Our Friends’ Association will be out and about again on Monday with Santa and his elves raising money for the two schools, this time around the Sunnyside Road and Poulters Way area. They (the committee not Santa’s elves) have also asked me to thank you for the support of the Asda Cashpot scheme which has now come to an end raising in excess for £500.
And finally, today’s date (if written in a certain way) is mathematically quite interesting: 06-12-24. Perhaps I should offer a prize to anyone who can let me know of any other days this century where this ‘doubling’ pattern has occurred. Also, when is the next date that this pattern will be observed? Something to get you thinking over the next couple of days. Mr Spier, I am relying on you to have some answers!
Have a great weekend.
Best wishes,
Steve Mills
Headteacher
Ooooo this has got me falling down a rabbit hole, I do love a pattern! 03/06/12 was my first guess… 04/08/16, 05/10/20. I could spend a long time doing this so I’m hoping someone else chimes in 🙂