I started last week’s blog with a reference to the amount of time we have left this academic year. I stated that it would be plenty of time to achieve all we needed to with the pupils and with our curriculum. Have I changed my mind in seven days? Should I get a job as a politician? Is this a huge U-turn? Perhaps. As far as the pupils are concerned, there is time and all is well. As far as I am concerned and looking at my diary I have nowhere near enough time. Time to get on and see what gets shelved.
To some extent, it is my own fault this week. I excitedly accepted two offers for trips out with Year 5 and Year 3. It could have been three if I’d have ventured out with Year 6 too, but I resisted the temptation on Friday to join them at their Olympic Legacy Day.
Before I reflect on the week, I want to share some feedback I received from my visitor last Friday, the Assistant General Secretary of the NAHT, following his tour around the school.
“I wanted to say thank you for inviting me to your wonderful school… there’s something special about Whitehill Junior School.
“From the moment I walked in, I could tell there was something different and genuinely special about the place… I visit a fair few schools and they’re not all like that. You and your team have clearly created an ethos and atmosphere that is really quite unique. As I said at the time, walking round your school genuinely made me start to miss being in school myself and I was thinking on the way home that it was exactly the sort of school I’d want to send my own children too.
“Please do pass on my thanks to all the pupils who were so friendly and welcoming – they were such a credit to you and the school. My thanks also to your team who couldn’t have been more welcoming.”
Monday was a great trip. The Year 5s were wonderful company and the day was interesting. The convenience of the train and the proximity of The Globe and Tate Modern to London Blackfriars makes it an easy and comfortable trip to do.
What impressed me at the Tate was the way that the pupils really thought about different aspects of the artwork they were looking at. They were genuinely interested and would quite often wander off, in their own little world, to find out more about a particular painting or sculpture. They would then retell the facts learned or talk about their interpretation of what they had seen. Lottie and I had several conversations about what the artists might have been thinking. And with some of that art, that was not an easy task!
I have seen a show in every theatre in London listed as being in and around the West End. The one exception is the Globe. Until Monday, I hadn’t even been in it. It was a very enjoyable talk from one of the Globe’s Thespians, Georgia-May Myers, followed by a Tempest-inspired workshop in one of the Globe’s rehearsal rooms.
What is lovely when we are off site, is to receive compliments from members of the public with whom we come into contact. Both Mrs Bailey and Mr Lord reported that there were numerous such interactions throughout the day from the moment we got on the train to getting back to school. On Friday morning, I then received this email from a commuter on the train we were on heading into London.
“On my commute to London today a group of students from Whitehill got on the train to London and I just wanted to share that I thought they were a credit to your school. I was sat towards the back of the train and the teacher with them was having great fun with them but the children always listened and were never too loud. They had to stand for most of the journey but still behaved impeccably. It was lovely to see a group of such well-behaved students.
“I hope they had a great day for the rest of their trip.”
How lovely is that? Well done, Year 5s!
Tuesday was my day to do Monday and Wednesday’s work as well as that scheduled for Tuesday itself. I continued reading reports and dealt with bits and pieces that can never be planned for.
I popped up to Voyager to hear Nevaeh (Year 5) reading to the class which she did so beautifully. I was visited by Willow (Year 4) who wanted to show me some wonderful work she had been doing in French. Both pupils received a Headteacher’s Award.
Wednesday’s outing was with the Year 3s and a trip to Shepreth Animal Park. Again, the pupils were wonderful company, and we enjoyed the beautiful weather for our day of animal spotting.
I was desperate to see some otters as they are my favourite animal. Although several other groups did manage to spot them, when we got there after lunch, I think they had gone for a rest. I did get to see the meerkats, however, which are equally as cute, along with the capybara and a rather grumpy-looking primate!
I want to give a special mention to Molly (Year 3) who spotted a left phone on the train when we were heading home. Her eagle eyes meant that we could hand it in to a member of staff at Hitchin Station upon our return and hopefully put a member of the public’s mind at ease. Of course, Molly was rewarded with a Headteacher’s Award.
Our library project is moving forward at pace. We have now had the quotes to sort the floor out and recarpet the entire area. These have been approved, and we hope to have that completed in a couple of weeks. Can we get the whole thing finished this side of the break? I doubt it, but we are going to give it a really good try!
The Leadership Team were off site on Thursday as we wanted to a day without interruption to work on a couple of key policies that are in need of updating. We could lock ourselves away in school but invariably, we end up getting disturbed or sidetracked by something more interesting. Being away gave us a good run at the work and progress was good.
In our Achievers’ Assembly this week we awarded Mayan with the Class of the Week trophy; Fire won the House Cup and Aztec won the Wombles.
Our music this week saw Lottie (Year 5) play the electric guitar and Samuel (Year 5) play the piano.
We also celebrated Olivia (Year 3), Freya W (Year 4) and Lottie (Year 5) with various awards they had picked up out of school in the last week or two.
At the time of publishing this blog, the Year 6s have not returned from their day of sport but from what I have heard, they have had a great day and enjoyed another opportunity to complete against other local schools.
Thank you to those who have taken time to complete the parent questionnaire and the swimming consultation questions. The results of the former are overwhelmingly positive again and so thank you for your support. With regards to the swimming responses, this is going to take a little more time to evaluate but all the information will be used. You may have heard the swimming centre is closing for an extended period of time next academic year and so for this reason, we will not be swimming in 2025/2026 and that gives us time to decide how we reinstate it in 2026/2027.
Looking ahead to next week, I have several meetings with Highbury Infant School including looking at the term dates for 2026 / 2027 (we really do wish our lives away) and then meeting their new reception class families.
On Thursday, we have a cricket match against Highover and so I hope we continue with this lovely weather.
I am away in Leeds for two days at the end of next week with the NAHT but should be back in school by the end of the day on Friday, trains permitting. Assuming the Wi-Fi works, the blog should still be published on time.
That’s it for this week. 26½ days left and so plenty of time!
Have a great weekend.
Best wishes,
Steve Mills
Headteacher
