My assembly, first thing on Monday morning, celebrated International Student Day. A day where pupils, students can think about the opportunities they have as a result of being able to go to school, compared to education in other parts of the world. Whilst we may not always wake up, champing at the bit to come to school – especially on a Monday – the overwhelming majority of our pupils recognise the quality education they receive.
This week has highlighted just that with the amazing lessons and the enrichment opportunities I reference in many of my weekly blogs.
As well as these lengthy summaries, the staff across the school are also keen to share with you what the pupils are doing in class or at lunchtimes and after school, through their Instagram posts. We have a very healthy following (@whitehilljunior) and I hope you find the posts interesting, informative, and amusing. I need to share with you a secret, the staff are fiercely competitive and, like teenage children seeking their online dopamine hit, love to see parents and carers interacting with their posts. Please help me keep my team motivated by ‘liking’ their posts, as well as engaging with them through comments. Feel free to respond (positively) as I can guarantee that all responses are read, especially those which make us laugh.
This week has been a themed curriculum week for our Year 5s as much of their timetable was occupied by all things space related.
On Monday, they were out at Bayfordbury Observatory where they learned about the solar system and explored the giant telescopes used by scientists to explore further. It was a wonderful way to kick off the week.
The pupils were able to explore the solar system themselves on Tuesday as they all had a VR experience travelling through space, visiting the different planets. It was just as fascinating for me watching those who were waiting as you could see the excitement mounting.
After a slightly earlier lunch – thank you Mrs Stokes – they were all back in the hall for a ‘Teams Call’ with Dr Nicola Fox at NASA. The link was established last year thanks to Thomas B (Year 6) who wrote to her and invited her to chat with him and his peers when they did space week. This year, his sister, Charlotte (Year 5) followed it up with another invite and despite some government shenanigans, Dr Fox was more than happy to oblige. Once again, the talk was inspirational, making me wonder if, at 56, I am too old to train as an astronaut. The pupils, however, as they were told by Dr Fox, are the perfect age for when ‘man’ first travels to Mars.
Many of her answers were mind-blowing, including one which highlighted the distance Voyager 1 has now travelled since its launch in 1977 (when I was as old as our Year 5s are). In case it comes up in a quiz, the answer is currently one light day. This equates, if my maths is correct, to 180 times further than the sun is from the earth!
Other Year 5 activities included constructing a model of the solar system; travelling through space in a planetarium, kindly leant to us by the Mark Rutherford School in Bedford and an investigation into the appropriateness of materials used on satellites. It really has been an inspirational week.
I joined Voyager Class to have a look at their space-themed games they came up with and they were great. I played versions of pairs and won on sudden death. I had to get balls through holes or into cups in two different target games. Luis’s maze game was simple in idea but frustratingly complex to complete. I loved it! I hope I will get to play a few more during the actual space night.
Although the nights are really drawing in now, we did still manage two more sporting fixtures this week. On Monday, the boys won their Wix Cup football match against Wilshere Dacre, 5 – 0. All the boys played so well, one through to eight, with Freddie R (Year 6) scoring three and Sonny (Year 5) scoring the other two.
After school on Tuesday, a netball team went to St Francis to take part in a few matches. The team played really well and continued their strong progress.
It wasn’t just the Year 5s who were doing inspirational science, the Year 4s were doing biology this week, as they examined owl pellets to see if they could identify their diet. In addition, the Year 6 pupils had an inspirational workshop looking at DNA led by Whitehill parent, Dr Elderkin. I was sorry to have missed this. I am sure Mr Denney, our science subject lead, has been gathering evidence for our ongoing Primary Science Quality Mark reaccreditation.
Most days I leave Whitehill with a wonderful example of our vision, Profound Individual Growth, shared with me by staff or pupils. I have mentioned many already relating to Year 5s. Emmeline (Year 3) shared something in her Wellbeing Warrior training she was doing this week, which Mrs McConnell Smith and I will certainly use ourselves moving forward. She is a perfect choice for this role and gets it. Amazing work, Emmeline!
Wednesday morning was a bit of a shock. Having arrived at school around 7.00am in light drizzle, I didn’t expect to see the snow we had during the school run. Although I managed to make a snowman – admittedly rather small in stature – it wasn’t great snow and certainly not nice enough for an interclass snowman competition we had a few years ago.
I was out on Wednesday afternoon at the second of my Headteacher panels with the Farmington Institute and Cambridge University. This month’s interesting venue was the RAF Club on Picadilly, which was simply stunning. I thought the last venue was impressive, but this was amazing. The discussion revolved around recruitment and retention on this occasion and there was plenty I could contribute. We also found out the next two venues for the Spring Term, which are St James’s Palace and then the Tower of London. I can’t wait!
I spent much of Thursday showing various people around Whitehill. One of the tours was for prospective Highbury / Whitehill parents looking for the right school for their children. I had a first for me on this tour too, where a parent started crying because of what she saw as she walked around. I was reliably informed that they were tears of joy as she was inspired by the pupils she met and the learning environment in general. I will take that!
I wasn’t able to lead this week’s Achievers’ Assembly but, in my absence, Mrs Burniston did the honours. The Class of the Week was Kahlo and Water won the House Cup.
Thank you to Thayalan who entertained the pupils with his flute playing at the start and end of the assembly and well done to all who were celebrated this morning.
Year 3 weren’t in the assembly either as they were working with the Hitchin Girls’ School sports leaders and hopefully staying very active so they could keep warm.
The reason for my absence was a trip out to HGS with my Junior Leadership Team for a transition conference with other local primary schools and the other two secondaries. The four members of the JLT were there to represent their peers and find out about what they might expect when they move to their new schools in September. They went armed with questions and will now report back to their respective classes in the coming days. They also were bought a chocolate chip cookie from the sixth form café by Mrs Mills… more than she’s ever bought me from there!
In a couple of hours, the Year 5s will be returning to take part in the final part of space week, the infamous space night. I am so grateful for the teaching team giving up their Friday evening to host a series of activities to cap a great week. We have Mr Jackson from HGS joining us to lead a session as well as a few other experts on hand. Unlike previous years, we are keeping everything crossed as it finally looks like we may have a clear sky so we can use the telescope and get some clear views of Saturn and its rings, for example. I wonder what else we might be able to see.
Looking further ahead, next week is one of two four-day weeks with our INSET day and occasional day.
The diary is looking significantly quieter – for me anyway – with a couple more parent tours the only thing jumping out at me. For the pupils, the main event is the dress down day on Thursday in support of the Friends’ Association.
Have a great weekend.
Best wishes,
Steve Mills
Headteacher
Excellent blog,