We’re on the home straight. We have reached the final half term of the year, and it is always an interesting time in school. There is so much to do and in what feels so little time to do it. That being said, when we returned on Tuesday, after the INSET day, we still had just under 20% of the academic year left. Surely that is plenty of time? Ask me again in a couple of weeks.
We had a cricket team out on Tuesday playing in the district tournament. The team did exceptionally well, winning their group and losing narrowly in the semi-finals by a couple of runs. They deserve extra credit for doing so well when they had to play in most weather types. I think it was only snow they were missing! The photo below shows just what I mean but as you can see, it didn’t seem to bother them.
It was the turn of the girls’ teams to compete on Thursday and once again, the weather was not ideal for cricket. The pupils did their very best in some difficult conditions and although they didn’t progress beyond the group stages, represented the school perfectly as always.
I awarded a couple of Headteacher’s Awards this week for work completed out of school. Theo (Year 5) is clearly an engineer or inventor in the making. He brought in his ‘engine’ he made from Lego, powered by a vacuum. It was such an ingenious model which included a throttle. He let me have a go and although my enthusiasm did temporarily leave it ‘in need of repair,’ Theo wasn’t fazed and soon had it up and running again.
Eloise (Year 3) received hers for the sunflower diary she brought in to show. The photos were wonderful and accurately highlighted the growth of the flower over the last few weeks.
Our library project is going very well indeed at the moment, but it has made us very proactive in terms of throwing away ‘stuff.’ Schools can collect ‘stuff’ quite easily and sometimes you need a blitz to clear the decks. A rather large skip was filled very easily by Mr Waluk and others, and we were glad to see it collected on Wednesday evening.
Mr Wells and Miss Smith ventured up to Highbury on Wednesday morning in the roles as Maths Leads. It was a very informative morning which supported the wider work they are doing on developing maths across the school. Understanding what comes before and what happens in Year 7 and beyond is key for any subject lead.
Wednesday was filled with inter-house sports. In the morning Upper School pupils competed in rounders and netball with Earth winning the netball and Water winning the rounders. When the Lower School pupils took part in the afternoon, Water made it two wins for the day by lifting the Rapid-Fire Cricket trophy. Fire House won the rounders which left Air House stating that they were saving themselves for sports day. I say, ‘Air House,’ it was more Miss Gooderham making that point and as she organisers sports day, I will watch with interest to see what happens.
I was impressed with the ocarinas in Mayan Class this week which have now started to be painted. Ada’s caught my eye in particular, as did Lara’s and Adele’s but they were all very impressive.
I am spending a few hours each day writing my comments for the pupils’ school reports which will be coming home in three weeks. It is interesting to read what the teachers have written and to track the progress the pupils have made over the course of the year. The key indicator for me is to look at the effort grades. If the pupils have tried hard, we cannot ask for more than that.
It was good to have an Achievers’ Assembly again after a few weeks without. The regular awards were handed out as follows: Orville won Class of the Week; Kahlo won the Wombles and Earth won the House Cup.
We celebrated a few individual awards for achievements out of school including Gabriella (Year 4), Katie (Year 5) and Edie (Year 4). There was a real mix of sports!
Our music today was provided by Willow and Elizabeth (Year 6) who sang as the pupils came into the hall.
At this time of the year, we start to see a few pupils who have made it all the way to their platinum award for the number of House Points they have collected. We have presented a few already and in our assembly on Friday we gave the latest to Indi (Year 5). As well as the certificate, they are presented with a medal.
This morning, I welcomed the Assistant General Secretary of my professional Association to Whitehill. We had the chance to see some of the school in action, as well as enjoy a spot of lunch together chatting about what is keeping me awake at night. I am always keen to have guests visit Whitehill to see what we are proud of, why our pupils are amazing but also to see what else we can learn.
In terms of receiving feedback, please look out for a parent questionnaire coming home in the coming days. We had such positive parent feedback when we last did this survey for Ofsted and I am keen to see if we have continued to improve as a school. Who knows when Ofsted may return? There will be an additional couple of questions looking at your opinions on the way schools teach, or facilitate the teaching of swimming, as I am keen to see how we can perhaps make this better.
Next week looks a little ‘full.’ I have actually been invited on a couple of school trips. How exciting! On Monday, I am heading into London with the Year 5s for a two-part trip looking at Tate Modern and the Globe Theatre. The latter being right up my street. On Wednesday, I am back on the train, heading in the other direction, as I join the Year 3s on their visit to Shepreth.
Year 6s are also out for the day on Friday, as they take part in an Olympic Legacy Day organised by the School Sports Partnership. Pupils will be split into teams to compete in a series of different Olympic and Paralympic events. If it’s a sunny day, I may pop over for a few minutes to see what they are getting up to.
The other event worthy of a mention is the Year 3 Maths Challenge which two groups of pupils will be participating in on Tuesday afternoon. I could hear them chatting with Miss Smith yesterday about the competition and I could tell they were excited.
I have a couple of hours left today to read through a few more reports and so I better get back to it.
Have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes,
Steve Mills
Headteacher
