As I mentioned in last week’s blog, I have spent some time out of school this week. That being said, I have kept in touch with what has been going on whilst I have been engaged in other activities.
Last Saturday, I joined Miss Gooderham and the football team at the county finals of this year’s ESFA Schools’ Competition. It was a cold evening under lights and the first outing for our players for quite some time. The competition was tough, and the team worked hard but weren’t able to progress through to the next round. The majority of our team were in Year 5 and so we hope the experience will stand them in good stead for next year. I was impressed with Samuel who reminded me of a good old-fashioned centre half! Huge thank you to the parents who came along, froze with me and supported the team.
On Sunday, it was Mr Lord’s turn to work that extra day when he headed north with our trampolinists for the zonal finals. Again, thank you to the parents who take on the role of taxi drivers and supporters and ensure that we can continue to enter these national competitions. There were some good individual performances and despite not progressing through to the national finals, the pupils can feel pleased with their effort in this year’s competition.
My assembly on Monday was an opportunity for Mr Lord to promote an upcoming speed-stacking competition for lower school pupils. He bravely took on Alfie, Lillian and Nevaeh (Year 5s) in a demonstration before we invited a few Year 3s to have a go. Lower school pupils have been practising all week and a team to represent Whitehill will be picked shortly. It will then, of course, be a case of practise, practise, practise!
I may have referenced in previous blogs my complete inability to do DIY. On Monday evening, I got a glimpse of where that may have come from when I was asked to go and see why my parent’s TV wasn’t working. According to my dad it was ‘completely broken and needed binning’ with plans already in place to purchase a new one. Whilst my skills may be limited, I was still able to identify that by plugging it in, the TV might have a chance of working! I will say no more on that as I have no words!
I enjoyed visiting Aztec Class to see Brielle (Year 3) help pupils understand a little more about Lunar New Year. The class have been reading a book together and Brielle was reading and translating some of the text.
On Tuesday afternoon, I was at the University of Beds helping final year trainee teachers prepare for their interviews as they look for their first teaching post. I carry out mock interviews with a couple of volunteers whilst their peers watch on and provide feedback. It’s a tough session for those who put themselves forward but hopefully it helps as they do it for real over the next few months.
I was in school on Wednesday morning but headed into London for two days of training with my professional association, the NAHT. It was a very interesting couple of days, and I came away with a head full of information and legal updates which I now need to reflect upon and process.
Whenever I am out of school, I do keep in touch with what’s going on back at basecamp. My leadership team, together with Mrs Granger and Mrs Flanagan keep in regular contact and if it goes silent, I drive them mad with the occasional text or twenty!
Mrs Bryan messaged me on Wednesday night with an update on the first netball match of 2025. It’s always nice to get the first win under your belt when the season resumes after the winter break, and I am sure fixtures will come thick and fast now as we head towards the tournaments at the of the term.
I was back in Hitchin around 4.30pm on Thursday and so popped into school to make sure everything was fine and to catch up with Mrs Burniston. I am so glad I did as it gave me an opportunity to see the new displays which are being put up around the dining room. They really are amazing and showcase the pupils’ work so well. A huge thank you to the whole team for their hard work with these. If you are in school, you must take a look.
I was back in school on Friday morning which meant I could lead our Achievers’ Assembly. The music was lovely with Charlotte (Year 4) playing the piano and Emma (Year 5) singing for us. Both were wonderful and absolutely deserved their Headteacher’s Awards.
The regular awards were awarded as follows: Voyager won Class of the Week; Mayan won the Wombles and Earth won the House Cup.
We also celebrated Jenson’s (Year 3) football award and Nevaeh’s (Year 5) street dance success. Esme and Cecily (Year 5) have both earned a distinction in their LAMDA theatre exams. Well done to everyone who was recognised for their achievements.
At break on Friday, I had another group of Year 3s for Biscuits with the Boss. Yael, Max, Meila, Chase, Zoe and Monty were an absolute delight to chat with and enjoyed myself so much I forgot the time. Their manners were impeccable, and they spoke so eloquently about their time in Year 3 so far. Apologies to their teachers for sending them back late!
We had a wonderful surprise on Friday morning when former colleague Mrs Small popped in to say hello to everyone having just started in her new job with Sporting Futures – the company who support the training of our apprentices. It is always lovely to see Mrs Small and hear her laugh as well as take delivery of two trays of her amazing banoffee pie!
The rest of Friday was spent trying to catch up with all the emails and paperwork I wasn’t able to do whilst I was out of the office. I think I got there. I also got to chat to a few pupils about some amazing work, including Noah and Charlotte (Year 4) for their spelling work as well as Cecily (Year 5) for her science work.
This weekend, like last, is another weekend where staff are giving up time to take pupils to a couple of sports events. Again, thank you to the parents and carers who also have to organise their weekend around their children’s hectic lives. On Saturday, we have our cross-country teams taking part in the County Finals with fingers crossed we can get some athletes through to Nationals again.
On Sunday we have our County Dance Festival squad taking part in an open rehearsal for the organisers where they can see the piece to date, provide feedback and make a decision as to where it would best fit in the actual festival.
Looking further ahead into next week, we have another netball match on Monday against Our Lady School with football matches on Tuesday and Thursday against William Ransom and St Ippolyts respectively. There is also a dodgeball competition on Wednesday afternoon for some of our upper school pupils.
We have our local authority adviser visiting for the afternoon on Tuesday where one of the foci will be science.
The main event for many will be the trip to the O2 on Wednesday, for this year’s Young Voices extravaganza. I have my ticket and hope to be joining them in the evening to watch the concert and spend the time trying to spot the pupils in a choir of thousands, all wearing the same colour t-shirt.
I am off to give my dad the next lesson in advanced electronics now – ‘switching the plug on.’
Have a great weekend.
Best wishes,
Steve Mills
Headteacher
Don’t forget Steve that it was me who taught you everything that I know about electronics, I remember that 2 minutes like it was yesterday