Last week’s blog started with reference to a wonderful Friday evening’s football with the boys’ team at the Priory. This week’s blog can start in a similar way, with reference to another football outing at the Priory. On this occasion it was with the girls’ team but unlike the first trip, the weather last Friday was awful. I was drenched by the end of it (as were the players and parents) but I am so glad I went along.
The girls played four matches, winning two and drawing two, without conceding a goal. The team spirit was outstanding, and the players determined. Shout out to Poppy (Year 6) who played in goal and who pulled off some amazing saves, particularly in the last game against Wilshere Dacre.
The Year 5 trip to the British Museum last week was a wonderful day and I mentioned how impressed I was with the way the pupils conducted themselves around London. This week, out of the blue, I received an email from a member of the public who encountered the pupils not just once, on the way down to London, but coincidentally, on the way back as well. What are the chances?
It is always lovely to receive feedback, and I thought I should share it with you. “I wanted to take a moment to share some very positive feedback about a group of your pupils and staff I had the pleasure of encountering recently. While travelling by train to London, I was joined by a group of around twenty of your school children and their teachers. I was immediately impressed by how well behaved, polite and considerate the children were throughout the journey. They were clearly excited about their day out, but their conduct remained excellent. The teachers did a fantastic job leading them with calm authority and warmth. On my return journey later that day, I again found myself on the same train as the group. Once more, I was struck by how delightful the children were – chatting happily, behaving impeccably, and clearly enjoying the day under the care of their kind and attentive teachers. It was truly heart-warming to witness such a positive school outing, and I felt it important to let you know what a credit your pupils and staff are to your school. Please pass on my congratulations to all involved.”
You can see why I wanted to share it.
I was out of school on Monday afternoon visiting HGS as part of my trustee’s role. I spent the afternoon with the Head of PE and talking through the wonderful work the department does and also visiting a few of the Year 7 lessons. I saw quite a few familiar faces who already look so grown up and very much established in their new schools.
I returned to Whitehill in time to enjoy a netball fixture against Samuel Lucas School. The weather was perfect and there was a sizeable crowd, encouraging both teams and appreciating the netball on show. This was the first outing for some of the players, and they all did very well indeed. Although they were friendlies, it was still nice to record two victories.
There was quite a lot of hot chocolate consumed in my office this week. On Tuesday morning, I met with my JLT and once again ty were full of ideas and enthusiasm. They came up with a project they would like to see completed by the end of the year as well as thinking about questions they could ask a visitor who has been invited to meet with them in two weeks.
At break time that day, I had a group of five Year 5 boys from Voyager class who convinced me they should definitely be invited to a ‘Biscuits with the Boss’ session. Who was I to refuse?
The final group was my first six Year 3 pupils of the year for ‘Biscuits with the Boss’. Traditionally these will take place on a Friday breaktime, and I will get through all 61 by the end of the year. They are used as a way of getting to know the new cohort and chat about how they have settled. As an ‘inclusive’ school, this week’s session had a subtitle of ‘Grapes with the Boss’ with one Year 3 opting for the healthy option.
I was invited to visit Everest Class this week to taste the toothpaste they had made in science. They were able to tell me the different components and why they were important. As much as the science was probably accurate, at this stage, I would argue that they probably won’t be able to market their toothpaste – see below – and as for the taste… my goodness!
I was out of school again on Tuesday afternoon for an hour or so in order to watch a bit of the lower school rugby festival. We had two teams taking part and clearly having a great time. For me, the highlight was seeing the teamwork and the encouragement on display. Scores didn’t matter – try telling that to the pupils – but its fair to say that I saw both teams scoring a number of tries in their respective matches.
After my two assemblies this week on words and vocabulary, a group of pupils have been joining me at break to try and learn the dance to the West End version of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. They are getting there and perhaps we can show a video at some point soon.
There was another outing for me on Wednesday afternoon as I took part in the first of six headteacher round-tables organised by the Farmington Institute. Each discussion is led by one of the heads as we debate current educational issues, dilemmas and initiatives. As a ‘thank you’, each meeting will take place at an historic building or place of interest, with yesterday’s being at Temple Bar, next to St Paul’s Cathedral. I can’t wait to find out where we will be meeting next.
Being in London meant that I wasn’t able to watch any of the lower school girls’ football match against St Francis. I did catch up with the outcome on the train on my way home to see a Meila (Year 4) hattrick helped the team to a 4-1 win. A great first outing for the team and, as with the rugby, a great first opportunity for some of the Year 3s to represent Whitehill.
Thursday was relatively quiet which gave me an opportunity to catch up on paperwork and other things on my ‘to do’ list. I did pop out to see the HGS Sports Leaders working with our Year 3s which is always great fun.
Friday was a little busier. It started with my regular highlight, our Achievers’ Assembly. I have to admit the music choice selected by Kiraz (Year 6) was a little worrying for October, as we listened to a Christmas Carol, although I did notice the Christmas lights starting to go up in the town centre on Friday morning. Surely, I am not the only person who thinks this is a tad too early?
We celebrated the many sporting successes from the week as well as some individual achievements in swimming, brownies, football and rugby. Kusama won Class of the Week and Earth retained the House Cup.
I do enjoy these assemblies as I have already mentioned and try to keep the pupils entertained (and myself) and so was slightly hurt by the cutting comment from a Year 5 (who will remain nameless) who stated that my joke wasn’t funny, and no one laughed. Point of order… I laughed! I won’t take it personally.
My diary next week looks much more straight forward than this week. We have the school nursing team in on Monday morning administering flu vaccines. In the afternoon, we open the doors at 2.30pm for parents and carers to come in and see the work the pupils have been doing in the first six weeks of the year.
On Tuesday morning, the Year 3s are out and about taking part in a local town walk and picnic (fingers crossed for the weather) and we hope for similar conditions in the afternoon when our newly trained Year 6 sports leaders host a KS1 sports festival for local schools.
At this stage, the remainder of the week looks quite clear, although I am sure we will be just as busy as ever.
Have a great weekend.
Best wishes,
Steve Mills
Headteacher
That’s super feedback from the train journey!