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Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Over the last few weeks, I have been showing around prospective families for a September 2024 start, around our school. So many of them have said they wanted to come and visit because of the kind, positive things you have told them as neighbours, friends or contacts – thanks for recommending us!
At this time of year, I also start to think about which pre-school siblings will be starting but it’s really hard to work out which year some children may start. I wonder if you could help me. Please could you mention to me / drop us an email to confirm if you have a younger child due to start in September 2024, 2025 or 2026. My thanks in advance!
Today has been all about supporting ‘Children in Need’. Everyone was in a good mood as they arrived, not just because it was such a sunny start and also a Friday – but wearing their own clothes gave the children a lovely opportunity to show their personality and chat about their ‘best top’ and so on. Throughout the week children have been completing ‘Bearpees’ and today finished their set – as a school we easily met the challenge of over 1000 having being completed!
We have already raised a staggering £434 – thanks to everyone for being so generous. Sponsorship forms can be returned next week if you are planning to collect over the weekend.
In aid of Children in Need.
We have been exploring themes around remembrance and peace all week in collective worship which culminated in our Remembrance assembly this morning. We recapped the symbolism of the poppy as well as the charitable work the British Legion do with the proceeds to help rehabilitate service personnel and families. Eadie and Ronnie read out poems they had written in class, based on their study of John McCrae’s famous ‘In Flanders Fields’ work. All the children observed the silence impeccably and showed respect for this moment.
What a strange day yesterday. I hope that it was evident from the fact that we successfully remained open whilst other schools closed that the decision to close the school is not taken lightly but neither is it simply reactionary to what other schools do. The decision is based on the specific circumstances, guidance available, the nature of our community and whether adequate staffing is achievable. I am always very aware of the potential impact of closure on working parents but equally will always put safety of children as my fundamental priority. I would like to thank the many of you who passed on kind words about the decision I made yesterday!
It is worth also saying that whilst I sent a parentmail to explain how we would put sensible safety precautions in during the day, communication should only ever be expected for a closure – no news therefore means ‘business as normal’. Otherwise, there is a risk that communication becomes ‘white noise’ and the one emergency situation could be missed!
We had the last of our cricket workshops this week, delivered by Hampshire Cricket club. The children have really enjoyed these sessions and hopefully learned some new skills too. As part of the provision, 4 children in Class 4; Ivy, Ellis, Rosie & Ronnie were trained up as cricket sports leaders to help organise cricket games at playtimes. The coach has been so impressed with how our children have approached cricket and wanted to be involved, they have nominated us for their ‘best school’ award from all of the Hampshire schools they work with. Have a read of what the coach Ben Pockness wrote about our school, I am sure you will feel as proud as I do:
For school of the term, I would like to nominate Upham Primary. I've had the pleasure of working with this school 3 times now, cricket is at the heartbeat of the school. From weekly mentions in their newsletters to endless games of cricket on the playground at breaktimes Upham have pushed cricket within the school so well. This term all teachers got fully involved in lessons, their confidence levels have been a joy to watch improve. The CPD session we had they practiced their delivery skills to each other, the following week they delivered the activities we practiced to the children and they were brilliant. Out of all the schools I've worked in since I took on this job I've never felt more welcome than at Upham, couldn't think of a more deserving school to win the award with how engaging they are in the programme.
Ben Pockness, Community Cricket Coach, The Ageas Bowl
On Wednesday morning we had a visit from a local author, Gina Rees who shared her book ‘My Special Place’ with Class 1 and 2. She prepared lots of fun activities with props and objects that
helped to bring the characters alive. Everyone really enjoyed the story and had lots of fun. It is also great to have someone who makes a living from writing showing the children where their writing skills could progress to. It was a particularly lovely visit as she used to teach at Upham School many years ago and her children came here and she enjoyed seeing the school again.
We had a lovely Harvest Festival in the church this morning. I was so pleased the work to secure the roof issue was completed on Wednesday – the church wardens rushed to get this done so that we could use the church. My thanks to them for their swift work! All of this meant our preparation time was limited but the children performed well and those Class 4s who volunteered to share some readings, spoke about what Harvest means.
We are hoping to hold our Harvest service next Friday (8th October) at 9am at Blessed Mary Church. I say ‘hope to’ as the church has a roof leak which is being fixed but there is a chance it may not be safe next week. I will confirm arrangements as soon as I am able next week. If we can use the church, please can you drop off at the church at the normal time – staff will be there to receive your children. Breakfast club will run as normal and we will walk those children up to church. If you would like to, you are welcome to stay and watch. After the service we will walk the children back to school. Buddies will lead Class 1s by the hand and everyone walks slowly in a long line, stopping whenever any cars pass. Once back at school, we then continue the school day as normal!
Class 3 children have enjoyed a busy week, starting swimming sessions on Tuesday and going on a school trip to Butser Ancient Farm yesterday. The visit was planned early in the term as the children got to experience what life might have been like for stone-age ‘Britons’. This is such an abstract part of history so the strong experiences they had, such as making stone age walls, crafting jewellery and sitting in a stone-age hut, will help their historical learning this term. They were really lucky with the weather too, thank goodness they hadn’t booked Wednesday!