Principal’s End of Half-Term Message

And just like that, another half-term comes to an end! Although this one was shorter, we’ve certainly made the most of it with plenty of exciting activities and achievements.

First, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Miss Presley, who has joined the Greetland family as 2G’s class teacher while Miss Sleight is on maternity leave. No baby news just yet, but rest assured, I’ll update you all as soon as we hear any!

This week, we’ve been focusing on one of our core values—ambition—through a special careers-themed week. Today, the children arrived dressed as their dream job, and we were blown away by their choices! You can check out their fantastic outfits on Facebook and Seesaw. Throughout the week, we’ve welcomed various guest speakers, including a careers advisor from one of our Trust’s secondary schools—who also happens to be a former parent here! This week has helped our children to see that they can truly reach great heights and pursue any career they dream of.

Our curriculum continues to be a source of pride, and we were thrilled to welcome 12 colleagues from a cluster of Catholic schools who visited to see our exemplary practice in early writing. They were especially impressed by how we develop transcriptional skills (handwriting and spelling) in KS1, ensuring every child becomes a confident writer.

Meanwhile, KS2 has been rocking out with Rocksteady, and we now have over 40 budding musicians learning to play drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, or even take on lead vocals! We can’t wait to see them perform later in the year.

Our Year 5 children have also been busy learning lifesaving first aid skills as part of our PSHCE curriculum. They covered everything from handling choking and nosebleeds to performing CPR, gaining valuable knowledge that could make a real difference in an emergency. Each child has received a certificate and first aid guide to mark their achievement.

We also continue to support future educators through our SCITT (School-Centred Initial Teacher Training) programme. This term, several of our staff members—Mrs. Crowther, Mrs. Ashton, and Miss Whiteley—delivered a week of grammar training for SCITT students, while Mr. O’Shea and Mrs. Walsh led a session on PE teaching.

In sports, our children have had fantastic opportunities to represent the school in both new-age curling and ten pin bowling. We were impressed not only by their talent, but also their impeccable sportsmanship. We are so proud of them all! Looking ahead, next half-term brings another exciting event—our performance at the Great Big Primary Dance Off at The Victoria Theatre. This will be our fifth time taking part, and our dance club has been working incredibly hard on their Wicked-themed routine, which is absolutely stunning!

Finally, a quick note about FOGS (Friends of Greetland School). We’ll be holding a FOGS meeting at The Sportsman on 4th March, and we’d love to see as many parents there as possible to help plan future fundraising events. As you know, we weren’t able to run a Christmas Fair this year due to a decline in membership, but the funds raised by FOGS have been invaluable—purchasing iPads for Seesaw, stocking our libraries with beautiful books, and subsidising school trips to ensure every child gets fantastic experiences. Your support makes a huge difference!

Wishing you all a wonderful and restful half-term break. We look forward to seeing you back on Monday 24th February, ready for another exciting half-term, which will wrap up with a parents’ evening to discuss your child’s progress.

Happy holidays!

Mrs. Crowther