I cannot believe that we have already completed an entire term! Time certainly does fly when you are having fun.

Firstly, I just want to take a few minutes to reflect on what we have achieved since September:

• We opened the school with robust COVID restrictions.
• We have continued to respond to Health and Safety information and adhered to more and more restrictions to keep ourselves and our community safe.
• We have found ways of using technology to ensure that the children don’t miss out on valuable learning.
• We have delivered exciting learning opportunities for all the children and also supported them emotionally to settle and get back to learning.
• We have found new ways of doing things so that the children don’t miss out and so we can come together as one school community- Zoom assembly, Children in Need, Halloween and Mrs Nash’s special assembly to name but a few.
• We have become published poets (although Covid ruined the chances of this happening in time for Christmas)!
• We managed to deliver a COVID CHRISTMAS that the children and staff thoroughly enjoyed.
• We have carried out online parents’ evenings to ensure that parents’ worries about the effects of the lockdown were eased.
• We have managed a successful bubble system including some hot dinners and breakfast club provision.
• We have welcomed new members of staff ( Mrs Bennett, Mrs Bridgestock, Miss Khan and Miss Cottam) who are all an asset to the team.
• Staff in every role have gone above and beyond and carried out activities that wouldn’t normally fall under their job description- all without complaining – what a team!
• And we have all (children included) been turning up every day with a smile on our faces 🙂

It certainly has been a festive few weeks here at school. Last week we had our annual Christmas Jumper day where the children and staff also got to eat a delicious Christmas dinner- it really was yummy!

That naughty elf also made an appearance again, if only by video. He had ruined Santa’s Christmas Tree in the North Pole and Santa knew that there was only one school who would be able to help him- The Greetland Academy. He sent our children the challenge of using their maths, science and design skills to build him a new tree for his home in Lapland. I am sure you all saw the photographs of the finished trees on Facebook and hope that you managed to vote for your favourite. I can reveal that the winning trees were made by  Reception and Class 4A.

This week our children completed the Reindeer Run for Overgate Hospice dressed in their new reindeer antlers! We cannot thank you enough for your generous donations to such a worthy cause- I know it will make a huge difference to Overgate.

Last week we had a virtual visit from our MAT Executive Team and they were so impressed to hear about everything that has been going on in school since we returned in September.

Today was our first ‘Star of the Term’ assembly of the school year. Unlike other Friday assemblies where the teachers select a deserved child for a certificate, this award is given by the whole class who democratically vote for their star.  Well done to all our winners for this term- I wonder who it will be next term! It was wonderful to hear some of the reasons why the children had been chosen- we really do have such fantastic children here.

A letter has been sent out separately to introduce you all to our new Senior Learning Mentor /Pastoral manager Mrs Simpson. I am sure you will all get to know her in the new year.

I cannot end this message without mentioning the special visitor who came to KS1 this afternoon -Santa himself! Luckily, all headteachers have a personal hotline to the big guy and so I was able to provide him with our full Covid risk assessment to ensure he could still visit us in a safe way. He even got his elves to drop off the children’s gifts three days earlier so that they could be quarantined before we gave them out!

It just goes to say that I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. As you know, tomorrow is a training day for staff and the children will be at home; we will all be returning to school on Monday 4^th January. I can’t wait to hear all about the children’s Christmas celebrations on our return.

Keep safe

Mrs Crowther