I cannot believe we have already done a whole term in school and what a term it has been! I know there are lots of different stories in the media about schools, potential lockdowns, changes to restrictions etc. As it stands, we return to school as normal on Wednesday 5th January. I am ever hopeful that nothing will change over the Christmas holidays, but rest assured, should things change we will put plans in place and communicate these with you as soon as we can. Please continue to make us aware if your child is going for a PCR test or has a positive test result on our special email: covid@greetlandacademy.org.uk

Today we say goodbye to Mr Pascall who has taken the decision to leave teaching. He has worked at our school for many years, covering release time, helping to plan residential trips and supporting with ICT. He will continue to support with ICT through a part time role within our Trust and so you may still see him around from time to time. I’m sure you will all join me in wishing him all the best for the future.

We have had a very festive few weeks in school and were so pleased to be able to have our parents and carers attending our Christmas performances. Both Reception and Year 1 put on amazing shows for their loved ones- they are such a talented bunch.

Whilst we couldn’t hold our Christmas fair, those little elves at FOGS HQ did not let this stop their fundraising efforts. The Christmas shop and raffle were both extremely popular this year and the hard work of all our FOGS members is very much appreciated.

I would also like to thank those families who have sent us in the gift of reading by choosing a book from our Amazon wish list. We opened all the presents this morning in assembly and the children cannot wait to read the books in class.

We had our annual visit from Mrs Bradley’s ukulele band on Monday, which really got us in the Christmas spirit. It has been two long years since we last were able to invite them into school. The children, and staff, all loved watching their live performance and singing along.

Off the back of our ‘outstanding’ ofsted report, we were visited by the Director of Children’s and Young People’s Services (Julie Jenkins) on Monday. I took her on a tour of the school and she was extremely impressed with what she saw.

On Tuesday, we took over 200 children to watch the pantomime at Dean Clough- and what a performance it was! The children behaved impeccably ( and I would expect nothing less) and everyone had such an amazing time.

Today was our first ‘Star of the Term’ assembly and these are my favourite assemblies to host as the recipients are voted for by the rest of the class. Our children always make such intelligent and thoughtful decisions about who should be given the award. A huge well done to all the Stars of the Term- we are very proud of you.

Today was also the day when a special visitor came to visit the children at KS1. His sleigh was packed high with gifts for the children, and they were all very excited to catch a glimpse of him as he walked around the building.

The community of Greetland is so supportive and I was blown away last weekend when I saw on social media that some very kind people have arranged for Greetland to have its own Christmas tree as a way of fundraising for our school. If you are looking for something to do tonight, please do pop to GOLDs on Rochdale Road at 6:30pm where there will be singing and festive refreshments. Children are asked to bring a bauble to put on the tree and everyone is encouraged to wear festive gear- what a lovely way to spend an evening.

As I bring my message to a close, I would like to wish all of our community a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Your support, as always, is very much appreciated.

See you in 2022!

Mrs Crowther