One of the privileges of working in a school is that you get to witness a lot of very special interactions between people every day. I have found myself noticing these on a different level already this year and whilst this could just be me being a bit more observant, I think it’s actually the mood around school which is either creating the very positive nature of these interactions or might be leading to them. Either way, there have been some truly inspiring moments I would like to share with you.
Watching children relax and smile when they see a friendly face has been so evident. Lots of children take time to adjust when coming into school and the extra care and attention of staff by being present at the start of the day has made such a difference. Some of these relationships are barely two weeks old, but the bonds and trust are already there to see.
Year 6 have begun their tenure as leaders of the school and already they are setting a fantastic example for the rest of the school. I know I say this every year, but the gate duty and child delivery service they all do is one of my favorite parts of our school. The younger children already look forward to seeing their “friends” in Year 6 and this friendship continues around the school and during playtime. I had the privilege of watching the mother of a Reception starter witness his reaction when being asked his name by the Year 6 chaperone before he and two other children were safely delivered to their classroom. Seeing the confidence and kindness on display was lovely.
Children often get a bit of an unfair rap when it comes to manners, and believe me, ours don’t always get it right. But I would say that in my experience, I think our children have beautiful manners. I retrieved a dropped toy train for a pupil who was a bit upset, and when I gave it back, I still received a lovely “thank you very much”. That same child also interacted beautifully with some of the Pre-school pupils, showing theym how to play, letting them take turns and asking their names. Pretty impressive for someone with just two weeks in school, our leaders are starting young!
I think our parents are incredibly supportive and I know how much it means to staff when they are thanked for the excellent job they do. It has been so lovely seeing the recognition of everything the teachers do and when you hear comments like “you are our savior, I don’t know what we would do without you” it lifts morale more than you can know.
We had our first Parent Reps meeting today and as always it was a valuable and constructive conversation, with everyone working towards the same goal of enriching the education for our children. There were some excellent ideas and suggestions and lots of positive feedback too. I feel very fortunate that we have this sort of relationship with our families and thank you very much to everyone for their support.
Thanks again to all our staff for making the start of year so positive, special thanks to our colleagues who have been away from their families whilst supporting the Year 5 trip to Condover Hall. We look forward to hearing all about it.
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.
Jon Chesworth
Headteacher
