Dear Parents,

It has been such a busy week in school. The children are enjoying their new topics and it has been wonderful to hear different forms of poetry throughout the school.

This week I attended Safeguarding training for September 2018 and subsequently staff have been updated. The issues and dangers surrounding social media and online safety is alarming. One of the many figures given was that 2/3 of 11-18 year olds wish social media did not exist. We are planning an event in the Spring to share our teaching and advice with families and I will pass on any information I receive which I feel parents would benefit from.

On Wednesday Mrs Wirth led a very exciting Achievement Assembly; we presented so many children with Librarian badges, School Council badges and Prefect badges. It was wonderful to see the children so proud to receive them. We also gave our first blue HOC badge of the year to Lucy. Last year's School Council did a fantastic job of promoting awareness of plastic pollution; we have asked them to carry on under the title of Eco Warriors. I am looking forward to seeing how they, under Mrs Leen's leadership, continue their campaign. We have already had our first School Council meeting and Mrs Dodds has enjoyed working with them to plan our Poet tea event!

Mrs Gan has sent home a Music Update today which I am sure you will enjoy reading, Mrs Gan works tirelessly to support and develop our music; we are incredibly lucky, thank you Mrs Gan.

Our FOFSA AGM took place on Tuesday morning. The success of FOFSA over the past two years has been outstanding and means so much to the school both financially and from a community perspective. I would like to thank everyone on the committee for their dedication, time and hard work and a special thanks to Andrea Thomas who has decided to step down as Chair. Andrea has worked calmly with great efficiency and consideration and it has been a pleasure to work alongside her. Unfortunately we have not managed to fill the role of Chair or Vice Chair yet this year; if you would like to know more please come and speak to me.

I am closing this news update with very exciting news! Today I met with our Sports Games Organiser, Gwenda Lappin, for a School Games assessment. I am delighted that she has awarded us the GOLD Schools Games Mark. This is such a wonderful achievement for our school. Sport is so important and I am pleased that we have this recognition for the excellent provision our children receive. I would like to thank Mr O'Reilly for everything he has done leading to this point. The percentages of partipants, leaders and competitors in sport has increased significantly due to his hard work and is wonderful for our school.

Wishing you a lovely weekend

Jacquie Vanstone