Dear Parents and Guardians,

For a short week, it has certainly been busy; I hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday weekend.

We went straight into the week with swimming for Chaffinch and Goldfinch.  I went with Goldfinch which apart from saying 'hurry up' repeatedly, was a pleasure (the timings are tight but they did well!)  The teachers were so impressed that all of Goldfinch are swimmers which is rare for them to have within a whole class.

On Thursday the school council led their fundraiser for Ukraine.  The art work was beautiful and the bags of hope the children have are wonderful.  Most items went home today but I know Rosefinch will get theirs on Monday. We have raised an incredible £306.40. The children should feel so proud and I thank you for your support.  We have also had so many donations of second hand and new uniform and the staff and new arrival families have been blown away by the care and kindness shown by our school community, thank you so much.

This week we have had the pleasure of welcoming two new arrival families to our school.  We are learning so much about routines etc. which is a privilege to learn.  Whilst language can feel like a barrier, we have seen children join together through laughter, learning together and of course football! 

The children who are representing the school at WASMA this year had their first joint rehearsal on Thursday.  Through Covid singing has been limited and opportunities to perform with other schools had stopped.  I think it was a powerful moment when so many children began singing together and I can't wait for the Hexagon performance in June.

This evening Mr O'Reilly along with Elinor and Isabella (our Sports Leaders) led our Rosefinch Multisports session for children and parents.  It was great fun and lovely to see parents together with their children enjoying sport.  Thank you to all those who joined us, we hope you enjoyed it.

Next week we have SATs week for our Year 6.  They have all worked  hard over two difficult years and we are proud of them.  The children usually enjoy the week once it arrives and I know Mrs Wirth is great at keeping them calm and relaxed.  Whilst the SATs are important, the children all know that this is a snap shot of their learning and a chance to show their best.  They also know how valued they are for all of their qualities, talents and their value set.  They must approach next week with confidence, resilience and a proud smile.

It has made the staff smile to think as well as SATs week that it is also Mental health awareness week next week.  The focus of the week is Loneliness.  Through our Collective Worship we will work with the children for them to understand that it can be good to be alone but not to be lonely.

This week we have read the poem Footprints in the sand.  On Thursday we would like to invite parents onto the playground at pick up time to use chalk to bring our footprints together.  We would like parents and children to draw round their shoes to show that we are together and here to look after each other.  We will also provide some refreshments on the playground if you have time to stay for a chat.

I wish you all a lovely weekend

With kind regards

Jacquie Vanstone