We have had a great first week back at school.  It was lovely to welcome the children back, on Tuesday and hear all about the exciting things that they have been up to over half term.

Very well done to our gymnastics teams who competed in the Dudley finals!  6 teams competed from our school, which is a great representation.  Thank you to all those involved.

I am so grateful for all of the support that we have had from our school community, in improving our school environment. Huge thanks to My Property Pros, Kingswinford for cleaning the outside of our building, including the canopies.

Thank you also to all of those who have helped with the weeding and planting.  I am sure you will agree how lovely the front of school is looking with the flowers and tidy flower beds.  We are very grateful for all of the help and support that we have received to help keep our school looking and feeling so great.

As explained in a previous letter, we will not have access to our email accounts from 10am on Friday until Tuesday 9th June.  If there are any issues during that time, please call the school office on 01384 818760.

We have had a very busy week!  Thank you to the parents who attended our half termly praise assembly to see their child receive a mention certificate.

We have had an amazing afternoon sharing talents and interests for our annual Ascension Day celebrations. We have enjoyed magic tricks, ballroom dancing, football demonstrations, remote vehicle operation and much, much more.  Ascension Day is one of our favourite days of the year and this year certainly did not disappoint. What a talented bunch our children are!

Thank you very much to all of those who attended our Family Festival, last week.  It was lovely to see so many of you, despite the cold weather. We are extremely grateful to our HSA members who worked so hard to organise and host the event. We are very grateful for all of the funds raised.  I have just about warmed up after the “splat the head teacher” session!

I wish you all a lovely half term holiday and look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 2nd June, when children return to school on Tuesday 2nd June – a reminder that Monday 1st June is an INSET day.

Mrs Peters led our assembly, on Monday, with a focus on Ascension.  We considered all of the times in our lives that we need instructions to follow. In particular when we are putting together furniture from IKEA (other flat pack furniture providers are available!) and how frustrating it is when we don’t follow the instructions and get it wrong.  Ascension is when Jesus left his followers with instructions – he told his apostles to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, who would empower them to teach and baptise in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit.

Huge thanks to our Wellbeing Buddies who did a take over assembly, on Thursday. It was full of positive information about how to keep ourselves safe and well.

Thank you also to the Worship Leaders who led our church services for Ascension Day, today.  We were very entertained by a thought provoking service.

A huge well done and thank you to our year 6 pupils who have completed their SATS tests, this week.  They have been absolutely fantastic and had a great attitude towards completing the tests.  Thank you also to our year 5 pupils who have relocated so sensibly and done some super, creative work, while the tests have been taking place. Well done, all!

Our reception children had a fantastic time at Experience Church, yesterday.  They did get caught in the rain on the way back but that didn’t dampen their spirits and they were full of excitement when they got back.  Well done and thank you for listening so carefully and showing such respect in our church.

I am very much looking forward to seeing you at the Family Festival, this afternoon.  Members of the HSA have been working incredibly hard to organise and set up what promises to be a great festival with lots to see and do.  Thank you to the year 6 pupils who have kindly volunteered their evenings to run games and stalls.

We are very excited for our school’s annual Ascension Day celebrations on Friday 22nd May. We will all be heading over to church for a service lead by our Worship Committee, in the morning.  We will then be doing some art work for a competition to help Bishop Hugh to decorate his new office, followed by the children celebrating their own and each others’ talents.  This is one of our favourite events in the school year and we are very much looking forward to what I am sure will be a great day.

Mr Bradley has asked me to pass on the following message to our school community –

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the parents and children who have sent me best wishes, cards and gifts on my retirement.  I have been overwhelmed by the kind messages and sentiments.  I look back on my career with pride, remembering the many good times and smiles on faces we generated.

Mr Bradley

Thank you to Father Chris, who led our Collective Worship, this week. With Ascension Day officially being on Thursday 14th May, Father Chris reminded us of what Ascension is a celebration of.  Ascension Day is also called the Feast of Ascension and it is the day that Christians celebrate Jesus’s ascent into heaven.  Father Chris reminded us of all of the good work that Jesus carried out during his time on earth, but that his ascent into heaven meant that God’s word could be spread further and wider.  Father Chris compared Jesus’s work on earth to a torch, shining light into darkness. However, once Jesus ascended into heaven, God’s message is like the torch shining on a disco ball – reflecting the light across the whole world.

We are very much looking forward to our own Ascension Day celebrations, on Friday 22nd May, when our Worship Committee will be leading us in a service at church and the children will demonstrate their skills and talents.

It has been a bit of a disjointed week, but as a staff, we have made the most of the time that we had in our INSET day,  thinking about behaviour in school.  Thank you to all of the parents who have contributed thoughts and ideas.  We have sought the opinions of the children, too, via our School Council and have had lots of productive conversations about behaviour in our classrooms, on our playgrounds and generally in our school.

With the warmer weather now upon us, please can children ensure that they bring a water bottle to school, with them. In addition, please could all uniform, most importantly jumpers and cardigans be labelled with your child’s name.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

This week, we have been celebrating David Attenborough’s 100th birthday.  We have been finding out about where his passion for conservation and wildlife came from and the significant impact that he has had on the behaviour of many.  We thought about how our own words and actions can be inspirational to others.

It was great to have so much to celebrate in praise assembly, this morning, including some incredible writing from our year 2 pupils.

Thank you very much to Open the Book, who hosted our assembly, on Monday. We enjoyed watching the team and some of our children acting out The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:22-28).  We reflected on how the decisions that we make have an impact on others and the importance of making the right decision and sticking to it.

In Thursday’s assembly, we revisited the power of words and actions and how we can use them to inspire others. We thought about all of those who participated in the London Marathon and looked at some of the inspirational stories of those taking part. We thought about how brave some of the participants were and we were also in awe of the speed at which the winners managed to complete the course!

We have really enjoyed all the lovely weather, this week and lots of opportunities to be outside.

Hopefully, you will all have received a letter from our Chief Education Officer, Vickey Shelley regarding the consultation with parents of a potential merge of our trust, Elements, with another Diocese Multi – Academy Trust, DOWMAT.  We look forward to meeting with Vickey on Wednesday 20th May at 5pm, where she will give an over view of the potential merge and answer any questions that you may have.  Please do let the school office know, if you are able to attend.

We are very proud to be able to work closely with Wall Heath in Bloom and are very grateful for all of their hard work and commitment to keeping our community looking so vibrant and colourful.  They will be holding a plant sale on Saturday 2nd May, at 11am on the Co-op car park.  This morning, we spoke in assembly about how lucky we are to have such a lovely environment to live in and asked that the children do not walk along the raised, walled garden area, that runs alongside Wordsley Carpets.  Unfortunately, some of the plants have been trampled and had to be removed – your support with not allowing children to walk along the areas that plants and flowers are growing, is very much appreciated.  Many thanks.

I hope that you all have a lovely bank holiday weekend and look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 5th May.