Another week has soon passed by and I am very much looking forward to our Advent Service that the Key Stage 2 children have been preparing for. I can’t believe the standard of singing within our school. I had the privilege of watching the rehearsal in church for this special service, which is on Tuesday next week at 2.00pm. It is clear that one thing St.Francis has to offer is the community feel to everything we do. No matter what age or gender, our children always give it their all and have no inhibitions. The children were all singing strongly with every confidence. I have always believed that we create a culture of our own excellence and we shine in so many ways. The rehearsal demonstrated to me that shared vision is everything and we are all incredible.

Today was our Christmas jumper day and all children and staff looked wonderful for our Charity event. I realised (when I walked into our prepared assembly hall) that it was indeed myself who didn’t manage to change into my Christmas jumper. I have good reason for this! One of our school governors visited school over lunch time and we had so much to talk about that we lost all track of time. Mrs Marshall is our Literacy governor and has a link with Year 3. She loved visiting school and chatting to the children. It is always wonderful to hear how polite and excited the children are to learn.

This morning provided myself and a couple of our Reception class with a rare treat! We were invited to watch a nursery Nativity and I am still smiling from the experience! I just love this time of year where we can enjoy what we do best-listening to the children and hearing some of their comical conversations. It amazes me to be part of their world. Sometimes we don’t get chance to do this enough. The infant Nativity was just another wonderful example of this. Although we only had two camels and a great fear that the donkey would be off ill, we were part of an inspirational production led by the children with minimal adult support. We had our playground coated with new markings and one of the Reception children asked me as we waited to go to church for our final rehearsal “Are they the three wise men?” The three men renewing our playing round with vans and burners were incredibly amused by this as they didn’t think that their bobble hats were worthy to pass as kings!

Another wonderful week in our school. Please do come to the Family Mass and Christmas Fair.

With my many thanks to all as always,

Miss Deakin