I seem to find myself, yet again, not knowing where to begin with this week’s blog. That is because we have fit so much into today that I can’t remember much prior to yesterday. Yesterday was incredible because our infant children led a wonderful and truly humbling Palm Liturgy. My life is full of ‘wow moments’ at St.Francis’ and I must try to expect that these can happen at any time. I didn’t quite realise what today was going to hold because I had delegated the ‘Conga’ and ‘Sport Relief’ work to the Sport Captains and some children in Year 6. Beth and Ilayda had sent out a letter a few weeks ago (that I had forgotten all about) and I was bombarded with questions about the afternoon Conga. It must have been my incredibly blank face that said it all as it was (another) one of those moments where I wondered what I had signed us up for! The day began with our ‘Coffee Morning Fairtrade Concert’ and it was amazing! 3/4 of our school sing or play a musical instrument and it makes me so proud to watch them perform. The children held a Fairtrade Stall and a Sport Relief stall to raise money for worthy causes. Thank you to sponsor money that has already been given in. Parents and visitors were in awe and it was a lovely opportunity to come together to celebrate talent and enjoy each other’s company. I am a firm believer that children need a purpose and something to work towards that will continue and develop their motivation. I can’t wait for our ‘Music Showcase Evening’ that we will hold one evening at the end of the Summer Term-more to come on that nearer the time. After lunch, the whole school went outside to undertake cross country running and a giant Conga. The stamina of the children was amazing and the greatest part of this time outside was the amount of laughter that could be heard-not just from the children. I know I have said this before, but the staff here really do give so much of their time and efforts to go above and beyond for the children. I thank you all. When all this had finished, the children in the juniors came together to have a talk from two very special visitors who had spent three weeks in Ghana. They showed the children a powerpoint of what life is like there and what school is like there. I have put this on our ‘Year of Mercy’ area as it gives us chance to reflect upon global needs and our own Year of Mercy fundraising to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Science Week has been fantastic and we thank Mrs Gornall who came with her expertise in this field and led the children in some fun and inspirational experiments. The children in Parlick class have come home with a sunflower plant to grow  and have undertaken some exciting Ink blot experiments. The egg cracking was Mrs Kerr’s fault and not Mrs. Gornall’s! Speaking about eggs-we also had a visit from Catherine who brought chickens and eggs into school to prepare us for our own chickens. She is lending us some incubators and scanners to help us watch the chickens grow and nurture them.  We thank Mr Eastham who organised the removal of some old netball posts and helped us clear the chicken coop area next to the Willow Dome.

Next week, we look forward to the Lent assemblies that you are all welcome to join us for. Reports will go out on Thursday and you will be sent a newsletter on that day also. Mr Gilmour will be having a meeting with Year 6 parents  on Monday at 5.30-6.00pom to explain the SATs in depth. He will send home a pack of revision resources for you to support your child with when we break up.

Here are some pictures of our wonderful day…