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The great thing about being a child is that you can get away with ‘messy play’ any time. The great thing about being a teacher is that you can also get away with ‘messy play’ any time! We have had a great end to our half term. The Year 6 children have amazed us with their incredibly calm attitudes towards SATs and we have welcomed a new teacher to our team. The art work in Fairsnape Class is beautiful and Year 2 had the pleasure of watching  Mr. Gilmour ‘see off’ the cows that were intruding on their nature walk. Year 5 amazed us (again) with their Shakespeare performances and children are constantly being given Golden Awards for their care and consideration of others. The Spring Bash was superb and we give thanks for the work of our PTFA. We also give huge thanks to the parents who are busily preparing our school floats for next weekend. It has caused a slight problem for staff , however, and it ended with Mrs.Kerr visiting A&E!

For any of you who do not know what UFA is, I will explain. Miss Taylor always tells me that I can run a school with my eyes closed but I amaze her how I have to call for back up when it comes to simple life skills. I am not offended by this because it does seem partly true! Since Miss Taylor’s welcomed return to school, I have managed to lock myself out of my cupboard and somehow managed to swap the doors to the opposite ends causing a jam. Miss Taylor solved this problem in seconds. I have entered wrong dialing codes and been a nuisance at the end of a phone and I made a great fuss about finding a butterfly that was actually a moth. Miss Taylor solved the phone problem but luckily she wasn’t in school on Friday to tut pleasantly at my mistake with insect identification!

“So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead” (Luke 24:46)

“The Queen wouldn’t be very happy and neither would Miss Deakin!” (quote from an infant child)

It has been one of those weeks where you can’t put your finger on what you have done. I have been at buildings meetings, teaching, reading stories (without falling asleep in Pre-School’s quiet area), unblocking drains, trying my very best to get the gate buzzer fixed, updating school development plans, planning the budget, transporting children to the swimming gala, showing more new families around school and trying to fit more things into an already overcrowded timetable. Next week, I will be in Pre-School for the whole week and I have to say I am looking forward to it. One of our new 2 year olds managed to spot ‘my daddy’ on every page of a Dora The Explorer book. ‘My Daddy’ happened to be a tiny (compared to all of the other characters in the book) magician wearing a magical coat. I have met this little girl’s daddy and the two could not be further apart in appearance. It just shows you how the special people are thought about every minute of the day. I did not think that Pre-School would have been as successful as it currently is. We are now full on a Tuesday and Wednesday until September and we have growing lists of interest, as well as definite numbers, for the following two years. I would urge any of you who wish to join our Pre-School to collect a form and put your child’s name on our lists as we do not want to disappoint.

click this link…

I am not a great dancer and I think a giraffe would possibly have better moves due to having longer legs. I taught a little boy, in one of my previous schools, who developed a brain tumour. He is not here anymore and I always remember that his favourite story was ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’. It is incredible to think what an impact we have on children and what special thoughts they hold of you forever. Sometimes we think that we don’t make such an impact, but I certainly remember the teachers who listened and the teachers who inspired me. The video above is for little Ben who loved ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’ and always laughed at me when I tried to dance. My aim was to prove that giraffes can dance but I will let you judge that for yourselves!

Welcome back everybody! We are looking forward to another great half term. A newsletter, including dates for your diary, will be sent home this week. Please don’t forget that your child/ren will need to come into school next Thursday (2nd March) dressed as their favourite book character.