I am sure that it was ‘Ferris Bueller’ who said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Wonderful news! Our children love our school!

It always amazes me that the world is always perceived as such a wonderous place to a child. Today, I listened to Louis Armstrong singing ‘What a Wonderful World.’ The week has been very busy and filled with many different challenges. We need to stop, reflect and take the time to appreciate the wonder in the world-just as a child does. This thought crossed my mind when I saw the children go on our new trim trail for the very first time today. The expression on their faces can only be described as ‘sheer delight.’  Each class will be given a play time when it is for their use to avoid congestion! It was magical, however, to see the older children take the hands of our younger children and help teach them how to use the trim trail safely. As I stood in the middle of the trim trail activity area, wind blowing in my hair, I resembled only what could be described as ‘Worzel Gummage’-some of you may remember the children’s TV programme about the scarecrow!

Have a look on our ‘Hill Chapel Pre-School’ web page for more pictures of our first week. I love this picture because it is a typical representation of our school ethos.

I have found that the week has been blessed with very comical conversations. You have to take these conversations very seriously when dealing with 2 and 3 year old children because their exciting world is full of new adventures and first time learning. When I sat in Pre-School, I realised that I would give ‘Tractor Ted’ preference over many weekend jobs! Unfortunately, I am busy this weekend but I have a stand in-who happens to be the next best thing-another 3 year old, who expressed his love of ‘Tractor Ted.’

It is wonderful to be back in school. We hope you all had a restful Summer break. As you will all understand, the first week back is always full of new routines for children, organising after school (and before school) clubs and making sure that our new children are settled and happy with the rest of the children. You will be sent a newsletter on Friday, which will provide you all with information about parent welcome meetings, curriculum topic maps, dates for your diary and other news. We are delighted to be able to provide a range of clubs before and after school. You will receive a form to sign and tick the clubs you want your child to attend. These will change half termly . Some are led by staff and others are led by experts.   I am sure you can appreciate the logistics of organising before and after school clubs, which is why we will begin the following week.

What an amazing start to our week. It was wonderful to welcome the Mayor of Preston and the Mayoress to our school. They both loved visiting our school and they enjoyed a school tour. Thank you to all of our governors who came to the event. We had some other special visitors, who gave us our tiny chicken eggs to hatch. We made them a card as a thank you. Our chickens are still doing very well! Have a look at the pictures below…

Some say that you have to see some things to believe them. It has certainly been one of those weeks! We have had a fun filled and very busy week indeed. The Year 2 classroom has been decorated and is looking  bigger, lighter and brighter.  Pre-School children have been in and we welcomed more pre-school children to our school yesterday. We are continuously altering, adapting and working on the pre-school classroom and parental support has been wonderful. Old blind rails have been taken down and the cupboard locks have arrived! Mrs Melling and Mrs Kerr found the cupboard lock situation hilarious as I couldn’t figure out how the locks were safe if attached on the outside. Thank goodness that Mr Kerr visited school yesterday and solved this dilemma by informing me that the locks need to be fitted on the inside of the cupboards and drawers! Life is always a learning curve!