What a busy week we have had. Yesterday, we had a brilliant open afternoon and it was great to see so many parents joining in with their child’s learning. You will soon be able to see Beacon’s rocket attempts outdoors, which will be under Beacon class area. It was a truly enjoyable afternoon. Fairsnape were coming to the end of their Rock n Roll timelines and Parlick were engrossed in their Spring topic. Pendle were making puppets and the whole school was alive with excitement. I have put a few pictures on this blog for you to see just a few of the exciting things we have been up to in school this half term. Don’t forget, you can always look on the class pages to see what learning is taking place in the classes on a weekly basis. We had a wonderful ‘Ash Wednesday’ Mass over in Church and it was great to see so many parishioners joining us. Today, your child is coming home with a wrapped up bin bag and a little note attached to tell you about our ‘Clothe the Naked’ Act of Mercy. You can visit ‘The Year of Mercy’ section on our webpage to find out more.

I don’t usually get much peace and quiet in school but today was an exception. It had reached 2.30pm and I was wondering why I was all alone in the school hall when assembly was due to begin. Not just any Golden assembly-but the showing of our video for any parents who had not yet seen it. Not a single child or adult could be seen so I went to investigate! Wellington boots, gardening gloves, Ipads and smiles could be seen through the window. It was one of our UFA groups in the Willow area creating bug hotels and generally having a great time gardening. As I looked on, a class arrived and sat down quietly discussing what they had just been doing, also smiling. The baking group had a wonderful time and all children had fun.

In Reception class, we have continued our planning meetings and have created floorbooks. We put samples of our work in the books and examples of our planning meetings to show how our learning progresses throughout a topic/theme. These are usually led by the children and keep our excitement alive.

Yesterday, I was delighted to see our nearly finished promotional video of our school. There are already two minutes of filming with three to go and I can’t wait to show you all the finished video. When it is ready, I will invite you all in for a Friday assembly and we will all watch the finished product together.

Well, another week has passed and it has been busy to say the least! There have been so many fantastic things going on in school that I find it hard to remember them all. We have had our promotional video made, rock and roll dance lessons, a space constellation in Beacon class and rocking Robins in Parlick! The Chinese Takeaway in Reception class is going down a treat and the children are engaged in learning about other cultures and traditions. Our school council are heavily focused on The Year of Mercy and raising money to buy wells and water sanitisers for other Countries.

What a special day we have had in school. The day was filled with many transitions and the children rose to the challenge and coped so well when making our promotional video of the school. It really made me smile when I accompanied the man making the video around school and in all classes. The children were absolutely starstruck by the event! We certainly have some budding actors and actresses at St.Francis! I have to say that I smiled the most when some children ran ahead of the visitors to hold the doors open- now that is what makes our school so special.

A warm welcome back to you all!

Today, as it happened, was not such a warm welcome back for all inside our usually very cosy school. I am glad that the heating is now back in working order and school will be open tomorrow. Father Smith, the engineer and myself spent much of this evening down in the boiler room with only frogs and torches as company on what was a very dark evening! I had an interesting time in Fairsnape  this morning as Mrs Kerr, in her truly dedicated nature as a teacher, had spent much of her Christmas break looking for interesting rocks and fossils to start a new class topic. I won’t give too much away but when she asked if we can bring in a ‘Rock n Roll’ dance troupe I found myself again in awe of the dedication our staff have in providing such an all round experience for the children. Mr Gilmour has been exploring how to safely blow up giant rockets in the playground after the ‘collaborative and very scientific learning’ has taken place in the classroom! We will keep you posted. I look forward to sending you a newsletter at the end of the week.

We had another exciting week at school. Yesterday was our school Christmas Dinner and today we had a magician and party! After much pressure, I finally agreed to the children wearing ‘sensible’ party clothes. When a child asked ‘what were sensible party clothes?’ I struggled to think of a quick enough answer. Seemingly, sensible party clothes in my opinion are ‘tights and no socks because it is too cold outside.’I was given a little snowman today by one of our infant children. When I read what mum was asked to scribe for the little girl it said ‘You are wonderful. I love you!’ It made me wonder what it was that children thought was wonderful in people or things and I can only think that it is the kindness and time you give to them. I remember the teachers I had as a little girl and some I will never forget. At our school we know that small things make a great difference-even when we think they are so minor they won’t even be noticed. As we break up tomorrow I urge you all to remember the little things that make a big difference-even if we think they don’t. In our school assemblies we talk about giving a simple smile can make somebody’s day.