I have known our school adviser for a while now and it was nice to see her again on Tuesday. We talk about all sorts of things-the things that are to do with school improvement, data, statistics and everything else that fit into a meeting between a Headteacher and a Local Authority adviser. Five little knocks sounded at my office door (which isn’t usually closed) and five eager little boys strolled in. I could not have planned their conversation better. The Year 1 boys had come in to show me their letter writing skills. Interestingly enough, the letters were attached to underpants and these were dangling from treasury tags. When I pointed to a comma that the first little boy had used within his writing, he told us that he used this so he didn’t have to keep repeating the word ‘and’ and he looked quite surprised that I didn’t know this myself. Another little boy read his letter to us and I spotted a typical spelling misconception. I pointed to the word ‘t-igh-m’ and discussed the grapheme he had correctly used for the sound but it was a tricky spelling. I was immediately corrected by the third little boy, who told me that it wasn’t tricky because it was ‘just a split digraph’ and they know lots of them! The same little one told us that he didn’t like reading and then a conversation began about how they are reading ‘Chapter books’ and not ‘small’ stories. Now, all of this was still going on as our school adviser sat and listened in delight. I could have chatted to these Year One boys all day long about such interesting facts; I sometimes forget that they know far more than I did when I was their age. With sparkly stickers, they were happy and left the room. Wow!

I listened to every child in Reception Class read again today. I don’t think I can get away with only listening to the reading certificate children as I can’t bear to look at sad four and five year old faces when I tell them I can’t read with them all. It seems to be my Friday routine now… Golden Assembly then reading with Reception. It is quite comical to see their eager little faces as they arrive in groups and sit themselves down. I don’t even have to ask for their reading records now-they know what to do and how we do it. Brilliant!

Sheer excitement has been created in Reception Class due to an old bike left in the classroom for exploration and repair.  Magnets, writing pads and service reports have been essential!

The school magazine is going well and the children in UFA have all been very busy in and around school. Staff are busily preparing a school safety week , which will take place from 4th-8th February. We will be exploring Online Safety, environmental safety, first aid for children (mini medics) and much more. We are inviting visitors into school and the week will finish with a parent workshop in the school hall.

Next week is National Storytelling week and the children will be immersed in a world of creativity and book inspiration. Fynn from Year 6 has just asked if we can hold a book swap one day next week. I love this idea. On Thursday, please send your child into school with any books they have finished with and they can swap them with another child in the same year group.

Walking around school, I couldn’t help but take some pictures for you to see.  The displays are so vibrant and highlight the amount of cross curricular and broad learning taking place every day.

The choir, band and Glee club are very excited to perform on 3rd February at Goosnargh Village Hall. Showtime is always such a wonderful community event; and we look forward to seeing The Mayor of Preston again.

Have a lovely weekend.