We have reached the time of year where I struggle to hold back the tears. Yesterday was Pre-School sports day and the children were amazing! At the same time, the whole school went on a trip to Lytham, some children undertook Grade 1 music exams and Mr.Gilmour, Miss Taylor and I remained in school with the wonderful task of organising school reports!

On Wednesday, Beacon Class performed the end of year play ‘Pirates of the Curry Bean’ and it was hilarious! We filmed Year 6 singing one of the songs today for our new school video and I couldn’t believe that there were only ten children making such a fabulous sound. I cried because I was so proud of their performance and I cried even more when Glee Club performed ‘When I Grow Up’ because I wish the Year 6 children every happiness and greatest wish they could ever wish. It is a time of year where I feel like I am handing over my own children to the big world and all I want to do is keep a close eye on them and keep them happy in our care. The children made us all so proud as they all passed the SATs. Reading, Maths and SPAG papers 100% passed, which is amazing in itself but 80% of the class reached Greater Depth for Reading, 90% Greater Depth for SPAG and 40% Greater Depth for Maths. Unbelievable and an absolute testament to their hard work and focus (and our superb class teacher, Mrs Rossall). All staff who have worked in Year 6 know how challenging the curriculum is and the skilled adults all make a huge impact on the quality of teaching and learning; we are lucky to have such talented staff. Well done!

Stay and Play sessions have been fantastic and we have welcomed some gorgeous new nursery children into our school family. We had a lovely Pre-School assembly on Monday with many parents and carers watching their little ones tell us what they all want to be when they grow up. The Year 4 buddies did a great job of handing learning journeys over. Thank you Miss Stewart for the preparation and beautiful PowerPoint. I admire all of our Pre-School staff for nurturing such a happy and bonded class; I can’t wait to observe their progress and new milestones in September.

On Monday, we look forward to Leaver’s Mass at 9.15am and I have already been told to have plenty of tissues ready for the Year 6 assembly on Friday at 9.00am.

It has been a busy week and we are not slowing down yet. CAFOD headquarters at London contacted us asking  if they could come and visit our school and learn from what we do because they have been hearing great things about our school. They are joining us all day on Monday and they will be meeting children from CAFOD Club.

PTFA are holding the annual meeting at 5.00pm this Wednesday in school. You are all welcome. I thank the PTFA and everyone who helped make the Summer Social so wonderful. 185 tickets sold is an incredible number! Mrs. Blair and the Year 6 children shone; the dance was fantastic!!

Mr.Gilmour had a busy day on Tuesday morning. After a long interview, he was successfully appointed as Assistant Headteacher. Congratulations Mr. Gilmour. I now bequeath half of my problem solving activities to you -or is it a problem shared is a problem halved? Either way, two heads are better than one and our school has grown in numbers and strength over the past three years. Mr.Gilmour is also our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead in school. Please do not hesitate in contacting either of us if you have any concerns regarding any matters. We are always here to help.

I thank all staff for continuing to give their all as if it was the first week in September. I also thank Grandad Dave, Georgia, Alex Johnson and his technical friends, Mrs Riley and Mrs Rossall for spending hours of their  own time in creating such a  spectacular and memorable Beacon Class play. Amy has been with us for work experience this week and she has been a huge help around school. What a team!

Have a lovely weekend and thank you all for your continued positivity and support. It really does make a difference.