As you know, we had our Section 48 Inspection on Tuesday and I thank you for your support and positive comments. The inspectors were a joy to have in school and they thoroughly enjoyed spending time with our children. They commented on the enthusiasm the children had and said what delights they were. We can let you know the official outcome of the inspection next week.

It is funny how things fall on the same day (when you could do without them falling on the same day) and you have to find creative solutions to difficult problems. Poor Mrs Keenan, our cook, isn’t feeling well at the moment and she was unable to come into school on Tuesday. With hair nets and potatoes at the ready, Miss Taylor and I were ready to  jump into masterchef action. Thank goodness Mrs Jackson was able to step in. Navigating a school kitchen and preparing school dinners-all at the same time-is not something I could cope with. Mrs Keenan certainly has skills that I could only wish for and Mrs Jackson has taken this emergency in her stride.

We are very proud of our links with other schools and we can’t wait for our choir to sing at the Advent Service on Tuesday 5th December at St.Antony’s Church, Fulwood. Children from our Preston cluster of schools will be coming together for this very special service. Our school is also part of the Longridge cluster  and we are in the early stages of a huge project that will be on the same scale as, ‘Forget Me Not’ back in 2013. It will coincide with the centenary of the end of the First World War – November 11th 2018 and the children will be performing at Preston Guild Hall. Year 4 (current Year 3) will be involved in this cross-curricular project as a class but music and drama using all of our children’s talents will feature. A key element involves our children and local community knitting thousands of poppies. We need as much red (and some black) wool as we can obtain. Any shade of red will do! Please send wool into school if you have any spare.If any of you could knit poppies in your spare time, we would be very grateful to receive them as a cluster. Maybe you could teach your child to knit and this could become a family project.

Our Christmas Parish and school Fair is on Sunday 10th December in the school hall and it begins straight after our Advent Family Mass. If any of you would like to run a stall or have things to sell, please contact school. We want this to be our busiest school fair yet! I had a conversation with some of our parishioners and it has been brought to my attention that some parishioners are unable to come over to school after mass so we are coming to them. We are delighted that our school band and choir will be performing throughout Family Mass on Sunday 10th December. We will be playing a selection of Christmas songs and pieces throughout Mass and we are even finding room for the drum kit to be played! Please do save this date, especially if your child is in the school  band/choir. We need all musicians to spread Christmas cheer and make the best possible sound. Mr .Warren will be coming on the day to lead the school band and choir in this very special service.

Yesterday brought another emergency and it involved a ‘moving bag’ in the garage. After hearing a scream and seeing Mr. Gilmour running across the playground, I went to investigate. A startled looking Mr Gilmour informed me that there were mice inside a bag at the back of the garage. The garage is far away from the school building and we are in a rural area so little mice obviously like to tuck up inside a warm bag. ‘I am great with animals and little mice’ were the words I had used to reassure Mr. Gilmour and off we went to the garage. For those of you who have followed the animal rescue stories throughout my time here, you will know that I am quite experienced in this field. Small animal removal is usually a doddle task for me but this was different. I can only compare the two mice bobbing their heads up and down from inside the bag like a game at a fair…and they were fast! Mrs. Rossall had come to find some PE cones and was also involved in the commotion. She was as helpful as I was, which was not at all. We decided that the mice must be released together, as they were obviously either related or friends, and it was up to Mr. Gilmour to empty the bag. If I was a mouse, I too would like to sleep in a pom pom. The two little mice have now gone back into a field and the garage is clear.

I have just found some pictures of our youngest children in school that will make you smile. I am in awe of their independence and wonderful social skills. Class pages will be updated tomorrow and our Advent celebration preparation is well under way. All costumes and resources are provided by school.

Our Judo breakfast club is going to begin again in the Spring term following a demonstration assembly in a couple of weeks. Letters will be coming to you all soon.

 

Dates for your diaries:

23rd-29th November:                  Book Fair in the school hall 3.20pm-3.45pm

5th December:                               10.00am Choir singing at a local Rest Home.

ADVENT service CHOIR singing 7.00pm St.Antony’s church, Fulwood.

10th December:                             10.30am Family Mass and Christmas Fair

12th December:                             6.00pm KS2 Carol Service in Church

13th December:                             1.30pm Pre-School Mini-Carols around the tree and sharing learning journeys

14th December:                             1.30pm Christmas Party (PTFA event)

15th December:                             Christmas Jumper Day and Carols around the tree starting at 2.00pm

19th December:                              2.00pm and 6.00pm Infant Nativity in Church.

20th December:                             School Christmas Lunch-every child invited to have Christmas School Dinner £2.20 for junior children.

21st December:                              Break up at 1.30pm-no school bus.