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• 24th September 2021

  Fri 24 Sep 2021

  The last newsletter for September—next time it will be October. I am sure I won’t be the only one finding that absolutely incredible! Autumn is certainly filling the air and the nights are noticeably drawing in.

  We started the week with Reverend Chris visiting to lead collective worship. The focus was on generosity and how God generously created the world. It was very thought provoking to watch a visual representation of how the world was creating, along with a very catchy song about ’God made everything’.

  I have really enjoyed looking at some of the RE learning across the school this week. Pupils in Acorns have been thinking very carefully about how to look after living things around them, inspired by their recent learning on St Francis of Assisi. It is wonderful to consider the impact that being generous can have on somebody else.

  I very much enjoyed having a good old sing with Oak class –they are sounding in fine tune and have worked really hard on practising their songs ready for Harvest.

  It was wonderful to finish my week by teaching Apples and Pears class this morning. There was some fantastic learning in PE and brilliant examples of pupils listening, following instructions and working together.

  Wishing you all a very restful weekend.

• 17th September 2021

  Fri 17 Sep 2021

  Another week has come to end and the weekend is upon us. I am convinced that Northaw is has its own time zone: I cannot work out how it goes from being 8am to suddenly being 3pm all in the space of what seems to be twenty minutes. There is the old proverb that time flies when you’re having fun, so perhaps that is the reason.

  A very excited Mrs Cullingford arrived at my door on Wednesday afternoon. I wasn’t quite sure whether she was auditioning for a place on Britain’s Got Talent (she was breaking into a song and dance as her joy infused the room), but it turned out to be something even better than that: Willow class had worked so hard during the afternoon, creating a story board and producing some excellent pieces of writing. I was delighted to go and visit the class and agreed that an exceptional effort had been made. As a result, Wil-low are the first class to be awarded a whole class ‘Golden Ticket’. Earning three of these exclusive tickets permits the class to have a whole class reward—Willow are well on their way to achieving this. Well done!

  Many thanks to everybody who attended our ‘meet the teacher’ sessions that have taken place throughout this week. It was very pleasing to welcome parents back into the school. Everybody’s cooperation with wearing a mask was also greatly appreciated.

  Have a restful weekend ahead and see you all on Monday!

• 10th September 2021

  Fri 10 Sep 2021

  Wow! So here we are, already, at the end of the first full week back to school. What a fantastic week it has been. A real highlight for everybody has been welcoming everybody in Acorns to school, with the pupils in Reception staying for their first full day today. Already, they are working so well with the school routines and are having a great time with their learning. It has to be recognised what a great job all of the Early Years team in Acorn Class has done; their warm, calm and welcoming manner gets pupils in Northaw off to a brilliant start to their education and I have been most impressed by everything that has taken place this week. For parents, it is a real defining moment to watch your child go to ‘big’ school for the first time—thank you all for trusting us to look after the most precious things you have—it is such a privilege.

  The school library is looking amazing! The books are all in the right place. The shelves have all been sorted and moved around and it is now ready to invite classes in to read. We are planning to start using the library again very soon, as part of our Covid review. It has also been wonderful to be treated some amazing piano playing, with many of our talented musicians having restarted their piano lessons.

  I have thoroughly enjoyed my first full week at Northaw. Whilst I know everybody is looking forward to their weekend, it is always a joy to be somewhere that you look forward to going to on a Monday morning.

  Have a fantastic weekend and I look forward to another enjoyable week ahead.

• 3rd September 2021

  Fri 03 Sep 2021

  Welcome to back to a brand new academic year and to the first edition of our new-look newsletter! The Autumn term has started and the school has been buzzing with great enthusiasm and excitement all day.

  At the end of a summer, I am sure every member of school staff up and down the land thinks about how the new year might start off. Well, I can honestly say that I could not have asked for a warmer welcome to Northaw. It was wonderful to see such happy children, ready to come back to school. I can tell that they love being members of Northaw and I have really enjoyed visiting each class today to read a story. I am very impressed by the excellent manners and great listening skills I have seen.

  The staff have been absolutely brilliant and I must thank them all for their generosity (which happens to be this half term’s value in focus). Despite the very challenging circumstances, the team has demonstrated one of the 6Rs very clearly: resilience. Mrs Whales has created a fantastic team of staff and pupils; their enthusi-asm and warmth are a credit to her and we will continue to build on this great legacy.

  It was wonderful to meet many parents this morning. Thank you very much for your warm welcomes and encouragement.

  I wish you all a very enjoyable weekend and see you on Monday for our first full week back.