Head Teacher's Blog 13.11.23
12th November 2023
Lots to update you on in our blog this week!
Last Thursday was a very busy day in school. We took two Swansfield teams to a local schools football competition at Greensfield Football Club and the children represented our school fantastically. On their return, the children were so proud to tell me that the refereeing staff had commented on their excellent sportspersonship. Both teams took part in the group round, with one team winning 4 out of 5 of these matches and qualifying for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, they lost this match 2:1. For many of the players, this was their 1st competitive football experience and on chatting to the children when they came back, it has spurred them on to want to play again. Thanks to Chris Rose and Laura Bridges for accompanying the children and giving them encouragement and support to play so confidently!
Also on Thursday, we were delighted to welcome the mayor of Alnwick and his wife to school. Following a delicious lunch in the hall, our head boy and head girl gave Mr and Mrs Watson a tour of our school, answering their questions and showcasing all of the fabulous things that make our school a great place to be! The visit finished with assemblies in which Mr Watson talked with children about his job, about the importance of the town council and about standing up and being an active and responsible member of our local community.
On Friday, we held our annual Remembrance service. It was a wonderful opportunity for the whole school to come together and take a moment to reflect upon the sacrifices that others have made for us. We held a minute’s silence and Sophie Colgan-McKnight shared her own personal reflection on what Remembrance means to her. I have shared this reflection, along with Sophie’s beautiful artwork. Sophie embodies our 3C which calls for our children to show care in all that they do. Thank you to Sophie and every member of our school community for recognising the importance and solemnity of this special day in our National calendar. Further pictures of our service will be added to the website on Monday.
Thank you to everyone who ordered meals online last week. Please remember to do this even if your child is having a packed lunch - your support with this is really appreciated.
We welcomed some new lunchtime crew members last week - Archie McEwan, Cameron Bowie and Alice Oxley made a wonderful start to their new job!
Thank you to everyone who came along to the Scholastic Book Fair last week. The fair is with us for another week and you can pop into the library to browse the books before and after school each day next week. Both cash and card payments can be taken!
We had some great news on Friday - Fraser Allan is the winner of the Lilidorei Scarecrow competition. Fraser’s fabulously scary entry has won a trip to Lilidorei for him and his whole class. We are very much looking forward to getting this organised.
We’re always a hive of maths activity at Swansfield and we’re delighted to bring you details of a few of the fabulous initiatives we have running at the moment. ‘Barvember’ celebrations are taking place in school all month- this involves children throughout KS1 and KS2 working very hard to solve tricky maths calculations and problems using bar models. A special mention to Lee Philipson and Amelia Say for their super representations this week! Keep up the great work!
Our KS2 children will be competing in the TTRS England Rocks competition next week in the hope of winning some special prizes. They will each have 60 minutes playing time per day from Tuesday to Thursday to gain as many points as they can for their class. We look forward to sharing the results with you in next week's blog. Good luck everyone!
Let’s look forward to next week:
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Remember to wear your Odd Socks on Monday as we kick off Anti Bullying week.
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Consultations continue this week for Apple, Plum, Ash, Willow, Mapple, Rowan and Larch. Please come to the main entrance and you will be directed to the Hub area where you will find your child’s books to look through ahead of your appointment.
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Please remember that there are no teacher-led clubs on Monday or Thursday after school.
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We will be celebrating Children in Need on Friday and children are invited to ‘wear what they like’ for a donation. With a ‘spotacular’ theme, spots are encouraged! Rowan and Larch classes are looking forward to having some ‘Bearpees’ fun with Joe Wicks in the morning.
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It’s our FOSP Christmas fair at the Town Hall on Friday at 5.30. Thank you for all the donations that came in last Friday. We’d love some further donations of cakes and bakes which can be brought in on Friday morning. Choir will sing to open the fair and there’ll be fun stalls, games and delicious food and drinks prior to the Christmas Lights switch on. Do come along and join us and if you’re able to help, get in touch with the Friends or call into the office and they will pass on your details for a committee member to get in touch with you.
There are lots of Stars of the Week to tell you about from the last few weeks. A huge well done goes to: Pippa Isaac-Lawson, Ella Dodd, Akshith Amarnath, Louis O’Connell, Bella-Rose Elliott, Amelia Say, Bea Quillian, Una Morrs-Watson, Isabelle Allen, Hallie Dennis, Harper Willoughby, Zachary Archer, Holly Saycell, Ollie Ross, Charlie Bell, Nicola Welch and Cameron Bowie. We are very proud of you all!
As this week is Anti Bullying week, our music comes from Andy and the Odd Socks and has an important message for us all!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UU_jOiway0
See you in the week,
Mrs G