Christmas seems like a long time ago, but having worked our way through January it is time to reflect on the month of February as a moment of calm before Lent begins. As we settle into February, I continue to be proud of the warmth, enthusiasm, and faith-filled spirit our children bring to school each day. This month offers us a welcome pause before the season of Lent begins—a chance to reflect on God’s goodness and prepare our hearts for the journey ahead. In school we will be exploring themes of kindness, prayer, and service, and I encourage families to join us in these small but meaningful acts of love.  This year Ash Wednesday falls in half term, so we will not be able to do a service in school to mark this solemn day.  When return for the second half of the spring term however, through RE lessons and Celebrations of the Word the pupils will be learning about repentance, renewal, and God’s love. 

In the six weeks that we have been back at school since Christmas, the pupils have shown excellent commitment to their learning and school life.  The Times Tables Rock Stars relaunch day was a great event to promote the learning of maths at home, and the visit of former RAF Senior Aircraftman and Invictus Games competitor Luke Delahunty provided activity, enthusiasm and inspiration for our pupils.

Our school site, and especially the carpark, remains a busy place at the start and end of each day.  It is important therefore to follow a few simple steps to keep everyone safe:

• Please do not allow your children to walk across car parks without adult supervision – if dropping off at breakfast club adults are expected to accompany their children right up to the entrance door.
• Please do not allow children to ride bikes or scooters on the school grounds – our pedestrian paths are narrow with moving traffic alongside them, and we do not want bikes or scooters wobbling into oncoming vehicles.
• Please stick to the site speed limit of 5 miles per hour.
• Please do not leave children to wait without supervision outside the school gates before 8:30am when the playgrounds are opened.
• Please only use the reserved disabled parking space if you hold a proper blue badge.  After Easter we hope to be able to provide additional disabled parking pays and we would expect drivers to follow the same rules in school as they would in public in respecting the importance of these vital spaces.

Abiding by these simple practices will makes the school site safe for all users, and make the start and end of each school day less stressful for everyone.

I hope that you are all able to enjoy a restful half term break, not forgetting the St Peter’s Inset day on Friday 13th February.  We look forward to welcoming all the children back to school for the start of spring term 2 at the usual time of 8:45am on Monday 23rd February.

Mr R Cunningham
Executive Headteacher