Headmaster's Welcome

Headmaster's Weekly News, Friday 1st February, 2019

Feb 1, 2019

1 February 2019

Dear Parents

5M Assembly
Thank you 5M for your Assembly on the Chinese New Year which is celebrated this coming week. We learnt so many facts, including that the celebration always falls between 21st January and 19th February. This year, it lasts until February 19th when the Lantern Festival takes place. This year is the Year of the Pig which is a lucky animal so it should be a year with good fortune! We also really enjoyed your retelling of the legends of the Chinese Zodiac and your research into your own birth years: 2008 was the Year of the Rat and 2009 was the Year of the Ox. We also learned that Miss Macklam was born in the Year of the Ram. The children talked about Chinese proverbs and showed us how they had written their own. Brooke, Nandini, Arjun and Ayesha read out their proverbs:
Behind every chrysalis could be a beautiful butterfly.
Fire can’t burn everything, there’s always hope.
A small flame can evolve into a big star.
Even the most precious pearl has a scratch. Nothing can be absolutely perfect.
The Assembly finished with the whole class singing a song entitled: Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Thank you 5M for a fascinating and informative assembly and thank you Miss Macklam for organising it.

Pre-School visit Spring Farm
Last Friday, we visited Miss Burns’ farm and the children were very excited about going there on the minibus. Alaylah shouted ‘Wow!’ when we arrived. Miss Burns set us to work straight away making up bottles of milk, putting out fresh straw and carrying handfuls of hay to make new paths for the lambs to play on. Abubakr was very enthusiastic, getting involved with everything and asking lots of questions. Lucas asked ‘Why do the lambs have numbers on them?’ and Aidan said that he thought the lambs were strong when feeding from the bottle and it made his arm shake. Alaylah was fascinated by everything she saw. Thank you Miss Burns for a wonderful time, we will come back again next year. Mrs Hayes

Out and About in the Snow!
The children have been loving the snow this week. Their imaginations have run wild, creating snow dens, fairy houses, snowmen and even parrots to put on their shoulders. We really do have Peter Pan on our minds at the moment! Thank you to all the staff for keeping the school running as efficiently as possible this week; thank you to Mr Forrest and Mr Eaves for their snow clearing and gritting and to Mr Drake who was in school so early on Wednesday he created a snow video (over 1000 views on Facebook already!) before helping to clear Fulwood Row from top to bottom as well as directing traffic, all before 8.30am! I would like to thank all the parents for your kind comments and messages of thanks to the staff; it really does mean a lot.

Peter Pan at The Charter Theatre
Peter Pan is on next Wednesday at The Charter Theatre. We have 104 children from Reception through to Year 6 performing! Please come and support this performance which will be the biggest show in Preston next Wednesday evening! Tickets are available from The Charter Theatre Box Office and will be needed for entry into the theatre. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Year 4 Tulketh Football Tournament
The Year 4 football team played in the annual Tulketh tournament. In a number of the games, we produced some very aesthetically pleasing performances. The boys are capable of creating outstanding passing movements which lead to very well-worked team goals. On occasion, the standard of football belied the players’ ages. Our overall record was to win four, draw one and lose two. We still have some areas of weakness to improve upon but the team is definitely heading in the right direction. Well done boys! Mr Turner

Late Collection Reminder for After School Club and Nursery
We have had several late pick-ups over the last two terms with a number being as late as 7pm. Please could you make sure that you have a friend or family member on standby to pick-up in the case of bad traffic or an emergency. I know many parents already do support each other. It is also very important that you phone Nursery and After School Club well before 6pm to let them know you are running late and who will be picking up your children. It can be very upsetting for a child who does not know where their parent is and it makes it a very long day for our staff who will have been at work since 7.15am or 7.50am and often have to miss appointments and collections of their own. Thank you for your support.

Parentmail
Parentmail is a very important form of communication between school and home. We use it to send important messages home as it guarantees that messages can be sent quickly and have been received. Our records show that the majority of parents have given us their email addresses and are on the system. You will have been sent an email to register. However, if you have not registered, or your email address is wrong or has changed, then you will not receive parentmails. If you are having problems with your account, please speak to the Office. Many thanks.

Merit Awards
RB: Summer RH: Aisha 1D: Ariana 1W: Melissa 2E: Heba-Noor
3J: Leo 3M: Hayden 4D: Danial 4S: Macaulay 5M: The Whole Class 6H: Hannah
6P: Sophia

Thought for the Week
Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still. Chinese Proverb

Yours sincerely

J M Duke
Headmaster