Friday 12th April

Happy Friday!

We hope that our families had a lovely spring break and the weather didn’t dampen your spirits too much. The Easter bunny was certainly very busy in some homes - it is a wonder there was any chocolate left for the other residents of Halesowen.

Many of our families celebrated the festival of Eid on Wednesday and we have enjoyed hearing about the children’s experiences. We have been very impressed with the henna patterns - some parents certainly have a very steady hand and make great artists.

We have seen lots of changes this week, and we are not just talking about the weather! Our new catering company has now taken over from Dudley, but we do get to keep the lovely Sue, Sam and Sarah who work tirelessly in the kitchen to support the children. Although the new menu has caused a little apprehension, the children have enjoyed trying new foods and have given very constructive feedback. The menu offered on Wednesday may have been their favourite this week, and we are looking forward to more new food next week. It has been great to see the children eating food made with fresh ingredients, and they have loved the fresh fruit salad.

You will have noticed a lot of building work taking place across the school. All of the work that is taking place ensures that your children are learning in a safe and well-maintained environment. Our youngest children have coped remarkably well with the changes to their entrances, exits and playgrounds. A huge well done to nursery and reception, we are so proud of how you’ve taken everything in your stride. As we have lost the use of our key stage one playground, our year one and two children have enjoyed playing on the back playground with our older children, especially when the weather has been nice enough for them to be on the grass.

The children have started their new learning experiences this week and letters will have been made available to each year group detailing the contents of their learning for this term. Year three had a fantastic start to their new learning experience as they evaluated different vehicles - Miss Richardson and Miss Macaskill were even brave enough to put their cars on show alongside a scooter and a toy tractor. Next week, both year five and year two are off on trips as part of their learning experiences.

As the weather warms up (hopefully) the children do like to build dens on the playgrounds, if you have any unwanted sheets/bedding/curtains we would happily put them to good use. The children also like to use their imagination on the playground, so any unwanted fancy dress and small world toys (dolls, action figures, prams, scooters etc) are always gratefully received.

We have had a lovely week with our wonderful children. Wishing everyone a great weekend.