This Week's News!

From Mrs Gascoigne:

It has been great to see the value of compassion in action again this week. The collective worship session led by Mrs Bird focusing on parking is just one example. Another was the exploration of stories from other faiths during Interfaith Day. Thank you to Mrs Plummer for leading on this. Compassion is about coming alongside people, having empathy and consideration. If we learn about each other, we can show consideration for one another, and the world will be a more peaceful place.

On Tuesday this week, a team of 6th formers from Monkton School generously gave their time to clear and prepare the flower beds by the log cabin, as part of our development of these areas for reflective space in memory of Mrs Tilbury. They have more work to do but a place to sit and think and reflect is developing. Thank you to the team of willing volunteers.

On Saturday I was honoured to represent our school at Wells Cathedral for the welcome and installation of the new bishop of Bath and Wells, the Right Reverend Michael Beasley. As part of the service, each person was presented with a hazel sapling and charged with planting it. The bishop is passionate about providing habitats for wildlife and to help tackle the climate crisis. As we know, trees capture carbon, protect our soil, help reduce flooding and can help with air pollution. I am pleased that we are able to be part of this vision for our world. Together we plant, nurture and grow.

From Mrs Bird:

It’s been an exciting week for our teaching team! On Tuesday, our CEO – Donna Tandy – delivered a fantastic training session about what an inspirational curriculum looks like for our children. Whilst the wellbeing of our children is of great importance to us all, we also strive for excellence in learning. During our training, we explored how an ambitious and challenging curriculum is vital for all our learners. We talked about the importance of subject content, as well as making sure that any skills taught are building on from the previous year. As a team, we also explored the importance of reading and how all children must leave primary school with the confidence to read fluently and with a high level of comprehension, as this will greatly help them during their secondary education. From my point of view, it was great to see the team really focusing on the nitty gritty of pedagogy – how children learn and what really helps them to make good progress.

I’m sure for lots of parents, the flashback of supporting your child’s learning during the pandemic is not a good one. I can certainly remember trying to teach an online lesson, whilst trying to build a Duplo pirate ship with my son! However, we know that when schools and parents work in partnership, all children can gain so much. Over the next few weeks, the team will be producing some information documents for parents, so that you can see what is being taught in our topics and Science for Term 3.

Have a lovely weekend with your loved ones.