THANK YOU

I ended this week feeling the need to say a very big 'Thank you' to the team at Wrenbury. Yesterday just happened to be a very lovely day in school, one of many we enjoy, and I came home feeling very fortunate to work with such wonderful, dedicated colleagues and lovely children. (It was also lovely to have had Mrs Parsons and Miss Smith back with us this week — I know the children, and staff who were here last year, were delighted to see them).

The whole team work incredibly hard for the benefit of all our children and sometimes do not always get the public acknowledgement (they do get private thank yous!) that they deserve for providing not only good teaching and learning but the all round care and nurturing that every child needs. So I want to say, just from my observations this week...

Thank you to:

Mrs McGhie for settling our new starters in so well in Base. Following parents evening on Thursday, I asked the parents of one new starter was there anything more we could do, to which the response came: "Yes, for school to be open on a Saturday and Sunday", as their little girl loved coming to school so much. I know the feedback to Mrs McGhie on Thursday was very positive and those parents I have spoken to have told me how happy they are with the transition into school from pre-school.

Miss Pitchford for creating a lovely classroom environment and building on the children's love of story and reading for pleasure in Base 2. I had the privilege of reading with Alfie, Harry, Charlie B, Taylor, Laura and Lily on Thursday and Friday and found that each of them not only read with confidence but was also enthralled and excited by what they were reading and wanting to share their pleasure, not only with me but with each other. I giggled with Lily and Laura as Laura read one of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes with Lily and I joining in with actions and sound effects and repetitive lines.

Miss Phillips for inspiring Base 3 with her love of geography and for creating lovely cross-curricula links between geography, literacy, art and science with the work on volcanoes. I was really impressed when Esther explained to James Y5 that 'magma turns into lava when it hits the earth's surface.'

Mr Sargeant for engaging Base 4 with coding and use of the Microbit app and other coding apps following some initial work with Mrs Sanders; inspiring them to go home and hone their programming skills. When I popped in, Ryan and Olivia were using an app to find bugs and debug the programme, whilst Charlotte, Kyla Jo, Laylee and Natalie were busy using coding to write their own messages on the microbit app.

Mrs Francis for her smooth transition into Wrenbury and stepping up in my short absence. I already feel ably supported by her and look forward to the work we will do together, with the team, to continue moving the school forward. Y6 led their assembly beautifully and confidently on Friday and demonstrated how they are excellent role models to our younger pupils.

Our team of teaching assistants, Mrs Clarke, Mrs Winward, Mrs Griffin, Miss Hindmarch, Miss Willis, Mrs Wimpenny, Mrs Taylor, Mrs Peek and Mrs Ball for the support they give our staff and children in helping our children achieve the very best they can.

Thank you to Madame Sharpe and Mrs Pascall for bringing their specialisms of French and music into school and enthusing our children. It was lovely to hear Lavinia and Reefe from Base 1 counting to 10 in French with a real, live French man when Mr Cador came to visit — he was very impressed!

Mrs Rowlands and Mrs Hughes for the wonderful way they juggle their administrative duties with the help they give to staff (and me especially) and the friendly support they offer our parents and children .

Mrs Warner supported by Mrs Speed for going the extra mile for our children, catering for special diets so that everyone can enjoy a school hot dinner and for hosting our special lunches including Wednesday's 'World Foods' special lunch, which went down well.

Mrs Roberts, Mrs Davenport and Mrs Broster and Mr Eaton for making lunchtimes an enjoyable time for our children and a special thank you to Mr Eaton for helping me keep our school a safe place to be.

There are also lots of other people to thank who are actively involved in helping our school to be the lovely, friendly school it is at the heart of its community: Our governors, Mrs Mansfield, Rev Alison, Mrs Hand, Mr and Mrs Jones, the Preschool team and the outreach team who support through the Community Coffee Stop and many more.

SAINSBURY'S GAMES AWARD SUCCESS:
I also learned on Friday that, whilst we had achieved Silver this year — something we are delighted about — we were only just off achieving Gold. Mr MacGregor, who came in to talk through what we need to next, said we were already doing a lot more than would be deemed possible for a school of our size. I have to thank Miss Phillips, Mrs Winward and Sportscape for supporting the drive to increasing the sporting opportunities available for all our children and for our success to date.

FOWS
Thank you to FOWS for hosting the first fundraising event of the year — Tuck Shop and cake sale — on Friday after school. Our Community and Fundraising Committee of Year 6 pupils were delighted to be involved. Thank you to all who donated cakes!
We look forward to Film night on Thursday.