Well, here we are. Finally, back on-site in the sunshine and an end of the week outside assembly. What a joy! It has been a simply glorious week and I think that
Monday was one of my best days ever as a Head. The sheer happiness oozing from the children as I visited classroom after classroom was tangible and it is the noise that I notice the most! The sound of fun, laughter, jokes and glee. The happy chatter and shrieks from the astro as children play together for the first time in
months. I reminded the children that the last time they were on site there was a ginormous Christmas tree outside the front of Harefield. It feels like a lifetime
ago.
As a staff team (also delighting in being together again), we are spending this time with the children until the Easter holidays focusing on social catch-up. They need to be together, to talk, to work, to laugh and to play. The quality of the online learning provided in remote school was outstanding, but there will be gaps in knowledge and skills for some of the children. We will spend these weeks getting into the swing of things on-site and assessing where the children are. We will run our standardised assessments a little earlier next term, so that we can review and look towards a targeted programme of intervention where it is needed, keeping you as parents in the loop at all times.
Finally, can I also thank the parent body so much for the flowers, brownies, gifts and cards that have come in over this week for the amazing team? They are hugely appreciated. I couldn’t be more proud of the team, as well as the pupils, for all that they have achieved.
As a country, we remain in lockdown so weekends and the longer evenings cannot be filled with the usual sports, seeing friends and activities, which would normally be the case for our families. We have, therefore, worked with the PTA to set a special Land’s End to John O’Groats (and back again) challenge. Families can walk, run, cycle, SUP, kayak the distance and log it using the STRAVA App while donating to charity. All info is on the poster. My thanks to the new PTA Chair, Kirsty Gillies, and Mr Parker for helping us to organise this event (and Mr Brett for the poster). There will be prizes for the year group and family who go the furthest!
Have a lovely weekend with your families.
Mrs Charlotte Johnston
Head
