Dear Parents and Carers

I always find the autumn term a bit of a marathon rather than a sprint. It is the longest term, takes a great deal of concentration as whilst we introduce new approaches and settle the children, it starts off with bright, sunny late summer days and ends with cold, dark mornings, and to top it all, there is a flurry of Christmas events to complete.

I shall remember this autumn term for a very long time. As I said before, in some ways it has felt like opening a new school as there have had to be so many new expectations and systems in place. But it is still the OWPS we all know and love, just different.

At a time when we could have felt very separate from families and parents, I have actually felt more connected and supported, so thank you. Your generosity with our sponsored event and today’s Christmas biscuit sale has been astounding and I am enjoying reading all of the messages of thanks that parents have sent in. If you haven’t done this yet, please do make the time by clicking here. We keep all thank you messages in a Good News book in the staffroom and I know that staff enjoy reading them.

With the news that the first vaccinations have taken place, I think that we can all start to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I have started to imagine a time when things become more normal and less restrictive. I don’t think that we will change everything back to the way that it was before because some things have worked better for us. We have had to think ‘outside of the box’ and try some things that we might have never tried. It will be good to take some time to really think about what we want to reinstate and what we will keep from this year. This might mean that we don’t do some of the things the way that you, as an individual, would like us to do them but I hope that you will understand when I explain the reasons behind any of our decisions.

We have a jam-packed final week ahead of us. I wrote to staff yesterday to set out what we have to do before the end of next week. I know that I like to have a To Do list so that I can check them off one by one. You might find the following helpful:

 

Wednesday 16	Christmas Dinner Day NON UNIFORM DAY - as long as you are wearing something Christmassy. AUTUMN TERM HONOURS AWARD ASSEMBLY
Thursday 17	Children to bring a carrier bag into school and to take home everything that they can. We will use this as a chance to have a clear out of trays and lockers.    Christmas decorations will be sent home
Friday 18	Last Assembly of the Term –   Toy day – children can bring a game/toy to school to play with their friends. Please do not send in expensive games or ones that need to be plugged in. Also, it isn’t much fun if the game your child brings in is one that they will play on their own all day. Finally, please don’t send anything that has hundreds of tiny pieces. Children should wear their uniform as normal.

You may have noticed that dangerous parking has become an issue again. I was disappointed that the very week after I had asked parents to not park across the entrance to the school and to not do a three-point turn on Wistow Way, some parents were still doing it. I have reported these issues to the City Council and asked that they give tickets to anyone breaking the law.

I am shocked by the selfish, dangerous behaviour of parents which seems to imply that they think the rules do not apply to them. I am amazed that we have managed to go this long without a serious, perhaps fatal accident. I am fortunate enough that I have never worked in a school where a child has been killed, but a child in one of my classes was involved in a road accident and was left with brain damage. Visiting her in hospital and seeing the struggles she faced was heartbreaking. I can’t believe that anyone would be willing to risk this just so they can park nearer to the school or save a minute or two on their journey. Please follow our requests and let’s have a fresh start in 2021.

That’s not how I want to finish my last newsletter of the year so let’s end on a more positive note! We hope that you are enjoying the Advent stories we have recorded. We have one last treat for you all but you will have to wait until next Friday to find out what it is.

Very best wishes,

Simon Eardley

Head Teacher

 

Photo by Zui Hoang on Unsplash