1. Educate the People

2. Nativity

3. Rowan Class get mucky

4. Orchard

5. Phone calls from teachers

6. Chromebook Loan

7. Safeguarding

Good morning one and all,

7th-century Chinese philosopher, Kuan Tzu, once said "If you're thinking a year ahead sow seed, if you're thinking ten years ahead plant trees, if you're thinking one hundred years ahead educate the people.'

Well, the theme this week was planting trees so we're well on the journey. Our aspirations are to educate the people; this is a much vaster challenge...

For as many emails/messages that we receive regarding the volume of work being set, we receive an equal amount of probing for more (or different) and then praise for the quality of the work that is being undertaken. Finding the appropriate balance, especially when everyone's home experience can be so contrasting, is never easy. Behind the scenes, the staff are working tirelessly; we are trying to focus on developing the quality of the work we are setting, and the feedback we are offering....not the quantity. If your child (ren) is spending an enormous amount of time doing their school work to the detriment of their health, then, please, stop them – get in contact, take a breath and be kind to yourself. It's looking like we will be in this situation for several more weeks so establishing that balance is key.

May I wish you a lovely weekend and, hopefully, you can get out for some fresh air and downtime.

Mr. Francksen

Executive Headteacher

We’ve only just found out from reporter, Sam Walker, that he featured our wonderful Nativity performance in the Bury Free Press that was published at Christmas - see who you can spot in the pictures they used!

We have been reading and writing instructional texts in Rowan Class for the last two weeks. The children have been working hard to find imperative verbs and to use the correct vocabulary to write each step of their instructions. We all needed a bit of light relief and what better way to do that than to follow instructions that yield a treat! Rowan Class made some very tasty flapjacks and had no problem reading and following the instructions. We have decided that we’d like to visit a golden syrup mine for our next school trip. If anyone knows of one nearby please do let us know!

We spent a wet and windy Tuesday afternoon learning how to plant and care for our new orchard trees. All in-school pupils took part and enjoyed digging and measuring a suitable hole, then filling it in and adding a stake and tree surround. We have planted 3 local varieties of apple; as well as plum, cherry, and pear trees; we are looking forward to seeing the fruits of our efforts!