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Happy Christmas everyone!
We have finally reached the end of the longest term of the school year. Following last week's festive events, it has (thankfully) been a more relaxed week in school. The trip to the pantomime in Newark was a great success and the children really enjoyed their time out. I was really impressed by the way in which the children behaved in such an exciting environment, and was proud of how confidently Elliot, Jake, Georgina and Jacie took to the stage to lead the whole theatre in the dance competition!
The children wore some fantastic Christmas Jumpers on Wednesday. The children of the School Council judged the best homemade effort in each class with the winners receiving a selection box for their achievement. Our usual Wednesday afternoon singing sessions were replaced with a whole school trip to St Wilfrid's and, with Mr Starr on the organ instead of the piano, the children took part in some traditional carol singing.
In the middle of such a "Christmassy" week, I was pleased to present the children's strong December
test results to the County Council Reviewer this week (the children might have told parents about Mr Gray's boss's boss being in school on Thursday!). The results are a combined credit to the effort of the children, the incredibly hard work of the staff team and the support of parents with learning at home. Well done to everyone.
The football team played their first match as members of the Tuxford League on Thursday. Mrs Crossland was one proud Deputy Head Teacher as the team took on Queen Eleanor Primary in Harby. Our team's 21 - 0 win reflected the children's skills but I was also proud to hear about their sportsmanship towards, and concern for, their opponents.
We said goodbye to Mrs Frost today. She has done an incredible job of teaching Class 5 this term and, whilst we are sad to be losing her obvious skills as a great class teacher, we wish her every success in her new job teaching Year 2 at a school much closer to her home.
I hope all of Muskham Primary's children and their families enjoy a well-deserved, restful and fun-filled holiday. I look forward to seeing everyone back at school, safe and well, at the start of the new term on January 5th.
It has been a really "Christmassy" week at Muskham Primary.
The children in Foundation Stage, Classes 1 and 2 performed their "Dinky Donkey" Nativity show to their families and members of the community, including the Muskham Play Group. The children performed well, including some real talent on show - notably the crystal clear voice of Ben S from Class 2! Thank you to Mrs Raynor for co-ordinating all of the adults and children involved.
The fundraising total from the Christmas period so far has reached an astonishing £1500, much of which will be spent on children's reading books for Classes 2 and 3.
Classes 3, 4 ,5 and 6 entertained their families with an informal sing-along and Foundation Stage repaid a visit by going to see the Muskham Play Group's Show on Friday. Foundation also went on Thursday but the dates had been mixed up... at least we practiced crossing the road twice in a week!
New teachers Mrs Carroll and Mrs Thacker got to know Class 5 in Mrs Frost's absence - and have declared them "a lovely group of children". It is a tough time of year for the children to be taking on board yet more high-standards, but they rose to the challenge well. Mrs Armstrong also met the Foundation 1 children who will join us in January and, alongside the Principal from Tuxford Primary Academy, undertook some serious "weeding" of resources in the Foundation classroom.
Finally, congratulations to Miss Claire Pollard who replaces Mrs Fryer as the Senior Midday Supervisor in January. Mrs Fryer will be concentrating on her newly "official" Teaching Assistant role whilst Miss Pollard moves from the school kitchen back to a role she has previously undertaken with much success. Miss Zoe Morgan (who many people know from the Out of School Club) also moves from the kitchen to a midday supervisor role where she can better use her growing number of childcare qualifications. Changes to the kitchen staffing structures will then take effect in the new year.
I hope today's newsletter was useful and informative. The children have really impressed me this week; their effort to continue behaving well and their concentration on their learning has been a credit to them. They have had a lot of high expectations put upon them and to still be aiming for those standards whilst Christmas Show rehearsals go on around them and "the tree" is being decorated takes some real stamina.
It has been a week of highs and lows for the teaching team this week. Mrs Frost has begun her preparations to hand over Class 5 to their new teachers. Mrs Power and Mrs Clarke have been absent due to close family bereavements, Mrs Crossland picked up a virus mid-week and Mrs Tansley, having been so determined to return to school this week, was not well enough to see the week through.
Despite these issues, new staff who will join the school in January have begun their preparations and have already made a positive impact on the school during their visits. Mrs Jackie Thacker and Mrs Jane Carroll will share the teaching of Class 5 whilst Mrs Claire Armstrong joins Mrs Tansley in the Foundation Stage Class. Mrs Fryer was successful in her application to officially become a full member of the Teaching Assistant Team and Mrs Todd (Foundation TA) confirmed her intention to return to work in the New Year. We will also welcome Ms Claire Pollard as Senior Midday Supervisor.
The "Muskham Events Group" (MEG) team put a huge effort into the organisation of the Christmas Fair, donating huge amounts of their time to ensure that the event ran successfully. Mr Ford, our Site Manager, put in much work to help chop down and bring us our Christmas Tree as well as putting up the stage for the Christmas Show and making sure that Santa's grotto was ready for him when he came to visit on Friday afternoon. Thank you to everyone involved in making sure that the start of the Christmas period has been properly festive for the children.
I look forward to seeing parents, carers and grandparents at one of the forthcoming festive events detailed in the calendar.