Headteacher Message  

Dear all,

I make no excuse for my advancing age and constant referencing of the weather.  For instance, this rain is beginning to become a bit annoying.  I actually don’t mind the rain as much as the low level gloomy clouds that accompany it.  Luckily for me, I have a job where the children provide the sunshine every day.  I will give you a glimpse into how this happens.  Below is a link to our Twitter feed.  I was working in my office when I heard the sound of Bob Marley’s music emanating from the hall. I walked into the loveliest sound and sight.  All of Key stage 1 were singing ‘Don’t worry about a thing,... Every little thing is going to be alright.’ It was joyful.  I also think that it is no coincidence that today we have blanket blue skies and the rain has stayed away.  Please take a look.

https://twitter.com/DarellSchool/status/1613554350181478401

You could then follow us. We currently have 317 followers, which is good but not 500.  Let’s see where we get to by next week. 

All of our clubs for this term are up and running.  Unfortunately at the end of last week we had our basketball club pull out through lack of coaches.  I know they have contacted parents individually, and I would just like to add that we are currently looking for another provider to replace them as soon as possible.  We really want to promote pupil voice at Darell School, and it is as a direct result of this that half an hour of my Friday lunchtime is spent trying to understand the complexities of trading in Pokemon club.  They truly run it themselves.  We also received a request to run a cheerleading club, and we are looking into this.  I also know that Mrs Winfield, who is as I write teaching netball to Year 6, has been incredibly impressed with the skills she has seen and is planning to run a netball club/team.  We will continue to canvas opinions from our children and if at all viable we will run it. 

Next week we will be sharing a link to parent questionnaires that it would be extremely useful if you complete.  All feedback is useful. We are not perfect but will keep striving to be the best we can be.  That links with our assembly focus value for this term - Aspiration.

This week we looked at how one Year 2 child had improved their writing over the Autumn term.  There were audible gasps as the big reveal showed what amazing progress this child had made. Have a lovely weekend everybody.  Be kind, be happy and have a lovely time with your precious children.  

Communications

Sent Home

• Y6 - Walton Firs Residential Trip
• Y4 - Thames Young Mariners Residential Trip
• Y1 - Head Lice Medical Information
• Reception - 3 Reminders!

Stars of the Week!

Early Years Star of the Week

Wonder Class

Zayn - for having a go and showing real enjoyment in his learning

KS1 Star of the Week

Peake Class

Reggie - for excellent focus in phonics this week and always being a kind friend! Well done, Reggie!

Weir Class

Layla - for using her phonics to write a paragraph independently! Well done for being aspirational, Layla! 

Walker Class

Loki - for Using Colourful Semantics confidently in his learning. Well done, Loki! 

KS2 Star of the Week

Newton Class

Tipene - for working hard & being resilient in Maths and reading. 
Well done, Tipene!

Thunberg Class

Liza - for being a responsible learner, Liza has good behaviour for learning and always tries hard with her work.

Darwin Class

Charlie - for listening carefully to his table group discussions and feeding back what was said to the whole class.

Attenborough Class

Hayk - for his enjoyment and aspiration in every lesson; for being a responsible learning partner and for his fantastic writing this week. 

Parks Class

Elif - for her fantastic contributions in class and for always going the extra mile!

Rashford

Dario - for his dedication to phonics, staying on the carpet after the session has finished and asking for additional practice with spellings.