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The year started off with the return of the children refreshed after the summer break, and with a warm welcome to our new Pre-School and Reception classes, and our new joiners in Year 7 and other year groups, who all settled quickly into life at LPH. Our Innovation Hub has been completed and has a whole fresh look, and approach, to our technology learning. The children love the new environment, ‘It’s the best classroom in the school’, enthused one Year Five pupil.
Forest School continues to go from strength to strength in the Pre-Prep. Year 2 made their own street of cardboard houses and watched open-mouthed as the re-enactment of the start of the Great Fire of London produced a rapid and complete destruction of the homes. The children have also learnt how to whittle sticks, make fire, and make Christmas wreaths to take home.
As the evenings drew in, the school community turned out for not just one, but two, firework extravaganzas, which allowed our younger children to enjoy the show without having to stay up too late on a school night! Thanks go to our wonderful PTA for organising this, a Macmillan coffee morning and of course the Winter Fayre which kicked off the festive season. This event buzzed with excitement, with stalls, games, tombolas and gifts to purchase. The children thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas bauble decorating, time in the Mindfulness Zone, and in the Sugar Plum café where older pupils served the younger ones with cookies and flavoured milk in a parent-free zone.
The House Cup competition was very fiercely contested this term and it was pleasing to see that every House won at least one of the individual events, which led to a nail-bitingly close final House Christmas song contest on the last day of term. Overall, once all the elements, including multitudes of house points, had been taken into account, Lavies were deservedly the overall winners and they are looking forward to a trip to the cinema in January as their House reward!
It’s been an outward-looking term too, with events to support our nominated school charities and, as Christmas loomed into view, we supported the YMCA Love in a Box initiative, for which over 150 shoeboxes were filled with gifts for young people living in a local supported housing project. For many this may be the only present they get to open on Christmas Day and it reminds our school community how very fortunate we all are.
With the arrival of December, our focus inevitably turned to Christmas and the school was filled with the sound of children rehearsing for their respective nativity and carol services. Pre-School children were adorable angels and stars, with Reception taking on the story of the birth of Jesus in fine style. Years 1 & 2 took a novel approach, with the older children as authors and narrators of each part of the nativity story supported by Year 1 who acted out the scenes. We are grateful to the Church of the Good Shepherd for hosting our Prep services, with a group of Years 3 & 4 carefully processing Christingles around the body of the church. The traditional carol services for Years 5 & 6 and Years 7 & 8 were also well attended and the choir were in fine voice.
The Christmas Feasts were joyful occasions and term came to an entertaining close with the now traditional Staff Panto, where the children saw their teachers in a completely new light, sporting an array of costumes. The pupils cheered Panto Peter on right to the end!
This is often the longest, and certainly the muddiest, of terms and everyone deserved a well-earned rest with their families for the Christmas break.