The first half of the Summer Term has been busy with the pupils enjoying trips to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and pond dipping on the moors. We are so fortunate to be surrounded by such glorious countryside and that we are able to make the most of it. Trips are a great way to engage pupils in a topic and the experience makes everything they are learning about more relevant. Form 1 will be visiting Helmsley Castle as part of their history topic on Castles and Form 2, who have been learning about World War 2, are going to visit Eden Camp in the next half term. 

In our own forest school, the pupils are learning how to whittle and their skills are already pretty impressive. They will be experimenting with new tools after the break. Forest school is a fabulous way to end each week and we have had some good weather to enjoy the child led activities. A recent visitor to forest school said that,” forest school was amazing and the children were a credit to you all. I couldn’t believe that there were no quarrels or squabbles and that they just got on with it!” It really is an amazing resource and we are so fortunate to be able to use it every week.

Stay and Play sessions for my new EYFS pupils have been wonderful, fun afternoons with parents and potential pupils experiencing the wonders of forest school for themselves. Parents also see first hand some of the classroom activities we do in school and meet the youngest pupils. The new pupils will be joining us for a taster day at the end of term.In the next few weeks I will be doing some nursery visits to see my new pupils in their current settings; I enjoy doing this as they love to show me around and I get to see what they enjoy doing. These visits help to inform my planning for the Autumn Term.

I absolutely love doing learning walks and seeing the pupils’ work, I especially love giving out ‘Mrs Freer house points’ for outstanding or improved work. The classrooms are always busy with pupils engaged and happy in their their learning and they are always keen to show me their work. We love celebrating achievement, improvement, perseverance and kindness and the entries in The Golden Book each week reflect this. 

There is a lot to look forward to after half term starting with our Royal Jubilee Tea Party on the first day back! We will be having cream tea and dressing up as if we’re going to a garden party with the Queen. We hope that parents are able to join us for this celebration.

Sports day and the Friends of Fyling Hall PTA’s Summer Fayre is always a fabulous afternoon and I know the children are looking forward to that already. I’m delighted that the swimming gala will be taking place this year too and that parents are able to attend. 

In the last week of term, Activities Week will be full of what have now become traditions in the Junior School; a beach trip, a teddy bears’ picnic, chalking on the playground and if the weather is good, a whole school water fight! The Daisy Hardy Competition where pupils perform poems will be in the last week as well. There will, of course, be end of term assessments and a lot of hard work too! So there is a lot to look forward in the last weeks of the school year.

During a show round last week a visitor told me that the school felt like a happy place to learn and that the pupils were confident and polite and that it must be a great place to work; I was thrilled that was the impression they took away with them. They also loved our school motto; the days that make us happy make us wise. Indeed they do! 

Amanda Freer, Junior School Headteacher