After the most incredibly different year schools have experienced, I can honestly say that we need the hope and joy that Advent brings.

As the greatest gift we could ever receive, God sent himself in human form as Jesus. We light our advent candles of hope, peace, love and joy and keep in our minds that we are stronger together and we have one common factor… the love of Jesus.

I know this school year has been unlike any other but within our school walls, the children are happy, thriving and enjoying each other’s company, even more so than before. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder and the children have all had such a successful first term back in school. The standard of work is exceptional and you would never have believed they were off school for four months of a working school year. I can only say this is testament to their positivity and work ethic and it is testament to you all as wonderful parents and carers. It is also testament to our staff team. What an absolute privilege it is to be able to say I work at St.Mary’s with such a dedicated, skilled and positive team  – it has been wonderful for Miss Deakin and I to be a part of.

We ended the term with a wonderful ‘end of term’ assembly, it was a shame we could not welcome parents to see our award winners and be a part of our celebration. We had an incredible amount of certificates, sweets and chocolates handed out for all of our award winners – please see the newsletter for our award winners. We have a wonderful group of children at our school, who are so well mannered and work so hard, to celebrate that was a joyous occasion. We said goodbye to Mrs Cox, our Class 2 teacher,  she had done a fantastic job with the children, I know she has thoroughly enjoyed her time with us. We are very grateful for the dedication and hard work, going above and beyond to give our children a great education, she will be missed by the children and the staff.

If you have not seen the Class 1 Nativity yet, see the link below! Mrs Philpott mentioned this morning that I may have uploaded the rehearsal to the school website, Youtube channel and Facebook page – instead of the finished Nativity play. It seems she was correct, therefore I corrected my mistake and put the Take#2 edition out for all to see. Ironically, it just shows you don’t always get it right first time! I know you won’t mind watching the rehearsal as well as the finished product!

We say a huge thank you to Mrs Ball and Mr Dickinson for organising the Santa to come and visit in his red submarine – what a treat! I do not think I have seen a vehicle like it in my life! We could certainly hear the toots and beeps coming down the road, the children were certainly excited (to say the least) to see a red submarine drive past the window – not a usual sight! It is really is something that the children will never forget – so again a huge thank you to Mrs Ball and Mr Dickinson for making those memories. One memory that might stick in our heads also – is the giant turkey that accompanied Santa Claus! If you have not seen it yet, check it out in the video link below.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Mr Gilmour