To my amazing colleagues,
I thought I would write to you before term starts so that we
can all hit the ground running on Monday.
I in no way wish to ruin the end of what I hope has been a wonderful
holiday for you – far from it, I’m hoping to put a little smile on your face as
we all meet again in the car park far too early on Monday morning.
As spring starts to bloom into fully grown summertime, I am
reminded of some words from my first headteacher. It was at this time of the year he’d give us
one of his favourite speeches:
“Do you know the best
three places in the world? One – a primary
school at Christmas; two, a primary school in Summer; three, North Wales.”
Although I could never agree with number three, one and two
always hit the mark, and I agree to this day.
I know that at least one person on Monday will say “It’s
only 7 weeks!”, by which they mean 7 weeks until half term. But I’d invite you to look at it another way:
we have just 7 weeks to achieve everything we want to achieve before we head
into the joy that is term 6, and everything that holds.
What I’m trying to say is, if we put the hard
yards in during these 7 weeks, if we really harness the spring sun’s energy and
not wish it away, then we will be able to start applying the polish to what has
been / promises to be a great year.
Our school looks stunning, thanks to you all. Our data (trust me, I have spent a few days
during this break crunching it) is very strong, and all our in-house indicators
already point to gains and improvements made, directly as a result of your
amazing work.
Most importantly, I want you all to put the gloom of an
impending visit far from your thoughts.
Let’s not prepare ourselves just for that:
let’s plough our not inconsiderable energies into being prepared for us,
for our
children, and for delivering our own impeccably high standards. I think you’ll find that that, in turn, will
have a far greater impact on your energy levels.
Finally, let’s all be proud - positive overdrive, as I often
say at this point in the year. When you see a colleague doing something well,
or something you really like, tell them.
Let’s not be shy to share and promote the truly great things that happen
in our school on a daily basis. I have
been privileged to have seen another school close at hand during this holiday,
and my abiding, overwhelming thought was how lucky I am to have the colleagues
that I do, and the hard work that they bring, and the energy they generate …
and the cakes some of them make.
Colleagues, have a superb end to your break. I hope you feel fully refreshed and relaxed
and are chomping at the bit to get back to what it is we do so well. Will 7 weeks actually be enough?
Yours
W
PS To our wonderful children, I am very much looking forward
to seeing you all again this term. Your
work this year has never been anything less than stunning, and your uniform has
been amazing. We do need to sort out
attendance, but, I know how poorly some of you have been. We’ll see you all Monday – your teachers have
already shown me some of the things they are planning, which look extremely
cool, and I will be joined for my assemblies by a friend who is, let’s just
say, 8 feet tall and green. Laters
