And as the end of term 1 drags its knuckles towards us...

...I agree with the sentiments of most of the staff that it has all come as a bit of a surprise.  I thought this term would seem ages and take forever, but, low and behold, not three strictly come dancings later, and we are home and dry on the eve of the end of term 1.

So, my little friends in Blogland, what have we learned in term 1?  What can we add to our roll of perpetual information from this 7 and a half weeks?  What do we possess now in terms of knowledge that we did not previously?  Well, quite a lot actually.

We now know:

• "S" is not a pirate's favourite letter of the alphabet;
• Nursery children are oozing with confidence, and love the new bikes;
• Reception children can write, extremely well;
• Our reading continues to get better and better (so does our stock of reading materials, and so does our library);
• That it's so much easier to serve a whole family when you have a school with a children's centre;
• That year 1 and 2 know who their special people are (and, my!, are they special);
• Year 3 can drum, but we're not so certain about rapping...
• Year 4 can really enjoy themselves when building a fire;
• The glass in year 5 needs steamproofing, from all the work they do when they're in the right mood;
• Year 6 know how advertising works, even the slightly strange stuff.

But more than that.  We have collegiately learned that only when we stand together strongly can we overcome our barriers to learning.  We have been reminded of the power and potential of this great group of adults and children we're building.  We have once again been knocked out by the sheer depth of their generosity, and the staggering versatility of their piratical costume departments.  We have discovered yet more ambassadors for the school - adults and children - and we have continued to show off everything we possibly can.

Thank you all so much for making this brilliant term happen, and thank you to those adults who simply said "okay then" when I put them in an extremely difficult position - I do know the job you've done and what it meant.

Finally, as you may well venture to bonfire parties between now and when next our paths corss, please, please please make care of yourselves and each other.

For the rest of this year, that is certainly not all, but for now, at the end of an extremely productive term, with a huge smile and me feet up, that is all.

On the button...all 9 of them

September has now vanished - how? - and we are into the cold, wet nights of October.  Despite the cold exterior, we are all basking in the glow of a warm interior (which includes - read below - expeditions into the exterior) made sultry and balmy by the hyper productivity of our amazing cohort.  Once again, I have been blown away by the wonderful learning projects that seem to take place right from the sunflower room in the children's centre to the year 6 class.

To sum up, here's a riddle for you.

Where can you find, all in one afternoon:

 - Spanish tuition in line with a tapas exposition?
 - Rocket building on a par with NASA?
 - Cricket to rival anything seen (by men) in Sri Lanka?
 - Writing to make Dickens say "What the Dickens?!?"
 - A version of the the three little pigs more similar in size to War and Peace?
 - A drainage system to make the Hoover dam weep?
 - Sweet - based experiments that would have Willy Wonka in paroxysms of apoplectic joy?
 - A woodland expedition that would make Ranulph Fienes run home to hide under his bed?

Well, take a guess.

Still no idea?

Here's a clue: rhymes with Fay - Locks - Should.

Answers on a postcard chums.

Stay warm.

That is all.

Someone get him off those drums!

This website has just offered me a "Streamlined post editor".  I have no idea what one of those is, but if you saw me at badminton last night, you would know full well:  I am already quite streamlined enough, thank you!

So blog - eagues, how goes it?  Are you well?  Looking forward to Autumn with all the impending joy as a bear looks to hibernation?  Or are you, like me rubbing your sequinned mits with glee - glee - at the proximity of a new season of Strictly?  Or are you just smirking for the fun of it? Oh well suit yourself.

So, how did this week go for you, me hearties?  Did you all enjoy talk like a pirate day?  We, as per usual, threw ourselves into it with sheer unadulterated gusto, and showed the world how it was done.

But was that the highlight?  Oh no.  Oh no no no no.

The highlight came today, seeing a row of loved violin cases outside class after their very first violin lessons.  Then seeing them taken outdoors for a lunchtime practice, and the pride with which people held and played them.  Then seeing people leave school with them this evening with them strapped to their backs, ready to rehearse and stretch those soon-to-be-aching fingers at home.

It does not stop there.

Tomorrow, the drum teacher lands, as does the guitar teacher, and then we will hear about the ukulele teacher, and soon our corridors will resemble on of the passage scenes from the first Fame movie.  All japery aside, it made me smile... and not a little bit proud.

Dare to dream everyone, as one day soon, Miss Dark may allow you - yes you Mr D - to have the keys to the music room during your lunch.

September has been a really positive start everyone.  Well done.

That is all.

Your face is familiar...

I’ve seen you before somewhere, haven’t I?  Yes, yes, I’m sure.

Did you once play drums for Spandua Ballet?  No?  That can’t be it then. 

Were you once reserve goalie in the local park team?  You remember, it was really cold and wet, our friend Alan’s dog was the first choice keeper, having saved 17 penalties in a single first half, and you were sharing the gloves with a bloke two pitches away?  No?  That not you either?  Oh.  Oh, okay.

Perhaps we once met somewhere more ethereal, perhaps more cyber optic?  Was it – yes! I knew it was you all along.  Yes, of course! How have you been doing?  You look well, you’ve not changed a bit.  Well, a bit older and a bit greyer perhaps but other than that not a bit.  Of course, I recognized you at once, it’s you:

All of my companions in the blogosphere!

It’s so lovely to see you again.  I’d love to tell you all how much I’ve missed you during the long, lovely, sun kissed sojourn that has been the summer.  I’d really love to…

Anyway, let’s get on with the most important news-since-we-last-met:  we are now of course Badock’s Wood Community Primary School and Children’s Centre, and very pleased we are too.  Our first official visitor lands tomorrow, called “The Lord Mayor”.  Pretty impressive eh?  Before all that however, we got down to some serious training as a whole organization on Monday – the results of which can be seen on the BW website. 

This summer we have mostly been listening to the Zummer 2012 playlist, by yours truly.  Ruben know all the words before the second playround; Thea knew all the weird noises by the second month.  From Arctic Monkeys to Xanadu, from Sunsets (Avalanche City)  to moonlight (ELO) and sunshine (Katy Perry) to the rain (Mint Royale) we have had a ball.  I hope you have too.  You all seem to have come back clean, healthy, shiny and refreshed, and I am delighted that we have been joined by over 20 new friends throughout the school, even before our shiny new reception and nursery children join us.

So, as I said to the staff on Monday, I could tell you all about our aims this year, but Paddy MacAloon of Prefab Sprout does it so much better than me, so here he goes:

“Our plans are ambitious, a blue print of wishes,

That will come true, and when they do –

Folks from the valley will look up and say

“You finally built it! Can we come and stay?!

And cynics will marvel and say “We confess

There were times when we thought it was just an address”.”

Once we’ve built it, they’ll call it amazing.

That is all for now, but, rest assured, there is so much more to come this year.

That is all.

This is our quest...

As we head into the final throes of 2011-12, I am put in mind of the lyrics of The Impossible Dream, known by my generation as an anthem almost utterly murdered by Carter.  However, it is still a late-on-a-Friday-night favourite, and the lyrics, with just the merest of tweaking, suddenly sound rather apt.  When I laid out my plans for the School Improvement Plan at SLT in early summer 2011, they all looked at me with a searching look (i.e., they all started looking for my common sense).  When I started talking about the children’s centre project, people looked at me as if I were inviting IBS.  To me, it is and has always seemed, just the right thing to try to do. 

Therefore, going even further beyond the pale of the mighty Carter, I offer you a slightly alternative, self-indulgent version. 

To dream the impossible dream
To reach for a target so high
To bear with a dignified quiet
Those moments when apathets sigh

To improve on what’s already good
And observe, pure and chaste from afar
To strive on a cold Tuesday evening
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest - To strive for that star
To prove only the narrowest of minds Prevent raising the bar

To stand up for what’s right Without pausing to see
If it’s realistic to strive for your FFT D

And I know if I'll only be true
To what I always knew to be best
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

So, just to recap in laymen’s terms:

EYFS results still on the up

Key Stage1 results on the up

Key stage 2 results way, way, way up

Provision up, and still going…

Attendance up

With all the success we’ve had this year, it is difficult not to be proud.  However, there are now several more ticks on my to-do list, bringing me closer to a leaving date.  That, however, is another story, and another song.  (For some staff, my leaving will probably be accompanied by Russ Abbot’s “Party”.) 

I shall conclude simply thus:

“Thank You”

For working late into the night on amazing planning, or quality assessment, or stunning displays, or that piece of maths work you’ve hated all week, or keeping your uniform neat and smart all year, or taking those reading books home, for bringing in all those letters, for running in with those packed lunches at the last moment, for staying at that governors meeting late into the night, for making that awkward phonecall, for smiling in the playground, for being one of the thousand citizens who works silently and diligently to make this place the special place it is every single day – to every single one of you, thank you.

Have a great summer.

From a proud head’s desk, that is all…for now.

PS In non-laymen’s terms: FFT D across the board, and APS averaging 3.8+ throughout.  Not bad eh?  That is definitely not all.