Weekend Blog 24.10.26 - End of Term 1

24 October 20264 min read

By D.Vallier, HeadteacherUpdated 24 October 2026

From sharing learning journals with families to dinosaur adventures and sporting success, it’s been a week to celebrate. Wishing all our families a lovely half-term break!

Happy Saturday everyone.

There was a lovely moment this week when Mrs Thomas invited the Minnows parents in to see their learning journals. The room was a hive of excitement as parents and children shared the learning that has happened this half term. Thank you to all the parents for taking the time to pop in and celebrate your child’s work.

As one parent said; I wanted to say how grateful and appreciative I was for the opportunity to come into the classroom today to see what my son has been doing and his progress over the last two months. I thought it was lovely and, to be honest, I did have a moment of happy tears.

CLOCKS GO BACK

Don’t forget that clocks go back one hour this weekend. This will unfortunately mean more dark hours for a few months. I hope the children’s faces in the weekly blog keep you smiling though

CAPTURED

Here are a few learning moments from this week, captured by Miss Watson:

FUNKY FRIDAY ASSEMBLY

Thank you to the parents and grandparents who joined us for our Funky Friday Assembly. A huge thank you to Mrs Thomas for stepping in at such short notice. I also appreciated Mrs Chadborn and Mr Joseph being on hand to make sure the assembly went smoothly.

GOLDEN TICKETS

Adaline and Reggie (Reception), Orla and Chester (Year 1), Frankie and Freddie (Year 2), Maeva and Polly (Year 3), Natasha and Phoenix (Year 4), Didi and Alice (Year 5), Elsa and Ella (Year 6). Congratulations to you all.

OSCAR

Congratulations to Amelie (Year 6) on being presented with an Oscar in yesterday’s assembly.

At first in September, Amelie was quiet and perhaps a slightly shy and reserved member of our class – so it has been a really lovely surprise and genuine pleasure seeing her confidence build this term. All of us that teach Amelie have noticed and commented on it. We now get to hear more from her as she contributes her reasoning in maths, her insights into our reading, and her thoughts about our learning journey… – and it’s like we have discovered a hidden gem! Amelie is thoughtful, caring, funny and kind. You really deserve this Oscar Amelie – we all agree - you are a joy to teach!

SPOT THE DOG - ATTENDANCE MATTERS

Congratulations to Starfish Class for having the best attendance this week with 96.9%. The Attendance Randomiser allowed the class to select a dog of their choice. They chose Pippa. The answer is at the end of the blog.

BACK IN THE WATER

Ella and Millie (Year 5) qualified for a number of races in the Sussex County Swimming Competition last weekend. They were up against the best in the county for their age. They both raced amazingly and got some great personal best times, both coming away with multiple silver and bronze medals. Their success places them both in the top 10 in the county for their age group!

The hard work has definitely been paying off and they continue to impress us with their dedication. Well done girls!

HARLEY SAYS…..

A ROARING TIME

Year 1 had a roaring time at Paradise Park last week as part of their learning journey on Dinosaurs.

GOAL – SECOND LEG

On Wednesday, our Year 5 and 6 footballers had another football tournament – this time at Shoreham Academy. Thank you to Mrs Chadborn and Dixie for looking after our teams.

NURSERY TIME

DRAMA

This week, Key Stage 1 and Nursery enjoyed taking part in a drama workshops with Perform Drama4All. The children loved being superheroes. There was a mission to save our plants and flowers from extinction.

ELSA

Some lovely news. Elsa (Year 6) competed in a gymnastics competition on Sunday and achieved 1st place overall, 1st place on floor, and 2nd place on vault in West Sussex. We’re very proud of her achievement!