As January stretches inexorably onwards (Andrew Marr asked the other day whether it was the 49th January yet!) and February comes knocking, there are a few hopeful signs of Spring approaching; snowdrops are springing up across the estate and, as the world tilts summerwards, the mornings are brightening and even the sun has made a guest appearance or two.
…not that our pupils seem to have noticed as they direct their attention to the breadth and depth of activities in School. I have been so impressed by Year 8’s excellent work last week under the direction of Mr Stanley in identifying new 16 Core Values for Edge Grove. Not only did this generate impressive levels of higher-order thinking and reflection, but helps us to embed child-initiated shared Values across our whole community. The plan is then to recycle these fortnightly and tasking Year 8 to review them annually. I am hugely proud of our Year 8 Prefects and to Mr Stanley for this pioneering work and am excited that Year 8 have this chance to leave a lasting legacy at Edge Grove for the benefit of future generations. Other pastoral pioneers have been at work with pupils and parents coming together to discuss Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in our community and I am very much looking forward to seeing the outcomes of these meetings; I believe that Edge Grove has a unique opportunity to celebrate Diversity in our community and am excited by the opportunities that this provides. I am equally confident that the Year 7 and 8 Parents in Partnership meeting will bear fruit in identifying positive outcomes later this week.
Many thanks to Dr Alexander-Passe for his excellent and thought-provoking presentation on neurodiversity and how we could aspire to every pupil having a Pupil Passport to highlight their individual strengths. You can read more from Dr Passe in his Neurodiversity Corner section of the newsletter.
Thanks also to Mrs Broadis and Miss Treadwell-Collins for their outstandingly knowledgeable presentation to parents on Lexile scores and the School’s new reading initiatives. The Reception classes have enjoyed a Zoolab Rainforest Adventure, learning about rainforests and the animals that live there and Year 3 has enjoyed an experiential Egyptian Day. Thank you to the ‘Mummies’ and the Daddies, who helped their children prepare for this (sorry; Dad Joke!) Finally, well done to the few lucky souls who got the chance to hurtle around the Beechwood Cross-Country circuit on Friday; thank you for representing the School.
The energy of this place is magnificent and I am unfailingly impressed by your children and by the ways that they throw themselves into such a wide array of educational activities. They might not always realise that they are learning and developing, growing and evolving, but we see them, day-by-day, strengthen in resilience, adaptability and confidence.
One of my jobs is to distil all of this wonderful educational spirit into a newly articulated School Mission, which articulates a unique sense of belonging for every child, describes the School’s unique approach to developing confidence and independence and focuses our whole community on the 10 Core skills; not an easy task, but one which seems to be organically heading in the right direction through discussion and debate.
Mrs Broadis, kindly handed me over the co-compere role this morning in the Years 1 and 2 Lexathon Competition and in a fantastic spirit of fun and enjoyment saw some of our youngest pupils having a go at some truly fiendish spellings. Thanks to everyone who was involved in bringing words to life in this most interactive of ways. The Lexathon continues through this week for all other year groups and we will announce the house winners in assembly on Wednesday.
This week, I look forward to hearing news from the Haileybury Choral Competition, the Music platform, Linguistic Olympiad and seeing as many of you as possible at the FoEG Cheese and Wine Evening on Wednesday 1st February at 6.00pm in the Library.
With best wishes,Yours,
Ed BalfourHead
