Monthly Archives: September 2020

Head’s Blog – 25th September 2020

The weeks are whizzing by and autumn is well and truly upon us. All of the children are doing so well with the new routines relating to entering and exciting classrooms, cleaning hands and keeping safe around school. I am really proud of them for just getting on with things. There are things that we are not able to do, such as singing as a whole school but we are managing to sing when we have less than 15 people in the classroom. I posted, on Seesaw, some of the wonderful singing by the children, they haven’t lost their skills!

Our focus on Welly Walk this week was mushrooms. We looked at a number of mushrooms and discussed how we should never pick a mushroom and eat it without having an expert adult know it is not poisonous. Some of the children are fascinated by the “ink” produced by some mushrooms that I picked from a field near my house. Unfortunately we were able to find lots of mushrooms growing on Welly Walk. We were able to build fairy houses because of course, fairies like mushrooms and toadstools to live under and in the absence of fungi they need somewhere to live.

Our Celebrations

Head’s Blog – 18th September 2020

This week has flown by and I have been fortunate to spend half of it teaching and working with KS1 and our new Reception children. They have all settled in so well and they are learning their sounds and a huge range of other skills too. It is lovely to hear their giggling, singing and experimenting with different instruments. The noise was quite incredible!

Experimenting with music and instruments

We have been blessed with beautiful weather especially for Welly Walk. This week our focus was on apples and appreciation of nature. First we walked up to look at an apple tree then headed to the meadow to lie and soak up the autumn sunshine. We lay in silence and listened, touched and smelt our environment. It was so calming and the children loved feeling different types of flora and fauna.

We are so lucky that Tudor Farmhouse gave us permission to visit their orchard and see where apples grow. We were in for a treat as we got to see their ducks as well. The children were all now desperate to eat an apple so we headed back to school, had an apple each and played in our beautiful garden before listening to a story. What an amazing way to spend a sunny afternoon!

Being a teacher is hard work, as I am sure many of you found out during Lockdown! So when people show their appreciation, whether that is a smile, a thank you or an “How are things going today?” It reminds us all of how grateful people are. What we don’t always realise is how influential we are. This week, one child loves their teacher so much they asked their mum and dad to create their own “Mrs Griffiths” to have at home. Now, all of the children want one! I have promised them a print out and to put Mrs Griffiths on a stick! I love this!

Our Celebrations

We headed to the church today for worship, no singing but we got to celebrate, socially distancing, our Top Learners and Christi Angels. It is getting so difficult to choose each week as learning and behaviour is so good in virtually every child at our school.

Head’s Blog – 11th September 2020

Finally, we have welcomed all of our children into school. We have nine new children in Reception who has all settled into school so well. They have been having a fabulous time showing us everything that they can do and making new friends. We had an exciting time on Welly Walk where we climbed gates/styles, collected conkers and climbed trees.

Here are some of the owls that the children created, inspired by British artist Andrew Goldsworthy.

Clearwell Pupils on Radio 4

If you missed the Radio 4 programme on Forest Dialect then you have not missed your chance to listen to our Year 6 children reciting Keith Morgan’s “Varest Ship”. Dr Jason Griffiths investigated Forest Dialect and created this informative programme. This is the same Dr Griffiths who has worked (and will again work) with our KS2 children making podcasts. We could not have more of an expert working with our children, especially as he works for Reading the Forest too, as well as being a Forester. Only the best for the children of Clearwell!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000m4b2

Head’s Blog – 4th September 2020

Welcome back! I finally return to my Head’s Blog after the hiatus caused but the strange situation we have found ourselves in this year. I still can’t get used to the new year groups that the children are in. This week has gone well, we have managed to sort out lots of hand washing and sanitising and the children are trying to get used to not touching others and sharing their belongings. It is weird for all of us. The morning drop offs have been great as we have a 15 minute slot for parents to drop their children off. Home time is more challenging as we have two small entrances. Our main playground gate is very busy. Please can parents refrain from standing near the barrier so we can escort the children out a family at a time. I recommend standing, socially distanced, on the opposite side of the road. Thank you for your support with this. It is challenging for everyone and we are doing our very best to keep everyone safe.

Our celebrations will return next week, we are trying to work out how to organise them without the whole school gathering together. Celebrating learning is so important to us and we know how much the children value these celebrations.

Our KS1 children have been doing some construction work and outdoor playing, below are a couple of photographs of them. Our new Receptions start next week. As always, if you have any queries or concerns please contact us.