Monthly Archives: July 2021

Head’s Blog – 16th July 2021

The year has been yet another very strange year, who would have thought that we would be finishing another academic year with lots of cases of COVID in the Forest of Dean? Certainly not me! However, despite the restrictions the children at Clearwell has continued to made great progress in their learning, both academically and socially. We have seen our pupil numbers go above 50 for the first time in many years. We do have some spaces in some year groups, including next year’s Reception. Please contact admin@clearwell.gloucs.sch.uk if you are interested.

We said goodbye to our year 6s who are going to a range of different secondary schools including Dene Magna, Five Acres and Forest High. They are all going to be a welcome addition to their new schools and we wish them well. To celebrate we had a leaver’s service in the garden and a meal at the Butcher’s Arms. I asked them what they thought the best things about Clearwell School was and they said the trips. Our motto of “a small school providing endless adventures” has certainly left an impression on these boys. When asked what we should change to make Clearwell a better school, they said nothing as it is great the way it is. Such a lovely thing to hear from boys who are not afraid of telling us what they think!

Goodbye Year 6

We chose a glorious day for Sports Day! Rob, our Sports Coach, organised the day which incorporated a number of Olympic events in the morning which included fencing, shooting, javelin and archery. Then in the afternoon more tradition races took place.

The results are in: Gold – Dunraven, Silver – Wyndham and Bronze – Joce

Unfortunately parents were not able to attend so I have created a very basic video with the images taken of the day, sorry there is no sound! I would like to thank Rob, not only for organising the day but also for his dedication to teaching the children of Clearwell sports for the last four years. He became our own Joe Wicks during Lockdown! Rob starts a new journey in September where he is going to Loughborough to train to be a secondary PE teacher. We know that he will be fabulous.

Unfortunately, we have to say goodbye to Jen Hale who has contributed so much to our school over the time she has been here. She not only supports children in school academically but she supports them emotionally. She goes well beyond expectations especially during the Lockdowns since March 2020 where she delivered and facilitated food for families. Her and her mum not only cooked meals for families during this time but also carried out sponsored events raising over £1200 for our school. She is a true inspiration and we wish her every success as she undertakes a new journey. Thank you for everything that you have done for us.

Our Celebrations

Head’s Blog – 9th July

What a week this has been. One to go down in history as England finally made it through to a final in a major tournament. I hope that many of our children will watch the football on Sunday evening and make some memories. Let’s hope that it is a case of remembering where we were when England won Euro 2020 (which was actually 2021!). Remember, we have a very slow start on Monday to enable everyone to enjoy themselves without worrying about getting the children up early.

Our Y5 children have also been to visit Five Acres High School and had an amazing time. They were complimented on their good behaviour, something that I am extremely pleased about. Whilst there, with Miss Hale, they did music, art and maths.

We have also had a lady come from the library service to help us review our reading provision. She has, with support of some pupils, done an amazing job sorting out all of our books. We now have book corners in each classroom. Our ambition is to have a library where we can put all of our non-fiction books. I am going to apply to different places to try and achieve that for our school. At the moment they are all in boxes, labelled ready to share.

This week on Welly Walk, the children were actually able to find shadows in the meadow as the sun came out in between the showers. I forgot to include photographs taken by Miss Hale last week.

Our Celebrations

Head’s Blog – 2nd July 2021

This week has not only brought sunshine but we were also able to go to visit the Roman Museum in Caerleon. We had an absolutely brilliant time and were the first school to visit the museum since March 2020. The guides were very knowledgeable and helpful and the children asked brilliant historical inquiry questions. This shows how much progress they have made over the last couple of years which is very pleasing. The children got to join the biggest army in the world and work together as a team whilst learning to march . They also looked at historical artefacts, learned about life as a member of the Roman army and explored a Roman amphitheatre. We hope that this visit inspired them for September as we learn more about Roman Britain and whether or not they set foot in the Forest of Dean.

Oak Class have been making the most of the garden and enjoying walking around the village as part of their science and geography. Our garden is getting somewhat overgrown and we will be having a working party to sort it out soon. Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs Bowen have kindly repaired the wooden benches. They look incredible and we cannot wait to use them once they are all fixed in place. Thank you so much, we really do have the best parents at Clearwell.