Brightwell School wish the village community a very happy new year.
Well done to Miss Shinner our Class 1 teacher, ably assisted by our Early-Years Teaching Assistants and parent helpers, for a fantastic nativity production of A Sleepy Shepherd. Our young actors and singers, aged 4-7 years, performed to packed audiences. Our school choir, which has gone from strength to strength under the guidance of parent Wendy Murton, made scintillating and sonorous contributions to village festivities when they sang at the village carol evening and at a lunchtime senior-citizen event at Root One garden centre. After the school disco, class parties and Christmas dinner, it was fitting that our children were reminded of what this time of year is truly about when the Revd Jill Chatfield led the school in a traditional Christmas Service at St Agatha’s Church on the final day of term. Sadly, this was Jill’s farewell to us and the children thanked her for all her inter-active and thought provoking assemblies. We wish her the very best for the future.
Our Year 5 and Year 6 pupils had a talk from the Fire Service on fire safety and the school also took part in national events, including Road Safety Week and Anti-Bullying Week. Congratulations to the Year 6 pupils who attended a Maths Challenge at St Edwards School in Oxford recently. One pair was placed 7th overall, with more than 30 state and private schools participating.
The children raised £87 for Children in Need and families donated forty seven boxes for the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas appeal. If you did not attend our Christmas fair, you missed out - this year it was just ‘packed’. Arranged and managed through Friends of Brightwell School (FOBS) it raises money to support extra curricular activities and resources. I extend my thanks and gratitude to all who made this fair such a great success.
After her nearly ten years at Brightwell we said goodbye to Mrs Calvert, one of our teachers and our Special Educational Needs Coordinator. She moves on deservedly to a school-support role in special needs education for the local authority. She has been a great servant to the school and her contribution will be sadly missed. The children presented Mrs Calvert with a range of gifts, courtesy of the many generous donations
Finally, as we usher in a new year, full of anticipation and expectation, we may remember, as a small school in a small village, that young minds are best shaped and developed when they are encouraged to have and hold to big hopes and big dreams.
Roger Grant
