There was magic in the air on Wednesday when Year 5 and 6 students from Great Ouseburn visited us for their Harry Potter day. After drama, creative writing and leaf tracing in the morning, they finished the day in DT making their very own wand with a special box to keep it in. Meanwhile, in another part of school, Year 5 students from Kirby Hill were completing their Inquiry day and watching a preview of ‘We Will Rock You’.

It was lovely to receive a letter from the North Yorkshire County Schools FA congratulating the Year 8 Football team on reaching the final of the ESFA Small School’s Cup. You can see it here.

Today has also been a day of sporting excellence as we’ve had field events this morning and track events this afternoon for Sports Day. There was a fantastic atmosphere as students competing were encouraged by the cheering crowds with points being secured for form totals. We’ll reveal the winning forms at our whole school assembly next Friday.

As part of our Quality Assurance processes, lesson observations have been taking place across the school over the past few weeks and we’ve observed classes with students of all ages from Year 8 to Year 13. It’s been great to see the level of focus and engagement of our students in these first few weeks of our new timetable and school year.

So, with five (well, actually 4 and a half) school days to go we’ve got a number of exciting events to look forward to next week. This includes the Rewards trip on Tuesday where students who’ve scored the highest points, and therefore have been consistent in their committed approach to learning over the last term, will be going to Flamingo Land for the day.  Our congratulations go to those students. Our thanks go to Harron Homes who presented us with a cheque for £500 this morning to pay for the coaches for the Rewards Trip.

On Wednesday, we’ll have our final Challenge Day of the year. It’s a big day for Year 11 who, dressed for business, will be meeting with employers from the local community with a focus on interviews. Year 8 will be enjoying the great outdoors at Helmsley and Rievaulx Abbey. Year 9 will be exploring Healthy Lifestyles and Year 10 will be learning how to keep themselves safe. Year 13 will be looking to the future as they begin the UCAS application process following their work experience last week. A somewhat packed day!

Our warmest congratulations go to Mrs Donnelly and her family on the birth of a baby girl. Both mother and baby are well.

Have a lovely weekend. I’m going to start mine by watching the performance of ‘We Will Rock You’ at 7pm in the School Hall. You’re very welcome to join me.