Final farewell

We’ve done it! A full year without a closure – the first time in 3 years!

Despite the challenges – to have achieved this feels fantastic. Being together again makes such an amazing difference. This year we have built back our school. We have reintroduced assemblies; we have 3 clear goals – to be kind, be ambitious and be respectful - and the children are all working hard to live these out each day. We have been singing together again; shared stories; had fun and enjoyed performances. We’ve had some amazing trips out and three classes have managed residentials! The send off for our Y6 leavers has been fabulous with an amazing play (with an audience); an evening prom and a special assembly!

What a packed year it has been – fitting in so much. We know we’ve got a way to go – but we are catching up. We can see the progress already. We know we have some areas to work on – some missed learning that we still need to plug – but we will. What we have been catching up on is relationships - making the school a great place to be again; rediscovering friendships and finding happiness. The children have made memories to last a lifetime – and we are lucky enough to have been with them through this.

So finally, as we bring the year to a close, thank you. Thank you for being there with us as we work hard to bring our school back to an even better place than it was pre-pandemic. Thank you for your patience, understanding and support. Thank you to the children for being so amazingly resilient, adaptable and responsive and for growing with us. Finally, of course, thank you to the staff. I have never met a harder working group of people – they are amazing.

Good luck to our Year 6 children as they head off to pastures new. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to be part of their lives and they take with them Garswood memories to last a lifetime.  

That leaves me just to say – stay safe, keep cool and I look forward to welcoming children back in the new school year.