Despite the challenges and disruptions that this week and Covid-19 has brought, there have been many positives and  shoots of brightness.  I only have to look out of the window to see the results of the wonderful work our Y1 group have been completing with Just Let Your Soul Grow - our community gardening partner. The school is a blanket of daffodils and crocus, magpies are nesting in our quad and you can just about hear the woodpecker going about her business in the cemetery.  I regularly remind the children how lucky we are to have such a "green" space, with views to Cleadon hills and beyond  which our location, close to the sea, offers us this. Having visited London recently, you can see the flip side, urban primary schools, bordered by high rise flats and surrounded by a sea of concrete. It is a stark contrast.

Covid-19

Of course - we have missed our Nursery children and many Y2 children, not to say the other children who have to stay away from school after testing positive with Covid-19. This week, we have seen the highest number of staff  absent with Covid-19, as we move into the grim two year anniversary of the pandemic.  As a result, we reintroduced some further precautions: placing Y2 in a bubble, no shared whole school assemblies, face coverings in communal areas. The remaining staff have really pulled together to ensure your children have been as unaffected as possible by some significant challenges. As we move into next week, staff will be returning and possibly normality?  It has a familiar ring to it.

Wild Oysters

 It was exciting to see Y4 embarking on a fascinating project to help restore oyster reefs to the mouth of the River Wear, to improve the quality of water here.  Through the Wild Oysters Project with Groundwork Trust, Year 4 will help restore native oyster reefs along our coastline, starting with breeding oysters in nurseries at Sunderland Marina. The Wild Oyster project is looking to restore the once buoyant oyster population through a new oyster reef so that this can contribute to building a healthy marine environment. The reef will provide a habitat for other marine life.
The oysters also do a fantastic job of cleaning the water as each one can filter up to 200 litres of water each day.

Comic Relief

Thank you for all your donations and support for Comic Relief 2022, the children enjoyed the opportunity of supporting this national, fundraising effort and it was a great end to the week.

Visits

Educational visits are an important part of our curriculum and I am glad we are back up and running with them. We try to keep costs to families to a minimum, using the Metro - for example when it has been possible. As we move towards Easter, I know there are plans for Y3's second visit to Broomhouse Farm, Y2 are off to the Museum and Winter Gardens for a Victoria Hall Disaster learning experience. Elsewhere, staff are finalising the final arrangements for Y6's residential to Derwent Hill in the Lake District in May, while  - as a school - we are reflecting on our first, successful history trip to York. We regularly discuss other plans, including potential residentials - to give our children the opportunity to "dream big."

Assemblies

This week the children have been exploring the diversity of our Commonwealth, as part of Commonwealth Day and also learn about the significance of St Patrick's Day. Our Y1 and 3 children should be able to tell you about the finer points of Fiji's flag. Please ask them...

Finally

It was a pleasure to watch Yr 5 take part in gymnastics this week and really challenge themselves. For those who attended Seaburn Dene Primary School in the past - you will notice the one piece of equipment the children were using. They showed real maturity, support and co-coaching, during this part of the session with Mr Ashton - which he can be particularly proud of.