Happy Easter to all of our Preston Primary School community,

We are at the end of our Spring Term, and we can look back at all we have achieved over the last few months. Your children have worked so hard this term on their learning, despite the challenges of many staff members and children self-isolating with Covid. These last few months had the potential to be highly disruptive to school life. However, because we have a 'Can Do' culture at Preston, we have seen staff and pupils improvise, adapt, and overcome. We even managed to recruit new staff this term. Welcome to our new staff, and bravo for settling in so swiftly. Well done to everyone for being so flexible and adaptable. (Latest Covid guidance at the end of this message)

Next term, we have a lot to look forward to. We have children going on Residentials in Year 4 and 6, a Year 2 Sleepover in school, trips to castles and museums, older children reading with younger children in Book- Buddies, and swimming for all pupils in our own upgraded pool.  

Here are our dates for Sports Day and our Summer Fayre. (Each event has a reserve date in case of severe weather)

• Sports Day Monday 11^th July
• Reserve date for Sports Day Thursday 14^th July
• Summer Fayre 3.30pm – 5.00pm Friday 8^th July
• Reserve date for Summer Fayre Friday 15^th July

From 1^st June, Preston will be part of a family of eight schools called Connect. This will make little difference in day to day school life, but it will benefit your child's learning. It will benefit because I will have seven other Headteachers to share ideas with, solve challenges with, and accelerate innovations with. Economies of scale will also make us financially more secure, and I promise you I will use that enhanced security to improve this school by trialling innovation at every opportunity, and encouraging similar across the whole Team.

We are finalising plans to develop the school grounds even more, and even expand our teaching team to be able to deliver even more intervention groups to meet the needs and gaps in learning for all our pupils. Watch this space...exciting times!

Over the next few weeks, we will learn how many families have been allocated a place at Preston in Foundation Stage for September. I have already been informed that we have more families applying for Preston than ever before. What a wonderful pat on the back for the Team at Preston.

Thank you to our wonderful PTA, FOPPS, for the Easter treats, and the very successful raffle.

Happy Easter. A time of renewal, rebirth, fresh beginnings and new opportunities.

Mr Scott Ord

The advice from the Department for Education is:

· children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people. They can go back to school when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend.

· adults with a positive COVID-19 test result should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 5 days, which is when they are most infectious. For children and young people aged 18 and under, the advice is 3 days.