This week has been this first of week of Advent. The children are very excited and busy making preparations for Christmas. We have talked to the children about how Advent is very different to Christmas itself. The time of preparations, decorating, gifts and planning events and the more important task of preparing ourselves inside by showing love towards others, kindness and giving. The children have all been thinking of ways that they can do these things over the next few weeks. Our Advent calendars and wreaths help us to mark the days as we count down to Christmas. The hall display is looking beautiful and during our Advent Liturgy on Wednesday morning we lit the lights on the display and the Christmas tree. The tree is beautiful, I’m sure it’s the tallest that we have had at school. Thank you to Oxenford Farm in Elstead.

On Tuesday morning I led NSPCC assemblies for all the children in the school. We talked about all children having the right to be safe and discussed things that could happen to children that are not ok, and the importance of using their voices to speak out and stay safe. 

I had a great day out with Year 6 yesterday at Guildford Spike. Until recently, I hadn’t heard of the Spike and didn’t know anything about it. Built alongside the Workhouse in Guildford in Warren Road, the Spike was used to house vagrants and tramps. They even had their own language and symbols to give ratings on the establishment! It was a bitterly cold day, which helped us all to imagine what conditions might have been like in Victorian times. We all learnt a lot and will definitely be returning for future visits.

The children have been busy rehearing for the Christmas Performances next week. I love hearing them singing in the hall again. The children are looking forward to sharing their performances with you next week; we hope that you enjoy them.

There is great excitement for the Christmas Market tomorrow morning. It will be wonderful to see our school community back together at this special event. Please remember your facemasks and do a lateral flow test beforehand. I hope to see many of you there.

Have a lovely weekend,

Elizabeth