Latest News- A Message from Mrs Staniland
Posted on: 20/12/2019A message from Gareth Nation
I cannot believe how quickly this term has passed. It has been an incredibly busy and successful Autumn Term with much to celebrate.
I’d like to start with a huge thank you to parents, carers and loved ones for your continued support of our wonderful school. My thanks to Rev. Jim and Rev. Nick for their support at different events this year. Whether it was coming into school for Collective Worship sessions based on our values, supporting at community events or welcoming the children to church to ask questions based on their project, we’re grateful for their time and effort. It was lovely to see so many of you at our ‘Vision Day’ last week. During the course of the day, the children had the opportunity to explore what the vision means to them, to locate it in the bible and to think of those less fortunate than ourselves. We had some wonderful comments from all who attended. Rev. Jim and Rev. Nick also joined us for the day and enjoyed taking part in supporting the children to understand the importance of our school vision. A special thank you to Rosey Thompson and Jane Carver who have painted our vision so beautifully in the school hall. Mrs Rundle and Miss Cridland planned the day and ensured everything went smoothly - well done team!
Thank you to all of the parents, carers, family members and friends who joined us for Carols at the Candlelight. I’m sure that you will agree that the children’s singing was amazing. A special mention must go to the soloists who were incredible! The children raised a fabulous £105 for CLIC, the school’s chosen charity this year, which is fantastic.
An enormous thank you to the Boarder family, for kindly dressing the hall for Christmas lunch and donating, once again, the crackers and table clothes. It looked absolutely magical.
Finally, my thanks to the Friends of Buckland St. Mary School (FoBS) who have begun fundraising again, helped with many events this term as well as providing the children with new ChromeBooks and many other extras for the children. Thank you especially for organising the pantomime. The newly interpreted retelling of Beauty and the Beast was fantastic. The children absolutely loved it and fully got in to the ‘he’s behind you’ spirit of panto! They were totally enthralled.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Enjoy spending time together as a family and cherish those dear to you.
Posted on: 22/11/2019A message from Gareth Nation
It’s amazing to think we’re three weeks into the second half of Autumn Term already. The children have returned full of energy and school is in full swing. We’ve started our new project for this half term and our ‘Gateway’ is ‘Cracking Ideas’. Following the session for parents last year, when we discussed Buckland St. Mary’s Curriculum, the school’s website has been updated. Under the ‘About Us’ tab you will find a ‘Curriculum’ tab. Please have a read of the document at the bottom of this page titled Curriculum Intent. Some of the pages are ‘under construction’ so watch this space for updates. My thanks to parents/carers for supporting the Shoe Box Appeal so well. We were able to send off many items that benefit those less fortunate than ourselves. In addition, we raised a fantastic ‘£104’ towards Children In Need. Raising the awareness of such charities and issues in the world is an integral part of what we do at Buckland St. Mary C of E School and clearly has a direct link to our Christian Values. It was lovely to see so many of you at Parents Evening last week. For those of you who didn’t manage to complete the survey, please scan the QR code on the back of this newsletter and answer the questions. On Wednesday 27th November, I will collate the responses and share with everyone before the end of term. Your feedback is valued and has already guided much of the work and efforts to date. For example, communication has been raised as an area for improvement. In light of this, we continue to send emails, letters etc. and all key dates are regularly updated on our school website as well as being added to all newsletters. In addition, and when necessary, we text/phone parents. All communication will aim to give parents/carers a minimum of two weeks notice. I appreciate that some things may have to change due to unforeseen circumstances but we endeavour to keep this to a minimum. If you feel this is not enough, please do get in touch so we can agree other forms of communication.