April is the Month of the Military Child. Today, 24th April, we wore purple to acknowledge this national event. Our children have shared their knowledge of their family experiences, including plotting postings on a world map in Y6, which we plan to do in assembly next week for other classes.

Classes have found out about the meaning behind the logo – a dandelion depicting ‘strong roots grow wherever they go’, and enjoyed learning about military connections and roles both past and present.

We have 36 military children in our school, a number which has grown exponentially in the past few years. We have families representing all services, Army, Navy and RAF with the majority being at RAF Shawbury. We also have military families and civilian members within our staff community and wider local school community. We value our partnership with RAF Shawbury, working with them to ensure high quality education and support for our children and families.

On Friday 8th May we are celebrating David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday!

The Shropshire Wildlife Trust are coming to school work with all classes, leading sessions in our forest school area based on sustainability. We are also welcoming some children and staff from our partner Trust schools, Thomas Adams and St Martins to participate in these sessions, so we are really looking forward to collaborating.

On the day we will be celebrating the life of Sir David Attenborough, learning about his many adventures and achievements as he hits this tremendous milestone. We will be participating in a live national assembly, making planet pledges and of course eating birthday cake!

We will monitor the weather and keep you posted with regards to any outdoor clothing requirements.

We are once again taking part in the Market Drayton calendar competition. This year our month is April. So far half of our school have worked with the local artists to create their paintings, the other half will complete these next Tuesday. A great opportunity to work with local community members, showcasing their artistic skills and sharing their knowledge with our children.

Every child creates a painting, a long list is selected by the artists, followed by a short list of winners to go through to the final selection panel, then an overall winner is selected and their painting is used for the April picture in the printed local calendar. All shortlisted children are invited to a presentation, usually in October.

It has been delightful to see so many beautiful paintings around school this week – so much drying space was needed, they have literally been everywhere! Well done to all involved.

We have a new beautiful ‘little community library’ outside our main office area. We encourage our community to ‘take a book ~ love a book ~ leave a book’.

Please can parents support children to use this community feature.

Thank you to Mr & Mrs Noden for this generous addition to our school grounds. We look forward to sharing a love of books.