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Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

As I look out the window this morning I can see that we are going to have a lovely summers day.  The senior classes have swimming and the junior rooms are off to Brighton Beach for their Beach Education Day.

I was speaking to a friend last night and he was telling me how that he found it quite sad how often the end of year can be a time not of joy and celebration as we approach Christmas, but a time of stress and tension.

I agreed with him but said that I still believed that people looked forward to the festive season but that they expected to tidy up all of life's ‘loose ends’ in the month of advent and as it became obvious that this was not going to happen, then they put pressure on themselves and others by trying to work to impractical and unsustainable time frames.  This is often compounded by the range and number of  functions that occur at  this time of the year.  The most relaxing Christmas times that I remember are times when we simply got away from it all.

 To ensure that our pupils continue to achieve at the high standard that they do I would ask that you all ensure that your children continue to read and write over the Christmas period.  A recent study showed that in all schools the amount of progress that children make during the school year is quite similar but that what makes the difference is the work put in during holidays.

If pupils don’t read or write for six weeks then they have to catch this up, so please encourage your child to read daily during the upcoming holidays, and play lots of card and board games.

Remember a good book is a great present.

 

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan