People coming together as a community can make things happen

It hardly seems possible that half term is already upon us, yet over the past weeks, Prince’s Mead pupils have achieved so much and all from the confines of their homes.

The 2,000 hours of Zoom video lessons that we are delivering each week have been a hive of activity and productivity, where energetic and inquisitive minds have been inspired by a variety of subjects and themes, providing those ‘light bulb’ moments and engendering a love of learning something new; be it digging a new garden allotment, climbing a virtual mountain, completing Duke Award challenges or simply learning to apply themselves so positively under the most challenging of circumstances. The Prince’s Mead virtual community is simply buzzing and our commitment remains as strong as ever to those pupils who we can’t welcome back just yet. I am sure that their time will come sooner that we think. Whilst the second half of our Summer term offers to be one of the longest of any school in the land, the excitement is already building in anticipation of all pupils returning to Prince’s Mead during that time and an opportunity for us to regroup after our time apart. The end of this term could yet prove to be one of the most magical moments for all our pupils.

The Senior Leadership Team continues to undertake a wealth of detailed planning and I am extremely proud of their extraordinary commitment behind the scenes. We look forward to communicating further with you next week our final plans for the return of Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 whilst, of course, finally opening those doors to our new Nursery on 1st June. We are also working hard on plans around our offer of a July extension and I would be very grateful to you for any feedback in the questionnaire contained below.

Thank you for your enormous support of the school and, particularly, your continued encouragement and recognition of all staff who have responded to the challenges we face with their trademark energy and vigour. A huge thank you to you too, for the extraordinary work you have put in at home with your children as part of that partnership. There is much to look forward to but, in the meantime, I do hope that you have a restful break over the coming week.

Peter Thacker