What a wonderful way to return to school after a half term break and I must of course start with the incredible firework display last night. Being only the second time we have run this event, we did not expect to sell all 440 tickets but sell them we did. It was wonderful to welcome so many Pennthorpe families and members of the community onto the site for what really was a seriously impressive display! Thank you to everyone who joined us and I hope you all enjoyed the evening as much as I did. A huge thank you to Lauren Manvell who organised the entire event, working tirelessly all week to get everything arranged. Putting together an event of this magnitude is incredibly complex and it is fair to say that Lauren absolutely smashed it.
We started the week with our Core Value Huddle which this half term is ‘Resilience’. Together, we explored what resilience really means and challenged the idea that resilient people never struggle. Instead, we discussed how resilience is our ability to cope with challenges, recover from setbacks, learn from them and continue moving forwards.
I am a firm believer that growth rarely happens without challenge. We built a tower, watched it fall and then rebuilt it again. I want the children to understand that the process of Fall – Recover – Learn – Grow will repeat itself many times in their lives and it is not something we should fear or be discouraged by. These are opportunities to develop character and strength. As one of the slides reminded us, ‘If we never fall, we can never grow.’
As part of the Huddle, I also went through the busy schedule of events that we have to look forward to this half term. I was delighted (and slightly terrified) to share that we have a total of 8 Whole School Events throughout this half term. Eight occasions where every child (and often many families) will come together to celebrate something. This started last night, but with so much going on, I encourage you to please look ahead in the SOCS Calendar and put as many of these events in your diary as possible. Next week alone we look forward to welcoming many of you for Come and See What We Do and Our Remembrance Service.
Looking ahead to next term (as we often do in schools!), I am delighted to share news of two appointments who will be joining the Pennthorpe community in the coming months. Following highly competitive recruitment processes, we have appointed Alice Kale as our new Beehive Lead and Jessica Sauter as Executive Assistant to the Head of School and Events & Extended Day Coordinator. Both Alice and Jessica stood out throughout their respective selection processes and bring a wealth of experience, expertise and enthusiasm to their roles.
Alice joins us with over thirteen years of Early Years teaching experience, holds Qualified Teacher Status and has significant leadership experience within EYFS, having served as a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. She is incredibly passionate about nurturing every child to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.
Jessica brings an impressive combination of educational, administrative and operational experience. Having worked as a teacher, coach and Office Manager, she has extensive experience supporting senior leaders, coordinating complex logistics and managing multiple priorities. She also has a strong events background, having organised training camps, sports tours, residential experiences and hospitality events, making her ideally placed to lead many of the events and extended day activities that are such an important part of Pennthorpe life.
Both Alice and Jessica will spend time in school during the Autumn Term to support a smooth transition ahead of their official starts in January, and I know that you will join me in extending a warm Pennthorpe welcome to them both.
Finally, I enjoyed the accountability of the half marathon; showing the children that sometimes you must work hard for something over a long period of time and that things do not come easily is a good message to demonstrate. Therefore, throughout November, I will be taking on another challenge, this time in the water! I am aiming to swim a total of 15 kilometres across the month in a variety of different pools, lidos, lakes and potentially, the sea! To make it a little more interesting, I am aiming to complete the challenge without repeating any of the swimming locations more than once! I think I will need around 12-15 places! I have created a display for the children to track my progress in the main building and will talk to them about the challenge in Huddle on Monday. So, if there are any keen swimmers who fancy joining me for one or two kilometres or if you know of any hidden gem swimming locations, please let me know.
Alternatively, I am raising money for Cancer Research UK so if you feel you can spare a couple of pounds towards a good cause, the link can be found here: Mr Marler’s 15K November Swimming Challenge!
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and that anyone who is going to another firework display enjoys themselves.
See you all on Monday,
Mr Jon Marler
Head of School
