It has been an absolute pleasure watching our new Reception children transition and settle into life here at Great Bookham School. We have been so impressed with their independent skills and we are excited to see them flourish and grow in Ladybird class. Our Year 5 pupils have been a great support to Reception in their role as a 'special friend'. We have buddied up a Year 5 child with a Year R child and they have been there to support them as they encounter new routines. It was heart-warming seeing them eating lunch together and the Year 5 children guiding them through the process. Thank you Year 5!

On Monday we shared the story 'The Huge Bag of Worries' by Virginia Ironside and talked about how effective talking and sharing worries with an adult can be. The children were reflective during the session and very excited when Mrs Brown held a raffle to redistribute the class worry monsters. We talked about how verbalising worries can be hard and that our worry monsters can be used to receive worries that are written or drawn on a piece of paper. Class teachers regularly check the class worry monsters and offer support to any child that has used them.

Our Year 6 children have made a fantastic start to the school year and have already taken on many roles of responsibility. Today, some Year 6 children spent valuable time with PC Ferris stopping speeding traffic, which you can read about below.

This afternoon, we welcomed a number of families to the first of our messy play sessions in the Pre-school. Children and their carers from the local community thoroughly enjoyed getting messy and left covered in spaghetti, jelly and shredded paper! Please do share the dates for these sessions with friends and family who have children under the age of 4, they are free and a great way for parents to introduce their children to sensory play without making a mess at home!

We currently have 1 space left in our Reception class and availability in our Pre-school so if you know of anyone who is looking for an early years space in a high quality and nurturing provision with an expert team, ask them to contact the school office for a personal tour with myself.

Many of our 2024/25 Reception and Year 3 tours dates are starting to fill up and we have not yet advertised these on our social media streams. If you know of friends and families who would like a tour then please direct them to our website to book a space.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Miss J. Allen

Headteacher