Reflections on the week at school...
Today saw our School community marking Remembrance Day as we came together to remember those who have risked their lives defending our country and for those who are defending our country right now. The honour, courage, resilience and empathy that these brave people have shown and continue to show are qualities that we should all aspire to and are the qualities that we want every one of the children here to develop.
Bikeability has been in full flow this week, as many of our Year 5 and 6 children have taken to the playground and then the road to further develop their cycling skills. It is a wonderful thing to see a child grow in confidence, as they take part in an activity like cycling. There is a visible nervousness and uncertainty at the beginning of the week and over the course of the week, through continuing to try and going again each time they come off the bike, put their foot down or miss a cone, a quiet confidence starts to grow, a slight smile starts to appear and before long a new skill has been learnt. As well as learning that new skill, they have also managed to develop the qualities of perseverance and resilience as well.
But by the end of the week this journey is still only part way through. The week at school has been a week well spent, but further challenges on this journey still lie ahead, like cycling longer distances, cycling along tracks and trails, cycling up and down steeper hills and the list goes on. There will be tiredness, scratches and scrapes, the enticement of electronic devices instead of the enjoyment of the outside world and with all of these come the opportunity for you to help your child to develop those qualities of perseverance and resilience further still and make them defining qualities of your child's character.
Bikeability has been the key theme this week, but of course this journey analogy applies to everything that every child takes part in at school, the experiences they have and the subjects, knowledge and skills that they learn. All of these things can be built on further at home and the more that you support and challenge your child to continue any one of those journeys, the more that those qualities of perseverance and resilience that could define your child as a person will develop as well.
I wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable weekend ahead
Mr Plunkett