Royal Visitor

Last week, we were delighted to welcome HRH Sophie, The Countess of Wessex to Guildford Grove. She came to visit our Lighthouse specialist deaf centre as patron of the 'Children with Special Needs Foundation'. This Foundation have been a great supporter of the Lighthouse and has donated a range of ICT equipment as well as helping to update our sensory room.

The Countess spent the morning meeting our Lighthouse children from nursery up to year 6. She toured the centre and watched the children take part in lessons as well as helped out with making pizzas.  She watched our Year 2 signing club and she listened to Lauren and Brooke sing and sign to 'I dreamed a dream' from Les Miserables. There wasn't a dry eye in the room at that point!

At the end of her visit, she got to see the children from the rest of the school as they cheered her off with union jack flags. I know she spent a lot of time asking our pupils lots of questions and they also got to ask her some too. A couple of the Year 6 boys even found out her favourite football team. Sunderland apparently!

It was a great morning and we were so proud of all our pupils and staff both in the Lighthouse and in the school.

Here are some pictures of the visit for you to enjoy!

The Countess talking to some of our Lighthouse parents

Learning some signs from our Year 2 signing club

Tianna presenting the bouquet of flowers

The Countess meeting the rest of the pupils from Guildford Grove

Many thanks,

Rona Mackie
Headteacher

Poster winners

Congratulations to Abigail (6K), Rahma (3A) and Mayar (2P) for winning our dining hall poster competition organised by our school council. All three girls designed eye catching posters that help to remind all our pupils about how to ensure a positive dining hall experience. Well done girls!

I am looking forward to seeing these posters up in the small hall in the near future.

Rona Mackie
Headteacher

Showing commitment!

This week's theme has focused on how children can show commitment to our school or to interests outside of school.

On Monday, a number of our children celebrated 'Thinking Day' and came to school dressed in their Brownies, Rainbows, Beavers and Scouts uniforms. They all stood up in assembly and talked about the commitment they make to their club outside school. They also talked about the different skills they have to learn to gain badges. I was so impressed and really hope they inspire more children to join similar groups.

Layla and Isla in the Rainbows' uniform

Miles in the Beavers' uniform

Dillan, Jamie T and Jamie G in the Scouts' uniform

Brownies were the most popular!

I also had the privilege of speaking to another pupil in Year 2 who came to talk to me about a commitment he has outside of school. Callum in 2P came to show me his golf clubs and explained that he goes to play golf every week. I was so impressed and think he might be the next Tiger Woods!

I also mentioned the commitment many of our children show to our after school sports clubs and we celebrated the recent achievements of our 5/6 netball teams.

Throughout the week, I also witnessed all our pupils showing great commitment to their learning in all subjects including literacy, maths and science.

What a great start to the second half of the spring term!

Rona Mackie
Headteacher

Fantastic learners at Guildford Grove

Last week, I had lots of children sent to my office to show me their excellent work and talk to me about how engaged they were in their learning. I also enjoyed several walks around the school where I visited classes and witnessed high levels of engagement and excellent behaviour.

I really enjoyed visiting the Foundation Stage where they have created amazing under the sea displays for the children to enjoy. I spent a lovely half an hour enjoying the KS2 children singing with Mrs Schollar and Mrs Pedder and I also had a very useful meeting with our school council who talked me through the work they have been doing on finding out how our pupils feel about eating in the dining hall. 

Also well done to our Year 5 and 6 netball teams who represented our school so well when they played QE last week. They are such committed players.

KS2 singing

Hollie's amazing Science!

Emerald's fantastic effort in Science.

Another great Science book from Chantelle

Miliena and Kaela created their own computer timer using the scratch programme.

Michael and Aliye had a great week and came to see me several times!

Rona Mackie

Headteacher

The start of a new year!

Happy new year! The children have settled quickly into the new term and are already very engaged in their learning in class. It is always a delight to see them so eager to return back to school and seeing them so happy to catch up with their friends and teachers.

On Wednesday, our Year 6 pupils went up to London to visit the Science museum and see 'Wicked' at the theatre. I was lucky enough to attend this trip and I was so proud of how well our pupils conducted themselves both at the museum and in the theatre. We had several members of the public come up to us and comment on how well behaved our pupils were and what a pleasure it was to see them enjoy the show so much. Well done Year 6!

I know the Year 5 pupils will do the same when they visit London this week to go to the Natural History museum and to go and watch 'The Lion King'.

Look how close we were to the stage!

Many thanks,

Rona Mackie
Headteacher

Celebrating Success

What I love about being a Headteacher are the visits I receive from pupils showing me what they have recently learned in class. This week has been no exception. I have had regular knocks on my door from proud children desperate to tell me why they have been sent down to see me. I thought it would be nice to share some of these stories with you.

Leo, Callum and Mary had demonstrated excellent knowledge in their science lesson with Mrs Donald. They were able to tell me what scientific words like soluble and viscosity meant. Fantastic!

Tegan and Aliye were proud to tell me that they had been supporting other children in their class with their learning. They are excellent role models!

Jude was delighted to show me what Ozzie the Owl had got up to when he visited Jude for the weekend. He was very proud of the pictures and writing he had completed with the help of his family. Ozzie looked like he had a great time and Jude seemed pleased to get a chance to sit in my chair!

Charlie amazed me with his science book. He was able to tell me what he had learned from the experiment he had completed on separating mixtures.
 

I am very proud of all our pupils and the hard work they put into their learning. 

Rona Mackie

Headteacher

Amazing Achievements at Guildford Grove

Guildford Grove seem to be on a bit of a winning streak at the moment. I was delighted to hear that two of our pupils had been chosen as runners up for our Member of Parliament's annual Christmas card. Well done to Alisha-Mea from 1T and Chantelle Miles from 5J for their fantastic designs. 

Another big well done to Miriam Perez from 5B. She was picked as a winner of a 'Road Safety Banner' competition. She was one of just 12 national winners across the UK and this is the second time Guildford Grove has won the competition. On Monday, representatives from the competition presented Miriam with an engraved cup and presented the school with a large banner of Miriam's design. You can see her design on our school fence. Well done Miriam!

What fantastic achievements!

Rona Mackie
Headteacher