For many reasons, we are entering a New Year. Not only did the Jewish members of our school community celebrate Rosh Hashanah a few days ago, but our pupils have now completed the first full week of the new academic year.
There has been plenty happening at Lyonsdown as always, but this week my mind has been drawn to caring for others. A few days ago, there was a female pigeon trapped on the roof outside my Office, it’s cooing a slightly frustrating distraction. When Mr Sheridan found a rather forlorn squab outside, we were concerned and realised that the adult pigeon’s calls were aimed at is offspring. To reassure you; there is a happy end to this story and the pair were happily reunited and last seen flying over Richmond Road.
I had the pleasure of taking care of some of the fledgling Lyonsdown pupils from the Lower School on the pirate ship this week, during one of our curriculum evenings. Their games looked and sounded wonderful, including slide races and pretending to be various animals, but I must admit to being utterly confused by some of the adventures they were having. The creativity on show was fantastic and by creating a safe environment at school, where teachers care about their pupils, we are providing the girls and boys at Lyonsdown with a canvas on which to express themselves, no matter what their interests.
As a School, we want to encourage thinking differently or “outside of the box” as the Year 6 girls have it; creativity is one of the Lyonsdown Learning habits after all. We are very pleased to have introduced ballet for Reception and Year 1 and 2, street dance for Years 3-6, and fencing for Years 5 and 6 to our clubs provision this term. My thanks go to Miss Doyle and Mrs Brodie for making this all run smoothly. On that note, it has been wonderful to hear from parents (and children) about how much they have appreciated clubs starting a week earlier than usual. Our girls and boys have certainly been busy; a huge number of certificates lie waiting to be handed out next week; do keep sending these in. They also continue to work hard in school – the new house point system is not only extremely popular, but we are seeing a far closer race for the title.
Whatever your hobbies or academic interests, hats off to anyone who tried new things over the summer, or has started the Autumn Term by having a taste of a different activity or a new food. As the hours draw in, we should make the most of these new experiences and be determined to make this term better than ever.
All the best for another fine weekend.
C. Hammond