Today is the last day of the school year, bringing to a close a memorable and hugely successful year for Churchill CE Primary School.  It has been a real privilege to have been able to lead the school through its 200^th anniversary and to have received such positive feedback from the Nurture UK, Ofsted and SIAMS (church school) inspections.   I am delighted to be able to share with you the report from the final of those inspections, our SIAMS church school inspection.  It is attached to this email and also available on our school website. This is the third significant inspection we have had this year, and it further emphasises the strengths of our school and why it is regarded as a very special place.  SIAMS highlighted:

• Churchill Primary School is joyful, welcoming and nurturing, with strong partnerships among staff, pupils and families.
• Churchill School’s actions demonstrate a lived commitment to supporting pupils, adults and families during difficult times.
• The vision and values of love, hope and respect are deeply embedded throughout school life and shape relationships, decision-making and school culture
• The school was praised as a nurturing and inclusive community where relationships are strong, respectful and rooted in love.

Earlier in the year, Ofsted recognised that pupils at Churchill 'achieve well' and are 'well prepared for the next stage of their education'. We are immensely proud of all they have accomplished this year. Through their hard work, determination and positive attitudes, our pupils acquire the knowledge, skills and character to flourish in their future learning. 

Last week, I had the pleasure of accompanying our Year 6 class to St Paul’s Church in Weston, where the Diocese lead a special leavers’ service for all of the children moving on to Secondary School, in the summer.  Two of our pupils proudly carried our school banner representing our school amongst many other schools from the Diocese.  It was a lovely opportunity to be peaceful and reflect on all they have achieved over the last 7 years.

Welcome back, I hope you all had a lovely Easter break.  Over the Easter holidays the school has been a hive of activity. Through the support of Lighthouse Schools Partnership, we have had new fencing erected in the playground to cordon off an area that will (over the next few months) become our designated forest school area. This is a really exciting project which we hope will add a great resource to our school.

I would like to start this newsletter by expressing my thanks to all of the families who completed the Ofsted questionnaire and spoke with the inspectors during their visit, last week.  It was really encouraging to hear from inspectors how many of you took the time to share your opinions of our school. 

The inspectors will now write a detailed report on their findings, which we are looking forward to sharing with you once it is published.  We are anticipating this will be around the middle of May.

It is such a delight to look out of the window and see a little sunshine.  It really has been a very wet and miserable term, with so many soggy playtimes.  We are all hoping that the  half term break will bring some drier and sunnier weather, for everyone.

The last week of term is here and the excitement for Christmas is mounting. Over the last few weeks, there has been so much to celebrate and enjoy.  Our super Reception and KS1 children performed brilliantly in their nativity, ‘Everyone Loves a Baby’. We have also enjoyed our Year 3 pupils confidently showcasing their learning, in last week’s class service. The school choir have also been very busy, singing for the residents of our local care home and delighting guests at Yatton Church, where they performed alongside professional choral ensemble 'Celestia', conducted by David Ogden.  Thank you to all of the children for their super performances and to the team for their support and preparation, enabling the children to shine.

We are very much looking forward to our KS2 pupils raising the roof at our annual carol service, on Thursday evening.  We are at capacity for this evening, so please be prepared to squeeze together and maybe stand.           

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.  Mrs Woollven