‘If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly’.

This age-old saying, that has been passed down from parents to children for generations, has never been more relevant at SVPS. We, as staff, have wrestled with how we can continue to deliver ‘school’ under the most difficult circumstances that any of us have ever come across in what is, collectively, more years of teaching than we would care to count, so this piece of advice has become something of a mantra.
In all circumstances, we have tried not to rush into decisions, looking to take on board advice, look at best practice and then carefully construct each iteration of the Virtual Journey that we, as a whole community of staff, children and parents have been taking together over the course of this last term. We are proud of the progress that has been made, by the children, in their virtual classroom and we are proud of our staff, who have worked tirelessly to make everything run as smoothly as it has.
We have loved welcoming some of the children back to school since half term and we are excited about the opportunity for more children to come in and take part in next week’s inaugural SVPS Summer Games. This promises to be a fantastic event and has been devised by our Heads of Boys’ and Girls’ Games, Mr Davey and Mrs Jacobs. They have shown great determination to create an event that the children will enjoy, that will work both at home and School and that will continue to draw on the team spirit that our children always show when competing, not only for themselves but also for their Houses. We now have our fingers crossed for the things that are out of our control, namely the Great British weather, as we look forward to this event.
The Summer Games are just one event that will mark an unusual end to an unusual term. Our Virtual Leavers’ Services, for the children in Year 2 and Year 6 promise to be fantastic, community events. Year 6 will also be experiencing the premiere of their Year 6 production, which has been expertly marshalled by Mrs Dallamore, Mr Evans and Mrs Lordon. Certainly, I am not aware of any other schools who have tapped into the creativity and dedication of their staff to create a radio play when it became apparent that a conventional show would not be possible!
If you want to teach something, one option is to simply talk about that subject, but this does not often stick. We could tell the children about the importance of Learning Powers and how they apply to all walks of life, but unless we, as the adults in their lives, actually demonstrate them in action, leading by example, these lessons may fall on deaf ears. Our staff team have, at every turn, shown their own Learning Powers in abundance, through the work they have done bringing our Virtual Journey to life.
As we enter our final week, there is a feeling of great hope. Hope for short term successes, for fine weather and a fitting send-off for our departing Year 6 children, but also hope for the future and a conviction that, although the last term has been challenging, many valuable lessons have been learned, with only some of these being in the classroom.

Mr Watkins

Deputy Head