Dear Parents

What a fantastic week we have had! The courtyard café has been buzzing with parents waiting for the various assemblies and performances to begin, and the move to 3pm for the Parent Art Lessons on Tuesdays has proven very popular with children joining parents in the café for their sketching lessons.

We have had a stream of daffodil pots arriving, some adorned with flowers, others with just a few leaves, but we have celebrated them all. Thank you for supporting the project by carting the pots in – not the easiest thing to carry, along with the school bags on public transport but the children have gained so much from the initiative.

The mixed Year 6 Tag Rugby team played heartily at the ISA competition, and they are to be congratulated for their tenacity and excellent teamwork, they were narrowly beaten in the quarter finals. The Year 6 pupils who were not playing rugby were showing our Open Day visitors around the school and giving presentation speeches. One of the visitors was struck by how caring they were towards each other, and another visitor remarked that they were self-confident without showing any sign of arrogance which is so lovely.

We are still confirming the senior school offers but so far it looks as though the 20 children have had a total of 41 offers and 7 of them are scholarships.. Congratulations, Year 6. You have made us very proud.

A small request but when you are emailing the school, please do not respond to a message sent via schoolbase as the ‘correspondence’ does not come through immediately. Mrs Clark received a whole flurry of correspondence messages today which were all related to the Shakespeare Festival and so arrived too late. Please email directly to Mrs Clark s.clark@stjamesprep.co.uk  copying in both only fills the inboxes with duplicate emails and delays responses.

The highlight of the week, was the Shakespeare Festival where every child in the school, including those in Nursery, performed Shakespeare on the stage in full costume.  Once again, Mrs Cook showed her brilliant directing skills and we were treated to skilfully choreographed sword fights, Elizabethan dances, and some outstanding acting. I really do not know how she does it! The costumes and set really made everything come alive and Mr Fairhead’s excellent sound and lighting skills rounded off the West End standard performances. It is remarkable to see every child overcoming their nerves and getting onto the stage to perform. Often drama can bring out sides to a child that we do not see in class and that was very much the case this year. Some of our shrinking violets will not be able to hide in lessons anymore. Well done to everyone for being so brave and doing your very best.

Please can you ensure that your child is properly supervised after school in the courtyard. Sadly, this week we have had daffodils trampled on and a cupboard in the café was damaged. Children were allowed by their adults to run around the café and one was seen sitting on the counter. The café is a wonderful space that we share with the Senior Girls’ School, if it is not respected it will have to be locked in the afternoons, which would be a shame.

Mr Norris is running the marathon in April, if you would like to donate, please use this link

Sam Norris is fundraising for Age UK Hammersmith and Fulham

I will be away inspecting for ISI next week but will keep in touch with Mrs Scott-Phillips who will be leading the school until I return.

Best wishes 

Mrs Wyatt