I hope this finds everyone safe and well. It is a delight to have our school nearly back to normal. Watching the children playing football on the front field and hearing music lessons taking place as before is a real joy.

As you will know, very sadly I am leaving EBPS at the end of the school year but I am delighted that Mrs Lally has been appointed as my successor. Mrs Lally is a very experienced Head Teacher and will bring lots of new ideas and skills to the post. We are meeting later this week to start the ‘handover’ process.

We know the children have missed out on lots of things this year and we are planning additional activities for the children to enjoy during the rest of the summer term. We are looking to organise trips to parks, host visitors and a number of other special events which I believe the children richly deserve.

Working with a local IT support company has been really fruitful and we are fast approaching the last stage of our IT improvement programme which will have a really positive impact on teachers and of course the children. So far, we have improved our broadband connection along with boosting the Wi-Fi across the school. Staff and children are now using the Office 365 suite of tools and seeing this in action in the classrooms is wonderful to see. Thanks to our amazing PTA (who have helped with funding) - both of our playgrounds have been really improved. The children now benefit from more line markings and a brighter, tidier area in which to play. As a Year 3 child told me the other day ‘This is wicked!’. Thanks to our Year 5 ‘Gardening Club’ and Mrs. Turvey and Miss. Ward, we are transforming a rather drab corner of our site. Tyres have been kindly donated and these will make great planters for shrubs and flowers which will help brighten the campus beautifully.

Last week our Year 2 children watched an enactment of the great fire of London with paper models of houses and shops going up in flames. The children loved this and their written work which followed clearly showed how much they had understood from watching the fire spread so quickly from house to house.

Many thanks to all of you who follow us on Twitter. It is my hope that more of you will do so and Mr Passby is busy promoting and publicising many of the great things that happen each day here at EBPS. On the theme of electronic communications, we continue to work with experts to remind and promote the importance of E -Safety. I have spoken with many of the children about this. Popular apps such as ‘WhatsApp’ and ‘TikTok’ are designed for much older children and therefore none of our children should have ‘accounts’ or have access to these platforms.

Our use of ‘Catch Up’ funding is yielding real benefits and this has been evident in the way in which some of the children have quickly closed some gaps in their learning. I am very grateful to staff and the children for their hard work in bringing this about.

We continue to have strong links with the community, indeed we are looking forward to a visit from Rev Jenny Ingram of All Saints Church very soon. We also enjoy close ties with the village library and I know how much the children love visiting the library to borrow books and other resources.

We remain as vigilant as ever in our management of the Corona Virus and happily cases seem to continue to decline. Children and staff are constantly reminded about following our school risk assessment which includes maintaining social distancing, staying in class bubbles, regular hand washing and keeping good ventilation indoors. We will of course amend our practices in alignment with Department for Education updates and guidance as it is released.

Our work with an Ofsted inspector continues as does our work with the ‘School to School’ support group. This helps us to both develop and share our good practice and to gain and learn from other successful schools across the county.

Very best wishes.

Mr. D. Ribbins Head Teacher.