Dear Parents and Carers, 
Friends of Beaford Christmas Fair
What an incredible event. We were treated to last Friday! All the staff found it so uplifting. It was lovely to see the community come together, and most importantly, to see the smiles and excitement of the children. I’d like to say a huge thank you to our Owls for running their stalls so sensibly, to the stallholders and volunteers who brought items in and gave up their time to run activities, and to Father Christmas for making an appearance. A special thank you must go to the team that organised the event. Our PTA Chair, Sam, set herself the brief of running a community event that enabled all the children to take part and brought the school community together — with the added bonus of raising funds to support the school. I’m sure you’ll all agree the aims of the event were met handsomely. Sam, Ellie and Sally worked together, with support from many others, to create a really memorable event for everyone.
Christmas Performances
This was also the week of our other big Christmas celebrations, with Ladybirds performing their nativity on Wednesday and the rest of the school putting on their Christmas play, The Smartest Elf in Town, on Thursday.
We are blessed at Beaford to have such a supportive community, and it was wonderful to see so many of you supporting the children in their performances. The Ladybirds’ nativity brought a tear of pride to my eye. The children were so confident in their roles and sang, danced and acted out the Christmas story beautifully. I’d like to say a big thank you to the EYFS staff who put so much effort into the prop making and organisation. I also want to thank Rev Gary for loaning us the church — the perfect setting for a nativity. A special thank you as well to Maddie for her lovely narration, and to our governor, Victoria Hodder, for making all the wonderful costumes on show this year.
The rest of the school performed, The Smartest Elf in Town didn’t fail to delight either. Every class shone in their performance and the children’s singing was especially heart-warming. Our school motto is Together we learn, together we flourish, and watching the children on stage really brought this to life. Not all children enjoy performing, but by everyone doing their bit and giving their best, they helped those who love the stage shine — and made sure the collective performance was so effective. I’d like to thank the staff for their efforts on this year’s play and offer a special thank you to Ms Cannon for bringing the whole production together and giving up her lunchtimes to practise with the choir.
Nursery hours
Thank you to our Nursery parents for completing the form requesting a change of hours. I’m pleased to say everyone was able to get the hours they requested. We always do our utmost to accommodate what parents need, the only barrier is staffing. Fortunately, we have some very accommodating staff in our Nursery who have increased their hours to ensure we can meet the increased demand.
International partnerships
Owls and Otters children had a phone call with India on Wednesday morning. They sang the children of SDM school in Mangalore some Christmas songs, talked through our Christmas traditions and most importantly wished the Indian children a very Merry Christmas. We’ll meet with SDM in the new to continue to grow the partnership.
Next week is the final week before the Christmas holidays. The children break up at 3:30pm on Friday 19th and return to school on Tuesday 6th January.
Enjoy your weekend,
George Myers
