Happy New Year to you all! Welcome back to our Spring Term and indeed a very warm welcome to all our new families who have joined us this week. The pupils have returned with vim and vigour hitting the ground running in their lessons across all phases. In our first assembly we focused on the importance of making the right choices to aid us in the achievement of our goals, with particular attention on perseverance and the need to tackle obstacles with the right attitudes and behaviours. As countless individuals set new goals, targets and resolutions for the start of the year, so too our children have set learning goals that will require the right choices. I am pleased to report that I have seen these demonstrated a great deal across the week.

Over the holiday a number of works were carried out across the site and Mr Thomas has updated you in the newsletter. A sincere thank you to Mr Thomas, Mr Bedingfield and Mr Beeson for facilitating the ongoing maintenance and development of the site. This is a critical role and one I am most grateful for.

On Friday our Woburn Charity team introduced this term’s charity focus and their plans for us all to be involved. They spoke with empathy and passion, and it was very impressive to hear and see. The selected charity is Sebby’s Corner . This is a locally based charity with a focus on assisting families with basic essentials including daily items such a nappies, to running a Birthday Club to ensure children who might otherwise miss out have the chance to celebrate a birthday with a present and acknowledgement. Please find a link to the charity website to help you find out more About Us | Sebby’s Corner (sebbyscorner.co.uk) It is critical to have continued growing opportunities for our pupils to have a clear voice and be involved in aspects of their day-to-day experience. A big thank you to the charity team for presenting so well. Next week our Pupil Council and Green Council will be leading assembly on Friday to update us all on the progress they have made to date, and share some new initiatives being planned which are built on the feedback from the wider pupil body.

Sporting fixtures really begin in earnest next week commencing 15th January; Year 3 have their Open Classroom event on Tuesday at 3.00pm and Year 5 will be enjoying a Shakespeare Workshop visit at St Francis College on Wednesday morning.

For parents of Year 4 and 5 please do remember we shall be hosting our Future Schools Evening on Wednesday 31st January at 7.00pm. This is an excellent evening where members of the Duncombe Team are joined by a Registrar and Headteacher from an Independent Senior School to give families a real insight into the process of choosing a school at 11+. This year we shall be joined by Miranda Norris, Headmistress at Felsted School and her Registrar Lauren Clark. In addition, former pupils from Year 6 talk about their experience in the preparation for 11+ and the transition to senior school.

A lot to look forward to indeed! Do have a wonderful weekend. Mr Phelan