That was an action-packed week at Farsley Westroyd! We welcomed new parents to the school on Wednesday evening and what a lovely bunch they are too. A most enjoyable evening with our team getting to know each family and answering any questions about starting school at Farsley Westroyd. I am now very excited about September. Lovely jolly people and gorgeous children.

We had an amazing time up in Swaledale this week. A lot of preparation went into the visit, not just because there were 49 children on tour, but because we were going out walking in remote moorlands, and we needed to be safe and prepared. We learnt a lot of life skills, being organised, being responsible for yourself and your kit, following instructions, staying safe and taking some risks. On top of this, we also learnt the rules that apply in the countryside, geography knowledge, and we tested ourselves physically in our challenging uphill walks. It was a real lesson for our children about being prepared and ready for any eventuality, including a sudden heavy downpour with dramatic lightening and thunder! One group sheltered in the ice-cream parlour in the village, whilst my group were high up on the moors – with no shelter and a birds' eye view of the fork lightening across the valley! The children were lots of fun. I think my latest sleep time was 2.30am – which comes within the territory of a residential. The children in some rooms were just too excited. Although I did pull the wool over one room, I heard them talking at about 5.30am. I really fancied a cup of tea in bed, and it was far too early for them to be up anyway. So I went to the door and told them it was 3am in the morning and to go back to sleep. They actually believed me and went back to sleep.  We had to wake them up at 7.30am! Although we didn’t see that many people, as it is so remote up there, whilst in the village, we had oodles of praise for our behaviour from the shopkeepers. I have led many, many residentials over 30 years and the behaviour overall was excellent, and the children are such good company to be with. A credit to their families. The staff were brilliant, proper team work and Mr Clough created the usual entertainment that just follows him around. Not one for the outdoors, he had managed to find some outdoor kit, after telling us he had never been to the Yorkshire deals before. When it rained heavily, he started to foam up, as he had washed his waterproofs in the washer, and they also therefore lost their waterproof ability. He got soaked to the skin.  We also have a great photo of him dancing around in the hostel grounds, because he stood in sheep poo in his trendy "on" white trainers. The poo got in the holes. He was not impressed! 

Our football team had a match to challenge any of the World Cup games, with a win in a local derby. It went to penalties, but we stayed strong and believed we could do it, and we did. The children were super proud. When I first came to Westroyd, the ethos was participation, which I am all for, but you must also go out, do your best and believe you can achieve. I can clearly see the shift these days in both the children and staff. A clear example of this, is the Pudsey Olympics this coming week. Mr Fawcett is absolutely going to win. He held trials, coaching sessions and the children waited with anticipation to see if they were going to be selected. Not a man of many words, Mr Fawcett, he said to me the other day, “Jenny, this is the Pudsey Olympics, we are going out to win.” In a tone that put it up there with England playing in the world cup finals. And then we had Mr Popple sulking. On our very complicated staff calendar, I swapped his name off the event, so he could do some leadership work with me. I got a very blunt response, “It is the Pudsey Olympics!” So he is off to the event too.

Finally, the week ended with Farsley Festival. We were there making sheep masks, with our sheep-themed stall, in the heart of the community as always here in Farsley. Miss Dennison, our art lead, with the children had made a huge present. It looked brilliant on display, in our school colours, covered in sheep of course.

Well, I spent my Sunday morning scrubbing sheep poo off the hiking boots we borrowed, ready for me to return tomorrow morning. Temporarily, sheep were not my favourite animal, but all done now!

Looking forward to a sunny, warm week in school!