Dear Parents and Carers,
I begin by wishing all our existing families a warm welcome back after the long Summer Break. It is lovely to see you and the children again, and to hear about all sorts of news from the children’s time away from school. Everyone looks so smart and polished and the children have returned full of enthusiasm and ready to learn.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome lots of new families to Brunswick Park, whose children have started in the Nursery and in Reception, or have moved to Brunswick from other schools. A child has only one first day at school, and the importance of having a good school experience whilst very young should never be underestimated. The relationship with school that children form in their first year whilst they are so impressionable sets them off on their school learning
journey, and I cannot help feeling that it is an honour for me and our staff to be entrusted with the responsibility of building it. It can be an anxious time for parents and carers as they see their tiny children go to school for the first time, but we are here to help, support and advise and the children are settling in extremely well (with pictures later on in this newsletter to prove it).
The beginning of a new school year is always a busy time, and although the children have been back for only 8 days we have already fitted in a Year 6 Residential School Journey to Swanage in Dorset and a Year 6 School Journey around London. The children have had a fantastic time learning to work in teams to solve problems and develop independence before embarking on their final year at primary school. At Brunswick we consider taking children on trips and visits to be essential to their learning, and residential trips provide invaluable opportunities for everyone involved to build positive relationships. Without good relationships, learning is compromised: for example you could have trained to be the most brilliant plumber, but if you cannot relate well to others you will never be called upon to fix a leaking roof.
Finally, as this is the first newsletter of the new academic year, it contains the important information you need to plan the year ahead: what we are learning this term, term dates, key dates in the school year and a new staff list. This information is also available on our website, where you will also find lots of other important information about the school.
We start as we mean to go on: calm, organised, motivated and purposeful. With best wishes for a peaceful and enjoyable weekend and school year ahead