Last Tuesday I travelled to London for my first meeting of the Bellevue Education Group Heads and Management. We spent the day in a basement conference room in the city containing a portion of the Roman wall, and in the evening attended a function in the Tower of London which involved getting to know more about ‘legs’, ‘nose’ and ‘body’ – all highly educational! I was also fascinated by the changing shape of the London skyline – see my rather blurry snap of the rising ‘Shard’ or watch here http://the-shard.com/shard/gallery/film-(helicopter)

It was great to meet the other Heads and we enjoyed a full day of presentations and talks all aimed to help us each aspire to even higher things for our schools and I will look forward to sharing these with you as they begin to impact on our work here.

This week in school the children are concentrating on their Michaelmas Tests which are designed to: help the children to consolidate their learning from the beginning of this term; get them used to the examination process and to help us monitor their progress in each subject. However, they are very much a ‘light touch’ and we certainly don’t want children (or parents!) experiencing any undue stress over them.

On the subject of exams, the Entrance Exam season begins round about now and I wish all those taking such tests all the very best. Parents can rest assured that children are prepared thoroughly for these exams in school time, either during timetabled lessons or in the extra sessions we provide. However, we do need to have correct information so that we can act accordingly. I would therefore urge parents to discuss matters relating to Entrance Exams with me first and then to let me know which schools the children are entered for.

I am greatly encouraged by the work of the new PTA Committee who have already organized such a successful Bonfire and Fireworks evening. Their next venture is the Christmas Fayre (December 2^nd) and the associated Christmas Prize Draw. Your support of them through donations of items, gifts or services for these events will be much appreciated. The children are hugely enjoying the new climbing traverse wall and recently a cheque for £7,000 has been handed over towards the purchase of an additional minibus. Very many thanks!

Don't forget the PTA Coffee Mornings each Wednesday in the dining room - just drop your children off and pop in for a chat (and nice coffee, usually pastries too!).

Finally, a reminder that we are supporting the BBC’s Children In Need fundraising effort this week. The children can wear spotty clothes (£2) and there will be a cake sale at Break so they can also bring some change to buy these. Again, donations of cakes would be great, thanks – they don’t have to be home-baked!

Nick Copestick

nick.copestick@edenhurst.co.uk