With just one week of this long Michaelmas term to go and still lots to do, my thoughts are already running towards next term and what new things the children will have to look forward to after Santa has been!

But first a brief review of events at school since my last Blog. The children have successfully completed their internal class tests, which form a vital part of our overall assessment system, along with standardised tests in verbal reasoning. Later in the year there will be reading tests, national curriculum tests and PIPS (Performance Indicators in Primary Schools) for Years 1-6 and MidYIS (Middle Years Information System) for Years 7 & 8. All of these assessments go on ‘in the background’ so that we can build up a complete picture of your child’s abilities in the classroom. Among other things, this helps us to advise you on your choice of the next school after Edenhurst. On that note I would like to congratulate our cohort of 11+ entrance exam candidates who recently gained places at Newcastle under Lyme School with 100% success. I will publish full results of all the various entrance tests to different schools at the end of the ‘season’ in March.

Our sports teams have been excelling themselves again: soccer and netball teams scoring resounding wins against other schools; while in the first indoor athletics tournament organised by the Newcastle Schools Federation, our team won their event and will go on to the regional tournament next term. Many congratulations!

A bumper audience of over 300 parents, families and friends enjoyed the 50th Anniversary Concert at the Victoria Hall. This whole school concert is always impressive in giving children of all ages the chance to perform in such a lovely setting and they never fail to entertain. A huge ‘well done’ to everyone involved!

Christmas came early last week as we took delivery of new iPads and laptops, courtesy of Bellevue. These exciting new acquisitions will be housed in the main school building so that they can be easily used in the classrooms. Whereas, the Macs in the existing ICT room will continue to be used for skills training (word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation, photography and music composition,) the new machines will enable us to augment the teaching of classroom subjects in a more accessible way with up to date technology.

Another technological Christmas gift from HQ has come in the form of  ‘MathsWhizz’, the personal online Maths tutor for pupils in Years 1 to 8. After an initial assessment, the programme takes the children through a range of topics at their level, first consolidating, then moving forward, linked to the teaching in school. Teachers will track their pupils’ progress and the children have many incentives to make progress. Hopefully, by the end of the term, most pupils will have completed the assessment stage at school and will then be able to take part in the holiday maths activities online. In the New Year I’ll give you more information on how parents can get involved too. For now, please take a look at www.whizz.com but please don’t subscribe as all that is being taken care of by school!

With my other hat on I’ll now thank all the PTA Committee members and other parents for their magnificent efforts in organising and running the events this term, principally the Bonfire Night and the Christmas Fayre, both of which were hugely enjoyed and raised a total of nearly £2,000 already! You will shortly be given an opportunity to let us know, in an online survey, what type of events you would like to see and how you would like to see the funds being spent. Last year’s efforts went towards the climbing wall and a new minibus, which will be delivered very soon!

Please may we also remind parents of the Giving Machine, which will enable you, at no extra cost, to contribute to the PTA’s fund raising when you shop online through stores such as Amazon, Tesco, M&S, Next and many others. It is easy to register and now would be a great time to do it!

As I write, I know the children will be hoping for a special visitor this Friday, which brings me round to wishing you all, from Suzanne, the staff and myself, a very Happy Christmas and a joyous New Year.