An Evening of Swing and other news

Many thanks to all those parents and friends who supported the Evening of Swing last Friday.  With over two hundred guests it was a superb event, which really showcased the musical talent we now have in the school. As ever, the Swing Band was excellent and the Soul Band has really developed too.  Their instrumental quality is augmented by excellent singing and it was easy to believe we were all watching professionals, so good were the performances!

After all the excitement of winning the nationals, the U14 girls maintained their wonderful form by winning the Lancashire title last week and led by Mairead Lucas, our U13B team won the Wyre and Fylde netball tournament on Wednesday. Not to be left out, Victoria Matthews captained the U12 hockey team to victory in the Jean Torrance trophy on Saturday. The boys haven't been idle and the teams have given some fine performances in rugby sevens tournaments over recent days. The 1st XV also still has the Lancashire Plate Trophy final to play next week and we wish them well.

I spent Friday with our governors considering ways in which we will be developing the school in the next few years. During our discussions we talked about what it is that makes Arnold special. As you would expect, we talked about our academic results and about our sporting, musical and other achievements. Whilst I am extremely proud of all these things, I must say that I am most pleased with the atmosphere that we now have in the school. The relationships between the children, and between the children and adults are excellent, and really help to make the school the super place that it is.  This does not just happen of course; it takes a lot of hard work from everyone involved in the community - but it is worth it as it underpins everything else.  

We also talked about the opportunities our membership of UCST now brings us.  After the hard work that has gone into improving the quality of teaching and learning over the last twelve months or so it is really satisfying that our performance has been rated very highly indeed by the Trust's ICT review team. The amount and quality of staff training and development that we now benefit from is also exceptional; for instance, six of my colleagues are taking, or are about to start, Masters degrees in education funded entirely by UCST. The children are fortunate to be taught by such dedicated and knowledgeable professionals.

There are lots of events scheduled before term ends and I hope we meet at a concert, a play performance or on a touchline soon.

Kind regards

Barry Hughes

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Date: Sunday 14/03/2010

  • An Evening of Swing and other news