Mr Richards' Words Lent 2

It was wonderful to discover last weekend how amazing our swim team had performed at the Maidenhead Lions Swimarathon. The boys have raised well over £1500 in support of both Annika’s Challenge and Rachel’s Fund, which are two causes that are close to the heart of our school community. The eight boys completed 3150m in just under an hour - what an absolutely outstanding effort.

Much of the boys desire to help others comes from our fantastic school’s ethos which has been established over many years. Working in partnership with our parents and creating a warmth of being able to rely upon each other like a family, is one of our key ingredients. Many thanks to Mrs Notton-Brown for being the driving force behind this particular event, long may it continue!

Inspiration also comes from my colleagues who on countless times go above and beyond. Both Mrs Whiteley, Mrs Carter and Mrs Crowe all attended last Saturday and were delighted by the atmosphere and teamwork generated by our swimmers. Mr Hogg also inspires boys to represent the School at chess and his club continues to create thinking, learning and enjoyable competition. Well done the U9’s who played so well last weekend. In total this term we have a staggering 52 activities, pre and post school, along with our wrap around care. Thank you to my colleagues for the range and nature of these self-esteem boosting and exciting opportunities. They are inclusive, welcoming and a chance for the boys to experience a mixture of structure and freedom in their pursuits. Well done to those who took a risk and tried something new.

To further the watery theme, our pool has reopened with an improved surround and drainage. Hopefully, many will be inspired to complete as many lengths as possible in the ‘Swim the Channel’ house challenge; fitness, fun and another coloured disc up for grabs. I am pretty sure that Year 1 will not find a Spinosaurus or any other large reptiles in the pool when they venture across the playground! However, they did, along with the girls, discover a T-Rex on site on Wednesday. Another fabulous hook for our intrepid adventures to develop a love of learning and inspire a great piece of work with a dinosaur theme.

I might feel as heavy and slow as a brachiosaurus when I referee this term in comparison to our young athletic and excitable footballers. I am certainly looking forward to watching, encouraging and hearing all about the ups and downs of the various teams. In total seven tournaments and 120 individual matches have been planned, with a few cross country races thrown into what is an extremely healthy mix! What is also very pleasing to eavesdrop on is the Sports Department’s passion for providing a wealth of appropriate fixtures that present challenge, sportsmanship and a chance to shine at all levels. They are terrific role models. I am sure that all our enthusiasm will not be dampened by the amount of water presently falling from the skies.

Washed out break times or even frenetic dry ones always finish with quiet form reading time. I am looking forward to hosting a new assembly where Year 6 and I will read to the entire school. A love of words and an increased vocabulary are obvious benefits and I know Year 3 developed a greater appreciation from their visit to the Roald Dahl Museum this week. I wonder if Mrs Flood will provide us with one of his all time classics or whether it will be ‘Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs’?