Miss Bailey's Blog - Week 12, 2023

I've thoroughly enjoyed this week. No two days are ever the same at Godstowe and the variety and range of events and meetings make this job a rewarding and inspiring one.

With the arrival of the Christmas Hampers in Main School Reception, the final plans coming together for our Christmas Fair on Saturday and the decorating of the Christmas trees in Main School and Lodge, we are most definitely on the festive countdown. The rehearsals have been in full swing for the Nativities and the Nursery to Transition children are decidedly excited to say the least! We've also had some stunning early sunrises this week (I do hope you've seen them) and having sat and admired the bright pink and orange early morning hues in the last few days, this has only added to the seasonal excitement.

I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone I have visited in classes this week. I joined 6D in Latin with Mrs Abbi and had an entertaining time watching their Latin drama sketches! I've then managed to spend some quality time with all classes from Nursery to Transition and I've seen everything from phonics to maths, to literacy, arts and crafts and nativity preparation. I've seen some beautiful writing and numberwork in action and just had the chance to share progress and conversation with our girls and boys. Our teachers work incredibly hard at Godstowe and the children love to learn in our happy and supported classes. If only Latin had been made as fun, approachable and inspiring when I was younger, I may have persevered with it...

We were delighted to celebrate success across many areas this week in our assemblies and it is good to see our sport and music departments championing so much success and enjoyment. In our Friday assembly today, I asked the girls to showcase some of the activities they have enjoyed in our vast enrichment programme this term. I was delighted to see a good group step forward and it was lovely to hear from our cookery club, Eco-Champions, community champions, the Football and  Junior STEM clubs, the Fun Fashion team and the Robotics group. I thought this was a super end to the week here and we need to showcase these activities more often, because so much that is key to our girls' development and depth in learning comes from these lunch and after school activities.

This weekend is now calling, and we are looking forward to seeing you all at the annual Christmas Fair on Saturday. It looks set to be a super day and I know we are looking forward to seeing a big group of returning alumnae too, which will be another big plus for us all. My younger brother, Tim, recently welcomed a beautiful young boy called Josh into the world so suffice to say, precious nephew time is calling on Sunday with Arlo. Happy days and enjoy the weekend ahead!