Friday November 8th 2024
Dear Diary,
With 44 school visits now under my belt, today’s visit to Rosary Catholic Primary was the perfect way to end the week! Their lovely welcome mosaic is displayed in this image, and I felt so welcome from the moment I pulled into the car park. It was another upside-down visit, with my assembly being squeezed in between four hour-long workshops… due to Years 1 to 3 attending the Stroud Book Festival this morning. So, a busy day was had by all. But what a fun day it was!!! I started off with a workshop for Year 6, and I couldn’t have been more impressed by their behaviour and work ethic, and also the speed at which they worked. The Year 5 session straight afterwards was just as impressive. There must have been magic in the air because these Year Groups filled their worksheets within no time at all. And the quality of the work they produced was second to none. I especially loved Jacob’s story about the invisible auntie, Jiyon’s story about the adorable monster that ate him and then pooped him out, and Sara’s fantastic book cover for her story entitled ‘The Unusual Pet’. But there were so many more stand-out stories, poems, book covers, and raps produced during the morning, too. I got to meet the younger pupils during my mid-morning assembly, and I couldn’t believe the Reception pupils have only very recently started attending assemblies, as they sat beautiful for thirty minutes and listened attentively throughout. (They also heckled my narrator, and I love it when that happens!) With the morning having gone so brilliantly, I feared the afternoon would go downhill. But no! The sessions with Years 3 and 4 were equally as fun and productive as the earlier ones. And once again, there were so many wonderful pieces of work created that it made the job of choosing who to hand out certificates to extremely tricky. I always feel so honoured to get the chance to spend the whole day at schools hosting workshops and assemblies, and I love every visit I do. But Rosary Catholic Primary truly is a magical school, filled with pupils who are keen to learn and exceptionally talented. In fact, they all deserve a special treat this weekend for the wonderful work and amazing attitudes they displayed today — especially the Year 3 pupils, who should have been shattered after the busy day they’d had, but didn’t display any signs of tiredness whatsoever last thing this afternoon! Ruth and all the staff were super. And every single pupil deserves a medal for their first-class involvement throughout the day. (I didn’t have any medals to hand out, but hopefully… thanks to a very kind Harlow… everyone managed to get their hands on a free sticker and bookmark!)
