The last week has sped by: the diet of prelim examinations is now complete and I have enjoyed catching up with parents at the junior swimming gala and the IVS and VS options evening. I hope that parents have received via Clarion a short letter about a survey which we are conducting into our families’ requirements for school-based holiday care and bus services. This online survey should only take a few minutes to complete and will help us to shape services which meet the needs of our school community.
Looking ahead to the second half of term, I hope that many parents will join us at 6.30pm on Tuesday 21 February to hear our police liaison officer, PC Cook, speak about the very relevant topic of ‘Your daughter, social media and the law’. PC Cooke is a well-known figure in school as he regularly delivers talks and workshops to pupils in the junior and senior schools on topics relating to personal safety and lawful, responsible behaviour on and offline. At St Margaret’s we take every opportunity to educate pupils in the safe and responsible use of the wonderful resource which is the internet, and we value parental support and engagement in this area. Indeed, we want to support and empower parents to continue these important conversations about online behaviour at home. I strongly recommend that parents of girls using social media attend this event at which there will be a presentation followed by an opportunity to ask questions. Please sign up at www.stmargaretsevents.com.
On Thursday 23 February we are holding an informal concert at 6.30pm in the GP room. This is an opportunity for less experienced musicians to perform to an appreciative audience and is always an enjoyable occasion for musicians and attendees alike.
World Book Day is also just around the corner and junior school families will already be aware of the wonderful focus on poetry which will be at the heart of this year’s junior celebrations. In the senior school during form time on Thursday 2 March we shall be ‘dropping everything and reading’. We are also planning to have a special book swap later in the day. Girls are invited to bring in one book which they would really like other people to read and they will be able to swap it for someone else’s special choice. We shall say more about this later in the month but this is early warning for anyone who would like to think about their choice of book over the break!
I do hope that the coming week provides an opportunity for everyone to draw breath (and read) in preparation for all the learning that is to come in the second half of term. To read the full edition of the weekly news please head to the parent login section of the website.
Miss A. Tomlinson
Head