Last Friday, I returned to my days as Deputy Head and Leo Valaoritis stepped into the role as Head of School for a Day. We all agree he did a great job and certainly had his work cut out for him for the day at 7E96! Looking smart, he greeted the children as they arrived and then went straight to my office where he hosted his first Friday virtual whole school assembly. Not only did Leo give out the awards chosen by the staff, but he also awarded a few of his own – well done to Miss Wood, Chef Nancy and fellow Kindergarteners, Tully and Faris! Taking Park Duty was good respite ahead of calling a whole school Lockdown with Mr Rainey and Mr Rosado. Having chosen a very popular lunch (cheese and pepperoni pizza, Caesar salad, crudites and strawberries) he then toured the school building for the Mascot Vote, finishing up the day on the Carriageway door with Chef Nancy, handing out cherry lollipops to the children as they left for the day. It is certainly tough at the top! Congratulations, Leo – great job and what fun!
As mentioned, part of Leo’s role was to take the voting tokens around to each class across the school for the big vote for our final School Mascot. At our last Family Assembly, we announced the four choices as you can see again here. The children and staff could decide on Wildcats, Bulldogs, Falcons or Bears. The votes have been cast and the winning mascot will be announced in Final Assembly on Wednesday 9th June, where our newly made adult mascot costume will be sported by a lucky member of our school team (who will that be?!) From here on in, the mascot will be with the community to cheer us on in sport matches and competitions, attend important school events and fundraisers, pledge to stand by our school values and have its own stylish WPNY wardrobe. Watch this space – announcement coming soon!
My thanks once again to the Music Department for two new You Tube Sensations this last week – the Grade 3 Violin Class Recital and the Springtime Music Recital. Both events have had the school talking and celebrating and I have been impressed with each individual performance and the progress that each student has made this year. I am sure you will agree there are some very moving performances and ones that will stay in my memory for many years to come. Thank you, Mr Anderson and Ms Alba – terrific job from both of you.
We next meet at our final Family Assembly on Friday 28th May at 9.15am on Zoom. Great excitement around the building today for our annual Sports Day and we shall showcase the highlights at this assembly and in full, at our three Prizegiving events on 7th and 8th June. The House T-Shirts look fantastic and the children and staff have really enjoyed wearing the new House badges produced by the Parent Association – thank you to Alicia Horwitz and Jane Davies, as they are a great addition! We held our annual Prizegiving decision evening last night and we are so excited to move towards the end of the school year and our final showcase events in the final week. I am sure you will all enjoy the personal events we have planned for Prizegiving – they are full of review, celebration, personal touches, videos, and fun. Your class teachers will be in touch about looking smart and uniform requirements in the next week. You will then be able to dial in for our Final Summer Extravaganza Assembly on Wednesday 9th June at 10am, when we will showcase all Prizegiving awards across the school, make some announcements and send you off for the Summer Holidays with a rousing cheer! I have heard there may even be ice creams all round on our school sidewalk, as we leave.
It is important we get the chance to chat and say farewell ahead of leaving for the vacation. That personal touch as Head of School is important, not only to me, but to all members of my team. We shall be there in unison to wave you off at 12pm on 9th June – what a year, what a journey, what a school!
