It was an absolute pleasure to see a school of happy faces, as they arrived back on the buses yesterday from Greenburgh Nature Center. On a surprisingly warm and blue-sky November Wednesday, a day out spent apple cidering and in workshops has done them all the world of good. In keeping with the positive news, well done to many of you who have managed to get the children to their first vaccination appointment this week – I admire you, and we shall be rewarding the children once they have received their second dose and are fully vaccinated. The feedback from your children at school has been refreshing to hear and I can see that families are deploying various incentivisers to celebrate their first visit – stickers, gift cards, doughnuts (lots of them), lunches out… Good for you, and keep the treats and rewards coming as they deserve it for being so brave and collegiate. Honestly, the few who have already been this week are so proud of themselves and Miss Bailey is equally as delighted!
It is hard to believe that we are cruising to the Thanksgiving Holidays next week and our Thanksgiving Family Assembly looks set to be another Zoom knockout at 9am next Friday. One of the best aspects of a good break is the chance to sit and read or share a good book together. Could I ask that we have a whole school collective focus on reading across Nursery to Grade 4. I would be most grateful to see all children engaging with our ‘Reading Rewards’ platform and to see more reading at WPNY from home on a regular basis. As a school, we feel we could be doing more of this and your support from home helps to foster a love of reading and some genuine progress. Please do contact your class teacher if you would like advice on reading tips but the research for wider and consistent reading is clear in terms of its benefits. Reading can develop greater concentration and empathy, children can perform better academically, their vocabulary becomes larger and more extensive, their imagination can run wild and ultimately reading helps to develop their creativity skills. On our return from the vacation, we look forward to hearing more about your favourite holiday reads.
On Monday, Jake and Alphonso from the Louis Armstrong House Museum will visit for music composition workshops and two afternoon concert events. I know we will all be delighted to welcome them back and we will celebrate this in our Family Assembly at the end of the week.
