Mr Schumm’s Blog

Dear Parents/ Carers,

This morning I zoomed the Good Work Assembly to all the classrooms and the school prayer group stood outside the main entrance to the school, praying for all things St Stephen’s as ‘His Spirit is with us’ echoed around the classrooms. The prayer group meet every Friday morning, so do check out the website for more details.

My favourite comment came from Scarlett, in Year 4, who exclaimed ‘great assembly Mr Schumm, but you looked as though you had had a spray tan!’ – which means I have the lighting just right, because one day in Scarborough does not a man a tan get!

We did it! The first week down and we have managed to navigate our way through numerous new procedures and are still smiling. We have dispelled the myth of the great British queue and now approach the Lime Grove entrance from numerous angles! Thank you again for your patience as we get systems in place – my priority as always is your amazing children and trying to ensure that the school day suffers the least disruption as possible for all concerned.

Our new Reception and Nursery children have settled in really well and looked incredibly smart in their uniforms, as did the whole school, as they marched through the gates and settled into life at St Stephen’s with a squirt of sanitizer! It’s so incredible to have all your amazing children back in school and to listen to their laughter and chatter in their ‘bubbles’. Their amazing adaptability to new routines, the joy on their faces when they saw each other again and their ability to ‘move on’ makes your heart soar.

Keeping your children in school is exactly what we want to do and to do that we all need to work together to ensure that St Stephen’s is as safe as possible – so if pick up or drop off looks a little crowded slip on that mask please, try to limit it to one parent per child for drop off and pick up, minimise the chit chat in the playground (hard for me), make a swift exit and above all smile. This could be our very own rule of 5!

It’s the FOSS AGM Zoom next week so it would be lovely to see you there. It’s going to be a challenging year, but we have a fantastic new team with lots of new virtual ideas. We need even more, so zoom in and help get the show on the road or donate via Just Giving. Many of our parents support the school with one off donations or monthly direct debits, just click https://www.justgiving.com/ststephensw12. Every little helps – now where have I heard that before? Alastair and I have a fundraising event planned – think Jack Whitehall and his father (I know I’m too young), two bikes and Brighton…

Please check out the school website www.ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk for all updates and classteacher blogs.

But for the moment, welcome back! I’ve really missed you all – let’s make this a year to remember for all the positive reasons!

Have a great weekend.

Mr Schumm