A fantastic return after half term – Head’s blog

Friday 15 November 2024 | By Erin McKeown

I hope you all had an extremely enjoyable half term holiday and all of our students’ batteries are recharged ready for their next six weeks of school.

Family Fireworks Night success

Our annual Family Fireworks Night was back with a bang at the very start of this half term, with our largest audience yet of over 600 people. Visitors were able to enjoy a range of hot food and drinks provided by our fabulous catering team to keep them warm and cosy throughout the display. Although there were some close calls with the pumpkin carving competition, Verity Austin’s skeleton design stood out and claimed a well deserved 1st place. Thank you to all who came along – these PTA events are regulars amongst the school calendar and they provide brilliant fundraising opportunities which we are thrilled you come out in numbers and support.

Students hard at work

In lessons, I have been enjoying my recent learning walks and seeing pupils’ energy and passion for their subjects truly come to life. It never fails to surprise me how purposeful and productive our students are, and I look forward to seeing their progress as we look to write end of term school reports in the coming weeks.

Trips and visits

Outside of the classroom, students have enjoyed many exciting  trips in recent weeks, ranging from a History visit to Krakow, an English trip to see a performance of War Horse live on stage in Sunderland, and an Upper Prep trip to visit the National Landscape Discovery Centre. These amazing opportunities were enjoyed by all and added great understanding and depth to the children’s learning.

Remembrance Service

Monday marked the 104th Remembrance Day. Our school community gathered for our annual service, where students sang and spoke beautifully. This school event holds huge importance to us as a community and especially for our staff, parents and extended family who have represented us in the Armed Forces. Thank you to all who attended, including our guests of honour Mr Mark White CBE, Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham and Reverend Matt Levinsohn from All Saints Church.

An exciting half term ahead

As the pumpkins are discarded and fireworks fizzle out, our students begin the exciting countdown to the festive season! We have a jam-packed half term full of exciting events and plans. With Children in Need Day today and Christmas Market, Speech Day, Pre-Prep Nativity, Senior Christmas Social, Christmas Jumper and Christmas Dinner Day and Whole School Carol Service, it will be an unforgettable time for Team THS – and we look forward to sharing lots of photographs and updates with you along the way. Have a wonderful weekend.

Read our latest newsletter here.

Kirsty Mackenzie, Head