Headmaster’s Whitsun Half-Term Round-up
Dear Parents,
While this seems to have been a short half-term, we seem to have packed a great deal into it. This is a brief re-cap of events and also a chance for me to bring you up-to-date with further news.
Everyone at school worked hard during exam week and early signs indicate that the results have been excellent. We await the publication of the results in July with great anticipation.
On Friday 20th May, more pupils than ever treated us to a Soloist Concert in the School Hall. The showcase of talents was tremendous. Thank you to all the performers and to Mrs Petch and the Music Department.
On Saturday 21st May, a number of children took part in the Staffs Chess Megafinals. Everyone did brilliantly and everyone won matches. Five players qualified for the next stage, the Gigafinals, which decides the champions of Northern Britain! One player won their age category and were crowned as Suprema, Amrissa U11 and has been asked to train with the England Team! Congratulations to all the extremely brainy players and thanks go to Mr James for his excellent coaching.
The Swimming Gala was the most well-attended ever. An U9s swimming team had represented Mayfield in the King Edward’s swimming gala with other schools earlier this term and the swimmers have benefited from Mr Davies’ expert coaching on Monday evenings. Records tumbled as Conor set new Boys’ 40m Breast Stroke, 40m Freestyle and 40m Backstroke records. The Girls’ 40m Breast Stroke record was equaled by Amrissa, then broken by Olivia and broken again by Jasmine. Then, Olivia shaved 2 seconds off the 40m Backstroke record, resulting in an unprecedented 7 new school records!. Conor and Olivia emerged as the top swimmers and Livingstone won the House Swimming Cup. Well done to all the competitors and thanks to Mr Davies and all the staff for a wonderful gala.
I finish with news on staffing. Miss Clare and Miss Kinsella are both getting married and re-locating to other parts of the country, Mr Evans has secured a promotion and Mrs Cartwright has confirmed she is leaving teaching to support her family after the Summer. On behalf of the pupils, staff, parents and governors of Mayfield I would like to thank the staff for all their hard work and dedication. They will be missed, although I am sure that everyone will join me in wishing them the very best for the future. They will always have a warm welcome at Mayfield.
As you know, at Mayfield we always seek to bring in staff of the highest quality and I am confident once again we have found the best. It is therefore with great pleasure that I can announce to you the following appointments for September: the new Head of English and LIII Form Teacher will be Mrs Andrews. She is an experienced teacher and currently Head of English in a school in Sutton Coldfield. Her speciality is drama! We will also welcome Mr Johal as the new Head of ICT and UII Form Teacher. For the past 10 years, he has been Head of ICT, Head of Year and led Primary Outreach at the outstanding Arthur Terry school in Sutton Coldfield. The new Form I teacher will be Mrs Inkster, a very experienced Key Stage One teacher, who is currently at Blackwood School, one of the leading primary schools in Walsall, and she will be assisted by Mrs Smith. The new Head of PE will be Mrs Pittaway, a PE specialist currently working at Great Barr Secondary School. Further great news is that Mrs K. Cook will not be leaving us entirely and will continue to come in on several afternoons a week to teach Girls’ Games and run after school sports clubs, just as Mr Cook does with the boys! Miss Mallen will be joining Pre-Nursery to replace Miss Fray in September. To complete the plans, Miss Bray will be Form II’s Form Teacher and Mr Watts will be LII’s form Teacher, both working closely with Mrs S. Cook and Mrs Pittaway, and ably assisted by Mrs Gamble and Mrs Dhesi in LII and FII. Transition, Kindergarten and Nursery are unaffected. I would like to congratulate all the new staff on their appointments and I am sure that all pupils, parents, staff and governors will join me in giving them a very warm welcome to the school and wishing them a long and successful career at Mayfield.
Thus, we come to end of the half-term report. I wish you all a wonderful half-term break and look forward to seeing everyone on Monday 13th June.
Mr M. Draper
Headmaster