Forty-five years ago, when Gary Lineker was an apprentice pro and only the birds ‘tweeted’, a band of local schoolchildren helped Canadian artist Liz Leah to create Concrete Cows for a town in Buckinghamshire. Amazingly enough, that town had been in existence for only 11 years.

Where is it? Well, Milton Keynes, of course. And this week some of our senior children took a trip to the land of roundabouts to absorb some sensational code-breaking history.

The pupils were clearly enthralled with their day, bringing back great memories and finding out some amazing stuff at Bletchley Park. Amongst it the fact that the Colossus computer was developed by engineer Tommy Flowers in 1943, and that it was based on plans by the mathematician Max Newman. And that it was designed to decode the encrypted transmissions from the German teleprinter Lorenz cipher.  Year 6 pupils now understand that the “Ultra” intelligence produced at Bletchley shortened the war by two to four years, and that without it the outcome of the war would have been uncertain. 

Appropriately enough, this visit took place during National Science Week.  On Wednesday, our ambassadors and our Subject Head gave an excellent assembly on our Science vision and principles.

This is part of the school’s aim to achieve the PSQM (Primary Science Quality Mark) and it launched our Science week. The children enjoyed stimulating events and were really looking forward to our Year 6 Science Fair. This will be judged in the coming week by eight teachers from Senior schools across the Midlands.

Years 2 and 3 have been taking part in their English Speaking Board Exams. The children have worked very hard to enhance their prose reading aloud, to memorise a poem and to give a presentation on a theme of their choice. 

The feedback was first rate and the children should be congratulated on their confidence and composure. Thank you to the parents and staff for their support. The outcomes will be immeasurable in years to come as the children grow and develop.

Year 1 gave a wonderful Mother’s Day Assembly on Wednesday morning. In this charming and moving assembly, the children thanked their special person at home for their love and support and guidance. If, like me, your mum is in Heaven, spare her a thought on Sunday and thank God for her life. To all mummies, grandmothers and great grandmothers, have a restful, enjoyable day.

On Thursday, the long-awaited Young Musician of the Year  took place. Thank you to guest adjudicator, Mr Dukes from Marlborough College. He had a tough decision to make, choosing a winner from a plethora of worthy contenders. The overall winner was Yang. He played wonderfully well and was deservedly crowned.

Finally, thank you for your support of our Comic Relief assembly. Year 6DC did an excellent  job. It was great fun but had an important message that we need to support others less fortunate than ourselves. All donations were greatly received.

Have a great family weekend! And do enjoy your decoded Match of the Day. Personally, I preferred the encrypted, silent version.