From The Head - Friday 19th May 2023

What a week! If fitting in as many events as possible into one week was a competition, we would win it hands down! Plays, assemblies, curriculum events, and tournaments - we've done it all!

The highlights of the week were undoubtedly the Pre-Prep and Prep productions of Oink! and The Lion King respectively. It is difficult to find sufficient superlatives to do the children justice in just how fabulous they were and how professional the productions were: staging, costumes, make-up, props, music - these plays had it all in bucket-loads! As I am sure you will appreciate, to obtain these extremely high standards of performance is no mean feat and requires a very talented and dedicated staff team to bring it to fruition, so a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved.

The Lion King was particularly special and emotional as it was our lovely Year 6 pupils who rightly took centre stage for their final Ryleys' play. Many of the staff watching have known the children since they were toddlers in Early Years and have witnessed their development and growth year on year. To see every single Year 6 child perform with such poise and confidence was incredible if you consider how quiet and unassuming they were when they started their journey at The Ryleys School.

This is achieved due to our unique, nurturing environment where every child is valued as an individual and receives exactly what they need with gentle support and encouragement. We are not a 'bums on seats' school where children get lost in the mix and don't have the opportunities to be picked for parts in a play or a place in a sports team because there are simply too many children - every individual has the chance to shine, and shine they did!

The children blew us away and there were lots of eyes in the audience glistening with sheer pride. It was a magical evening. Quite how we will top this next year remains to be seen, but this week's experiences will create memories for a lifetime.