Can I first of all wish all our young people, their families and friends a very Happy New Year.

On a personal note I was delighted to find a Kiss ticket in my Christmas presents. My eldest daughter and myself will join the Kiss Army in Birmingham later in the year – something to look forward to. Likewise, I’m also looking forward to Bury FC winning a football match. It’s now 14 games without a win, the balmy evenings of September were the last time we tasted victory. Perhaps in hindsight that’s what I should have asked for at Christmas!!

The first week back at school is very testing for all of us. Many of the children, young people (and staff) have been out of their normal routines over the Christmas and New Year period. It’s always tricky to get back into the swing of getting up at 6.30am. One good thing that many of the staff have appreciated is that the motorways have been particularly quiet this week. Sadly I think we’ll all be back to gridlock next week.

As you may have noticed as a result of coming back into school so soon, this year’s holiday pattern appears to be very much out of sync with that of other local areas. Our Group always tries to follow the traditional Oldham holiday pattern so that families with children in other schools have the least disruption. As more schools opt to change these local patterns, however, ensuring that we are in line with other schools is becoming more and more challenging. I’d welcome your views.

A number of children from both New Bridge and Hollinwood Academy attended the Coliseum pantomime yesterday and I believe they had a wonderful time (oh yes, they did!)

This is a really short blog this week as we all ease ourselves back into the new term. Have a wonderful weekend,

Graham