Although we are not a church school, we value the links we have with our local churches, including St Mary's Willesborough, Christ Church Willesborough, New Frontiers Church and Willesborough Baptist Church.

We work closely with Sure Start and local pre-schools to support children and families.

We have strong partnerships with local schools across Ashford, helping to enrich learning opportunities and support smooth transitions for pupils.

We also collaborate with a range of local organisations and businesses to enhance children's learning experiences. These include the RSPCA, Ashford Designer Outlet, William Harvey Hospital, local Green Party councillors, the Co-op, the Post Office, the fire and rescue service, the ambulance service, the police, Brabourne Care Home and many others.

As a school, we celebrate the diversity of our families, their backgrounds and their cultures throughout the year. Each year, we hold a special celebration week that highlights the rich variety of cultures within our school community.

During this week, each class adopts a country that reflects the heritage of some of our families and learns about its culture, traditions and way of life. The children then create an exhibit inspired by their chosen country, which is showcased at the Willesborough Schools International Fair.

Pat came to speak to us about fire safety. He told us all about the important work of the fire service and the many ways firefighters help people in our community.

We watched a short film about Frances the Firefly. At the beginning of the film, Frances was not very sensible and did not understand the dangers of playing with matches. By the end, however, she had learnt an important lesson and became a much more sensible firefly.

Pat also explained how important it is to have a smoke alarm in our homes. Smoke alarms should be tested once a week to ensure they are working properly and helping to keep families safe.

Please make sure you have a working smoke alarm in your home and remember to test it regularly.

We continue to strengthen our links with children in Romania through the charity Cry in the Dark. Each Christmas, children from the Willesborough Schools prepare shoebox gifts to send to the children in Romania whom they have been learning about throughout the year.

To make this connection even more meaningful, a member of staff from the schools travels to Romania to deliver the gifts in person.

Some parts of Romania experience significant poverty, and many families do not have access to running water in their homes. We often take for granted how easy it is to turn on a tap and have clean water readily available.

In some communities, people must collect their water from a local well and carry it back to their homes. Learning about these differences helps our children develop an understanding of, and appreciation for, the lives of others around the world.