THANK you very much for including photographs of our Key Stage One Christmas production in your new seasonal nativity supplement.

Seeing your picture of our little dolls, clowns and stars brought back many happy memories of a fantastic show. Equally fantastic was the play put on by our older children, Pandemonium in Pantoland. This featured favourite panto characters and one Garry Trotter and other students from the Pigspimple Academy of Fairy-Godmotherhood and Associated Arts. For me, our plays were the culmination of a wonderful autumn term and proved there is far more to education than SATs alone.

It was lovely to see stunning pictures of happy mini-thespians in your supplement. It also showed the effort put in by my colleagues and their helpers was repeated by teachers across the county.

Congratulations to all of them for having the courage to put the literacy and numeracy "hours" on the back burner. The gains in confidence and self esteem that your little shepherds and angels will have achieved from your investments of energy will pay huge dividends which cannot be measured by test scores and league tables.

Having worked in Wiltshire for over two decades I am familiar with many of the schools featured in your supplement. Can I pass on a personal congratulations to all my friends and acquaintances who must have worked so hard to produce so many imaginative performances.

Parents of children at Cherhill (and formerly Seagry) will be tired of hearing me say at the end of our shows, "it doesn't happen by magic". It only happens because of the energy, enthusiasm and inspiration of so many talented teachers.

Hopefully all of my fellow members of the Chalkface Cavalry will be happy in the knowledge that a good job has been well done. I wouldn't be surprised if you have the seeds of next year's Beanstalk-bedecked extravaganzas germinating in your minds. I know we have, so please book us a space in next year's nativity supplement.

J YORK MOORE

Headteacher

Cherhill CE Primary School