Contents
- Mental Health Awareness Week
- School Survey
- Pebbles and Photos
- Maths and Spelling Stay and Play
- Goodbye and Good Luck!
- Technology in School
- A Few Reminders
- PTFA Update
- Diary Dates
Mental Health Awareness Week
This week in school, we have been thinking carefully about how we can all look after our mental health. The children talked confidently about the importance of having a healthy diet, taking regular exercise, drinking plenty of water and getting enough sleep. We also discussed how important it is to be kind to yourself when you make a mistake and to talk to a trusted adult if you have a worry or concern. Our theme this year was ‘Belonging’, and the children shared some thoughtful ideas about what this means. Chloe in Year 4 said, “You should be able to be yourself if you belong.” Hannah in Year 4 added, “If you belong, you should feel like you fit in.” Many children also told us that belonging means feeling safe, included and accepted. As part of the week, the children made a promise to help everyone feel like they belong at Grange First School. They committed to doing one or more of the following:
- Saying hello to someone they don’t usually talk to
- Sharing a pencil, toy or taking turns in a game
- Inviting someone new to join their group
School Survey
It’s that time of year again when we ask for your views on what you think we do well at Grange and what you feel we could do even better. Your feedback is incredibly important to us and helps shape our plans for the year ahead. Last year, we received responses representing 174 of our children, which was an amazing response; this year, we have only received 52 so far. Please click on the link below to access a Microsoft Form- there is still one week left to complete it. Parent/Carer Grange First School Survey Summer Term 2026 – Fill in form
Pebbles and Photos
Thank you so much to everyone that has sent in photographs of wildlife or painted pebbles of animals to celebrate the 100th birthday of Sir David Attenborough. We have had a terrific response but would still love to receive more. Please continue to send them in until 2nd June.
Maths and Spelling Stay and Play
A huge thank you to everyone who attended our Maths or Spelling Play and Stay sessions this week. The children loved working with you, and it was lovely to see how much fun everyone had while learning together!
Golden Welly Winners
. Congratulations to our Golden Welly Winners who have won an extra playtime for their classmates this week.
Goodbye and Goodluck!
Today we say goodbye to Miss Kelly, who is leaving us to begin a new career. While she is very sad to leave Grange, she is also excited about what lies ahead. Over her 10 years at Grange First School, Miss Kelly has worked with nearly every child in the school and will be missed by the staff and children. She has also been a member of our OPAL Play Team since we first introduced OPAL Play four years ago. I'm sure she will miss wearing her luminous orange coat! Good luck, Miss Kelly, and thank you for everything you have given to our school.
Next Friday, Mrs Tingle will begin her maternity leave. Baby Tingle is due to arrive in June, and we hope she is able to enjoy a few weeks of rest before he or she arrives into the world. We are all so excited for Mrs Tingle and can’t wait to meet her little one. We wish her all the very best and look forward to welcoming her back to Grange.
Technology In School
We have recently been made aware of a small number of instances where children have been wearing smart watches in school that are able to take photos or videos, as well as adults wearing Meta glasses on site. As part of our commitment to e‑safety and safeguarding, children are not permitted to wear smart watches or any devices with photo or video capability in school. We would also kindly ask all adults to remove Meta glasses before entering the school site. Thank you for your support in helping us to keep all children safe.
A Few Reminders
PE Days Children should come to school on their PE days wearing their PE T‑shirt, black joggers, leggings or shorts, and a pair of trainers. If children arrive in school shoes or boots, they will need to bring trainers to change into. It is not safe for children to take part in PE wearing school shoes, sandals or boots. School Uniform A reminder that jeans are not school uniform; plain black leggings, joggers or shorts should be worn. Earrings For safety reasons, children are not allowed to wear earrings during PE lessons. Please remove earrings on PE days or cover them with tape at home. Unfortunately, staff are no longer permitted to tape earrings at school, which means some children are having to miss their PE lessons. We would also like to remind parents and carers that children may only wear one small stud in each ear. Hoop earrings, large studs or dangly earrings should not be worn, as they are not safe, particularly during outdoor play and OPAL Play sessions. Thank you for your continued support in keeping all children safe.
PTFA Update
A message from Karen, the Chair of our PTFA: After nearly 3 years as Chair of the PTFA, I will be stepping down from the role at our AGM in September. Being part of the PTFA has been an incredibly rewarding experience, helping to support our school community and create memorable opportunities for the children. Last term we raised over £4180 from the Bunny bounce, Taylor Swift event, Spring fun day and parent's evening. This is an incredible amount and it will be used to pay for essential items that the school budget doesn't stretch to. Every year, the PTFA pays for the book bags given to every reception child, metro passes for the whole school to help make school trips possible (a coach for a school trip costs around £600) the pantomime in January, a large contribution to the leavers hoodies and the total for the leaver's disco. Throughout the year the PTFA also fund other events and requests as made by the school to benefit every child. We are now looking for enthusiastic parents and carers to join the PTFA as charity trustees, specifically in the Co-Chair and Secretary roles, as well as additional committee members for event planning. Whether you can offer a little time, fresh ideas, or simply want to get more involved in school life, we would love to hear from you. The PTFA plays an important role in supporting the school, and new volunteers are essential to help continue the fantastic events and fundraising activities our children enjoy. If you would like to find out more, please get in touch — we would be very happy to have an informal chat. Grangefirstparents@outlook.com I would like to say a HUGE thank you to our PTFA and especially to Karen who has done an incredible job over the last 3 years. She has worked tirelessly to bring our community together for family events and has raised a tremendous amount of money that has benefited every child at Grange.
Our summer fair is coming up on 4th July, we do still need more volunteers for this event so please get in touch if you can help. Finally, the Money Snake event that we ran in school last year was a big hit so we will be doing it again before the end of the school year. More details to follow but for now, please hold onto your loose change and any British coins And finally, we are looking for donations of any small sizes of uniform that are suitable for nursery or Reception children. We would love to be able to offer these to our new families when they attend their welcome meetings in June. Larger sizes would also be welcome later in the summer term- we struggle to store them all before the summer fair.
Diary Dates!
Keep Scrolling!
May
Sunday 17th May- Cancer Run at Gosforth park. Meet 11.05am 19th May- KS2 Swimming Gala week beginning 18th: Grange Has Got Talent 25th- 29th Half Term Holiday
June
Monday 1st Teacher Training Day- school CLOSED for all pupils 2nd-5th Physical Week Tuesday 2nd 2.15pm Year 2 sports day Wednesday 3rd 2.15pm Year 1 sports day Wednesday 3rd 1.30pm Nursery Family Fitness Thursday 4th 2.15pm Year 3 and 4 sports day Friday 5th 2.15pm Reception Family Fitness Week beginning 8th Year 1 Phonic Check and Year 4 Multiplication Check 9th June- New Reception Parents' Meeting 4pm 10th June - New Nursery Parents' Meeting 4pm June 12th Gladiator to visit school Week beginning 15th Cherry Class go swimming every day Week beginning 22nd Maple Class go swimming every day
July
2nd July Year 4 to Housesteads Monday 13th Year 4 Silent Disco 3.15-4.30pm 8th and 9th Year 4 transition days to middle school and transition sessions for all our children at Grange Tuesday 14th 2pm Reception Picnic Wednesday 15th Nursery Graduation 2pm Thursday 16th Year 4 leavers' assembly 2.15pm
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