We have had a great first six weeks of the academic year! The children have been so engaged in their learning and have really settled into their new learning and routines. Can I also take this opportunity to welcome again all the new families we have at school this year; your children have started school so well and are a credit to you. We pride ourselves on strong working relationships between home and school, so please talk to a member of staff if we can do anything to help.
IN THIS ISSUE:
- A Thank You to the PTFA
- Year 4 Legacy Gift
- Reception Places 2026
- Pumpkin Competition
- Present Idea
- Optimistic October
- Black History Month
- Polite reminders - Headlice
- Poetry Week in Year 1
- Safeguarding - Making an Emergency Call
- Stoptober!
- OPAL - Outdoor Play and Learning
- Dates and Letters
- How to Build Emotional Resilience
THANK YOU TO THE PTFA
A huge thank you to the PTFA for investing in a whole host of new equipment for the school. In the yard, you will notice new storage for our OPAL equipment including a new Reading Shed. Whilst in school, they have also support us in purchasing new equipment for our sensory and chill room spaces. Watch this space for pictures once all set up!
In addition, the PTFA have also just purchased new set of dictionaries and thesauruses for every year group in school - THANK YOU.
YEAR 4 LEGACY GIFT
A huge thank you to the children and families of the 2025 Year 4 Leavers... as a gift to our school for the children of Archibald they purchased our fabulous new house of bricks and our low table for play.
We hope you will agree they are a brilliant edition to our playground.
Please ensure they are used respectfully - no standing or sitting or climbing on these pieces of equipment please by anyone!!!
RECEPTION PLACES 2026
Reception September 2026 - The application process has opened for children who wish to join our reception classes next year. Applications cannot be made directly to school, but must go to through Newcastle City Council using the weblink below. The deadline for application is 15th January 2026. We are offering tours of our reception during the day and open evenings. If you would like to book onto a session please contact the school office. Please be aware if your child currently attends our nursery you will need to apply for reception - you are not automatically given a space.
OPTIMISTIC OCTOBER
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
POLITE REMINDERS
HEADLICE: Please continue to ‘take a peek, once a week and check your child’s hair.
Headlice are very common in children. If you know that your child has had or has headlice, please let us know so that we can also raise awareness within their class and let other grown-ups know that there are headlice in the year group. This means that everyone has the opportunity to check their own child’s hair. No child or family will ever be named regarding having headlice.
If your child does have headlice, and you would rather treat them straight away as opposed to waiting until that evening, we are very happy for you to do this and then bring your child into school. We would never want any of our children to be uncomfortable or itchy.
MAKING AN EMERGENCY CALL
Next week, all children will learn about making an emergency call... Did you know that in the UK we can use three different numbers - 999, 112 and 911. The last one may be surprising, however, so many of us watch American shows that this number does resonate with us.
The other 'did you know...' is that when you dial 112, the emergency services automatically track your location. So, should you ever be in a situation where you are unsure of your location, or you lose the call, the emergency services will be able to track where you are at.
STOPTOBER
Let’s quit smoking together this Stoptober!
Stoptober is back! Join thousands of other smokers committing to quit this October.
Even if it’s your first time or you’ve tried before, now is the perfect time to quit smoking. Make it to 28 days smoke-free and you’re 5 times more likely to quit for good.
There’s no need to go it alone. With the NHS free tools, advice and support, quitting is easier than you think.
OPAL - OUTDOOR PLAY AND LEARNING
Our children LOVE our OPAL offer but as you can imagine, it is very resource intensive as all the equipment is played with by 300 children 5 days a week. Are you having a sort out at home? Have your children outgrown some of the following items? Does you local Facebook community group have any of these things being given away? Do you have any of these items which are looking for a new home…
- hats
- bags
- masks
- waistcoats
- accessories
- old mobile phone handsets
- old laptops
- scooters
- bikes
- balance bikes
- skateboards
- corks (no judgements)
- toy or small musical instruments
- painting rollers / paint brushes
- jumbo chalk
- milk crates
- life size prams / buggies
- toy/doll prams / buggies
- action figues
- dinosaurs
- plastic animals
we are very happy to give them a home at Archibald…
DATES & LETTERS
- 13-17 Cycle to School Week
- 14 Class 10 Assembly 2.45pm
- 16 Gardening Morning (See letters)
- 16 Class 9 Assembly 2.45pm
- 17 Ways to Wellbeing 8.45-10.45am: Wellbeing and Self Care (See letter on the website)
- 20 STEM Week - The Theme of SPACE
- 23 School closes to children at 3.15pm
- 24 Staff Development Day; Science and The Write Stuff will be our focus for the days training.