Contents
- Welcome Back
- OPAL Play
- WOW moments
- Special News
- Grange North Run
- Welcome Meetings
- PE Days
- A Few Reminders
- Dates for your Diary
Welcome Back
We have loved welcoming all our children and Grange families back to school this week. It’s been wonderful to see so many happy, smiling faces returning to their classrooms. They all seem to have grown during the holidays!
A very special welcome also goes to our new children and families who have joined us in Nursery and Reception. We are delighted to have you as part of our Grange Family!
We are looking forward to new adventures this year. In assembly, the children told me they were looking forward to “learning in their new classrooms”, “counting”, “reading new books”, “Robinwood”, “music”, “Adventure Day”…
Our School Values
In assembly and in our classrooms, we have been discussing our school values- KINDNESS and RESPECT. We have already heard how kind one of our pupils was in the summer holidays when she had all her long hair cut off. She has donated this to be made into a wig for someone.
OPAL Play
We are very excited to announce that we have 5 new Opal cadets joining the team. They had their first meeting yesterday, decided on their responsibilities and can’t wait to get started.
Toy and Play Equipment Donations
If you are having a clear out at home after the summer holidays and have any unwanted toys, we would be very grateful for your donations. We are particularly looking for:
• Toys such as prams, buggies, cars, and small world items to help replenish our collection.
• Sand play equipment including buckets, spades, sieves, and similar items.
• Water play containers such as large tubs, old plastic paddling pools, ball pools, or even baby baths.
All donations will be put to great use by the children, and your support will make a big difference. Please send any suitable items into school. Thank you for your generosity!
WOW moments!
We love to recognise and celebrate our children’s achievements both in and out of school. Parents often send in photographs, medals and certificates so that we can share these special moments together.
Whenever possible, we proudly display these on our WOW Wall in the school hall for everyone to enjoy and be inspired by. If your child has achieved something they are proud of whether it’s learning to swim, completing a sports competition, earning a music award or any other special accomplishments, please send them in so we can celebrate.
Special News
During the summer holiday Miss Tutt got married and is now Mrs Williams! We are also delighted to share the very special news that she is expecting her first baby early in 2026. Congratulations! Mrs Williams plans to be with us until Christmas; we will be advertising for a teacher to cover her maternity leave in the next few weeks. I will keep you, and especially Silver Birch Class, updated about this.
Mrs Robson had a beautiful baby girl in August called Marigold (Goldie). Mrs Robson says she's "the best thing ever!" and she spends hours every day just looking at her and smiling. We are all very excited to meet her!
Grange North Run
The Great North Run, Mini and Junior Runs are fabulous running events that many of our Grange families, children and staff take part in. However, there are many members of our Grange Family who don’t get the opportunity to take part in these runs so….
...we are excited to reintroduce an annual event from years gone by- The Grange North Run! This will take place on Monday 15th September at 1.50pm- 3pm for our Reception, Year 1, 2 ,3 and 4 children. Parents and carers are also invited to attend (and hopefully take part) in this special run. The children all run one or two laps of the high school field, depending on their age. Parents and carers can all watch them do this and cheer them on. They can also opt to run with them around the field. This is a sponsored event; 50% of the money raised will go to our PTFA and 50% will be donated to St Oswald’s Hospice. Sponsor forms and more details about the event will be sent home next week.
Welcome Meetings
We have Welcome Meetings arranged for Year 1 – Year 4 parents and carers next week. I did share these dates at the end of last term so this is just a reminder. The meetings are a great opportunity for you to:
• meet the teacher and support staff who will be working closely with your child each day
• find out about what your child will be learning and
• special events, trips and visitors
• Information about how you can support your child at home especially with reading, spelling and maths fluency.
We hope you can join us as it’s a wonderful way to strengthen our home-school partnership and ensure we’re working together to support your child’s learning and development.
Mon 8th: Year 4 (2.45-3.15pm)
Tues 9th: Year 2 (2.45-3.15pm)
Wed 10th: Year 1 (2.45-3.15pm)
Thurs 11th: Year 3 (2.45-3.15pm)
PE Days
Your child should come to school in their PE kit on days when they have a PE lesson.
Reception: Wednesday
Year 1: Monday and Friday
Year 2: Tuesday and Friday
Year 3: Wednesday and Thursday
Year 4: Monday and Thursday
A Few Reminders
Thank you to everyone who remembers to park a few streets away from Grange First School so that our children can scoot, cycle and walk safely to school. Please do not drive or park on Norham Road or the back lane at drop off or pick up time unless you have a pass to do so.
We are a nut free school as we have several children who have allergies to food products containing nuts. This includes Nutella. Please remember this when you are making your child's packed lunch.
•Children may wear a watch and a pair of small stud earrings to school. (No other jewellery should be worn) Earrings should not be worn for PE or swimming lessons. We recommend that your child does not come to school with earrings in, on PE days. If they have just been pierced, you should put plasters over their ears on PE days.
Long hair should be tied back for school please.
Dates
We have worked hard to produce a calendar of dates for the entire 25/26 academic year for our Grange families. This has been emailed to you all and had dates for sports events, Christmas shows, Welcome meetings, parent workshops, PTFA events.... If you would like a paper copy of this, please call into the school office and they will give you one. It might be a useful thing to stick on your fridge!
I will add dates for the Autumn term next week. In the meantime, please read your Dates for 2025-26
July
Monday 14th July - Year 4 Leavers’ Disco 3.15-4.30pm
Tuesday 15th July 2pm - Reception Picnic – all parents invited
Wednesday 16th July - Nursery Graduation- Nursery parents invited 2.15pm
Thursday 17th July - Year 4 Leavers’ Assembly- Year 4 parents invited 2.15pm
Friday 18th July - Last Day of Term
September
Tuesday 2nd September - Back to school!
Credits:
© Grange First School