Head Teacher's Message
Dear Parents and Carers,
What a busy and energetic half term it's been!
We’ve seen fantastic engagement from families, whether through our phonics workshops, the wonderful support at our community coffee morning, early years stay and play and yesterday's Harvest Festival. Your involvement makes a real difference, and we’re so grateful for the strong sense of community we share – thank you for your continued enthusiasm and support in all areas of school life.
Attendance at school has been brilliant despite the awful bug that has hit us in the last couple of weeks. Thank you for keeping children at home for 48 hours to stop this spreading further.
The children have worked really hard this half term and been particularly proud to show me the improvements in their handwriting - from nursery all the way up to the beautiful presentation we have in Year 4. It will be lovely to share this with you at parent consultations after the break.
Over the holiday we will be putting new equipment into the outdoor learning area on the field. Outdoor learning is something we promote right throughout school to enhance what the children are learning in the classroom. As well as woodland learning and orienteering we are now developing an area where children will be able to investigate, build and sit quietly and read outdoors.
We hope you have a lovely the half term break and look forward to seeing you next half term.
Kind regards
Mrs Ash and the Team
General Messages
Nut free school
We would like to remind all parents and carers that we are a nut-free school. This means that no nuts or nut-based products should be brought into school in any form — including in lunchboxes, snacks, or baked goods. We have children and staff in school with severe nut allergies, and even small traces of nuts can cause life-threatening reactions.
Your support in helping us maintain a safe environment for all children is greatly appreciated. Please check all food labels carefully before sending items into school.
Thank you for helping us keep everyone safe
Coats / Clothing / Water Bottles
As the weather is now turning colder please ensure that children have adequate warm clothing and a coat. Unfortunately, we don't have spare coats in school.
We encourage the children to take care of their possessions in school but inevitably things get misplaced. Please make sure school uniform is labelled with your child's name so that we can return them. There are two lost property bins (at the front and back of school) where we will place lost items that are not named.
Water bottles - please use school water bottles. This helps us avoid spillages and is in line with our poverty proofing audit.
Preloved uniform
If you have any preloved uniform please hand this in to the school office as we resell these at a low cost.
KS1 Harvest Assembly
Pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 put on a fabulous show to celebrate harvest. Not only did they share some of the fantastic work they have been doing in class, but also sang some fantastic harvest songs.
KS1 were joined by the school choir who sang a harvest rock song.
Online Safety
The children have been learning about online safety this half term - please chat to your children about this at home. Remember #WakeUpWednesday is a fantastic resource to help understand more about online safety. Here are some useful guide to help set up privacy settings on your mobile devices.
Wellbeing
A message from Ms Tustin our Well-being Lead
In the meantime, to keep you going here are some tips for any parents and carers who might need reminding that they need some self-care too. Looking after children is hard work for all of us! Self-care for parents and carers | Anna Freud
Nursery
We are coming to the end of our first ever half term in Nursery and we have done so much already. All the staff are so proud of the children.
Books that we have focussed on have included – ‘Walking through The Jungle’ and ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’. We have made class story maps and followed them using words and actions in order to retell and remember these stories. We made our own class book called ‘Walking through the School’ which highlights some of the things we can hear inside school and outside.
We have visited the forest twice. We went on our own bear hunt and we went to collect Autumn treasures. We followed the rules of forest school really well and we had so much fun exploring.
RECEPTION
This half term, the children in Reception have settled into their classes and they have all started to make some lovely friendships with each other.
They have been very busy learning all about their bodies and the five senses, as well as lots of number skills and new phonics sounds. They have also all improved their handwriting and fine motor skills.
Miss Fletcher and Ms Tustin are delighted with the progress they are making already.
YEAR 1
Year 1 have had a very busy and exciting few weeks! We have finished our Animals topic in Science and enjoyed a fantastic visit from Zoo Lab, where we met some amazing creatures up close.
In PE, we completed our football unit with some brilliant mini games that showed how much the children’s skills and teamwork have improved.
In Art, we have begun exploring the work of Piet Mondrian, learning all about the primary colours and creating our own bold, colourful designs.
The children are now looking forward to starting our new History topic on the Space Race, and they can’t wait to discover who the first astronauts on the moon were and how space exploration began!
Year 2
This month year 2 have been enjoying exploring Africa in Geography, particularly Kenya and the African artist Martin Bulinya in Art. We have investigated types of traditional houses used by Massai tribes in woodland learning and used natural materials in the forest to make masks inspired by traditional African masks. The children loved showing their creative and artistic talents, showcasing their efforts in a wonderful display outside our classrooms.
Year 3
This half term, Year 3 have had a fantastic time exploring new topics and experiences! The children enjoyed a wonderful trip to Gibside, where they discovered nature and worked brilliantly together.
In science, they have been learning all about different types of rocks and were fascinated by how they are formed.
Inspired by Ted Hughes’ story The Iron Man, the children also designed and created their own model Iron Men with wood, screws, nails and plenty of imagination.
All the staff are so proud of the Year 3 pupils for all their hard work and enthusiasm!
Year 4
Year 4 have had a fantastic few weeks full of hands-on learning and exciting discoveries!
In Forest School, we explored the living things in our local ecosystem, using magnifying glasses to take a closer look at the plants and creatures that share our environment.
In Design and Technology, we became engineers as we designed and built our own Roman catapults, using real tools such as Japanese pull saws, hammers, screwdrivers and handsaws — a great chance to develop our practical skills and teamwork.
In Maths, we’ve been mastering column addition and subtraction, and we’re all very proud of how neat and accurate our workbooks are looking.
It’s been a busy and rewarding time in Year 4!
Upcoming Dates
- 03/11/25 - Back to school
- 10/11/25, 11/11/25 and 12/11/25 - Parent Consultation Evenings
- 14/11/25 - Children in Need Non Uniform Day
- 18/11/25 and 19/11/25 - Nursery Stay and Play
- 21/11/25 - Christmas Fayre tombola donations (Sweets, Treats & Bottles) : Non Uniform Day
- WB 24/11/25 - During this week we will accept donations for our pre-loved Christmas Fayre stall.
- 04/12/25 - Christmas Fayre 2.00 pm-4.00 pm (Children can be taken home from the event)
- 09/11/25 and 10/11/25 - Christmas Performances
- 11/12/25 - Christmas Dinner
- 15/12/25 - am Nursery & Reception Christmas party pm Year 1 and Year 2 Christmas party.
- 16/12/25 - pm Year 3 and Year 4 Christmas party.
- 17/12/25 - Year 3 and Year 4 Carol Concert 2pm
- 19/12/25 - Last day of term
For a more detailed calendar please visit our school website.