www.pontllanfraithprimary.co.uk
Achieve, Believe, Care
Home / School Partnerships
We are seeking to deepen partnerships between teachers and parents. Your child’s teacher is the adult who spends most time with your child in school and should be your first point of contact for most things. However, proper conversations do need to be arranged in advance. It’s only possible to exchange quick pieces of information on the door in the morning and there will be at least two afternoons each week when teachers are not available after school (due to clubs and our weekly staff meeting). We hope that the introduction of ClassDojo will support better two-way communication. Parents may continue to email if they prefer. Further information about who to contact for what, including attendance, safeguarding, ALN & complaints is available here. Launching ClassDojo On Friday, we will be launching ClassDojo as an additional way to stay in touch. You will need to download the ClassDojo app and will be sent a link to join your child’s class. Please note that only those with legal parental responsibility may join—we are unable to extend access to partners, grandparents, or other emergency contacts. Each ClassDojo will include a class chat. We hope this will help parents with general enquiries—such as checking information or locating lost items—and allow teachers to share light day‑to‑day information. Please do not use the class chat for complaints or concerns about your child’s progress or relationships with peers. For private matters, you will be able to message your child’s teacher directly. Please remember that teachers cannot respond while teaching, and they should not be expected to reply outside school hours. Although some may choose to respond at these times, this should never be assumed. We also plan to share key information about school policies and procedures in shorter, more manageable updates on ClassDojo, rather than relying solely on longer newsletters. We know these aren’t always the most exciting messages to read, but keeping everyone informed helps avoid confusion and supports smoother communication between home and school. Social Media We deleted our social media accounts in the autumn term because they were public-facing. While some parents prefer not to have their child featured in any communication with other families, many enjoy seeing what is happening in school and appreciate photos of activities and celebrations. ClassDojo will provide a more secure and controlled place to share these images than Twitter or Instagram. We originally set up the school social media accounts to share photos with parents and promote the school within the wider community. Staff, governors, and many parents feel this remains important, especially as a strong online presence helps maintain community links and supports school admissions during a period of declining birth rates. We will therefore relaunch the Instagram account, featuring only those children whose parents have given permission for their images to be used in promotional contexts—such as press releases, events, our website, and our prospectus. SeeSaw We use Seesaw for staff to record and capture evidence of children’s learning, including activities not recorded in books. Photos taken for this purpose may involve collaborative work with children whose parents do not consent to wider sharing. For this reason, you may find we share fewer images in SeeSaw and will stop sharing photos via Seesaw altogether at the end of the summer term. Photo Permissions With this in mind, we will be sending out a new photo permission form later this week and ask that all parents complete the new photo permission form as soon as possible. The previous LA template lacked the clarity we needed, so we have created a personalised version. A number of parents did not complete the previous form, so we will contact families if the new form is not returned within the next few weeks. Please complete the form even if you wish to withhold consent—we must have clear records of which permissions apply to each child. Thank you, as always, for your support.
St David's Day We will be celebrating St David's Day on Tuesday 3rd March. In the morning we will be taking 3 older pupils to Islwyn High School to take part in their Eisteddfod. Our own celebrations will take place over the course of the day. Children are welcome to wear anything red or national costume (doesn't have to be Welsh).
Parents and Children Together (PaCT) Outdoor Learning Event Thursday 5/3/26, weather permitting
Reserve date Thursday 12/3/26 if the weather is not on our side.
Following the poster above which was sent to parents before half term, here are the details...
Over the last couple of years, we’ve been exploring different ways of welcoming parents into school so you can see first‑hand how your children learn and how calm, purposeful and positive our classrooms really are. These sessions also strengthen relationships between parents and class teachers, which is something we value greatly. While we had originally planned more curriculum‑focused sessions this year, previous feedback showed that families much prefer informal, hands‑on activities. So this term, we’re hosting an Outdoor Learning Day. It will also be a chance to see our new outdoor learning and play equipment, generously funded by our PTFA.
Three classes (Coch, Oren and Melyn) will attend with their parents in the morning, and three (Gwyrdd, Glas and Porffor) in the afternoon. There will be a range of outdoor activities to enjoy together. Parents will be able to see our pond and log circle in action and we hope that our daffodils, planted by the children last term, will be in full bloom. We initially thought that we might be able to sell bunches of daffodils to support school fund, but, unfortunately, it's not looking like enough have flowered. We are hoping that we will be able to offer you the opportunity to visit our new outdoor building for a cup of tea or coffee (there are still a few things to be done before it is formally handed over). The room will be called the Ystafell Flodau (Flower Room) and holds special significance to our school: it will be dedicated to the memory of Aiden‑Leo, a much‑loved former pupil who sadly passed away from cancer. We are honoured to display a beautiful plaque in the room, gifted by Aiden‑Leo’s parents; its flower design also carries the names of other children who were in Ty Hafan hospice alongside him, making it a space filled with care and remembrance. With its own toilet facilities, the room will support Forest School sessions, ALN coffee mornings, activities for prospective pre‑schoolers, and, where appropriate, small community events. We are really looking forward to welcoming families in and sharing this meaningful new space with our school community. We understand and regret that work commitments mean it will not be possible for all parents to attend; please be assured that all children will take part in the activities regardless of whether a family member is able to join them. Given the nature of the day, this will be a non-uniform event. To ensure everyone can enjoy the activities, please do not send children to school in smart clothes. Instead, please dress them in practical clothing that you do not mind getting a little muddy. Children will also need a pair of old shoes or wellies for the outdoor session, in addition to their normal school shoes for use inside the building.
World Book Day We will be marking World Book Day on Friday 6th March as always, but we will not be dressing up. As part of our poverty‑proofing work, we want to avoid putting families under pressure to buy costumes—especially when many shop‑bought outfits are expensive and often based on TV or film characters rather than books. Instead, we’ll be celebrating a love of reading in ways that are inclusive for all children, such as sharing stories, enjoying reading‑themed activities, and shining a light on the wonderful books pupils are exploring in class.
Credits:
Created with an image by VRD - "Osterglocken"