27th June 2025
save the date
Every Thursday in term time – Tiny Tiddlers - 8.50am – 10.30am
Friday 4th July – Whole school transition
Monday 7th July – EYFS &Yr 1 & 2 Sports Day – 9.30am – 11am
Wednesday 9th July – Year 4 trip to Thriftwood – no later than 8.10am arrival at the academy
Thursday 10th July – Art Exhibition 3.15 – 5pm
Tuesday 22nd July – Year 6 Leavers Disco
Wednesday 23rd July – Year 6 Leavers Assembly
Wednesday 23rd July – Academy closes for summer holidays
Message
Dear parents & carers,
This week has been jammed packed with outdoor activities. Year six had their adventure days, either at PGL or here at Darlinghurst. They engaged in a range of challenges and outdoor activities that meant they had to apply their teamwork, determination, resilience and adventure. Both the children away and at home demonstrated this to the nth degree with compliments from the staff at the residential and also at the Mud Run. They mentioned the high level of positive engagement and belonging and made particular reference to our children’s resilience and listening skills.
This year we have increased our trips to include outward bounds. We value the skills that these activities bring and how they aid confidence, determination and give a great sense of achievement.
This year, for the first time, year five had an outward bounds experience at the Nuclear Forest. A whole morning of climbing, running, crawling, jumping, swinging across the muddy terrain. The children and staff took on the challenge and helped others along the way. The belonging, kindness and encouragement was off the charts! They had a quick wash and returned with bundled muddy clothes. Staff kindly scooped up any remaining items to return today.
I am sure the next outward bounds trip will be enjoyed by year four at Thriftwood in a couple of weeks. I cannot wait to hear all about it.
We will be sharing the news of the year six residential, home and away, next week, but parents and carers will have to wait just a little longer until the year six leavers assembly for the full footage and other memories. Bring a tissue!
Thank you to the PTA for arranging the ice-cream van for our year sixes who had adventures here at home. They managed to secure the van for the afternoon with ice-cream sales at the end of the day. What a treat!
We focused on the importance of sun-safety in assembly including learning the phrase:
Children also learned more about UV rays. The learning continued with some children engaging in drama and artwork to create posters or short videos to tell others the important message.
Year 6 also engaged in a first aid workshop with Mr Bird, who returned to the academy to share his knowledge. Thank you Mr Bird for coming back to visit us.
With the weather predicted to remain hot there is opportunity for lots of outdoor adventure or play in the sun over coming weeks and holidays. Should the heat reach it's predicted heights, please adjust clothing accordingly - summer dresses, shorts or PE kit if the heat is extreme. Stay safe and have fun!
I would like to end with a reminder that holidays are not permitted in term time. We have seen an increase in applications and issued fines. We ask that attendance to school remains high as at this time of year, transition and important endings take place that support children with change. It can be an emotional time, whether that is nerves or excitement. We plan and prepare carefully for this time. On Friday 4th July it is transition day. Children will meet their new teachers. Please ensure your child is at school on time so they can move to their new class with their classmates. Look out for a Ping as you will also find out the news ready to talk about at pick up time.
We ended today welcoming the first of our reception children who visited the academy for their induction day and met their new teachers. We can’t wait for them to join the Darlinghurst family in September!
As always, enjoy your family time together
Mrs Nicholls
in the spotlight
Year 5 Nuclear Races
Year 5 enjoyed an amazing day at the Nuclear Forest. With all children keen to get muddy, they tackled a number of obstacles designed to develop their confidence and team work. Monkey bars, tyre walls and climbing high walls were just the beginning. After much anticipation, finally the mud obstacles appeared and all children embraced the Nuclear Forest motto “We Love Mud” Crawling through pools of mud, jumping on ropes across water and slip and sliding across inflatables was definitely the highlight. All the teachers were incredibly proud of the sense of belonging demonstrated through the day. Children were always there to help, pulling people up and cheering their names for anyone finding something particularly tricky. The children behaved impeccably and really showed true Darlinghurst spirit!
We hope they didn’t smell too bad when they got home!
Attendance
If your child is going to be absent from school then parents/carers must contact the academy by telephone before 09:30 on the day of absence. Please refer to our website with regards to circumstances where you should and should not keep your child from school.
Request for leave of absence: a form must be completed a month in advance. If the request is denied by the principal and the leave still taken, or, procedure not followed, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and where the criteria is met, we will make a referral to the Local Authority with a view to issue a fine.
A referral can be made before, during or after the absence has occurred if we believe holiday has been taken. Please see previously shared information regarding changes to fines for holidays taken in term time.
*There is no entitlement by law for parents/carers to take children out of school for a holiday. The Educational (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulation specifies that Head Teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are “exceptional circumstances”. ‘Exceptional circumstances’ are interpreted as: ‘Being of unique and significant emotional, educational or spiritual value to the child which outweighs the loss of teaching time’. It is important for parents/carers to be aware that while decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis, it is ‘exceptional’.
The Department for Education state,
“The law entitles every child of compulsory school age to an efficient, full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude, and any special educational need they may have.
It is the legal parental responsibility to make sure their child receives that education either by attendance at a school or by education otherwise than at a school.
Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly.
This means their child must attend every day that the school is open.”
Teachers will not provide work for to families who take unauthorised absence in term time.
PTA
Thank you to everyone for supporting our PTA Summer Fete last week. We hope you all had a fantastic time, it was great to see so many smiling faces!
The fete made a fantastic profit of £1188, as always, we couldn't have done it without you.
Your money will be spent to help enrich the lives of the children at the Academy.
We are discussing new exciting plans as to how the fundraised money will be spent. As soon as we can share more details with you we will. Stay tuned!
We know many of you really enjoyed the climbing wall from IndiRock and we would like to include even more new additions for our summer fete 2026. Yes, we're already planning for next year! We are always in need of extra hands and would love for you to join us to make next year's fete even better. Please drop an email to mrslowe@darlinghurstacademy.org.uk or DM us on Instagram
Thank you again for your generosity and support with our events!
Thank you to Tony, a year 3 Dad who has very kindly donated some fantastic additions to the Academy's wet play boxes. We're so grateful for this very generous contribution, which will be shared out across the Academy and no doubt be very much enjoyed on rainy days!
Belfairs Summer Showcase
Belfairs Academy would like to invite parents and students to their annual Summer Showcase. They will be exhibiting Art, Photography, Technology and Media work, along with canapes provided by Hospitality and Catering students, recordings of Dance and Drama productions and live music from students. This would be a great opportunity for prospective students to have an insight into the creative work produced at Belfairs Academy and build aspirations.
Belfairs Academy hope to see you Tuesday 1st July between 4 and 6pm.
Art Exhibition
We are excited to invite you to our summer art exhibition, ‘Climate Change’ on Thursday 10th July here at Darlinghurst. We have a collection of artworks across generations, from our Tiny Tiddlers to our friends at Bluebird Care and Admiral Court. We would love to see you all there!
darlinghurst academy
Pavilion Drive
Leigh on Sea
Essex
SS9 3JS
contact us
T. 01702 478379