Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
We would like to inform you that the Statutory Year 1 Phonics Screening Check will take place during the week beginning Monday 8th June. This is a national assessment that all Year 1 children take. It is designed to assess children’s phonics knowledge and their ability to decode (read) words using their phonics skills. The check is carried out in a relaxed, one-to-one setting with a familiar adult and is intended to be a positive experience for the children. It is extremely important that all children are in school during this week, as this is a statutory assessment and there is only a limited window in which it can be completed. Please ensure your child attends every day during this period and arrives on time. What can you do to support your child at home? Your support at home can make a big difference in helping your child feel confident and prepared. Here are some simple ways you can help:
- Read regularly with your child – encourage them to sound out unfamiliar words using their phonics skills.
- Practise recognising sounds (phonemes) – revisit the sounds they have learned and the different ways they can be written.
- Blend sounds together to read words (e.g. c-a-t → cat).
- Encourage sounding out rather than guessing – remind your child to look carefully at each letter.
- Play phonics games – fun activities such as spotting sounds in books, word matching, or online phonics games can help reinforce learning.
- Build confidence – praise your child’s efforts and keep practice sessions short and positive.
Please be reassured that the check is carried out sensitively and in a child-friendly way. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.
DRET Poetry competition
Earlier in the term, we were lucky enough to host the regional final of the Josephine Hart and DRET Poetry Competition.
Four schools competed for two coveted spots at the National Final at the Neville Holt Festival in June. It was a brilliant event and both our school's entrants, Lauren and Nuala from Year 4, pictured with their certificates, made us so proud.
Congratulations to Nuala who was chosen as one of the winners to advance onto the final following her confident and articulate performance of 'London'. She also won a £30 book voucher. We wish her luck at the final and will keep you posted of the results!
Spotlight on safeguarding
Recent eSafety news highlights a major push to protect children from "toxic" social media content via new guidance on harmful trends like body-shaming and "looksmaxxing". Key resources include the UK’s Online Safety Act updates and AI-focused conversations, alongside expert tips from the NSPCC and Internet Matters for setting parental controls and managing screen time.
DRET Primary Cup Champions
On Wednesday 20th May, ten Year 6 children went to a football tournament between eight schools from the whole David Ross Education Trust. As we came 2nd in the Primary Cup earlier in the year, we qualified for the Champions Cup. All the children arrived with so much enthusiasm and a desire to compete and do well! When we got to the event, we had a training session to get prepared for the main event – the fixtures! We began the tournament against Welton – a team that won the southern Primary Cup for football and Richmond Primary Academy were sensational from start to finish with a huge 4-0 victory with some sublime goals and play. In our second game, we came up against a very well organised Fairfield team who competed really well and despite hitting the post, the bar and the goalkeeper making some excellent saves, we came away with a 0-0 draw meaning we had 4 points in the league table so far. In the final group game, we came up against Abbey CE who had played really well throughout, and the children knew they had to win to secure a place in the final game. The game started with some great attacking play and a foul from an Abbey CE player, which resulted in a red card. Abbey CE fought really well but late in the second half we managed to break the deadlock and won the game 1-0 giving us 7 points and a place in the final! After the final group games, we played Bringhurst in the final, a very well organised team but the Richmond Primary Academy children worked so hard and dominated the first half with some brilliant play and some amazing saves from the opposition goalkeeper. After half time, the play continued with Richmond hitting the post and the bar and coming agonisingly close to taking the lead. However, a long ball forward from the defender and a lucky bounce led to a one on one with our goalkeeper and inevitably Bringhurst went 1-0 up late on. Richmond Primary Academy carried on pushing for an equaliser but unfortunately came up short. Richmond Primary Academy children came 2nd in football out of all the schools in the David Ross Education Trust. What an incredible achievement! The effort, determination, teamwork, sportsmanship and general football quality was fantastic, and they are a credit to Richmond Primary Academy, and we are all really proud of them! 2nd represents a really superb effort from all and a brilliant day of football fun! Well done!
Student council
This term, the Student Council has been considering how to save money on the academy's utility bills — and therefore reduce the academy's carbon footprint and impact on the environment. Initially, Councillors have challenged children and adults to switch off lights when rooms are unused and have urged the last person in a room to switch off the lights when leaving. To help with this, they have designed light switch covers which encourage everyone to consider whether the lights need to be on at all. Here is an example of one of these, which will start appearing on all switches in school over the next few weeks:
Goodbyes next half term
I wanted to inform you that Miss Green will be leaving us on the 3rd July. She has secured a position as Assistant Principal at Hogsthorpe Primary Academy, and we are all very proud of her. Although we are extremely sad to see her go, we are happy to see her progress to the next step in her career, and she will be staying within the David Ross Education Trust. I'm sure you will all wish her the best of luck in her next venture.
PS - Y6 parents, please don't panic. Miss Green will be back for the leavers assembly!