16th October 2026
I can't believe we are racing through October - and still in summer uniform!
So much has been happening in and around school this term. Year 1 took part in the Guinness book of Records mass reading world record attempt. Year 5 have been out and about around the estate learning how to ride their bikes safely during their 'bikeability' training. Lots of fun was had by all and our 'safe' rule was reinforced through wearing helmets and learning the rules of the road. As always our children were a credit to the school and the trainers spoke very highly of their manners.
Teachers have been learning too! We had a visit from Nicky Bonsignore from Little Rivers to enhance our support for children who have suffered trauma in their lives. We are also in the process of setting up a library of books that parents may find useful to support them in the difficult job of parenting. This will be based in the main entrance foyer.
We have been busy in school improving our library provision by moving the library into the space where our computer room used to be. This has given us a fresh new look library to inspire children with their reading. I was in there this afternoon with year 2 and there was such a buzz and excitement around reading. It was lovely to see.
Reminder - next week we are having our Harvest assemblies. Donations can be brought into school all week. These will go to the Broxbourne Foodbank.
Thank you to everyone who attended our parent sessions supporting your children with their reading. We have had such great feedback. Meet the teacher meetings were also very well attended. It has been heartening to hear that some improvements and targets for learning have already been met - our children really do work hard.
Each year the school creates a development plan. This covers the main things that we are focusing on and endeavouring to improve. This year we are looking at foundational skills - ensuring children have good handwriting, secure spelling knowledge and correct sentence formation. Adaptive teaching - ensuring that every child has the support they need to access the learning tasks and are given opportunities to go above and beyond. Finally, attendance - supporting all families to help their children to be at school at least 96% of the time. Children who are in school regularly achieve better and develop strong social interactions. Children can come to school with minor coughs and colds. We will look after them and let you know if we have any cause for concern. We will be looking at patterns of attendance and talking to families where there are attendance concerns.
It is still my dream to have a day when every child is in school. We have come close this term with 99.1% attendance but we have not hit the magic 100% yet. Remember we have a long weekend coming up at the end of November which can be used for Christmas activities without impacting children’s attendance.
Danes Educational Trust have appointed a new CEO - Julie Jones, who is currently the interim CEO and headteacher at Onslow St Audrey. We look forward to continuing to work with Julie to share the successes of our school and Trust.
Please make sure you scroll down to get to the dates we have already set for the rest of the year
Isla Grayson
Headteacher, on behalf of the Cranbourne team
