Grafton Primary School

Bulletin

5th December 2025

Quote of the week from Mrs Bana

Treat everyone with politeness and kindness, not because they're nice, but because you are.

- Roy T. Bennett

This week I popped into a few classes and saw the amazing atmosphere created by the class teachers where music was playing in the background and children were sharing ideas with their peers. There was a buzz in the air! This was such a positive, calm learning environment and I want to thank all of our pupils who follow our school motto, Together we learn, together we achieve. We are on a mission to ensure that all our pupils who find it difficult to follow the school rules are encouraged to put Kindness and Consideration in their interactions with their peers. Have a great weekend when it comes!

🎄✨A huge thank you to everyone who joined us at our Christmas Fayre!✨🎄

Thank you for joining us at our Christmas Fayre and helping make it such a wonderful success. Your support and festive spirit truly made the day special, and it was fantastic to see so many families enjoying the celebrations together. We enjoyed a magical mix of festive fun — from stepping inside our sparkling snow globe❄️✨and meeting Mr. Nourish🍏, to visits from Santa🎅, his elves🧝‍♀️, and their playful reindeers🦌. The face painting🎨, activities, and all the extra surprises made the day even more special for families and little ones.🎁

Thank you for bringing your joy, excitement, and Christmas spirit. We hope you had an amazing time!🌟🎅🎄

📢 Important Update on School Communication Procedures

We greatly value the partnership between home and school in supporting your child’s learning and well-being. To ensure effective communication and to help us manage the demands of the school day, we kindly ask that all initial enquiries and messages be directed through the school office rather than emailing teachers directly. Please send all communication to: office@graftonprimary.co.uk

Teachers have a wide range of roles and responsibilities throughout the day, including planning, teaching, and supporting pupils. Responding to emails daily can impact their ability to carry out these important duties effectively.

Our communication strategy is designed to ensure that messages are managed efficiently and that staff have the necessary time to follow up appropriately. Please be assured that the school office will ensure your messages reach the right person and will coordinate timely responses.

We appreciate your understanding and support in helping us maintain a balanced workload for our staff, which ultimately benefits all pupils.

Thank you for working with us to make Grafton Primary a positive and productive learning environment.

🚫🚲 🛴E-Bikes and E-Scooters Banned from the Playground

To help maintain a safe environment for all pupils, we would like to remind you that e-bikes and electric scooters are not permitted anywhere in the school playground.

This decision has been made to ensure:

the safety of children, particularly during busy drop-off and pick-up times
the prevention of accidents or collisions
the safe and responsible use of these vehicles outside school grounds

We kindly ask all parents to ensure that children do not ride or bring e-bikes or electric scooters onto school property. If your child uses one to travel to school, it must be walked and parked outside the playground.

Thank you for your understanding and support in helping us keep the school grounds safe for everyone.

🌟 Celebrating Amelia’s Outstanding Swimming Success🏊‍♀️

We are delighted to share the incredible achievements of Amelia- Year 5 pupil from Bonnin class at the recent Dunmow Christmas Cracker Swim Meet. Her determination, resilience, and outstanding performances were truly inspiring, especially given the challenges she faced during some of the races.✨

Amelia’s results speak for themselves: four gold medals🥇🥇🥇🥇— all achieved with Essex Championship qualification times — along with an impressive silver medal🥈under particularly tough circumstances. These accomplishments are a testament to her hard work, dedication, and remarkable sporting spirit.🌟

We are extremely proud of Amelia and look forward to celebrating her success with the whole school community. 🎉🏅

Thank you once again to her family for keeping us updated. We wish Amelia the very best in her upcoming competition at the Essex Swimming Championship in January — we can’t wait to hear how she gets on! 🚀

🎄Christmas Sing-Along!🎶

We would like to invite all parents and carers to our Nursery & Reception Christmas Sing-Along!

Monday 15th December 10:30 – 10:50 am
Classes: Thistle & Daffodil

Classes: Morning Nursery

Tuesday 16th December 2.30 -2.50 pm

Classes: Shamrock & Rose

Classes: Afternoon and Full Time Nursery

👉Please note: Children will not go home after the show - they will return to class and continue with their usual Nursery session.

We encourage Full Time Nursery parents to attend Tuesday afternoon session as children may struggle separating from parents in the morning and continuing their day at nursery.

🎉Celebrating Learning and Community Throughout the Year

To ensure every year group has a meaningful opportunity to showcase their learning - and to celebrate the rich cultural and religious diversity within our school - each year group will present one performance to parents during the school year. These will include:

EYFS: 🎄Christmas Songs🎶
Year 1: 🌍Earth Day &🏰St. George's Day
Year 2: 🐉Chinese New Year🏮
Year 3: 🌙Eid Celebration🕌
Year 4: 🪔Diwali Presentation🎆
Year 5: 🎺Trumpet Concert🎵
Year 6: 🎭End of Year Performance👏

Alongside these year-group events, all pupils will take part in a range of festive activities, including the Christmas Orchestra and Pantomime—both wonderful opportunities for children to enjoy the holiday spirit in an inclusive and engaging way.

We remain committed to offering a broad, balanced, and inclusive curriculum that reflects and respects the diversity of our school community, while making the best use of our facilities and time.

Thank you for your continued support as we work to provide rich and meaningful experiences for every pupil. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to get in touch.

🎄Christmas Party Donations🎊

Class parties will be held on the 18th December.

Please contribute a 50p donation for your child to receive a party snack and drink via Arbor School Shop.🎅

Children will be coming in non-uniform on this day. Ensure that the clothing selected is appropriate for the weather.

Thank you very much for your continued support!

Diabetes UK Fundraising

Thank you to all our families for their generous contributions to the Diabetes UK fundraising pack. Thanks to your support, we are delighted to share that we collected a total of £286.42.

We have shared the amount we have raised with Miss Davey's family and they are very grateful to the school for raising awareness of this condition.

Your kindness and generosity are truly appreciated and will make a meaningful difference.

Parent Governor Vacancy

We are looking for a committed parent to join our school’s Governing Body. If you are passionate about supporting our pupils, shaping school decisions, and representing parent voices, we would love to hear from you. No previous experience is needed—just enthusiasm and a desire to make a difference.

How to apply: If you are interested, please complete the👉Expression of Parent Governor Interest Form by 12th December 2025.

✨Festive Performances✨

🎻Year 5: Orchestra Concert – Tues, 9th Dec

🎭Year 3 & 4: Scroogical – Mon, 15th Dec

🎼Year 6: Orchestra Concert – Fri, 12th Dec

A quick reminder to please make all payments via the School Shop on the Arbor School Shop💻

Thank you for your support in helping us make these festive experiences special for all our children! 🎅🌟

Nursery ‘Stay & Play’ Parent Session

Wednesday 10th December

We are excited to invite all parents and carers to our Nursery ‘Stay & Play’ session.

Nursery AM: 10:30 – 11:15 am
Nursery FT/PM: 2:30 – 3:15 pm

We look forward to seeing you there and sharing a special time of play and learning with your child!

📅 Dates for the Diary
Keep up with key events and activities this term

Mon 8th & Tues 9th Dec

🏛️ Year 6 visit to Valence House Museum

Tues 9 Dec

🎶 Y5 Christmas Orchestra Concert

Wed 10 Dec

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Nursery 'Stay & Play' Parent Session

Nursery AM 10:30-11:15am

Nursery PT/PM 2:30-3:15pm

Thurs 11 Dec

🍽️Christmas Dinner/Christmas Jumper Day

🏫 Group of Rights Ambassadors visiting Barking Town Hall (morning)

Fri 12 Dec

🏊‍♂️Swimming: Year 5 Craig & Packman 10:30 – 11:15am

🎶Y6 Christmas Orchestra Concert

Mon 15th Dec

🧑‍🎤Nursery & Reception Christmas Sing-a-Long 10:30 – 10:50 a.m
Classes: Thistle & Daffodil

Groups: Morning Nursery

Mon 15 Dec

🎭 Y3/4 Pantomime -Scroogical in school (KS2 hall)

Tue 16th Dec

🧑‍🎤Nursery & Reception Christmas Sing-a-Long 2.30 -2.50 pm

Classes: Shamrock & Rose

Groups: Afternoon and Full Time Nursery

Thurs 18 Dec

🧑‍🎄Non-uniform (party clothes) Class parties

Fri 19 Dec

❄️End of Term 12:30pm

🛑Mon 05 Jan

🧑‍🏫Staff Training Day - School closed to children

Tues 06 Jan

🎒Children return to School

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