Diary Dates

Term Dates

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are looking forward to what the Spring term has in store and hopefully some warmer weather; the start of longer daylight is my absolute favourite! We are looking forward to the learning opportunities available to the children during this term; our learning overviews emailed out to you all last week provide further information on the different concepts that your children will be learning in each subject.

We started off our return to school last week with an assembly linked to lots of our Lark Rise values. 'Have you filled a bucket today', by Carol McCloud got the children thinking about how we treat one another and the importance of filling other people's buckets with kind actions and words as well as how to look after our own buckets to support our own wellbeing. It certainly filled my bucket listening to all the lovely ways that the children suggested they could look out for one another. We have had so much bucket filling from the children over the past fortnight including lots of the children taking part in making cards of lovely messages for Harry who attends Thorn Springs Care Home and turned 100 years old this week!

It has been wonderful to be in and out of lots of lessons this week observing learning with Miss Slough, our Teaching and Learning lead. The children were all incredibly focused and eager to complete their learning tasks which is a direct reflection of the confidence and competence that the staff are instilling in the children each and every day. I feel very fortunate to work with such outstanding practitioners who are passionate on supporting the needs of each and every child.

This week the children in Year 6 have sat a mock SATs paper. Once again we are truly impressed with their concentration and focus which have led to some remarkable results and progress with a large proportion of children already achieving the expected standard. This is testament to their hard work, an enriching curriculum and incredible teaching and learning opportunities provided; well done Year 6!

Finally, it was lovely to finish the week with Red Kites class assembly which Mrs Hartley informs me was absolutely incredible! The children did a fantastic job of showcasing their learning. I hope that all of our parents and carers that attended enjoyed it too!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing you and the children on Monday.

Mrs Romina Lang

Headteacher

Attendopoly

Each week in our whole school assembly we celebrate children's attendance by playing a game of Attendopoly (based on Monopoly). The class with the highest attendance figure is rewarded with a class prize.

The winning class for the last couple of weeks was:

Week of 15th December : Eagles class with 98% attendance

Whole school attendance : 95.5%

Week of 5th January : Macaws class with 97.9% attendance

Whole school attendance : 91.8%

Our whole school target attendance for this academic year across all classes is 97%.

Music Hero of the half term

Bjork

We are so excited to introduce our new Musical Hero for the Spring term: the incredible Icelandic artist, Björk! Known for her unique voice and creative costumes, Björk is a true pioneer who shows us that there are no limits to imagination. She blends sounds from nature—like crashing waves and crackling ice—with electronic beats and orchestral instruments. By studying her work, our students will explore how to be brave, original, and how to use technology to create brand-new sounds. We can’t wait to hear the wonderful "out of this world" music her story inspires in our classrooms! See if your child can tiptoe as quietly as possible during the whispers, then jump and dance when the big brass band kicks in! It’s a wonderful way to talk about dynamics (volume) in music and helps children practice self-control and listening skills - all while having a bit of a kitchen disco.

Artist of the half term

Ansel Adams

Our amazing Art ambassadors delivered a fantastic assembly to tell the whole school about our Artist of the half term Ansel Adams.

Ansel Adams was an American photographer who is known for his stunning black-and-white photographs. He loved nature so much that he spent his life using his camera to show how beautiful the world is, often waiting hours for the perfect sunlight to hit a mountain or a tree. Instead of just "taking" a picture, Ansel believed in "making" a picture, using special tools and techniques in his darkroom to create deep shadows and bright, snowy whites. His photos helped to raise awareness to the world about how important it is to protect our planet.

The children have been challenged to take their own photographs of our wonderful world and they can send them in to office@larkrise.com.

Chair of Governors

We are delighted to welcome Mr Adam Kohlbeck as Chair of Governors of the joint Ardley Hill/Lark Rise Governing Body. Mr Kohlbeck is the Director of Teacher Quality at the Chiltern Learning Trust and is a best selling educational author, who brings a wealth of knowledge and educational experience to the governing body.

Sustainability Update

This academic year, we have set ourselves a target of reducing the amount of gas and electricity we use as a school by 5%. We are pleased and proud to let you know that, for the months of November and December, we have exceeded these targets when compared to the same months last year. This is an excellent achievement and can be attributed to all of the hard work of staff and children to think about everyday actions that can add up to big changes.

FALLS Valentine's Disco

The FALLS team are organising a Valentine's Disco on Monday 9th February

5.00 - 6.00pm : Reception & KS1

6.15 - 7.15pm : KS2

Tickets (£4) will be available to purchase on MCAS next week.

School Nursing Service

The 0-19 School Nursing Service are hosting a drop in session on Monday 26th January from 8.45-9.30am in school. Kathy Rapsey, our link School Nurse will be here to talk to parents about the services the School Nursing Service can offer to children and families.

Further details of what the service offers can be found via this link

https://www.bedslutonchildrenshealth.nhs.uk/services/bedfordshire-and-luton-0-to-19-health-visiting-and-school-nursing-service/#professionalsection

Request from Central Beds Council

The Central Beds Council Community Safety Partnership, Safer Central, would like to hear your views on how safe you feel in your area. You can help shape the work of Safer Central by sharing your views and completing the Safer Central Community Survey. We know that no one knows better what is happening locally, and with the information you can provide we can work together to make a difference, creating a safer environment for everyone.

Your opinions really do make a difference to help us focus our work where our residents want to see improvements.

Learning Review Meetings

Learning Review meetings will be held on Wednesday 21st & Thursday 22nd January from 3.45pm to 7.00pm. This will be an opportunity for you to discuss the progress that your child is making in English and Maths. Online bookings are now open on SchoolCloud. Meetings will be face to face in the school hall and will last 5 minutes per subject; we would appreciate your support in sticking to your allotted 5 minutes to ensure we can run to time as best as we can. Thank you in advance for your support with this.

Class Assemblies

The class assemblies to which parents/carers are invited have been added to the school calendar which can be accessed via the Diary Dates tab at the top of the newsletter.

The assemblies planned for the Spring term are:

Red Kites : Friday 16th January

Peacocks : Friday 30th January

Macaws : Friday 6th February

Hummingbirds : Friday 6th March

Parrots : Friday 20th March

Shine Bright, Wear Bright

As part of our support for the CHUMS charity who are offering support for some children in school, we will be taking part in their 'Shine Bright Wear Bright’ event to raise money for CHUMS. We will be having a non uniform day on Monday 9th February 2026 which is during Children’s Mental Health Week.

There will be a £1 donation towards the charity - details of how to pay will be sent out nearer the time.

Writing to be proud of (Year R)