Welcome to issue 128 of our school newsletter. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram for regular updates on achievements, class news and school updates.
Coming up in this issue:
Welcome Back
Learning updates
Attendance
This Week's Instagram
Upcoming events
The gift of a book
Notices
Diary Dates for Term 3 and 4
Topic overviews for Term 3
Assessments
Permissions
Parent Survey
As we begin a new year, we warmly welcome our students and families back to school. We hope the holiday break provided time to be together, rest and recharge. January is a wonderful opportunity to set new goals and embrace new learning experiences. Thank you for your continued support as we work together to help every child thrive this year.
Foundation Stage Children in Foundation Stage have been learning to find different ways to make 5. They explored the part part whole model and even wrote down what they had explored. Well done Chicks and Robins.
Key Stage One The Year 1 and 2 children have had a great start to 2026. They have been busy learning their new Talk for Writing texts and will begin their shared writing next week. In Art, they have been experimenting with watercolours and exploring the effect music can have on our painting. In History, we have been learning about Amy Johnson and her incredible solo flight all the way to Australia – what an inspirational character!
Lower Key Stage Two This week in Lower Key Stage 2, we have shown so many of our school values while auditioning for the play and being given our parts. We have had two very successful read-throughs, with every single one of us showing courage and kindness. We are all extremely proud of the effort everyone has put in so far!
In DT, we absolutely loved the cooking we did on Monday. We learned how to make tandoori chicken and Bombay saag aloo, and discovered so much along the way – from how to cut safely to how to marinate and cook the ingredients. Obviously, the very best part was getting to eat the final dishes, and every plate was empty by the end!
In Science, we have been grouping and classifying living things and learning more about vertebrates. In History, our Anglo-Saxon timelines have been coming along brilliantly, and we have really enjoyed listening to stories from the past.
Upper Key Stage Two Welcome back to a busy and exciting Spring term in UKS2! We have launched our new writing unit based on Dobber and the Silver Ring, a fiction text taught through the Talk for Writing approach. Children are already enjoying learning the story by heart, before moving on to innovating and eventually writing independently. Photos and videos of our learning have been uploaded to Seesaw—please do take a look and encourage your child to talk about what they have done so far. In maths, we have begun new units on Multiplication and Division and Ratio. Our wider curriculum is also well underway with new topics including The Mayan Civilisation (history), Living Things and Their Habitats (science), Mayan mask making, collage and sculpture (art), Vector Drawings , Creating Multimedia (Y5 computing), Gymnastics and Tag Rugby (PE), Health and Economic Well-Being (PSHE), What do people believe about good, evil and suffering? (Religion and Worldviews), and At the Tearoom in French. It has been a great start to the term!
83 pupils have maintained 100% attendance so far this academic year.
Last years whole school attendance figure was 96.4%
Current whole school attendance is 96.3%
Our attendance figures for this week are as follows:
Monday 19th January- World Religion Week
Advanced Notice
Wednesday 28th January- Young Voices Concert
If you would like to gift a book to school for a special occasion or 'just because', please see our Amazon Wishlist for some ideas. All books donated are marked with a special 'gifted by...' message and added to our library.
All diary dates for the year are available on the school website: Click Here
Please find the dates for Year 1, 4 and 6 national assessments below:
Y1: Phonics Screen Test: WB 8th June 2026
Y4 Times Table Check: WB 8th June 2026
Y6 SATs: WB 11th May 2026
It is vital with regards to school data and your child’s own personal records that your child is present within these
weeks.
We will be moving our online presence from X to Instagram in the next few weeks. In order to do this, we need to update each child's permissions. Please complete the form that has been emailed out to you at your earliest convenience.
At our school, we value the partnership between home and school and believe that your views are essential in helping us provide the best possible learning environment for our pupils.
Your feedback helps us celebrate what is working well and identifies areas where we can improve. Please check your email for a link to a Parent Survey for 2025-2026. All responses will be treated confidentially, and the survey should take only a few minutes to complete.
Thank you for taking the time to support our school.
