18th March 2026

Dear Parents

A Masterclass in Collaboration

Maths Week was a resounding success, but the real highlight wasn’t just the numbers, it was the spirit of teamwork on display.

It was truly impressive to observe the children diving into complex challenges not as individuals but as cohesive units. The classrooms were buzzing with high-level mathematical discussion, as students debated strategies and refined their logic together. Watching them navigate difficult problems through peer-to-peer support showed just how much they’ve grown in their ability to communicate abstract ideas.

Highlights of the Week

Dynamic Discussions: Students didn't just find answers; they explained their "why" to one another.
Peer Problem-Solving: Clear evidence of children scaffolding each other’s learning.
Shared Success: A sense of collective pride when a group cracked a particularly tough puzzle.

A huge thank you to Miss Liz for her fantastic organisation and for all the staff who supported the event. The hard work behind the scenes created the perfect environment for these collaborative moments to flourish!

Eid Mubarak

And for those families who are celebrating, Eid Mubarak! I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating with your family and enjoy a very well-deserved holiday.

Tim Robinson

Headteacher

Parent Teacher Consultations

For parents who have signed up, please double check your times for your Parent Teacher Consulations for next Tuesday 24th March. Please be on time to ensure the smoothness of appointments for all staff and parents.

Maths Week 2026

This year the children have enjoyed many Maths activities for Maths Week. Each year group enjoyed a competitive problem solving activity called GECKO Maths.

Working in their house teams, the children had to solve logic and reasoning problems using the Act It Out or Patterns strategies. Each problem was worth a different number of points and they had to explain their answers. It was wonderful to see the collaboration of the children. They soon realised that their first answer might not have always been correct and they had to go back and rework-out the problem; a very important life lesson in resilience.

Thank you to all the teachers for organising practical Maths lessons this week to support the celebration of Maths.

The Mathletics LOGIN is now working correctly. The children will be given their login details before the holiday in their Learning Logs. Please encourage the children to access the website, as the games are excellent for increasing the speed of the recall of number facts. Whilst we want the children to participate in the build up to the competition day on the 25th March, please monitor the amount of time they are spending on the website.

Book Week: 19th - 23rd April 2026

We are excited to celebrate Book Week with a range of activities designed to inspire a love of reading across the school. This will be during the first week of Term 3.

Highlights will include our Book Café spaces in the Learning Souq, a “Breakfast and a Book” initiative, opportunities for parents to visit and read to classes and a Book Character Parade on Thursday 23rd April (8:30–9:30am) where children can dress as their favourite book characters.

Children from Year 1 to Year 5 will be invited to visit the RAH Library during the week to explore a wider range of children’s literature. Further details about the trip will follow in due course.

We look forward to sharing a joyful week of reading with our whole school community.

Sign up for Term 3 after school clubs - Y1 to Y6

CLICK HERE to access the Term 3 clubs brochure.

Our PLG Journey: Together as a Learning Community

We are excited to continue sharing our Personal Goals Padlet platform in our weekly newsletter to celebrate achievements together as a wider community.

We kindly ask for your support in capturing moments when your child demonstrates any of the Personal Learning Goals - whether at home, in the park, during outdoor play or in daily routines. For example, if your child shows collaboration while playing outside, you may upload one photo and select the appropriate Personal Goal folder (e.g., “Collaboration”).

Families are welcome to share one photo per week if they wish, highlighting a Personal Goal your child has demonstrated.

Please click on the Padlet link below to share your child’s achievement with our community. This is a wonderful opportunity for children to celebrate their out-of-school achievements and for us to reinforce that their Personal Learning Goals are transferable skills beyond the classroom.

PLGs Padlet

Thank you for supporting the celebration of children’s achievements.

The IC Team

Lunchtime Open Mic Showcase for Years 5 and 6

Our Year 5 and 6 students took over the stage at lunch for casual musical open mic sessions this week. We enjoyed a varied mix of singing and instrumental sets featuring guitars, African drumming, piano, and ukuleles, trumpets and clarinets. It was a fantastic showcase of our upper school’s diverse musical talent and dedication.

Well done to everyone who performed and for those who came to support.

Click on the links below to view the photos.

Mr Gary gruston@pdoschool.com

Year 5 Open Mic Photos Year 6 Open Mic Photos

Early Years

The Early Years children (and parents) had a fantastic Exit Point last week to round off our ‘My Toy Shop’ unit of learning!

The children had been busy investigating, exploring and enjoying so many aspects of the unit, and had a chance to share their learning with parents and staff. There was an amazing number of parents, which added a beautiful element of enthusiasm and fun to the morning. Thank you to the parents for taking the time to celebrate your child’s learning and growing independence; we appreciate your involvement in a wonderful morning.

Milepost 1

This week in Milepost 1, the children in Year 2 had their Entry Point for their new IPC topic Travel From A to B.

First the children investigated different ways to travel using their bodies and discussed how travelling in different ways made it easier or harder to travel. They then worked together to sort different modes of transport into different criteria. Some children sorted into colours, others sorted into wheels or no wheels whist others sorted into land, sea and air.

The children took their ideas home and used materials at home to create forms of transport - Lucas created a locomotive!

Milepost 2

Milepost 2 enjoyed a fantastic start to Maths Week with an exciting Gecko Maths problem-solving challenge. The children worked enthusiastically in their house teams, earning house points when they successfully completed each challenge.

Teamwork and communication were essential skills throughout the activity, and it was wonderful to see students collaborating, sharing ideas and supporting one another.

The challenge was thoroughly enjoyed by all and set a positive tone for the week ahead!

All children have now received their Mathletics login details. We encourage families to make use of this valuable home learning tool over the holiday to continue developing mathematical skills in a fun and engaging way.

Milepost 3

This week in Milepost 3, Year 5 have thoroughly enjoyed and embraced all the different challenges in Maths week.

From a Super Mario-themed breakout box, where the year group worked in teams of five to solve problems and justify their reasoning across a range of topics, to a QR code–based geometry scavenger hunt, the children have demonstrated incredible collaboration skills. They worked together to recall prior knowledge and apply it in a variety of scenarios. We have been particularly impressed by their resilience and adaptability when tackling more challenging questions.

Congratulations to our Learners of the Week!

A huge congratulations to our newest Learners of the Week! This award recognises the incredible effort they put into their learning and the excellent ways they are putting their personal goals into practice. It's fantastic to see them growing and becoming such dedicated and confident learners.

PDO School Newsletter