Weekly Newsletter

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday 7th October

• Year 1 Harvest @ The Methodist Church @ 9:30am

• Year 2 Harvest @ The Methodist Church @ 10:30am

Wednesday 8th October

• Year 3, 4, 5 Harvest @ St John's Church, @ 1:30pm

• Year 6 trip to Parliament

Friday 10th October

• Reception and pre-school Harvest in the school hall, @ 10am

Monday 20th October

• PSA Disco for Reception, 5pm - 6pm

• PSA Disco for Years 3 & 4, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Wednesday 22nd October

• PSA Disco for Years 1 & 2, 5pm - 6pm

• PSA Disco for Years 5 & 6, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Thursday 23rd October

• Year 3 trip to Bristol Museum

Friday 24th October

• INSET Day - no school for pupils

Tuesday 4th November

• Parent-Teacher Pupil Progress Meetings

Wednesday 5th November

• Flu vaccinations

• Parent-Teacher Pupil Progress Meetings

Friday 14th November

• OPAL Stay and Play

Friday 21st November

• Non-Uniform Day in exchange for tombola prizes

Wednesday 26th November

• Rainbow Group meeting at The Hive, 9am - 10am

Saturday 29th November

• PSA Christmas Fayre, 11am - 2pm

Wednesday 3rd December

• PSA Christmas Wreath Workshop, 7pm - 9pm

Message from Mrs Noall

As we enter the month of October, I would like to thank you for supporting your children to have such a strong start to the school year. As I walk around school I see children engaged in their learning, displaying our school values and striving for excellence. Our CARE Captains led the assembly this morning helping all our children to think about our value of ASPIRATION and explaining how they will be looking out for children showing excellence and awarding CARE points - how exciting!

News and Events

Harvest

A reminder that this week children are asked to bring a donation of toiletries for The Nest Project as part of our Harvest celebrations. Items can be brought into school any day this week. 

• Baby or children’s body wash, shampoo or bubble bath 

• Sensitive baby wipes 

• Nappies in sizes 3-7 

• Toothbrushes for children aged 0-5 years 

• Toothpaste for children aged 0-5 years 

• Nappy cream/sudocrem 

Staffing news

We are delighted to share with you that Mrs Rogers has had her baby; a healthy baby boy named Marlo.  We are also happy to announce that Mrs Dixson is expecting a baby in the spring. We send our congratulations to them both. 

Reminders

Communication

Please use the correct channels of communication to raise any concerns or questions you have about your child's day at school. Messaging other parents and inappropriate use of parent WhatsApp groups does not help us to resolve situations which have happened at school.

Teachers can be given quick messages at drop off or pick up and if you need to speak to them for a longer time then ask them for an appointment. You can also contact teachers through the school office email: office@peasedown.mnsp.org.uk 

School Grid

The deadline for booking meals has been set by the MNSP at midnight on a Thursday for the following week.  You must send a packed lunch in with your child if you haven't ordered by this deadline.

Please note that the Office cannot book any meals for your child as that function in School Grid has been disabled. 

If you wish to cancel a meal, eg if your child is absent, you are able to do this but please note that, once cancelled, you cannot rebook anything after the Thursday deadline.

Children will never be left to go hungry; however, the Kitchen can only offer limited options and amounts at the point of service, eg a jacket potato (if available) or a cheese/ham sandwich, when meals have not been pre-booked.

Annual Data Check

Please remember to go into Arbor and check and update your child's information.  Where it is not possible to do this in Arbor (eg change a third party's phone number), please simply email office@peasedown.mnsp.org.uk  and we will make the change for you.

Class News

Find out what we have been up to on our class pages and on Face Book.

Home Learning

The button below will take you to this week's home learning for every year group. Home learning is designed to enable children to practice skills they will need in school and so it is really important that they spend some time over the week on this home learning. 

Times Table Rock Stars update

Children in Years 4, 5 and 6 should have brought home a copy of their TTRS Heatmap. 

The TTRS heatmap shows how quickly your child can correctly answer each multiplication question. The Times Tables Rock Stars algorithm uses this heatmap to select the right questions for your child when they play in Garage. So the more they play in Garage, the more personalised the questions will be for them.

There is a coloured code, which helps you to understand, which times tables your child still needs to practise. Please help your child to learn these multiplication facts as part of their home learning.

SEND Updates

Playtimes

Do you know what we do to support children, especially those with additional needs, at playtimes?

All children have the options of the library or the Rainbow Room if they would prefer a quieter playtime. In the Rainbow Room Mrs Buckle will support children to play games and in the library a member of SLT will ensure children are engaged with reading, colouring or using computers to catch up on home learning.

In addition to the quieter indoor spaces, we use all our grounds to create zones for different types of play to suit different children's needs. There is the Harbour Area, outside Year 1, where small world toys are enjoyed. The main playground is where most the creative OPAL play happens whilst the den building happens around the edges in the trees. The large sandpit and mud kitchen are also available for smaller groups of children to engage in role play and creative play. The Conservation Area allows children who enjoy nature to play in a quieter zone too. For those children who need to expend a lot of energy there is the scooter zone and for those children who like to practice their ball skills we use the playground court for penalty practice and basketball shooting practice. We rent the Hive courts for three lunchtimes a week so that older children who like to play ball sports can do so in a defined space with a referee who can support fair and fun sportsmanship.

We stagger the times that children are in and out of the dining room and this helps to manage the noise in the dining room and the number of children outside too. For children who need a quieter eating area, we open the small dining hall too. 

The adults on duty at lunchtime are all adults who work in our classrooms during the day. This means that all children, whether they are in Reception, The Star or Year 6, know and trust our adults outside and are happy to approach them for help or support when required. We also have a team of Year 6 pupils who are being trained as sports captains and a group of Year 4 pupils who help to manage the OPAL play equipment. 

We watch our children playing very carefully so that if we see children struggling we can support and help them. If you feel that your child's SEND needs are preventing them for enjoying their playtimes please talk to their class teacher or Mrs Tombs.

PFSA Updates

Childcare

Need help with childcare costs? Check out this website for help and advice: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/

Local services

Come along to a coffee morning where information on local services will be shared with you.

EYFS Updates

PSJ BITESIZE Second Challenge - Learn Ring-A-Ring-A-Rosies (long version) off by heart

Communication and Language Development

Traditional nursery rhymes are fantastic vocabulary boosters. They often feature a pleasing rhythmic pattern and simple repetitive phrases that babies and young children find easy to remember and repeat. In order to develop their phonological awareness, children need to be repeatedly exposed to spoken language and nursery rhymes provide the perfect way to do this. Traditional nursery rhymes enhance children’s pronunciation and their ability to hear vowels and consonants through the rhymes.

Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosies

Ring-a-ring-a-Rosies

A pocket full of posies

Atishoo!, Atishoo!

We all fall down

The King has sent his daughter

To fetch a pail of water

Atishoo!, Atishoo!

We all fall down!

The cows are in the meadow

Lying fast asleep

Atishoo!, Atishoo!

We all jump up!

FUN FACT FOR PARENTS

What is the story behind Ringa Ringa Roses?

Ring a Ring o Roses was sung during the Great Plague of London in 1665.  The “rosie” is the red rash that appears on the skin. The first sign of bubonic plague.  The “pocket full of posies” hid the stench of the plague. Coughing and sneezing was the final stage of the plague.

USEFUL LINK

https://wordsforlife.org.uk/themes/songs-and-rhymes/  The National Literacy Trust

UPDATES

RECEPTION AND NURSERY PRESCHOOL HARVEST FESTIVAL - Friday 10th October @ 10.00am in the main hall.

RECEPTION PARENT PHONICS WORKSHOPS - Monday 13th October or Friday 17th October @ 9.00am Please speak to your child’s class teacher to book a slot for these workshops.

RECEPTION HALLOWEEN DISCO  - Monday 20th October @ 5.00pm-6.00pm in the main hall.

OPAL and Forest School Updates

OPAL Stay and Play – You're Invited! 

We are excited to invite you to our OPAL Stay and Play event on Friday 14th November – a wonderful opportunity to come and experience the joy and creativity of outdoor play with your children!

Event Times:

• KS2: 1:00 – 2:00pm

• KS1: 2:00 – 3:00pm

To support our OPAL play provision, we kindly ask for a donation from the list below or a £1 contribution via Arbor. Card payments will also be accepted by Mrs Stenner, who will be located by the boat in the playground.

• Laundry baskets 

• Suitcases 

• Pushchairs (real or toy) 

• Office chairs 

• Wheelbarrows 

• Tarpaulins 

• Guttering 

• PVC Pipes 

• Barrels 

• Plastic crates 

• Flexi-tubes 

• Brushes/Mops 

• Scooters 

• Chalk 

• Paintbrushes 

• Watering cans 

• Dressing up clothes 

We can't wait to welcome as many of you as possible to celebrate and share in our play – it promises to be a fantastic afternoon!

PSA Updates

Please help!

For the PSA to continue after the Christmas fayre, we need volunteers to be Chair and Secretary to replace those whose children are moving on from the school. 

After many years, both the chair and secretary positions must be filled urgently. We would make sure that the new post holders had a good handover after their election at the AGM on the 29th November. We would also welcome at least one new trustee for the PSA committee. All parents/carers with a child at the school and school staff are eligible for nomination.

Please register nominations on the PSA email address psjprimary.psa@gmail.com  by 21st November so that candidates can be included in the election at 10.30am in the school hall on the day of the Christmas Fayre 29th November 2025.

Community News and Events

The team at Timsbury Childcare have recently created a fundraising campaign for a child that attends our school. To find out more follow this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/paisleys-sdr-journey/cl/o?utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp13_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&lang=en_GB