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24th October 2025
Principal's Message
We are now at the end of our first half term of this academic year, and for many of our Year 6 children this has been a true highlight of the week as it was their residential trip to Willersley Castle. The children are still there as I write this week's newsletter, but I have been receiving regular updates from the teachers who are with them - Miss Mulvihill and Miss Duckworth - and I know the children are having an incredible time.
This week we also said a fond farewell to Mrs Inglis, who has taken retirement and is moving to the North East of England to be closer to her family and grandchildren. Mrs Inglis has worked for our school, and the other schools in Pendle Education Trust, for many years, and in her time here she has supported a huge number of children to improve their speech and langauge skills. She will be dearly missed, and we wish her all the very best for her future adventures. We will be welcoming a new Speech Therapist to school in January so that we can continue to provide the very best support to all children who need it, and in the interim key children will be ably supported by Miss Price.
I hope everyone has a wonderful break - school is closed for 2 weeks after today.
School will reopen to all children at 8:50am on Monday 10th November.
S Thompson
upcoming dates
upcoming dates
November
Monday 10th November - School reopens to all children
Friday 14th November - Whole-school theatre performance
Thursday 20th November - Individual child photos
Friday 21st November - Year 4 trip to Blue Planet Aquarium
Tuesday 25th November - EYFS parent workshop (2:15pm start)
December
Thursday 4th December - Parents' Evening
Thursday 19th December - Reception Nativity (9:30am)
SAFE
SAFE
Halloween, bonfire and firework safety
Halloween, bonfire and firework safety
During the upcoming half-term holiday it will be Halloween and Bonfire Night. Here are some handy tips to keep your children safe during this exciting time.
When trick-or-treating, ensure costumes fit well to prevent trips, and consider adding reflective tape for visibility. Use LED candles instead of real flames in pumpkins. Many shop-bought fancy dress costumes are highly fammable so it's really important for children to be careful around open flames (including around fire places in the home and candles) when wearing costumes.
If you are celebrating with bonfires and fireworks, ensure your children maintain a safe distance and are closely supervised by an adult. Sparklers burn very hot; they aren't toys and should only be held by children wearing gloves under strict adult supervision, then cooled in a bucket of water.
Find out more about bonfire and firework safety on the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service website: https://www.lancsfirerescue.org.uk/safety/celebrations/bonfire-night-safety-tips
more sleep = healthier, happier children
more sleep = healthier, happier children
Sleep is vital to children’s health, wellbeing, learning and development. It is important to ensure children have the correct amount of sleep so they have enough energy for the next day’s activities.
The circadian rhythm or internal ‘body clock’ tells us when to sleep and when to wake up, regulating our sleep pattern. Moving in a 24 hour daily cycle the circadian rhythm responds mainly to daylight.
We all go through sleep cycles. We move through light sleep, deep sleep, dream sleep, waking and then going back to sleep. Each of these cycles lasts for approximately 90 minutes. Brief waking after each cycle is part of a normal sleep pattern.
Prepare your Child for Bed
A consistent bedtime routine is important as it teaches your child what to expect in the time leading up to bedtime.
All electronic devices should be turned off at least one hour before bedtime this includes T.V, computers, games consoles and mobile phones. The blue light from screens stimulates brain activity which delays the onset of sleep.
Help them to become involved in a quiet, relaxing activity such as colouring/drawing or building a jigsaw in the lead up to bedtime.
Baths are helpful but only if your child finds them relaxing. Ideally a bath should take place at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
The bedtime routine should last about 20-30 minutes and have an end-point which your child will know means it is time to go to sleep, such as turning out the light and saying goodnight and leaving the room.
Source: NHS
here
here
reporting absence to school
reporting absence to school
Please can we remind all parents that, if your child is going to be absent from school, it is important that you call school on 01282 615927 to inform the office of the absence. Please do not email the reasons for absence, as the office may not see this email, and we may need to therefore do a home visit to check on your child.
If school conducts home visits and finds that your child is not at home (if they are too ill to be in school, we would expect them to be at home with a parent), the absence may be marked as unauthorised.
attendance
attendance
Our attendance this week has been 93.60%, and our attendance for this year is 95.17% Our attendance target for every child is 96%.
This year, children in Years 1 to 6 who are in school on time every day in a week will be given 5 dojos to celebrate and recognise their attendance. We are also recognising the best class each week with an in-school Shine Charter competition, where classes can win £50 to spend on resources once they have been the highest-attending class 5 times. Please support the school by ensuring that you child is here every day, ready to learn.
PE Kit
PE Kit
We are making a small change to our PE kit requirements after the half-term break. Children in Year 1 and Year 2 will now come to school wearing their PE kit alongside their school jumper and coat on their PE day. Only children in Reception class will change into their PE kit in school.
inspired
inspired
willersley castle
willersley castle
Our Year 6 children are having a blast at Willersley Castle. Have a look at some of their photos below.
new school website
new school website
A reminder that our new website is now live. We hope you like it!! The website address is still the same, www.pendleprimaryacademy.co.uk
The website is nearly up to date now, so if you feel that any information on there is incorrect, please let us know.
neighbourly
neighbourly
Harvest food bank donations - thank you
Harvest food bank donations - thank you
Thank you for all your kind donations for the Harvest Food Bank!!!
New Era Enterprises Burnley offer a variety of courses designed to help parents. Please see the poster for an outline of courses in September, October and November.
excellent
excellent
seesaw gallery
seesaw gallery
Take a look at some of the things the children have been doing in their first week back. Images are taken from SeeSaw, our online digital learning portfolios.
PPA STARs
PPA STARs
The PPA Stars mini-site is the place for your children to find links to homework, class blogs and help them to be inspired and excellent in their learning, even when they're not at school! The mini-site is updated each half term with content which is linked to what your child is currently learning in school. Keep an eye out for next half term's content appearing soon.
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