Welcome to our Autumn newsletter. There are lots of updates included this month as well as details about exciting events that are fast approaching. There is also a very important update on staffing.
As I’m sure many of you are aware, our school community was saddened this week following the death of one of our parents. Rachel Hodgson, Jesse’s from Y2’s mum, had been unwell throughout the last year and has unfortunately lost her battle with cancer. She is now at peace which although difficult, I know has at least brought some peace to her family. I am sure that you will all join me in sending love and absolute best wishes to Jesse and her family at this time. Rachel was a wonderful character in our school community; she always supported our school and the events we organised. She could also be relied upon for advice on the moving of cows to support our walks to Low Barns – a fond memory of mine.
Staff in school have completed specialist training to support children and one another with bereavement, lessons will be delivered and guidance provided as required. At times like this our greatest strength is our school community and the way we pull together. If anyone needs any help or support, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at school.
We’re looking forward to welcoming you to school for our first parents’ evening of the year next week. Your child will be bringing home their half term report with gradings for their behaviour, effort and progress so far this year. We want the absolute best for your child, just like you do. The best way to achieve this is us working together with constant communication and support for one another. We’re so grateful for everything you do to help us.
Parents’ evening appointments are restricted to ten minutes per child. If you would like more time to speak to your child’s teacher, outside of parents’ evening either face to face or on the phone, please don’t hesitate to contact them and we can make sure it is arranged. We value your support enormously; it’s an honour for us to help your child flourish and thrive at our school.
Bookings are now open for the Halloween Disco through School Gateway. We also have a non-uniform day on Friday 24th October. We’re asking for a voluntary contribution of £1.00 on this day for our school funds. Payments can be made via the gateway. All money raised through school funds is used to purchase resources that support and improve your child’s experience in school. This year we’re continuing to develop our outdoor play experience and funding will be used to buy resources for the school yard and field.
As always thank you for your ongoing support to me and the team. If you have any comments or suggestions for how we can improve or do things better, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Mr Laws
I hope you will join me congratulating Mrs. Redfern, who is pregnant with her second child. She will remain with us for this term and begin her maternity leave early in the Spring. At this point, we will be making some internal changes to staffing to maintain the highest standard of teaching for your children.
Mrs Foster will move from Class One into Class Two and will have responsibility for teaching the class in Mrs Redfern’s absence. Miss Brown, who is currently completing her EYFS teaching qualification, will take over the responsibility of teaching Class One at this time. We are currently recruiting an additional member of support staff who will be supporting children across these classes.
Can I please remind you that children’s places must be booked and paid for before your child attends a school club. This includes breakfast and after-school care. This means that we can plan appropriate staffing and make sure that adequate resources are prepared for the session. We can provide emergency child-care in the event of an exceptional circumstance or unexpected emergency. If you require this support or have any questions, please contact Miss Varley in the school office.
Our Halloween Disco for Y1 to Y6 children will take place on Thursday 23rd October from 4pm to 5.30pm. Children are invited to come along in Halloween fancy dress, we politely request that costumes are age appropriate and no weapons such as plastic knives are brought into school.
Tickets cost £5.00. All children will receive a hot dog, crisps, sweets and a drink. Payment should be made by Arbor. Bookings will close at 4pm on Wednesday 22nd October so that we can ensure we order the right amount of food for everyone. Please let us know if your child has any specific dietary requirements.
This is one of our friends of the school events. If you can spare the time to come along and help with running the event, then we would welcome your support. This might be serving refreshments or supporting with supervising the children. Staff give up a lot of their own time across the year to run many events, clubs and initiatives, I will be at the disco bit I’m keen to support other staff and look after them if we can. Please let me know if you can help us.
Children in EYFS will have their own Halloween Disco on the same day during the afternoon school session. Mrs Foster will send more details about this event by Class Dojo. Children who do not normally attend the Thursday afternoon session are invited to attend this event instead of their usual morning slot.
Parents’ Evenings are to be held next week on Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st October. Face-to-face appointments with your child’s class teacher will be available on Monday evening between 2pm and 5.40pm and 3.30pm to 5.40pm on Tuesday.
On Monday afternoon, children from across the school will be in the hall and supervised by Mr Laws and the Teaching Assistant team. Any parent who has an appointment between 2.00pm and the end of the school day is welcome to collect their child after speaking to their class teacher. All other children will be dismissed by normal arrangements at the usual time, we will leave a gap in teacher appointments to ensure this is done safely.
Appointments can be booked by logging into the school’s booking system at https://wittonlewear.schoolcloud.co.uk
We will provide a written report about your child’s behaviour, effort and progress before the parent’s evening; this is your chance to discuss this report and anything else you feel appropriate with your child’s class teacher. Appointments are limited to ten minutes in length, we politely request that to keep the event to time, that you arrive on time and don’t allow discussions to overrun.
If you would like more time with your child’s class teacher, please contact them via Class Dojo and an appointment will be arranged on a different day and time.
Our harvest festival will take place on Friday 24th October in the church. Ahead of this event, we are collecting donations for the local food bank. If you have any non-perishable items that you’d be happy to donate, please drop them at the school reception by Thursday 23rd October. We’ll be moving all donations down to the church for the harvest festival and then handing them over to the team. Thank you so much for your support.
The festival will begin at 2pm and will be finished by 3pm. At the end of the festival, children will be dismissed from the church. We look forward to welcoming you to this event.
We will hold a non-uniform day on Friday 24th October. On this day we request a voluntary donation of at least £1.00 is made via Arbor. The money raised through these events is added to our school funds which are used to supplement the offer we make to the children. In the last year, school funds have been used to purchase games and equipment provided for the children on the school yard.
| Date | Event | Additional Information |
| 20.10.25 | Parents’ Evening | 2pm to 6pm |
| 21.10.25 | Parents’ Evening | 3.30pm to 6pm |
| 21.10.25 | Children’s Flu Vaccinations | Please ensure consent forms are completed on Class Dojo or contact Miss Varley |
| 23.10.25 | Halloween Disco | 4.00pm to 5.30pm.
Please see information above – Tickets £5 to be paid by Arbor |
| 24.10.25 | Non-Uniform Day | £1.00 voluntary donation to be paid via Arbor |
| 24.10.25 | Nerf Challenge | Y4 and Y5 Children at Bishop College |
| 24.10.25 | Harvest festival | 2pm at Church |
| 27.10.25 | School closed for half term | |
| 03.11.25 | School reopens for children | |
| 03.11.25 | Class Three Trip to Great North Museum | Details to follow |
| 04.11.25 | Class Three Swimming | |
| 05.11.25 | Y5 and Y6 (C4) STEM Day at Locomotion | Details to follow |
| 07.11.25 | Witton’s Got Talent Showcase | 6pm at Wolsingham School – Details and invitations to follow |
| 10.11.25 | Anti-Bullying Week | |
| 10.11.25 | Gymnastics Festival – Class Two | Details to follow |
| 21.11.25 | Winter Sleepover Event | Details to follow |
| 25.11.25 | Scholastic Book Fair | 25.11.25 to 02.12.25 |
| 27.11.25 | Superhero Multi-Skills Festival | Class One |
| 27.11.25 | Christmas Shopping Night | 3.30pm to 8pm – Details to follow |
| 28.11.25 | School Closed for Staff PD Day | |
| 09.12.25 | Nativity Performance | Class Two and Class Three – Evening Performance |
| 10.12.25 | Christmas Lunch | Details to follow |
| 10.12.25 | EYFS Nativity Performance | Details to follow – AM performance |
| 15.12.25 | Class Two – Christmas Party | |
| 16.12.25 | Class Three – Christmas Party | |
| 17.12.25 | Class One – EYFS – Christmas Party | |
| 18.12.25 | Class Four – Christmas Party | |
| 19.12.25 | Toy Day and Non Uniform Day | £1.00 donation via Arbor |
| 22.12.25 | School closed for Christmas Holiday | |
| 05.01.26 | School reopens for children |
