Welcome to the March edition of our newsletter. I hope you all enjoyed the Easter holiday, although the weather wasn’t great, it was a time to relax, switch off and spend time with family and friends. This newsletter includes updates on some of the things that have been going on in school such as our Eggcellent Easter Egg competition and several sporting events. I’ve also included a spotlight on the school’s personal development offer and the important dates for the term ahead.
We’ll do our absolute best to stick to these dates, but everything is subject to change due to unexpected or anticipated circumstances that might arise. We will provide more details, particularly about end of year productions and the EYFS graduation in the weeks leading up to the event. Sports day as always is weather dependent, we’ve put it in nice and early, so we have lots of time to rearrange it if necessary.
Although it’s mentioned below, I’d like to take an opportunity to thank everyone who took time to complete the parent survey. Your feedback is vital to help us know what we are doing well, as well as what can still be improved within our school offer. The April newsletter won’t be far behind this one with updates from all the class teachers and additional information about future school developments.
Building Update
We’re absolutely delighted that the work to replace the school roof was completed ahead of schedule; the finish looks brilliant. We’re already noticing a difference to the temperature inside of school through the improved installation. This will save us money and provide a return on the investment.
This phase of work complements the changes made to the building’s fabric and secures our school’s long-term future. This now completes the BIG BUILD project that we have spent such a long time waiting for.
We will continue to make improvements to the school both internally and externally, but hopefully with less disruption to the school day and environment. The next change will be the movement of the school library from the school hall into a room of its own. We anticipate that this will take place straight after the Easter break. Once complete we will organise an official opening event.
Termly reports will be sent out in the week after the Easter break. The Spring Term was extremely short, and we wanted to give class teachers as much time as possible with their children before submitting assessments. You will receive information about your child’s progress, effort and behaviour graded as either an A, B or C as well as whether they are working at, above or below the expected level for their age and stage of development.
Although we don’t offer an official parents’ evening at this point in the school year, we do encourage you to contact your child’s class teacher if you have any concerns or you’d like to discuss your child’s report in any further detail.
Personal development sits around the curriculum taught by the school and supports the development of the whole of your child, rather than just their studies. It goes beyond the school day and also the school gates. We’re proud of our personal development offer, but also constantly keen to hear your feedback and suggestions for how it can be strengthened and improved.
The table below provides a summary of our offer and shows the categories it is subdivided into.
| Curriculum | Beginning and Futures | School Concepts | School Strategies | Pupil Leadership | Extended School |
| PSHE and RSE | Stay and Play Sessions | SMSC | Mental Health Support Team (MHST) | School Council | Breakfast Club |
| Assemblies | Home Visits | British Values | E-Safety | Librarians | WASCLS |
| Music Lessons | Transition Programme | Equality and Diversity | Peer Mentoring | Peer Mentors | Clubs Offer |
| Productions, Festivals, Shows and Performances | Careers | Protected Characteristics | Witton Wish | Reading Buddies | Trips and Visits |
| Character Education – School Values | Net Knights |
A priority for this year is to establish what we are calling the ‘Witton Wish’. These are activities, and opportunities that we want all the children to experience before they leave school. They are things that go beyond what they would experience in a normal primary school and memories they will cherish. They will include trips, but also opportunities in school that will evoke memories that will stay with them after they leave. We’ll keep you updated on our progress with this process.
A team of six girls from Y3 and Y4 qualified for the County Cross Country Final, which took place at East Durham College in Peterlee. There were some outstanding performances on the day with Iris finishing in 2nd place and Sofia 9th. Solid performances from Nieve, Charlotte, Imogen and Nancy made up the team. Special mention to Imogen who gave up her race to support her teammate who had hurt her toe. Fantastic team spirit and friendship. Well done girls!
Our girls’ football team took part in a competition at St John’s RC School. The girls played brilliantly picking up one win and a draw. They showed excellent team spirit to support one another and were respectful to all other teams in the competition. It was a pleasure to accompany them. Congratulations to Abby, Esme, Georgie, Evelyn, Bella, Iris, Casey and Violet.
Our Y3/4 football team have taken part in a league across this term. The team have played in a lot of games and have represented the school brilliantly; gaining experience along the way. Congratulations to everyone who took part.
Our Y3/4 children went to a tennis festival at Parkside Academy. They learned a lot about the game, developed their skills and also played competitively against other children. The children represented the school exceptionally and enjoyed their experience. Well done to everyone who went along.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to complete our parent survey. We received 19 responses with largely positive outcomes. I am constantly keen to hear your feedback about our school offer whether you’re happy or not. Please catch me at the school gate or through the office if you have anything you’d like to discuss. I take the ALP ethos of ‘Your child is our child’ extremely seriously and will do anything I can to provide support. I will post the outcomes of the survey on Class Dojo alongside this newsletter.
Thank you to everyone who took part in our Easter Egg decorating competitions. Our panel of Eggsperts had a hugely difficult time deciding on the winners. The winners and runners-up were as follows:
| Home Competition | School Competition | |||
| Year Group | Winners | Runner-Up | Winners | Runner-Up |
| Nursery | Ollie | Tommy-Lee | Sienna | Rowan |
| Reception | Freddie S | Jessie | Alex | George |
| Year 1 | Robyn | Josie | Josie | Jacob |
| Year 2 | Libby | Austin | Jackson | Owen |
| Year 3 | Lola | Seb | Tommy | Freddie |
| Year 4 | Casey | Jaxon | Iris | Sofia |
| Year 5 | Violet | Alex | Isla | Annabelle |
| Year 6 | Harry | Abby | Jacob | Esme |
We invited parents from Class One and Two into school to experience a phonics lesson alongside their children. The feedback from these sessions was extremely positive with some lovely comments about the engagement of the children, how much the children learnt and also the skill of the teachers. Thank you to those parents who came along for the session.
The table below shows our attendance data up to the end of the Spring Term. Attendance really matters. Good attendance and punctuality ensure that your child accesses the whole of the school’s offer and makes the best progress. Please remember that the school day begins at 8.45am. Children can arrive at school from 8.30am onwards and should be in their seats and ready to begin learning at 8.45am.
| Year Group | Average Attendance | Group | Average Attendance |
| Reception | 95.96% | Overall | 95.66% |
| Year One | 95.44% | Boys | 95.75% |
| Year Two | 95.61% | Girls | 95.56% |
| Year Three | 97.05% | Class One | 96.48% |
| Year Four | 96.65% | Class Two | 95.52% |
| Year Five | 93.04% | Class Three | 96.82% |
| Year Six | 95.31% | Class Four | 94.19% |
| Date | Event | Additional Information |
| Monday 6th May | School closed for Bank Holiday | |
| Wednesday 8th May | School Photographs | Individual and Sibling Pictures |
| WC 13th May | KS2 SATs Week | |
| Monday 13th May | Y3/4 Tri Golf Festival | Crook Golf Club – Details to follow |
| Monday 27th May | School Closed for Half Term | |
| Monday 3rd June | School reopens | |
| Friday 7th June | Athletics Festival – Bishop Barrington | Y5 and Y6 Children – Details to follow |
| Monday 10th June | Rounders Festival – Parkside Academy | Y5 and Y6 Children – Details to follow |
| Tuesday 11th June | Y3/4 Cricket Festival | Details to follow |
| Thursday 13th June | Sports Day | Weather dependent – Details to follow |
| Friday 21st June | Football Tournament – Staindrop Academy | Y4, Y5 and Y6 |
| Monday 24th to Wednesday 26th June | Borrowdale residential visit | |
| Monday 1st July | Dave Burn in school – Be Safe Workshop | Class 3 and Class 4 |
| Tuesday 16th July | EYFS graduation | 2pm – More details to follow |
| Tuesday 16th July | KS2 end of year performance | Evening performance – Ticket information and details to follow |
| Wednesday 17th July | End of Term Assembly | End of year awards – Invitations to be sent to parents of award winners |
| Thursday 18th July | Leavers’ Assembly | 2pm onwards |
| Thursday 18th July | Toy Day | |
| Friday 19th July | School closed for summer holiday | |
| Wednesday 4th September | School reopens for children |