HT Update

Welcome back for the final half term of the year.  There’s so much to share with you in this newsletter, so please make sure you grab a drink and enjoy the updates below.  It includes details of who your child’s class teacher will be for next year, along with some recent changes to staffing. There are updates from all of the classrooms.  One class have built their own spitfire and another have read a book in a foreign language to experience the challenges faced by a refugee!  We also celebrate the achievements of and congratulate our Year Six children.  They have been a credit to the school in the preparation for and completion of their SATs tests. The dedication of the children was exemplary and we are so proud of them. I’m excited to see their results in July, but as we’ve said on several occasions, the children are so much more than the result of a test – we are proud of the people they have become!

Our calendar for the weeks ahead is extremely busy. Consequently, we have had to remove some of the events shared at the start of the year and change the dates of others.  Please look at the ‘Dates for your Diary’ section below for accurate information about what will take place.  We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by these changes, but we want to make sure that the events we deliver are of the highest quality for your child and our community and that we keep school as normal as possible to look after everyone’s wellbeing.

You’ll find information about Sports Day and a colour run that our school council have organised below.  I’ve also included some important reminders about school uniform, clothing for hot weather and water bottles. Thank you so much for all the support you give us at the school.  You might have seen an article published in the Northern Echo to celebrate our recent inspection – Family atmosphere earns County Durham school Ofsted praise | The Northern Echo

Staffing Updates

Following the Easter break, we were delighted to welcome back Miss Varley from her maternity leave, however this meant we said goodbye to Miss Heslop. Miss Heslop has done an incredible job running the office, we are hugely grateful to Miss Heslop for the support she has given us over the last year, she will be missed by everyone in school.

Our two apprentices, Miss Corcoran and Mrs Davis, completed and successfully passed their course.  They built wonderful relationships with the children, staff and school community and had a fantastic impact on the quality of education delivered to your children.  I hope you will join me in congratulating them both on their achievement and wishing them well for the next steps of their career.

Mrs Redfern is due to return in early July.  On her return we will say goodbye to Miss Johnson, who has covered Mrs Redfern’s class during her maternity leave.  Miss Johnson has been a wonderful part of the school community, dedicated a lot of time to the children in her care.  She was also responsible for organising our careers fayre earlier in the year.  I hope you will join me in thanking Miss Johnson for her hard work and also in wishing her the very best of luck for her future career.

I am delighted to be able to confirm class teachers for next academic year as follows:

Children will get the opportunity to spend time with their new class teacher before the end of term.  Please see the dates for your diary table below.

Class One – EYFS

As our new topic is ‘Where in the World?’ Class One’s role play area was to become an aeroplane but as we began our preparations for the school, our children decided that our simple aircraft was to be transformed into a spitfire, a single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other allied countries before, during and after World War II. Our Nursery children were in charge of decoration, sponge painting camouflage colours onto a green background whilst Reception investigated the aeroplane markings which would need to be included. We are very proud of our result!

Next half term we will re-model it into a passenger plane so we can all ‘visit’ far away destinations with our passports and suitcases, ready for some holiday fun!

Also in Early years, we explored the idea of taking a trip and the different types of transport we could use. We discussed how we travel to school each day depends on where we live in County Durham, not all our class are able to walk the whole way to school!

Afterwards, we explored various modes of transport, and the children enthusiastically shared their favourite vehicles, explaining why each one was special and perfect for an imaginary adventure. We created a block graph using the interactive whiteboard to show which vehicles we liked best. Hot air balloons were popular choices for their “bright colours and patterns” (Ivy), the “views over the school” (Tabitha), and the chance to “watch the sun rise in the sky” (Sienna). A boat ride was described as peaceful, with passengers able to “trail their hands in the water” (Faith).

Our discussions left us all excited for our next holiday!

Colour Run

Our school council have suggested that we arrange a colour run before the end of term to raise funds for a charity.  The charity chosen by the children is Children with Cancer UK – The Childhood Cancer Charity | Children with Cancer UK.  I’m sure you will agree that this is an exceptionally good cause and I’m really proud of them for thinking of this idea.

The event will take place on Friday 20^th June at 2pm, children will be invited to run around a special course on our school field and will be covered in powder paint as they do so.  By the finish, they should be quite a spectacle.  The children will receive a white t-shirt and glasses to run in, but should wear their own shorts and trainers.  Please ensure that any of their own clothing is appropriate, not expensive and that you don’t mind it being covered in paint.  The children might want to bring a change of clothes for after the event, especially if they are travelling home in your car!

Your child will be bringing home a sponsor form in the next few days.  To cover costs and ensure we have a good donation for the charity, we request that each child raises a minimum of £10.00.  As we are a cashless school, can we please request that funds raised are paid directly onto Arbor through your parent account rather than cash being brought into school.  This will allow us to transfer all the funds raised directly to the charity rather than having to make multiple trips to the bank.

Sports Day

Weather permitting, our annual sports day will be held on Wednesday 18^th June from 1.30pm onwards.  Parents and carers are invited to come along and watch children compete for their house teams to win the overall trophy which was kindly donated by Mrs Walker upon her retirement.  There will be a variety of races and events including the ever-popular tug of war!

Doors will open from 1pm onwards – please bring a chair or a picnic blanket to sit on the field.  We politely request that parents/carers remain in the designated areas and do not enter the track or the area where children are seated.

Alongside the event, we are serving refreshments and also running a bottle tombola and raffle.  We look forward to welcoming you to school.

Dates for your Diary