Dear Families,

What a lovely last week of the term we’ve had.  Some of our classes have had mental health workshops to support their wellbeing.  The team who came were really impressed with how the children responded and took part in the sessions.

Yesterday, Year 2 had their Forest School day focused around the fire pit, which was very exciting for them.

We had some super results with our cross-country team.   Several children achieved first, second or third, with the overall Year 6 girls and Year 5 boys teams coming first and the overall Year 5 girls team coming second.  Special congratulations to Henry, Ines, Francesca, Charlie and Nora for their exceptional running skills.

The PTA bingo was a real success, raising £1090.  Thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm with these events.  It’s never just the children who are super excited about winning.  We had lots of adults who were crossing their fingers hoping to win the bagfuls of treats too.

We had our team treat yesterday, which was the ‘animal man’.  The winning team was Scotland.  The children learnt about a range of animals, which had all been rescued.  They had the opportunity to touch and hold some of them too.  We met a bearded dragon who was very lazy.   A monitor lizard who, even though he had lots of scars and burns on it from being mistreated, was very friendly.  And we even met a tarantula who had had over 250 babies and eaten 9 of her husbands!

Today we’ve had our Easter celebrations, which have been very eggciting for the children.  We started the day with an Easter egg hunt.  The children loved searching the school grounds for the eggs and clues.  Some of the children were eggshausted from all the racing around.  We’ve had lots of speggtacular creations in the form of hats and decorated eggs.  A massive thank you to everyone who helped their children with this.  The winners have all received an Easter egg.

Years 1 to 6 - You should be receiving your end-of-term reports today.  There is some remarkable progress being made by so many of the children.  It’s been a pleasure discussing your child’s achievements with their teachers.  I hope you are as proud of your child as we are in school.

I wish you all a lovely Easter holiday and hope the sun stays shining for the next two weeks.  We look forward to seeing you back in school on Monday 28th April.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Upcoming Events

Dear Families,

Easter events coming up

Small & Tall closed
Advance notice that Small & tall will be closed after school on Wednesday 4th June due to staff training.  Staff training will start at 3:30pm.  All staff will be in the training including myself.

I will send out reminders about this.

Mother’s Day Lunch
It was so lovely seeing so many mums at school.  Thank you for joining us and for your lovely comments.  I’ve shared them with the staff.

It was a slightly emotional time for some of our mums as it was their last time coming in for lunch.  One of our parents has been coming to our lunches for 15 years with her children.  

Year 3 swimming
Today was the last day for this term’s swim.  The lessons will start again on Friday 2nd May.  I will send out notices of the dates as the children won’t be going every Friday.  I’m just waiting to hear from the swimming team.

Have a lovely weekend.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of our Mother figures out there.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Upcoming events

Dear Families,

Mother’s Day Lunch
If you haven’t already signed up for this special lunch, please complete the form on Dojo.  You can pay for the lunch on Parentpay.  Payments and bookings close today.

Safeguarding / IT
Some information which you may find useful.

For Parents - Wearable Tech

 More and more children are being given technology that can be worn, e.g. smartwatches and whilst there can be benefits the risks aren’t always apparent. This article from Internet Matters explores wearable technology for children and gives advice on:

• The different types of wearable tech, e.g. smart watches, glasses, VR headsets and fitness trackers.

• Whether wearable technology is safe and what some of the concerns are, e.g. privacy and data collection, impact on body image.

• How wearable tech can support wellbeing.

• And more.

You can find the article HERE.
 

For Parents - Under 5's

As more and more younger children get access to their own or borrowed tablets it's important to make sure these devices are set up correctly and children are using age-appropriate apps/games. Internet Matters have a great set of resources for parents of these younger children which you can find HERE.

Red Nose Day
Don’t forget that Friday 21st March is Red Nose Day.  Children are being asked to wear something red for the day.  Parentpay has the donation set up.  Thank you in advance for supporting this amazing charity.

Parent Evenings
If you haven’t managed to book a slot to speak to your teacher on Wednesday 19th or Thursday 20th March, please message them to arrange a suitable time.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Upcoming Dates

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to our second Spring term. It has been so lovely to see both the children and the much needed sunshine this week. The teachers have started planning lots of exciting things between now and Easter - keep an eye on ClassDojo and your emails for the most up-to-date messages to help you keep on top of what’s going on!

World Book Day
We will be celebrating World Book Day next Friday 7th March and this year’s theme is dress as a word. We will be using the vocabulary bank we create as classes during the day. I am manifesting a perfect Friday by dressing as ‘calm’!

Parent / Teacher Meetings
Our next set of parent / teacher meetings have been scheduled for 19th and 20th March. Watch out for a booking form coming out next week.

Mothers’ Day Lunch
We will be celebrating those special ladies in our lives who care for us later in March (26th)  with a Mothers’ Day Lunch. The booking form will be going live soon, so keep an eye open for it.

Mothers' Day Gift
The PTA will be hosting a pop-up shop where children will be able to choose a gift to buy for their mum. This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to enjoy the independence of shopping “alone” and develop those important life skills of decision making, budgeting and spending money - the shop will be open between 24th and 28th March and the PTA will post more details closer to the date.

Attendance
Our attendance this week has been 97.3%, a fabulous team effort to fight off those nasty bugs that have been doing the rounds! Thank you for your support with this.

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend and Ramadan Mubarak to any of our families observing the month of Ramadan from this evening!

Mrs Hartley

Upcoming dates 

Dear Families,

The Trust has put some information together to clarify the role and responsibilities of what we used to call Governors.  There has been a change to the structure in all schools of the Co-op Academy Trust.  Each school / academy will have an Academy Community Council (ACC).  The members of this are called Community Council Members (CCM).

What does an ACC do?

As part of our local governance team, as a CCM, you will:

•Support academy planning and key strategic priorities.

•Champion student and staff wellbeing, and promote positive behaviour and attendance.

•Strengthen links between the school and the local community.

•Monitor outcomes for vulnerable groups and ensure policies translate into practice.

•Help shape career opportunities for students.

•Promote Co-op values within the academy.

GoIT - Year 6
On Wednesday, a group of three Year 6 children went to Manchester to present their A.I. eco project in front of a team of judges.  Lots of other Co-op Academy primary schools were there too, all competing for a place in the national finals.  Although the girls didn’t win, they were so confident with their presentation.  They had lots of positive feedback recognising their efforts and forward-thinking, as well as a huge round of applause.  Myself and Mrs Bebbington were so proud of them.  Well done to Emyllia, Ava and Francesca. 

Young Voices
The choir had a wonderful day yesterday at the Young Voices concert in Birmingham.  Many schools were there to perform in the concert.  The excitement was palpable.  Our children were incredible, singing their hearts out.  My ears are still ringing today from the volume of over 5000 children singing (and screaming)!

A massive thank you to Mrs Elkin, our music lead, for organising this and making it happen.  Her enthusiasm and dedication to music across the school is incredible, always ensuring the children have lots of opportunities to take part in musical events.   Also, a huge thank you to Mrs Dickens and Miss Smith for supporting in all of the rehearsals and arrangements.  

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Happy Birthday
This weekend Mrs Wilmer is celebrating a very special birthday - the school council surprised her this morning with some beautiful flowers off us all and a special rendition of "Happy Birthday".

Happy Birthday, Mrs Wilmer - enjoy your weekend!

Upcoming events

Dear Families,

Year 3 swimming
Year 3 had a brilliant start to this term’s swimming lessons.  All the children were swimming without any swimming aids, which I think is a first for this time of year.

Year 6 Residential
On Monday, Year 6 will be going on their residential trip.  Fortunately, the weather looks like it will be dry.  Don’t forget to pack lots of layers and socks!

Some online safety information for parents

For Parents - How to Deal with Online Scams

Continuing the theme, ParentZone have put together a very simple but really useful webpage guide for parents which would be worth sharing. You can find the guide HERE.

For Parents - Free Webinar - Supporting Neurodivergent Children in the Online World

This one is definitely worth sharing with your parents. Internet Matters are putting on a free webinar (29th January) for parents and carers of neurodivergent children and young people who enjoy gaming online. Registration is required and I'm sure some teachers/support staff will find it interesting too. See HERE for more information.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Upcoming events