Dear Families,
Teaching vacancy
Over the next couple of weeks, Mrs Williams and I will be observing and interviewing teachers for the vacancy. We have had 34 applications, which is a huge amount. Final interviews will be on Monday 18th May. We’ll let you know as soon as we’ve recruited our newest member to the team, who will be joining us in September to teach in Year 5.
Move up morning
On Thursday 2nd July, we will have our ‘move-up’ morning. Each year group will spend the morning with their new teacher. There are no changes in where the teachers will be. Hopefully, the newly recruited teacher will be able to attend this session too. If not, we will certainly arrange for another time for them to come into school to meet the children.
Throughout the next half term, the children will get to meet their new teachers quite a lot. The current Year 2 children will also have a few extra sessions focusing on where to go in the mornings as they will move to the KS2 side of the building and come in through the doors where I stand every morning.
Year 6 SATs
Next week, Year 6 will be taking their SATs. They have worked incredibly hard over the last couple of years but especially this year. I know they will all do their very best. This weekend, please help them to enjoy a chilled out and relaxing time. They are more than ready to show off their learning.
End of term / year tests
Over the next few weeks, we have various end of year tests going on for the children.
Year 1 will have their phonics tests in June. They have made such super progress with their phonics as Mrs Elkin is our expert phonics teacher.
Year 4 will have their Multiplication Test Check after half term. This is a set of 25 questions which the children have to answer within a few seconds. As daunting as this sounds, those Year 4 children are incredibly fast at answering the questions. They amaze me every time I watch them practising.
All of the other year groups have end of term tests to show the progress they have made throughout the year.
All of these results will be included in the end of year reports, which will be sent to you on 10th July.
Uniform
As you know, the Trust sent out a letter regarding changes to uniform. Although it stated that all children should wear trousers, it has now clarified that this was for secondary schools. This is why I have said if your child wants to wear a skirt or a dress then that’s fine.
One of the changes is that the Trust is phasing out ties for primary schools from September 2026. Due to this, we will now be changing the KS2 uniform very slightly from shirts to polo shirts. I am very aware that some of the children have shirts that will fit them next year. Please do not replace shirts for polo shirts until your child has grown out of them.
The other change is the move from wearing PE sweatshirts to wearing school jumpers for PE and all children wear jumpers rather than cardigans. These changes are to be slowly brought in ready for September 2027.
As a reminder, children are not allowed to wear nail varnish or false nails to school. The only jewellery allowed are small stud earrings and a watch. No hoop earrings. Children will be asked to remove any jewellery that doesn’t comply. Thank you for adhering to this for your child’s safety.
Grapes - This is a safety request to all families.
If your child brings in grapes for snack or lunch, please can you cut them length ways (top to bottom) into halves or quarters, never cross ways. This is vital following a serious incident at a local school. Our school kitchen staff already make sure that this happens with school dinners. We appreciate your help in making sure all grapes are prepared safely at home too.
Parent Surveys
We have received all of the feedback from the parent surveys and have been reading the results and comments. We will inform you of these results; of what you think is going well and what you’d like us to focus on to improve our school in the next couple of weeks.
Thank you as ever for your continued support.
Take care and stay safe.
Mrs Wilmer
