Dear Parents and Carers,
Finally, it’s Friday — and what a way to finish the week!
We wish our Netball team the very best of luck as they head to Cheltenham Ladies’ College for the Primary School Netball Festival. We look forward to sharing updates with you next week.
Red Nose Day has certainly arrived in style — or rather, in hairstyle! The imaginative response to this year’s “Crazy Hair” theme has been spectacular. Thank you to all our parents for the creativity, time and energy behind the scenes.
What a joy it has been to finally enjoy some gorgeous spring weather this week. The sunshine has brought such a lift to our school community, and it has been wonderful to see the children making the most of it.
We began the week, as always, with whole-school assembly – this time celebrating the incredible achievement of our pupils, who collectively rode nearly 1,000 miles as part of our #cycle800miles challenge in support of the My Name is Doddie Foundation. We shared the brilliant video montage Mr Williams created from all the footage of the event, and the children absolutely loved seeing the riders and support crew who stayed at our school, along with all the kind things they had to say about us.
One of the riders, Gregor, was so overwhelmed by the warmth and support of our school community that he has generously offered to donate balance bikes for the children, as well as dressing-up costumes for Reception from his business. Such kindness is a powerful reminder of the impact small acts can have—thank you, Gregor.
Keeping with the cycling theme, we also launched our Big Walk and Wheel, encouraging pupils to make active journeys to school, improve local air quality, and understand how these small daily choices help protect the world around them. The beautiful weather has certainly helped, and it has been fantastic to see so many children embracing active travel. We are keeping our online gallery updated. Please send your photos in.
800 Miles Photo Gallery
Our Mystery Reader initiative in the Reception classes has also gone down an absolute storm. Parents have been joining us to share their favourite books with their child’s class, creating wonderful moments of excitement and connection. Beyond the joy it brings, the impact on early reading is significant: seeing familiar adults modelling a genuine love of books helps our children view reading as enjoyable, valued, and worthwhile. These early reading role models play a vital role in nurturing positive lifelong attitudes to reading, and we are so grateful to everyone who has taken part so far.
On Tuesday, members of the leadership team spent time in classrooms talking with children about their learning and capturing pupil voice. These opportunities are invaluable, helping us reflect on our curriculum and ensure it continues to meet the needs of all our pupils. Our teachers do a phenomenal job, and seeing learning through the children’s eyes is always inspiring.
A huge congratulations to our Year 6 Rotary Quiz team, who came first in the Cheltenham competition. Their teamwork was outstanding, and they represented our school brilliantly.
As you may have gathered from recent updates, professional learning is something I am deeply passionate about. Supporting high-quality teaching is one of the most powerful ways we can improve outcomes for children. This week’s staff meeting, led by Mrs Louise Prew, focused on Maths Fluency—an area we are continually developing to ensure children have key number facts securely stored in their long-term memory.
Our approach to fluency is rooted in:
• strong number sense
• efficient calculation strategies
• deep conceptual understanding
Mrs Prew is currently planning a session to invite you all into school to see this in action. Collaboration between school and families is essential in supporting children’s development — we will keep you updated.
It was wonderful to see our children taking part in inter-house Orienteering. I spent time with Year 1, who confidently located points on the map using grid references—very impressive! A huge thank you to Mr Bailey for organising the event and to Mrs Nowacka for designing our very own orienteering map of the school grounds.
And to our Muslim community, a very special Eid Mubarak. We hope your family celebrations today are full of joy and togetherness and everything you hope for.
Wishing you all a gorgeous weekend.
Georgina Flooks
Headteacher