Newsletters

Newsletters 2022-23 Friday 14th October No.3

Deanshanger Primary School (@DeanshangerS) | Twitter

Welcome to you all! Even though we are early in the term, several year groups have already been completing assessments. Our Reception classes have been taking part in the Reception baseline assessments and our Year 6 children have been taking part in mock SATs (Standardised Assessment Tasks). Both of these assessments are important to us as they provide a firm foundation for identifying strengths and areas to improve going forward for us as a school and also for individual children. In addition to these assessments, we have also been doing other reading, spelling and phonic assessments. Obviously, later in the term formal assessments will be taking place in reading, writing, SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) and maths. During the forthcoming Parents' Evenings (via Teams) you will have the opportunity to talk about how you can support your child in their learning journey. 

The Year 6 group have been on their residential this week at the Adventure4You centre at Paulerspury. The children took part in a plethora of activities including axe throwing, archery, orienteering, paddle boarding, rock climbing and bush craft whilst staying overnight in pods and emperor tents. From talking to them, and seeing them in action, it ic clear that they had a great time. There are multiple photo galleries on the school website to get a taste of their week. Huge thanks to the staff in school and at Adenture4You for going over and above to make it such a positive trip.

Parents' Evening are next week - Monday 3rd October 3.30 - 7.00 pm and Tuesday 4th October 3.30 - 5.00pm. This will be an opportunity for you to catch up with your child's class teacher, see how they've settled and talk about progress so far.  A link has been sent out for these meetings for you to click on - we will be using Microsoft Teams. If you would prefer a phone call, rather than a Teams online call, please book your slot via Arbor but contact Mrs Hodge and Mr Peel in the school office on Monday (3rd) and they can help to arrange this.

The meetings are online as we had such positive feedback from you at the last parents meetings regarding the ease of working in this way. We recognise that this might not be the case for everyone though. After the parents meetings next week, we will run a quick survey to ensure that the next set of meetings are set up according to what works for the majority of us. 

SEND updates

It has been lovely to have all the children back in school following the summer holidays and seeing how well they have all transitioned to their new year group, teachers and classrooms. I am hoping that this academic year I will continue to work closely with the SEND children and you, their parents, to ensure the best possible support is in place and as a result some excellent progress. 

SEND Network 

Like last academic year, we have joined a SEND network with 16 other primary schools across Northamptonshire. This was of great benefit last year with opportunities for staff training and parental workshops as part of the network. This year they have worked hard on making this bigger and better with links remaining with Target Autism, JoGo behaviour support and occupational therapy. New to this year are connections with speech and language and sign along which will be great additions to the network. The dates and subjects of the parental workshops for this academic year have already been published, and I will be sending these out nearer the time however they include:

  • Effective communication to support positive behaviour from JoGo behaviour support
  • Communication and Self-Regulation – how can we help and what other avenues can we explore? from speech and language services
  • Supporting restricted diets and sensory difficulties with food from Blossom occupational therapy
  • An introduction to Signalong from staff at Hunsbury park school
  • Developing social interaction and understanding from Target Autism

Outside agencies

As many of you are aware, any external involvement accessed to help support children in school is taking a very long time at present as many of the services still have a backlog from covid and attempt to catch up. In the meantime, we of course do the very best that we can to support children with any additional needs.

As always if you have any questions, queries or concerns then please do contact me via the school office or by email on senco@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk 

Natalie Parsonson

SENCO

Dear Parents/Carers,

Here we are at the start of a New School Year!  May I welcome the parents of all the new pupils to the school and trust that their learning journey will be a happy and fulfilling one.

2022/23 will see some change to the way Deanshanger Primary School is governed and managed, as the school has joined the Grand Union Partnership Academy Trust.  This will enable the 4 schools in the Partnership to work together, sharing best practice and providing mutual support and challenge.  The role of the Local Authority and the support for schools it provides has been reducing over the last few years.   As governors, we see joining the partnership as a positive move and look forward to close working with the governors from schools within the partnership. 

What do governors do? Our role and responsibilities are to challenge and support the school in order that it continuously improves.  We observe lessons, talk to children and staff to find out what they think about the things that are going well and the things that could be improved.  A few governors joined the whole school staff for Safeguarding Training immediately before term started. A key responsibility of governors is to ensure that all children and staff are safe. The training was excellent, updating our knowledge and keeping us abreast of recent changes to legislation.  

Visiting school also gave us a chance to meet with staff, and see how prepared the school was to welcome the children.  I'm sure the children were excited to be back in school.

We had our first Governors' meeting last week and will, from this point, keep your advised of our progress and priorities.

Peter Nickoll

Acting Chair of Governors

PNGovernor@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk

 

Open Days for new students!

If you have friends, family and neighbours with children of school age next year, please spread the word that we are starting individual school visits now and will also be setting up open mornings. Please see poster below for details.  

 

Age UK Bromley & Greenwich | Volunteer with us

The Santander group are coming into school on Tuesday 11th October. As a team, they will be developing some of our new OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) zones. If you are part of a workplace team that has community days and you would like to undertake a project, please contact us as we'd be delighted to have your support.

Volunteers in school supporting reading, art and other parts of the curriculum, are all very warmly welcomed too.

You'll have seen that we are hoping to take the whole school to see 'A Christmas Carol' at Planet Ice (Milton Keynes) on December 8th as they present a fun filled version adapted by the Show & Skate class for amateur and professional skaters.

You can sign your child up for this trip via Arbor. The cost is £10.

If you need any help with the booking or would like to talk about the cost of the trip, please don't hesitate to make contact.

We now have quite an extensive list of activities and clubs taking place before the regular school day, at lunch times and after school

 

Mr Larcombe has recently shared information about a Performing Arts Club - this is starting on Wednesday 5th and is free of charge. Places should be booked at the school office.

 

 

Mrs Stevenson, is starting a French conversation club on Tuesdays from the end of the school day until 4.00pm. Please pop into the school office, or send an email if your child in Y3,4,5 or 6 would like to join. There is no charge for this club. 

Plus...

Run a Mile with Mrs Young

Year 1 - 6 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8.30am prompt.                      No charge and no sign up needed. Regular school uniforms can be worn with running shoes.

Lunchtime choir with Mr. Larcombe and Mr Webb (our new music teacher)

Every Wednesday at lunchtime for Y3,4,5 and 6 (this term) - no charge

Drumming Club with Mr. Webb

Wednesdays from the end of the school day until 4.00pm for Y1,2, 3 and 4

If you would like your child to be considered for this, please email the school office. The first 30 names will be selected and after 6 weeks, children on the waiting list will be contacted for the next block of sessions after the half-term break. Children should be collected from the Willow Tree gate at 4.00pm. No charge.

Zoons Dance with Sian and Lianne

Tuesdays in the hall for Year 1-6 (and Reception from January 2023). From 3.25pm - 4.25pm. Contact Sian and Lianne on 07824904228 to book a place. Each session is £5.50.

Film Club

There are various film clubs planned across the school year. Please look at the school calendar on the website for dates and year group information. There is a £1 cost for the film club.

Football

Year 1-6 every Tuesday from 3.25pm - 4.30pm. Contact Ryan, All Sports

Dodgeball

Year 1 - 6 every Thursday from 8.00am - 8.45am.  Contact Ryan, All Sports

Basketball

Year 1-6 every Thursday from 3.15pm - 4.15pm. Contact Ryan, All Sports

Athletics

Year 1- 6 every Friday from 8.00am - 8.45am. Contact Ryan, All Sports

To sign up for any clubs with Ryan at All Sports, simply text your child’s name, year group, club and school to 07899 906026 and make payment to book your child’s place!

Jado

Monday evenings in the school. Contact Jake for more information - 07598 276472

Homework Club

Information about a homework club for years 4, 5, and 6 and a separate or Year 1 and 2 will be shared shortly

BNTO 

Miss Stanley will be running the Be Nice to Others Club at lunchtime for children in Year 1 - 6 shortly

Rocksteady

Weekly sessions with a new leader - Charlene, have now started. For more details on availability and cost, visit rocksteadymusicschool.com, click ‘sign-up’, and search for our school or call 0330 113 0330.

From the beginning of this term, we have adopted the OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) approach towards play at lunch and break times. An OPAL School is a school which continually strives to improve the quality of play for all of its children. It embeds play in all aspects of planning, self-evaluation and delivery. It acknowledges the seriousness of play as a human right and regards play as a necessity for children’s mental and physical wellbeing. 

A group of us (Bianca Young, Nasha Bilimoria, Dan Peel, Sarah Webb and Rachel Rice) met at the end of last term with our OPAL adviser on several occasions. So far this term we have discussed play charters in class and developed new play areas on the playground. These include a story telling area run by Year 6 children, a construction area where lego and construction kits are available and our latest addition: an outdoor stage/performing arts area. We also have an outdoor activity zone and hockey area. The children are continuing to play football. It has been lovely to observe the different types of play in action and children from different year groups playing with each other in the different zones. In the coming weeks we are hoping to add more zones.

We would like to request that if you have any unwanted lego or construction kits, clothing rails, dressing up clothes and/or metal detectors you make contact with the school office to donate items. We would be very appreciative of any items.

Sarah Webb, OPAL Lead

Since we have been back the children have shown great commitment towards Accelerated Reader. As a school we have already read an amazing 6, 036, 206 words. Impressively,  almost every child in Year 3 has read at least one book - this is an amazing achievement!

Currently, Kamran Miah in Y3 Clifford Class leads the Year 3 leader board. In Year 4 Tiago Edwards with Ilyaz Lajux in Year 5 are leading the way. Incredibly, Izzie Heap and Mia McCleod have become our first two  word millionaires of the year. This is an amazing achievement! They are both top of the leader board in Year Six and have shown real determination, resilience and growth mindset. Currently, Year 6 Bear Class are top of the leader board. Last week Year 6 Sherlock Holmes led the way! Please keep reading. 

 

On Saturday 17th September Miss Cookson successfully cycled the 61 miles from London to Brighton.  Thank you so much for your kind donations which so far have helped raise close to £500 for the British Heart Foundation.  If anyone still wishes to make a donation, this can be done at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/claire-cookson2

  

School uniform 

We are very keen to see the children come to school in their smart uniform on a daily basis and this includes their forest school sessions.  Many children are coming without either wellies, waterproof tops or trousers. It's definitely getting colder, and it will, no doubt, start to get wet up there soon too! On these days, it would be helpful for the children to have another layer with them, a jumper or a cardigan, because it can be chilly. 

Rockfish Walkabout wellies review | Horse & Hound

We have a huge stock of good second-hand uniforms in the front office and warmly encourage you to come and have a look and take whatever you would like, free of charge. We have an abundance of good quality jumpers and trousers. Thank you so much for your kind donations.

If you have lots of coat hangers at home that are surplus, please feel free to drop a few off to the office for the rail of clothing - thank you

Attendance

We are keen to see your child in school as close to 100% as possible, but we appreciate that illnesses happen. When your child is ill, they obviously need to be at home and should be fully recovered before returning.

Wherever possible, please book not urgent dental and doctor appointments outside school hours.

Working with our school attendance support officer at West Northamptonshire Council, we will continue to monitor attendance and work in partnership with you as needed. It should be noted that taken holiday in term time is most likely to be unauthorised and, as a result, can be subject to a fine from West Northamptonshire Council. 

As a team, we are very aware that we have lived in challenging times and planned holidays had to be rearranged due to covid, but we are delighted that we have largely moved forward from this time and that attendance is now back in line with pre-covid times - this has such a positive impact of progress and attainment. Our current whole school attendance figure is a very encouraging 97.2%.

Parent/Carer Meetings for Year 1-6
3:30pm – 7:00pm
03
October
Parent/Carer Meetings for Year 1-6
3:30pm – 5:00pm
04
October
Mixed football event hosted at DPS
3:30pm – 5:15pm
05
October
School photos - individual portraits and siblings (including those not at DPS)
8:30am – 12:00pm
06
October
Village Scarecrow Trail
All Day
08
October
Start of inter-faith week of prayer for world peace
All Day
10
October
World Mental Health Day
8:45am – 3:25pm
10
October
Open Book Afternoon for Parents/Carers
3:00pm – 4:00pm
17
October
Diwali acknowledged
All Day
19
October
Future Job Day - parade for families to share at 3.00pm
All Day
21
October

Scarecrow Trail and the Community Fridge

Our community fridge has been a huge success over the past 2 years! Many families around the community and outside the community are using this regularly to save food waste from shops and use as they need. Thank you to everyone involved who has continually supported the fridge with donations, pickups from various shops, opening the fridge and a special thank you to Eileen for organising the food each day.

As shops are reducing waste themselves, we are not receiving as many donations because of this we haven't been able to open as often so far this academic year.  With the village Scarecrow on Saturday 8th October, we would ask for your continued support in donating any tinned food or toiletries.  Please send in any donations to the school office on Friday 7th October or on the morning of the 8th. We will be there to accept all donations.

The PTA will also be at school on Saturday 8th October providing the opportunity for a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate and sweet treats from 10.00am to 2.00pm. It would be lovely to see you. 

 

Thank you very much to everyone that came to our first PTA AGM and for helping to plan exciting opportunities to support activities in the school and raise funds. We are extremely fortunate to have your ongoing support.

As a result of special events in the last school year, we were absolutely delighted that the PTA voted to give £7000 to the school to support new outside learning opportunities - this is phenomenal!  We'll keep you updated with our plans.

Finally... thank you for your kind donations and support of our coffee morning yesterday as we raised funds for MacMillan Cancer Support. A delicious way to raise funds and to get to know each other.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Rachel Rice

head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk