Newsletters

Newsletters 2023-2024  no. 3  6th October  2023

The last couple of weeks seem to have been busier than ever! 

The Year 6 classes had an amazing trip to Adventure 4 You last week - such a special opportunity for them to join in so many activities and develop their independence. Thank you very much for Mr Larcombe, Mr Pennington and all the staff involved in the trip.  Photo galleries are on the school website, www.deanshangerprimary.co.uk

The Reception children visited the local allotments and had the most wonderful time. For quality control purposes, I tasted the crumbles that they made after, and they were absolutely delicious!

It was great to see so many of you at the parent meetings this week. I hope that that they went well and provided a good opportunity to know about how your child has settled and how we can work in partnership. Please always communicate openly if you have any questions about your child's progress and/or any aspects of school life. 

Today we had an external visit from Alison Talbot, a Principal Officer for Education Outcomes. It was an extremely positive day and provided lots of valuable feedback regarding various aspects of school life. The children, as always, showed excellent behaviour for learning. A small group from each year group, in KS2, came to meet Alison and talked so confidently about their learning. 

Thank you very much to the children who represented the school so well in the Invasion Sports Festival this week. Big thanks to Mr Taylor and Mr Ward for arranging and supporting this. A write-up will be shared in the next newsletter.

New curriculum information has been included on the class pages of the school website for you regarding your child's learning. 

We are all extremely excited for Miss Brooks and her family, as they get set to welcome their new little baby. Miss Brooks will be starting her maternity leave very soon; her last day of teaching was today.

We look forward to welcoming her back for a send-off in our assembly next Friday (13th October). 

Mr Ryaan Connolly-Boucher is not new to the school as he has been working as part of the cleaning team and a midday supervisor.

Ryaan has just moved into a different role, and we are delighted that he will be our new site supervisor. 

We'd also like to welcome Mrs Jennifer Underhill on board as another member of our fabulous cleaning team. 

The term is well underway and the school is busy as usual.

Firstly, may I thank the parents and friends who turned up towards the end of the holidays to undertake a range of tasks. The school certainly benefited from your efforts. Mrs Rice  also told me about the working parties from the Open University who also undertook a range of activities in order to improve facilities and Santander who will be visiting shortly. The outdoor seating, stage area and sensory pod look as good as new. The school and your children certainly benefit from your loyal support. Thank you.

We had our first governors meeting of the term last night at which we discussed our priorities and determined how we would support and challenge the school this coming year. Mrs Rice also informed us of all that’s going on this term. I was particularly interested to hear about the new arrangements for swimming. Not only will this save the school money, but will also reduce the time spent travelling. More time for learning!!  I was also pleased to hear about the successful Year 6 residential visit.

It’s amazing how quickly the term is going. It’ll soon be half-term when I wish you and your children fun times together.

Peter Nickoll

PNGovernor@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk

Plans are coming together for a special Christmas 'gift' for the children from the PTA and a whole school trip to the theatre close to the end of the December term.

Full details will be shared once they are confirmed.   

Regular school attendance is always something that we have been very proud of, and we wanted to thank you for your continued support in getting your children to school regularly and on time. For all year groups, the start of the school day is 8.45 am.

As part of our continued efforts to ensure that every child is coming to school every day, we thought it might be helpful to share the attached with you. This advice from the NHS provides helpful information about common childhood illnesses with clear advice on whether a particular health condition warrants time away from the classroom and the types of treatment that are needed. I hope that it is useful. 

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Safeguarding and Early Help

Early Help is a strategy used at school to provide additional support to families as challenges occur. 

Early Help is always voluntary, and it aims to support families in developing strategies and strengths, resolving difficulties, and preventing problems from escalating to the extent that specialist services are required.

If you feel that Early Help could be a positive option for you and your family, please just let us know so that we can set up a meeting and make a referral for you. 

The following website will provide further information.  

https://www.nctrust.co.uk/families-and-carers/Pages/early-help-and-support.aspx

 

As always, please report any concerns to our safeguarding team:

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) - Mrs Rachel Rice 

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs) - Mrs. Lynn Mildren, Mrs. Natalie Parsonson, Miss. Steph Forward and Mr. Mike Pennington

MacMillan Coffee Morning 

Thank you for helping us raise £154 for this very worthwhile charity and enjoying delicious cakes with us. Thank you for the generous cake donations. 

15 Sep 2023
Dogs @ DPS
There is no denying that we are definitely a community of  dog owners. Looking out at the beginning or the end of the day looks like the arena at Crufts!Whilst this is seen positively by many, some of our families are more cautious, and it is important that everyone feels comfortable a...
Read more

The next two weeks @DPS

Village Deanshanger Scarecrow Trail Event
All Day
07
October
Start of Inter Faith Week of Prayer for World Peace
All Day
09
October
World Mental Health Day acknowledged in school.
All Day
10
October
Harvest Lunch for older members of the local community
12:15pm – 1:00pm
11
October
Harvest Festival Event outside school - Families are warmly invited to join us
2:45pm – 3:20pm
11
October
KS1 Cross-Country Fun Run
3:25pm – 4:30pm
12
October
Whole school RE Day
All Day
13
October
Open Book Afternoon 3.00pm until 4pm
3:00pm – 4:00pm
16
October
Years 3 – 6, Week for inter year group competitions
All Day
17
October
Open Morning for Prospective Families
9:30am – 10:15am
17
October
Year 3 / 4 Tag Rugby event hosted at DPS
3:30pm – 5:15pm
18
October
School discos - after school for Reception and KS1 . 5.00pm - 6.30pm for KS2
All Day
19
October
Future Job Day
All Day
20
October
House Event (In school)
All Day
20
October
Last day of Term 1
All Day
20
October

On Wednesday 11th October, we would like to invite older members of the local / school community to join us for a lovely roast dinner at 12 p.m.  Please make contact with the school office to reserve a place.  The lunches are free.

Does anyone have contact with a vending machine company? We would like to have one in school and stock it with books as an incentive for reading. Thank you for all and any possible contacts.

Book vending machine

Have lots of fun at the Feast and the village scarecrow trail.

Try to pop along to the school's tombola stall outside the front of the school between 10am and 2pm on Saturday.

Big thanks to the PTA for running this, and for your generous donations. 

 

Rachel Rice

head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk or head@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk