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I hope that you all had an enjoyable half-term break. Thank you very much to the Wrap Club team for running the holiday club.
It was great to have everyone back this week and get straight into new topics and learning. In many ways, it's been a brilliant week with so many positive learning experiences and celebrations. There is no doubt that we've had a bit of a challenging week power and heating-wise though. We know that the end product will be ultra-efficient, but the road to this endpoint is a little bumpy at the moment!
Huge thanks to the staff and children for showing amazing resilience, and to you the parents, for accommodating the cold lunch option. We heard this afternoon, that the cold lunch deli bar option will need to continue for Monday and Tuesday next week; after this point, we should be fine - my fingers and toes are tightly crossed as I write this!
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Thank you very much to Mr. Vincent Lajuz for being a parent governor at DPS since September 2022. We are extremely grateful for his professional support and guidance since that time.
Vincent has now stepped down from his role to support another volunteering project. We wish him all the very best with this and extend our thanks for his governance commitment.
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Support, Inspire, Challenge
Make a difference!
Become a Parent Governor
Did you know?
Parents governors are volunteers who work as part of the Local Academy Committee for Deanshanger Primary.
Governors at the school work together to provide support and challenge for the school leadership team.
Alongside a meeting each half-term, they visit the school regularly to gain assurance that current priorities are being effectively taken forward.
We are currently looking for a new parent governor.
If you wish to stand for election, you may nominate yourself as a candidate. No proposer or seconder is required, but you must signify your intention to stand, in writing. Those eligible to stand are the parents or carers of pupils who are currently registered pupils at this school. A person who works at the school for more than 500 hours in a consecutive twelve-month period or who is an elected member of the Local Authority is not eligible to be a parent governor.
The term of office will be for a period of four years. A parent whose child leaves the school may continue as a parent governor until the end of their term of office, if he or she so wishes.
Nominations should be sent to me within the next two weeks, that is before the closing date for nominations, which is 15th March. If there is only 1 parent nominated, they will of course be elected unopposed, but if there are more candidates than vacancies, a ballot will be held.
Knowledge of the education sector is not required, but a passion to make a positive contribution most definitely is!
It’s challenging, but extremely rewarding work.
MORE INFORMATION?
Email: headteacher@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk or
01908 268920
We would love to hear from you!
Deanshanger Primary School is part of The Grand Union Partnership, a local Trust of three other primary schools - Old Stratford, Jubilee Wood and New Bradwell. The Local Academy Committee of each school is delegated its responsibilities by the Board of Trustees.
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Parent Action Group
The date for the third Parent Action Group will be Wednesday 20th March and will take place at 14:30 in the School Library.
The theme for our next discussion will be 'Home/School Agreement' - where we currently are with it, what it stands for, and how we can further improve it.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in attendance.
Many thanks
Mike Pennington
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Have you linked up to Class Dojo yet?
We hope you have, and are aware of the amazing insight it gives into your child’s learning at DPS. The APP is free to download and means you can receive notifications every time your child receives a Dojo Point. These points are given out for showing our school values, being kind, great work, trying hard and being generally awesome.
When you login, you will be able to see your child’s class story (not currently available for Year 1 as Tapestry is used to share learning). This is a fantastic opportunity to see what happens during the school day as Staff share some learning from the week. Please feel free to comment as we love to hear if the learning has been spoken about at home and reactions!
If you have any questions about Class Dojo or want to find out more, please speak to your child’s class teacher.
Many thanks, Mrs Bailey
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Book Week @ DPS
We have lots of additional plans to celebrate reading and books planned for next week.
The Book Fair will continue to be open every day after school until it is collected on 6th March. There's the usual exciting variety of books to keep the children turning pages and enjoying reading...why not have a look after school with your child?
Good news too - with the rising cost of living in mind, a third of the books in the fair are under £5 AND we can automatically apply a £1 discount on a book for World Book Day! This means that the £1 vouchers that have been sent home can save another £1 or be used outside school.
Shoppers now have the option to make cashless payments using a QR code, so feeding their reading is more convenient too!
In class, there are exciting plans to extend the curriculum with extra book activities all week. On Thursday (7th March), the official World Book Day, we invite children to wear a character costume if they have one and would like to or wear a cosy outfit perfect for enjoying stories, eg, onesies, warm pjyamas... Whilst we absolutely love seeing different book characters being brought to life, not everyone enjoys dressing up in this way and the extra costs can be high. Thinking ahead to next year, we have decided that we will only have cosy reading outfits, not character outfit.
With a big focus on reading, a visit to our Borrow Burrow might also be a good idea. There is a wide range of books in there for the children to borrow or even take and keep.
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In recent weeks, we have been on an amazing online shopping spree to buy lots of 'very nice to haves' with funds raised through PTA events. Each of these new purchases has brought lots of happiness.
Here's a taste of some of our latest purchases! It really demonstrates the impact of our PTA and your constant and amazing support of school events.
New reversible rugs in the Reception classrooms
An incredible new shed/summer house in Forest School
Thank you very much to Ben, Marcus and Louis from Fire and Safety Ltd for installing this for us.
A new blue tooth speaker for outside play and school events and a school Spotify account
 
New units and a rug in the entrance area
Every drawer is full of uniforms for you to help yourselves free of charge. Please always have a look here before buying new uniform.
 
Funding has also been made available new laptops and sets of new class readers!
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Governor Updates
Three weeks have passed since my last letter, half-term is behind us, spring is in the air, and the weather is improving.
Hello and it’s another letter from the Acting Chair of Governors, as we are still awaiting the appointment of a new chair, so yet again it’s a case of watch this space.
Holidays can be a trying time for parents and guardians, especially for those who are working full time, but it can in some cases be a joyous time for those who are called upon to look after children during the holidays, whilst parents/guardians continue to work.
It certainly is the case for my wife and I, as our two granddaughters stay with us for a few days over the holidays. It brings us great joy to spend uninterrupted time with them, and to see how they grow and mature. Much criticism is levelled at the present day young members of society, the media is never looking for the good news, as bad news seems to sell copies. But I’m always thrilled to see how young minds develop, and how strong their opinions are on a raft of subjects, many of which in my day we never discussed.
Whenever I visit the school, I love to see how Mrs. Rice’s philosophy of inclusiveness translates into the development of the children, and furthermore how all the team at DPS do not just concentrate on the “Three R’s” but on a rounded and holistic approach to the children’s education.
From very early years, the children are encouraged to develop their own styles and the manner in which they communicate and express themselves. This is a development which we should all celebrate and forms a firm foundation for their future lives.
We are now halfway through the school year. School life is as busy as ever; the school calendar is full of activities which will help in the childrens' further development and helps to enrich their knowledge of the world. A big thank you to all the staff who go that extra mile, to help in making the childrens’ school years so enjoyable.
So until the next letter, I wish you and your families well.
Andy Limbert, Vice-Chair of Governors
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 Mrs Taylor and I recently attended a two-day Paediatric First Aid training course as part of the school’s ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the children at Deanshanger Primary School. All staff regularly receive First Aid training and the EYFS team are fully trained in Paediatric First Aid. This exceeds the statutory expectation but ensures that we are all confident of meeting the needs of the children in our care.
Having completed this course, we both felt it would be a wonderful opportunity to share some of the key information with the children, so they could benefit from our training. On Wednesday afternoon, we led an assembly for children in Years 2-6 to explain what ‘First Aid’ is. We discussed the types of incidents where first aid could be required, gave them top tips on how to respond in the event of an accident or emergency, and came up with some ways that we can avoid accidents and injuries.
The children impressed us with well-informed, thoughtful questions and suggestions of ways to keep safe and avoid accidents, such as not talking whilst eating, knowing about allergies, and looking for signs that someone may be unwell. We also talked briefly about safety in the home, ways to get help in an emergency and first aid kits.
For further information on how you can support your own knowledge and skills in providing First Aid at home we would recommend the following websites -www.nhs.uk/conditions/first-aid, www.sja.org.uk and southnorthantsresponders.co.uk. For local training events for the whole family, you could also follow South Northants Community Responders page on Facebook.
You might also find this list of First Aid kit equipment useful –
Your basic first aid kit
A basic first-aid kit may contain:
- plasters in a variety of different sizes and shapes
- small, medium and large sterile gauze dressings
- at least 2 sterile eye dressings
- triangular bandages
- crêpe rolled bandages
- safety pins
- disposable sterile gloves
- tweezers
- scissors
- alcohol-free cleansing wipes
- sticky tape
- thermometer (preferably digital)
- skin rash cream, such as hydrocortisone or calendula
- cream or spray to relieve insect bites and stings
- antiseptic cream
- painkillers such as paracetamol (or infant paracetamol for children), aspirin (not to be given to children under 16), or ibuprofen
- antihistamine cream or tablets
- distilled water for cleaning wounds
- eye wash and eye bath
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Our forest school team have been busy getting the growing area ready for the spring sowing season. If you have any small plastic plant pots that you no longer use, we would love to reuse them. Please drop them off at the school office. Thank you
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Please be reminded that leggings are not part of our school uniform for either PE or a regular day. Thank you
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Our next school discos are on Tuesday 26th March
3.30pm - 4.30pm for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 with DJ Mr Larcombe
The cost is £3. Squash and pom bears will be provided. Children can bring in a change of clothes if they would like.
5.30pm - 7.00pm for Year 3,4,5 and 6. This disco will be a silent disco!
The cost is £5. Squash and hot dogs (meat and veggie) will be served. Places are limited to 120. First come first served.
You can book places on Arbor now
Thank you to the PTA for organising this event
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Did you know that there is a PTA lottery? Since it started, it has raised £998.40 ! Lottery tickets are £1 a week.
For a chance to win (and support PTA fundraising), click here - DPS Lottery
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Mother's Day Lunch on Friday 8th March
We are delighted to see that 108 of you so far, have signed up to join us for lunch next Friday! Bookings are still open if you would like to join us.
After booking, you are invited to join us for lunch at the time of your youngest child. E.g., If you have a child in Y2, 3 and 5, you will come for lunch at the time shown for a Y2 child (12.00pm).
Reception at 11.30am
Year 1 and 2 at 12.00pm
Year 3 and 4 at 12.30pm
Year 5 and 6 at 1.00pm
Adults will sit with their children in the hall and enjoy fish, chips and mushy peas followed by a delicious Victoria sponge. There will be a vegetarian alternative available too.
With the electricity problems that we have had this week in mind, regardless of the power, we will go ahead with the lunch next Friday. A 'Plan B' lunch has been arranged, just in case, and will consist of filled baguettes and salad.
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Thank you very much to Eva and her family for looking after Terry during the half-term break.
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Safeguarding
Being in school every day is not only important for learning (in all of its forms), but is statutory for all children over the age of five years. Where attendance is of concern, we have a statutory duty to follow up; part of this duty is linked to safeguarding.
New information has just been released on school attendance:
https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/29/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/
If you have any safeguarding concerns at any time, please be sure to pass them on.
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
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Thank you for your support with our fundraising and recycling for the Rag 2 Riches collection. You helped us raise £152.00 for the school and have helped others by recycling at the same time. Thank you
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The next three weeks @DPS
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Please be reminded that our Community Fridge continues to be open from 10 am - 5.30 pm Monday to Friday for you to come and help yourself and reduce food waste. With collections from three different Co-ops, Waitrose and Tescos each week, there is always a plentiful supply of items to help yourself to!
Huge thanks to Lisa, Winnie and Kathy, for doing the pick-ups.
The door is kept closed during the day, but it is unlocked and ready for you to pop in. Please ensure the door is closed behind you after leaving. Thank you
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Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
Rachel Rice
head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk or head@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk
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