Newsletters

Calendar dates

On Friday 18th June we are recognising Cystic Fibrosis Day.

Children are warmly invited to either dress from head to toe in yellow or add a yellow item to their school uniform eg, a yellow t-shirt, hair bobble or a pair of socks. £1 donations can be sent in to support people affected by cystic fibrosis. As a school, we are keen to recognise charities that are closely related to our school community. 

Friday 25th June - On this day we have planned a mufti day - ie,  a non-school uniform day. If possible, we would like the children to bring in an item that could go in a year group hamper basket for a PTA summer raffle. Perhaps a bar of chocolate, box of chocolates, a bottle of wine, toiletries...We will place boxes by the gates in the morning to collect any donations. Thank you very much in advance.

Sports Days - KS1 and Foundation Stage Sports Day is on the morning of Tuesday 29th June and KS2 Sports Day is on the morning of Friday 2nd July. We are not yet able to confirm if parents/carers are allowed to spectate, but we are exploring options to try and give you a chance to feel involved.  

Celebration Assemblies

Many of you will have missed our weekly celebration assemblies. Still being conscious of COVID restrictions, we would like to invite you to participate in a Zoom celebration assembly of your child's learning.

These will take place on the following days:

Tuesday 6th July, 1:45 to 2:15 pm - FS Yellow Eyed Penguins

Tuesday 6th July, 2:15 to 2:45 pm - FS Karner Blue Butterfly

Thursday 8th July, 1:45 to 2:15 pm - Year One, Blue Whale

Thursday 8th July, 2:15 to 2:45 pm - Year One, Hazel Dormouse

Thursday 8th July, 2:45 to 3:15 pm - Year Five, Whale Shark

Friday 9th July, 9:00 - 9:30 am - Year Two, Snow Leopard

Friday 9th July, 9:30 - 10:00am - Year Two, Sunda Tigers

Friday 9th July, 10:00 - 10:30 am - Year Three, Bornean Orangutans

Friday 9th July, 11:00 - 11:30 am - Year Four, Narwhal 

Friday 9th July, 11:30 - 12 noon - Year Four, Bornean Pygmy Elephants

Friday 9th July, 1:15 - 1:45 pm - Year Five, Mountain Gorillas

Further Zoom details to follow. We very much hope you can make these.

There will not be any Year 6 assemblies as they will be sharing their amazing end-of-term production.

Introducing two of our new staff for September 2021

We are excited to be welcoming four new class teachers to the team in September and a music specialist teacher. Today we are delighted to introduce two of our teachers - Mr. Niall Taylor and Mr. Drew Rowantree. We are very much looking forward to sharing their skills and helping them quickly transition into our very special school community.  We will introduce the rest of our new team in the next newsletter.

My name is Niall Taylor and I will be joining the school community as the new Year 5 teacher. I am a newly qualified teacher and I am very excited to begin my teaching journey at Deanshanger Primary School. I can’t wait to get to know my new class and share all the exciting topics we are going to learn about from September. I am passionate about sports, in particular football. I am also passionate about using technology to support learning as it is extremely beneficial in supporting and inspiring children. I love the outside world, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to work at Deanshanger Primary School due to the wonderful outdoor learning facilities available. Finally, I have a keen interest in animals, my favourite being a penguin. Although I don’t own one, I do have a few pets of my own, including two tortoises, a dog and a snake called Slim. I look forward to bringing him in, so I hope you’re not scared of snakes! I believe learning and being part of a school community should always be a fun and memorable experience and I look forward to making that happen. 

I would like to take the opportunity to say,  "Hello."  My name is Mr Rowantree and I am very excited to be joining the Deanshanger Primary school team in September.  I have been a teacher for the last 15 years and I have worked with hundreds of children across Key stages one and two. I have worked all over Milton Keynes and like Mrs. Rice, I have taught at an international school in Dubai.  I love being a teacher.  Working with children is very rewarding and I love to see pupils progress and gain confidence in all areas of their learning. 

I am a technology and history specialist, and I have been lucky enough to develop computing curriculums with numerous companies and educational settings.  I like to have fun in my lessons and I like to bring learning to life through the use of technology and hands-on learning opportunities.  I am especially keen on 3D printing and I am bringing my printers to enhance my lessons.  You will all be Tinkercad experts in no time! 

Outside of school, I am a dad of two who spends my time playing with my children, tinkering with computers and travelling to the Netherlands to see extended family.  I look forward to finding out all about you! 

Assessment 

Over the next couple of weeks, your child/ren will be undertaking various assessments. These assessments are very important to us as they give key information about children's strengths and future areas for development.  These will mainly focus on reading, SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar), maths and writing. Year Six begin their assessments next week. These have been organised as 'proper' SATS (Standard Assessment Tests) so the children will experience this important rite of passage. 

Governors will be undertaking the role of exam invigilators, quality-assuring our procedures. One of our governors, Hannah Bailey, will be marking the papers. Hannah is an experienced Year Six teacher and SATS marker. This provides us with an objective viewpoint of the standards our children achieve in the tests. We thank Hannah and all our governors for the support they are providing at this time.

Across the rest of the school, children from Foundation Stage will be undertaking some form of formal assessment. Obviously, we will try to complete these in a supportive and positive environment. Additionally, children in Year Four will undertake the 'Multiplication Tables Check' and children in Year One the 'Phonics Screening Check'.

All the results of these assessments will be fed back to you via your child's annual school report which you will receive on Monday 12th July.

To support your child with these assessments please ensure that they have plenty of sleep and a healthy diet! It is also important to remember that we are recovering from several periods of national lock down, so we hope that you will support your child with any areas that require additional reinforcement. For example, this could be with daily reading or reciting multiplication tables over the summer holidays before they return to school in September.