Deanshanger Primary School Parent Portal - Deanshanger Primary School

Tuesday 20th July was a special day for us all but a tough one too! We had to say goodbye to an incredible group of Year 6 pupils and wish all the very best to our leaving staff.

As I started Deanshanger Primary seven years ago, I have watched every step of progress for a large majority of the Year 6 group! They have shown amazing resilience and maturity throughout the years, and we are all exceptionally proud of them. Socially isolating with three days to go, but still smiling and providing a wonderful leaving assembly online, demonstrate how mature and 'secondary ready' they are.

We also shared huge thanks and good luck to the staff that have played an integral role in making the school what it is. Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Dennis, Mrs. Doyle Mrs. Penwell, Mr. Russell, and Mr. Larcombe, we will miss you all so much. You are a very special and dedicated group. We wish you great happiness as you set off on new ventures. Your contributions to our school will not be forgotten.

With the goodbyes, comes the hellos too. A very warm welcome to Miss Forward, Mrs. Burdett, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Rowantree. We are all ready to support and learn from you and ensure that you quickly feel settled. We look forward to all the many strengths that you will bring.

We are currently recruiting for the Forest School role and hope to be able to welcome a new Forest School lead to the team soon. The advert is currently live on Teach Northants.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at the school for being an outstanding team this year (as always). Two Ofsted visits, a pandemic, and the regular heavy load of working in a school have made it quite an extraordinary year, but one that they have supported amazingly. Governors, a huge thank you to you all too. As Chair of Governors, Mr. Aaronson has been a regular in the school and indeed, all governors have continued to work hard behind the scenes to ensure that the school continues on a strong path. Thank you.

Our work with the Grand Union Partnership and in particular Mr. Phil Webster and Mr. Wilsdon has continued to support our growth as well as providing a good forum for professional dialogue.

Parents and Carers too, thank you. This year, probably more than ever, has needed us all to work as a team. Thank you for adapting to all the new expectations as needed, and ensuring that your children have managed the ever-changing situation as well as possible.

The final thanks must go to your children — they are an incredibly inspiring group, and we are very fortunate to have the pleasure of supporting their learning journey each day. Like us all, I feel they now need a very good rest! Let's hope the weather continues to shine upon us so that our batteries recharge well ready for more fun learning in September.

School uniform

Given the year that we have all had, and reducing the need for anyone to go to the shops unnecessarily, we have been very open-minded about school uniform and footwear this year — it hasn't been a top priority.

With life gradually returning to 'normal' now though, we are all keen for all children to return to high uniform expectations from September on an everyday basis including PE days. We are very proud of our school and smart uniform helps display this. We particularly want to cut down on fashion items, go back to black school shoes for non PE days and tidy up the uniform for PE ie,

White or red T-shirt (with the school logo or plain)
Black shorts
Black or white plimsolls for indoor games
Tracksuit and trainers for outdoor use in cold weather
Slogans, football club affiliations or ‘designer labels’ should be kept for life outside school.

For full information about our school uniform, please look on the following page of our school website.

What will school look like in September?

The honest answer to this question is that we're not 100% sure! Full information about the risk assessment for September will be shared later in the school holiday - this is to ensure that we capture the latest government advice. For now, we can only share what we think might be the case.

We'll operate with year groups keeping together.
Close contact between year groups inside the school will be restricted.
Staggered starts, break times, lunches and finish times will operate (see the timings below)
Children will have indoor PE again (except children joining Reception). They will need to change in school for this. Indoor PE days will be shared with you on the staff training days in September.
On outdoor PE days, the children will come to school in their outdoor kits and stay in them all day.
We'll try and get as many before and after school cubs and activities up and running as possible.
Classrooms will be set up with groups of tables instead of the forward facing arrangement that have been in place in most classes this school year.
School assemblies are very likely to initially continue on Zoom.
Parent meetings and workshops are also very likely to be on Zoom too.
We hope to be able to use the school library.

School start and finish times

Reception classes — 8.50am for Ms McKenzie's group and 9.00am for Mrs.Neville's. Collection at 3.15pm and 3.25pm respectively (from the Reception gate just to the side of the admin grey gate)
Year 1 — Both classes at 8.55am with collection at 3.20pm (from the wooden gates just along from the main entrance)
Year 2 — Both classes at 8.50am with collection at 3.15pm (from the pink door just inside the main grey gates).
Year 3 — Both classes at 8.45am with collection at 3.10pm (from the wooden gates)
Year 4 — Both classes at 8.40am with collection at 3.05pm (from the wooden gates)
Year 5 — Both classes at 8.50am with collection at 3.15pm (from the wooden gates)
Year 6 — Both classes at 8.50am with collection at 3.15pm(from the Willow Tree gate in the car park)

We appreciate that these staggered timings are a little tricky for some of you. We have considered whether we can go back to pre-covid days of everyone coming in at 8.50am and leaving at 3.15pm, but we don't think this will be the case in September; it could quickly become the case as the national situation improves though.

Reading

10th July to 5th September

Visit Deanshanger Village Library to sign up for the summer reading challenge

Opening hours

Wednesdays 10.00 am to 2.00 pm,

Fridays 11.00 am to 1.00 pm and 2.00pm to 4.00 pm.

Updates from our Chair of Governors

Community Fridge

Opening hours from 19th July

School uniform

What will school look like in September?

School start and finish times

Thank you again for supporting your child/ren and the school so amazingly this school year.

Wishing you all a safe and happy summer break.

See you on Friday 3rd September (for all children except our new Reception children). The full calendar of dates and events for the year ahead will be added to the calendar on the school website in the coming days. Your child will also receive a new home/school diary on Friday 3rd.

Rachel Rice

Head teacher

head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk