Communications

Sub Categories to extend communications beyond the website.

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2 weeks ago
Posted on 09th Oct 2026 by

Arthog Reminders

Good morning,

Last minute reminders about Arthog:

  • Children can wear their comfortable/casual clothing for travelling. This should be sports-style clothing and not jeans.
  • Children will need a packed lunch for the first day. Please ensure that you have ordered one from the school kitchen (those entitled to free school meals) if you have not already done so by emailing the admin team.
  • Children will need to take their water bottle with them. We take these out with us daily.
  • Small torch for the night walk. Mrs Stack and I discussed this with year 6 yesterday. This does not need to be large or expensive, but is very useful for when walking at night. If you are not able to take a small torch/ head torch, children will be able to share.
  • All waterproof clothing, wellies and walking boots are provided by Arthog and therefore children do not need to take their own.
  • Please ensure that your child know where all of their belongings are packed in their suitcase. It is a good idea to have bedding at the top as the children will make their beds the afternoon that we arrive.
  • No snacks/ drinks to be taken. Everything will be provided by Arthog and all dietary requirements catered for.
  • Travel sickness pills will need to be taken before school and then staff need to be provided with travel pills for the return journey also.

    Please email the Year 6 Team if you have further questions.

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2 weeks ago
Posted on 08th Oct 2026 by

SEND Newsletter Autumn 1

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please see below the SEND Newsletter for Autumn 1.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns or require additional support, please do not hesitate to get in touch via newdalesendco@taw.org.uk or through the school office.

Kind regards,

Mr McFarland.

SEND Newsletter Autumn 1 2026

3 weeks ago
Posted on 07th Oct 2026 by

Stars Beyond the Classroom

 

At Newdale, we love celebrating our children’s achievements both in and out of school. We know that many of our children accomplish amazing things beyond the classroom, and we would love to showcase these successes on our new Stars Beyond the Classroom display board!

Has your child:

  • Scored a goal or earned a medal in a sports club?
  • Taken part in a dance, drama or musical performance?
  • Achieved a swimming badge or martial arts grading?
  • Learned a new skill such as cooking, baking or sewing?
  • Completed a challenge with Scouts, Guides, Beavers or Cubs?
  • Taken part in a community event or charity fundraiser?
  • Achieved something special through a hobby, club or personal interest?
  • Shown determination, resilience or kindness in an achievement they are proud of?

We would love to hear about it!

Please email a photo, along with a brief description of the achievement, to newdale.primary@taw.org.uk. We will then add it to our display board so that we can celebrate our children’s successes together. We will add to this display board over the year.

Let’s showcase the many talents, interests and achievements of our wonderful children and inspire others to try something new!

⭐ We can’t wait to see what your children have been up to! ⭐

 

3 weeks ago
Posted on 07th Oct 2026 by

Newdale takes on BBC 500 Words!

Dear Parents and Carers,

We would love to encourage our budding Newdale authors to enter BBC 500 Words, the UK’s biggest children’s story-writing competition!

The competition is open to children aged 5–11, who are invited to write an original story in 500 words or fewer. From magical adventures to mysterious discoveries, children can let their imaginations lead the way!

Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not marked – the focus is on creativity and imagination, making this a wonderful opportunity for children of all abilities to get involved.

There are exciting prizes to be won, including National Book Tokens worth up to £75, a framed illustration of the winning stories and publication in a special winners’ book. Winning stories will also be read by celebrities on the BBC!

Entries close at 9pm on Friday 6 November 2026.

Visit bbc.co.uk/500words for the rules, writing inspiration and details of how to enter. Look out for our posters around school too!

Please also send a copy of your child’s story to their year group email address so that we can celebrate our young writers in school. Remember that sharing a story with school does not enter it into the competition – it must also be submitted through the BBC website.

We can’t wait to see where Newdale’s imagination takes us!

Best of luck,

Miss Curtis

 

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3 weeks ago
Posted on 05th Oct 2026 by

Arthog

Dear Parents/ Carers,

Our Arthog trip, on Monday 12th October is fast approaching. Please ensure your child arrives at school at 8.35am as normal, bringing their luggage to their classroom.

Children should bring warm outdoor clothing (and spares), single bedding sheets and covers, a towel, shower gel, their water bottle, pyjamas, slippers, underwear and lots of socks!

We will be leaving school via the top gate to the bus stop on Rock Road, departing around 9.30am, should you wish to wave them off.

Children need to bring a packed lunch for the outward journey. If your child is likely to be travel sick, please give them a tablet in the morning and let us know if they require one for the return journey.

Children can bring a maximum of £10 spending money in a clearly named moneybag so that any money can be easily returned to you. Please try to include change as Arthog have not got a lot! If you have not yet done so, this needs to be brought to the office by Wednesday 7th October.

If your child takes regular medication, you must complete a medical form – we cannot administer medication without your consent. All medication needs to be given to school with the form by Wednesday 7th October. Asthmatic children and those with epi-pens will be given the school pouch they normally use. If your child has an epi-pen, we will need to take three with us, so we ask that another is given to the office prior to the trip.

Please ensure that your child does not bring a mobile phone or electronic device/watch. This is to avoid the danger of them being lost or damaged but more importantly is a matter of safeguarding.

Children can bring a small soft toy with them which can be packed into their suitcase.

Please do not give your child any snacks for their time at Arthog. They will be very well fed with a great variety of choice on offer.

Many thanks,

Year 6 Team

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3 weeks ago
Posted on 02nd Oct 2026 by

Achievement Assembly

Friday 2nd October 2026 

Reception enjoyed a royal banquet earlier this week! Everyone looked fabulous in their costumes, enjoying a little feast and plenty of dancing. It was a lovely celebration to end our learning about castles. Thank you for supporting at home with the wonderful costumes to help bring their learning to life.  

A big thank you to everyone who attended our KS1 Movie Night on Thursday to help raise funds for school. The event was a great success and the children thoroughly enjoyed watching Dog Man with their friends.  

Achievers of the week: 

Year 6 achievers: Mrs Arthur’s achiever for fantastic C2S drafting and editing. Daisy for her fantastic focus, effort and attitude to learning. 

Year 5 achievers:  Maya for always setting a good example of the Newdale way and working hard in all lessons. She puts 100% into everything she does! Shivangi for always being kind and respectful with excellent manners and a smile 😊  

Year 4 achievers: Noah for a fantastic start to the year. Completing all his work, giving 100% to each lesson and having a fantastic attitude towards his learning. Phoebe for trying her best in all lessons and listening straight away when instructions are given. 

Year 3 achievers: Oscar for showing lovely ready to learn behaviours and giving all his effort into amazing handwriting with joins.  Mia for outstanding sketching and shading in our Art lesson this week.  

Year 2 achievers: Miss Moore’s achiever for his amazing effort with all his learning this week, improving his presentation and having a wonderful attitude. Mikayla for settling into Newdale so well and impressing her teachers with amazing, dictated sentences in Literacy. 

Year 1 achievers: Isabella for being an excellent role model at all times and being respectful and kind to all members of her class (adults included!). Miss Lowe’s achiever for coming into school everyday, working hard and trying her best.  

 

Readers of the week – these children were entered into our weekly reading raffle: 

Year 6 readers: Lila for including great detail in her comments throughout the week. Well done! Mrs Arthur’s star reader for reading a wide variety of texts including a newspaper article and encyclopaedia, as well as an ongoing novel; making her diary very interesting and informative reading.  

Year 5 readers: Smrithi for amazing detail in her reading diary! Creating her own VIPER questions and answering them, I loved reading them! Arya for answering a range of retrieval questions throughout a fantastic week of reads. Well done Arya!  

Year 4 readers: Addison for really driving her reading this week and ensuring she is reading everyday! Billy for excellent comments and consistency.  

Year 3 readers: Bella for always reading at home and trying hard at the tricky words and not giving up. Well done Bella! Heyden for consistency with reading at home.  

Year 2 readers: Rheya for reading consistently throughout the week and even writing her own comments in her reading diary. Junior for trying hard and reading every day at home this week. 

Year 1 readers: Frankie for consistent reading at home this week, as well as writing in her own reading book. Tallulah for reading consistently at home. 

Newdale Cup winners nominated by adults in school – All Year 1 children for having a fantastic week! They behaved brilliantly during gymnastics and the movie night this week and Mrs Evans, Mrs Sturrock and Miss Lowe are all very proud 😊  

Attendance Winners  28th – 2nd October 2026

Winner of Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3

Miss Squire = 98.28%

Winner of Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6

Mrs Haymour = 99.33%

3 weeks ago
Posted on 02nd Oct 2026 by

Parents’ Evening Trial for Reception to Year 6– Autumn Term

Dear Parents and Carers,

This term, we will be trialling a new format for Parents’ Evenings: each year group will now have a designated Parents’ Evening date rather than appointments being spread across an entire week. Many primary and secondary schools have successfully adopted similar arrangements, and we are hopeful that this format will provide a more efficient experience for both families and staff.

On their allocated day, teachers will be released from class at 1:00pm and will hold appointments through until 7:00pm, allowing us to offer a greater number of appointment slots in one day.

 Booking Appointments

Appointments will be booked through Arbor. As this is our first year using Arbor for Parents’ Evening bookings, we kindly ask for your patience while we become familiar with the system. Further booking information will be shared nearer the time.

Monday 19th October – Reception, Year 1 and Year 2

Wednesday 21st October – Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6

 Appointment Arrangements

  • Appointments will last 10 minutes maximum.
  • To ensure everyone keeps to schedule, teachers will need to adhere strictly to these timings.
  • Books and examples of your child’s work will still be available to view.
  • Meetings will take place in the hall rather than in classrooms.
  • If for some reason you are unable to attend, your child’s teacher will arrange a phone call appointment.
  • We recommend booking your appointments as soon as it is released especially if you have more than one child in school.

Appointments on Arbor will open on Monday 5th October at 6pm.

Booking system will close at 9am on Thursday 15th October. 

Please note that Mr McFarland, our SENDCo, will not be attending Parents’ Evening appointments in the way he has done previously. To better support families of pupils with SEND, he now has a dedicated system for meeting with parents throughout the year, outside of the general Parents’ Evening arrangements. Families requiring SEND-related discussions should continue to contact Mr McFarland directly to arrange an appropriate meeting. NewdaleSENDco@taw.org.uk

 Arrival and Departure

  • Please enter through the main office entrance.
  • Exit will be via the hall doors.
  • Due to limited waiting space, we ask that you do not arrive too early for your appointment.

As this is our first Parents’ Evening of the year, the focus is on how your child has settled into their new class, building positive relationships, engagement, discussing attitudes to learning, and identifying areas for development.

As a result, we will not be sending home our usual ‘What My Child Has Achieved’ summary during this Parents’ Evening week. Instead, these reports will be shared later in the Autumn 2 term, once children have had greater exposure to their year group’s curriculum and teachers have gathered a wider range of assessment information to accurately reflect their progress and achievements.

We believe this will provide parents with a more meaningful and comprehensive overview of their child’s learning and development.

 Children at Parents’ Evening Appointments

  • Please note that children will be unable to attend Parents’ Evening appointments during the school day (1:00pm to 3pm).
  • We understand that childcare arrangements can sometimes be challenging. Children are welcome to attend appointments after school; however, this is entirely optional. As space within school is limited, we kindly ask parents and carers to make alternative childcare arrangements where possible.
  • Any children attending an appointment after school must remain under the direct supervision of their parent or carer at all times. Thank you for your understanding and support.

 Separated Parents

We appreciate that some separated parents may wish to have individual appointments. Where possible, we kindly ask parents to attend together. However, we completely respect that this may not be suitable in some circumstances and will accommodate separate appointments where needed. On Arbor, parents will be able to make one appointment per child. Should you wish for a separate appointment, please contact your child’s teacher directly.

Please note that there will be no onsite parking for parents apart from blue badge holders during parents’ evening days.

Thank you for your understanding and support as we introduce this new approach. We look forward to hearing your feedback following the trial.

 

Miss Cook