Curriculum Governor Involvement

The Curriculum Governor Committee met on 13th May. Governors enjoyed a tour of the two‑year‑old provision and the pre‑school provision, noting that children were highly engaged and very well supported by the Nursery team. The environments were described as excellent and thoughtfully designed.

Governors then reviewed a random selection of home–school communication diaries. They observed strong engagement from home, either from the child (KS2) or the parent (KS1), and agreed that the time Teaching Assistants spend completing these diaries each day is a valuable use of time.

Anna Taylor (Nursery HLTA) attended the meeting with three EYPPG children, who demonstrated their maths learning. Governors were reassured that the strong foundations being built in Nursery will be highly beneficial as the children transition into Reception.

Governors requested that Science be the focus for the next meeting.

Finance and Personnel Committee Governors Involvement

The Finance and Personnel Governors convened on Thursday 7th May to review several important areas relating to the school’s ongoing development and future planning.

Governors examined the provisional staffing structure for the next academic year, giving particular attention to how it aligns with the increasing number of pupils with complex needs across the school. They also reviewed the financial implications of the proposed structure. As is the case for many schools nationally, Governors noted the growing challenge of delivering fully inclusive provision within budgets that do not reflect the true cost of meeting these needs.

The meeting continued with a review of the Headteacher’s appraisal targets and the progress made towards achieving them. Governors then spent time exploring the new Ofsted Toolkit, considering the guidance available and identifying the preparation required over the next 12 months.

 

Finally, Governors agreed that a small increase in fees for Nursery, Breakfast Club and After School Club was necessary in order to keep pace with rising inflationary costs

 

Message for Reception – cress!

Good evening,
We hope you are enjoying growing your little pots of cress at home. Some children sent in a photo of their growing seeds to share in class and everyone loved looking at them. If you haven’t and would like to send in some photos of the cress growth, then children can proudly share these back in class. Please send in via the Evidence Me app.
Thank you.

Message for Reception

Good evening,
Please can we remind you to ensure you bring in your child’s Read. Write, Inc reading books into school in their plastic packets, along with reading diaries everyday. We change them weekly, but we do take these along to sessions so it is essential that they are in school for when needed.
Thank you for your continued support at home.

Have a lovely weekend.

Parent Survey

Dear Parents and Carers,

At Newdale Primary School and Nursery, we greatly value feedback from our parents and carers. We kindly ask that all families complete our annual parent survey by Friday 5th June 2026 using the link below.

https://forms.gle/8q5MmKxwDGCQXTJH8

If you would like further information about any of the questions before completing the survey, please visit our school website or Facebook page, or speak to a member of our team who will be happy to help.

To say thank you, families who include their child’s name in the survey will be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win one of our fun summer prizes!

All named entries will be entered into the draw, with winners receiving a summer toy for the whole family to enjoy.

Thank you in advance for your time and support.

Kind regards,
Miss Cook

Healthy Lunches for Little Learners

Today, your child will have brought home a letter with some guidance for Healthy Lunchbox ideas for school. We encourage everyone to take full advantage of the free school lunch or sandwich option over providing a packed lunch, as this is a cost effective and healthy choice right up until the end of Year 2! New menus were handed out last week.

If you do opt to bring in a lunchbox from home, please can we draw your attention in particular to the safety section, in which Parents/Carers are asked to ensure grapes are cut lengthways as a choking hazard prevention method. This is a requirement and they must be cut this way.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

 

Stay & Share – Wednesday 22nd April

We would like to invite you to our Stay and Share session on Wednesday 22nd April 2026 at 2:45pm.

Please enter your child’s classroom through their usual drop-off/pick-up route:

Reception, Year 2, Year 3, Year 5 and Year 6 – enter via the playground classroom doors

Year 1 and Mrs Everall’s class – enter via the decking area

Mr Stubbs’ class – enter via the stairs by the Visitor Car Park

Playground gates will open at 2:45pm.

Due to limited space, we can only accommodate one parent/carer per child. Please confirm your attendance through ParentPay, so staff know how many parents to expect.

For this event, the children will remain in their classrooms. If you have more than one child in school, you will be able to move between classrooms and spend time with each of them individually.

Please book your place via ParentPay, the event is free to attend. Places to be booked by the end of day Tuesday 21st April. 

We look forward to seeing you, and the children are excited to share their learning with you!

 

Message from Miss Cook

Incident Update

Dear Parents and Carers,

I want to express my sincere thanks to the children for remaining as calm as possible and for following adult instructions so well today. I am also incredibly grateful to so many members of our local community who rushed forward to support us as we navigated a very difficult situation.

The teams at Newdale moved straight into emergency mode, acted calmly, and followed our procedures to the letter. The emergency services were outstanding and undoubtedly prevented the situation from becoming far more serious. We are extremely thankful for their swift and professional response.

At this stage, we are unsure whether Rock Road will be open tomorrow. Please consider alternative routes, including Brookes Avenue, and think about parking slightly further away and walking in if necessary.

To support this, we will operate a late register system tomorrow. There is no need for families to rush, as access routes may be limited. Children can arrive any time up until 10am without late marks being recorded.

We will be carrying out reassuring circle times and debriefs with the children, and we would appreciate your support in talking to them at home about the fact that school is safe and that we are very much looking forward to welcoming them back tomorrow.

It is never pleasant to have to put emergency policies and procedures into real-life action, but it is reassuring—for us and, we hope, for you as parents—that everything ran smoothly throughout the event.

Thank you so much for your support and for trusting us with your children.

We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Miss Cook

Headteacher