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!

 

Donations to school fund

As a school, we are committed to ensuring that all our children continue to have a variety of opportunities to engage through a wide range of trips, visits and visitors. We believe that these experiences help to provide meaningful learning opportunities, as well as support children with their personal development.

As many of you may already be aware, as a school we subsidise our school visits using our own funds as well as money raised from school events. Although our budgets are certainly becoming tighter, we still appreciate that the cost of living has caused many families to also have financial concerns. Where we can, we will continue to contribute towards school trips so that parents are still not paying the full cost. However, our levels of subsidy simply cannot remain as high as they have always been in the past due to budget constraints.

We have a had number of parents who have asked if they could contribute extra amounts towards trips to support those in our school community who may be struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis. If you would like to do this,  please contribute via ParentPay. Every penny will go towards the trip costs.

We thankyou for your ongoing support.

WhatsApp Issues

Dear Parents and Carers,

We would like to draw your attention to some ongoing concerns regarding children’s use of digital devices outside of school. Recently, we have become aware of large WhatsApp groups involving our pupils. This has unfortunately led to issues such as inappropriate language being used and a high number of disagreements.

As you may know, WhatsApp has a minimum age requirement of 13. Children in primary school are often not yet ready to use such apps responsibly, which is why these restrictions are in place. Despite our Year 6 teams speaking with pupils about online safety and the age limits for apps like WhatsApp, the problem continues.

We kindly ask that you regularly review your child’s online activity and talk with them about how they are using digital platforms. Your support in reinforcing these messages at home is invaluable.

When issues arise outside of school, they can take up significant time during the school day, time that should be focused on learning. By working together, we can help ensure that children remain safe online and fully engaged whilst in school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Cook

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

 

Welcome Back Year 6

We hope you and your family enjoyed a lovely Easter break. Year 6 have another busy half term ahead of us with lots of exciting activities planned as well as our SATs the week commencing 11th May.

PE lessons will remain on the same days: Tuesdays (gymnastics indoors) and Fridays (tennis outdoors) during Summer 1. Please remember to send your child with a water bottle every day and ensure that children are wearing correct uniform.

See you back in class on Monday 13th April!

Garden Volunteer

Newdale Primary School- Garden Volunteer Opportunity – 🌱

We’re looking for a friendly and reliable volunteer to help look after our small school garden between 1-2 hrs a week.

🪴 Tasks include:

  • Planting, weeding & watering
  • General garden upkeep
  • Helping keep the space safe and enjoyable for our pupils

This is a great opportunity to support our school community and work alongside staff and children. 🌼

Enhanced DBS check required

📧 Interested? Get in touch for more details by emailing Newdale.primary@taw.org.uk

Curriculum Governor Involvement

The Curriculum Governors met on 24th March. They spent time speaking with KS2 girls about Life Learning and were heartened to hear that pupils feel safe in school and have a strong sense of belonging at Newdale. Governors then heard an update from the ‘Stronger Foundations’ Associate Governor, who reported on policy developments and monitoring carried out this term.

They also worked with the Maths Lead, talking to KS2 pupils about their maths learning, and were pleased to see clear progress over time. Governors are keen to follow how the focus on ‘STEM Sentences’ develops over the summer term.

They were further reassured by feedback from recent external monitoring undertaken by the School Improvement Partner and two Partnership Heads. All external visitors recognised the calm, respectful learning environments across the school and the strong drive to support inclusion.

Finance and Personnel Governors Involvement

Governors who are part of the Finance and Personnel Committee met on 23 March 2026. They spent considerable time analysing the staff wellbeing audit results and identifying any actions required in response to the findings. Governors were very pleased to note that both teaching and support staff feel happy and safe working at Newdale.

The committee reviewed the draft staffing structure for the next academic year and agreed that the inclusion agenda should drive staffing decisions. Governors also approved a budget of £3–£5k to support the development of the newly established SEND provision for the coming year.