Our School Councillors are pleased to let you know that they will be raising money for Lions at Large this year. 

The charity is raising money for new cancer care facilities in Cheltenham with digital consulting rooms, space for state-of-the-art research, as well as therapeutic outside space. You will find more information here:

In summer 2025, Lions at Large - The Pride of Gloucestershire trail will be 'roaring' onto the streets of Cheltenham and Gloucester. 

A pride of large Lion sculptures will be designed and painted by local artists and joined by the Cub Club - a pride of Little Lions created by local schools and community groups. We want to be part of this!

Having joined the Cheltenham/Gloucester sculpture trail during the summer months, our Little Lion will return to its forever home in our grounds. 

Our School Councillors are busy working on ideas which will help us to raise money for Lions at Large and enable us to buy a Little Lion that we can decorate for the sculpture trail.

We launched this fundraising initiative in assembly this morning and children and staff were excited about the ideas shown below and raising money through a Wacky Hair day and Community Art Exhibition.

School Councillors are meeting after school today to agree dates and make arrangements for these events.

Please look out for updates next week - we are looking to raise in excess of £1000 for this worthwhile cause. If you pop into your ParentPay account, you will find that we are already ready to receive voluntary donations. 

'Improving attendance is everyone’s business’, and it is important that we, as your child’s school, work together in partnership with you, your family, your child, and the wider community.

It is essential for all children to get the most out of their school experience, including their attainment,  well being and wider life chances. National data sets clearly identify that children who attend school more regularly to better at school:

- At the end of year 6, pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared to 3.5% among those meeting the expected standard and 2.7% for pupils meeting the higher standard.

- At KS4 (GCSEs), pupils who achieved grades lower than 4 (previously grade C) in English and maths had an overall absence rate of 8.8%, compared to 3.7% for pupils who achieved grade 5 or above.

Please click the link to access our full Attendance & Punctuality Policy.

You will see that parents and carers are expected to:

• Ensure their child attends every day the school is open except when a statutory reason applies.
• Notify the school as soon as possible when their child has to be unexpectedly absent (e.g. sickness).
• Only request leave of absence in exceptional circumstances and do so in advance.
• Book any medical appointments around the school day where possible.

Please be aware that:

• Any holiday-related absence taken that includes 10 sessions in 10 weeks, may result in a Penalty Notice.
• The penalty amount is £160 (reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days for the first offence). If a parent receives a second penalty notice within a rolling three-year period the fine is £160 and there is no option to pay the fine at a reduced rate.
• Both parents with parental responsibility, and adults residing with the child, including for example, step-parents who have day-to-day responsibility for the child, may be fined, and this applies to each child who is absent.
• If a Penalty Notice is not paid within the time limits set out in the letter to the parent, the Local Authority may proceed the case to court.
• Nationally, Headteachers are: not permitted to approve term-time holidays except in genuinely exceptional circumstances, and are to consider each application for a leave of absence individually before making their decision.
• The law clearly expects Headteachers to enforce these penalties strictly. 
• Parents/carers do not have the right to take children out of school for a holiday during term time. Any requests are considered on an individual basis following guidelines issued by the Department for Education and Local Authority.
• Holiday absences will not be authorised if they are not considered to meet exceptional circumstances.
• If a pupil goes on holiday without permission, the absence will be classed as unauthorised. Absence will also be unauthorised if a child does not return to school on the agreed date. Unauthorised absence could result in referral to the Local Authority to begin legal proceedings.

Teachers are looking forward to meeting with parents and carers in February. The following dates were published in September.

Wednesday 12th February - in-person meetings

Thursday 13th February - virtual meetings

We are delighted to be able to offer you the choice of either an in-person or virtual meeting. In-person meetings will be held on the Wednesday 12th February and virtual meetings are scheduled for Thursday 13th February. We are very pleased to announce that each video call can involve up to 2 parents/carers at different locations.

Bookings will open at 7pm on Monday 3rd February, via Edulink One.

We ask that parents who require separate bookings do the following:

• The parent listed as Contact 1 books through Edulink One
• The parent listed as Contact 2 contacts the school office on 01242 512391 to book a slot.

Do we have the correct address and telephone numbers for you and your child?

Are the emergency contacts and adults authorised to collect your child correct?

Please log onto Edulink One and check your and your child(ren)'s data.

Please note:

• You MUST make sure you click on every individual and check the data linked to them.  Contacts do not automatically share against all children, you have to add them separately.
• Do NOT put phone numbers or emails against children. 
• Separated parents can list different addresses. 
• Click MOVE if you move and need to update your address and don't forget to move everyone in the household that has also moved to that address.
• The child's address will show the same as parent listed as priority/emergency contact 1.

In order to ease congestion, from Monday the 3rd February, Year 3 children will be dismissed by their teachers via the key stage 2 corridor and doors into the central playground. 

Adults who collect Year 3 children are welcome to enter the school grounds via the main school entrance.

If you need to collect older children from different exits, please then walk around the building and exit school via the main field gate as usual.  

Families who do not need to collect older children are welcome to exit the grounds via the main entrance and pathway.

Thank you to families who have been ordering school lunches at home, many of you have told us that you enjoy discussing and choosing the meals together. This is fabulous, not only are you aware of what meals the children are having but it helps the school day to get off to a swift start.

Now that we are more familiar with the system, we would greatly appreciate it if all families could move to choosing meals at home.

Please let us know if you would like help in navigating the online SchoolGrid ordering system. Thank you for your support.

We have two vacancies here at Dunalley Primary School.  Please refer to our website for details, via the links below.

Teaching Partner/Medical Assistant to a Designated Child

Teaching Partner

We are always delighted to receive donations for our OPAL Play initiative.

Thank you so much to Archie, year 2 for bringing in some buckets and spades for the sand pit today and for any other donation received.

If you would like to donate, please give them to Mrs Byrne via the school office, or leave them in the black OPAL donation box outside of the main reception.

We are always keen for:

• Beach Toys
• Suitcases
• Paint brushes and rollers
• Dolls
• Construction toys
• Planks of wood
• Balls
• Dressing up clothes
• Old keyboards

Many thanks for your support.

Just a quick email to remind you of the update to the ATLAS CAMP booking system if you want to book any children in over the February half term.
The details for this are below: 

Follow the link - https://bookings.atlascamps.co.uk/listing/holiday-clubs

• Create an account – this will enable you to save children for future camps rather than inputting all information in again.
• When you have selected the days and children you would like to book, go to payments, and select ‘affiliate School’.
• Atlas Camps will then send you an invoice for payment following your booking.
• If you need to make any amendments to your booking this can all be done through the bookings through your account. 

Atlas Camps have asked that you please ensure that the emergency contact numbers are for the parents or guardians who will be ‘on call’ in case they need to get In touch for any reason. You can include these in the address section for each individual child.

Please ensure your child(ren) have wet weather clothing in school at all times. 

Waterproofs and wellies are required during lunch times.

If your child has been allocated a football club, please send them with a pair of trainers or football boots to change into.  If they have shin pads please send these in as well.