The newsletter is full of things to celebrate this week as well as lots of information about up and coming events, particularly information about Family Meetings

We have now had families from every year group into school to have a cup of tea and a chat, see their children's work and be given a tour of the school by the children.

On Monday we welcomed Year 5 & Year 6 families.

Here is a snippet of the comments we have received via our survey.
Too many to add here unfortunately.

"We love the layout of the school. Great outdoor space. Fun and educational activities set up outside for reception. Wonderful classroom environment. Staff very friendly and informative. And Pippin is always a joy to see!"

"It was lovely to feel the buzz of all the children being in school and learning together. The Dunalley setting is wonderful, our children are very lucky to attend."

"It was so lovely to explore the school, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everything. My daughter was so happy to show me her work and a tour all around the school."

"Just lovely to interact with teachers and pupils and see how happy they all are. Was such a lovely opportunity to see for ourselves what they have been up too. So grateful for this."

"It was so wonderful to back on the school site again. I really appreciated all the effort that had gone in to making it such a special morning for families. Cups of tea & daffodils on all the tables - such thoughtful touches in what is already such a busy working day for you all."

"All the children seem so happy and content at the school. We love seeing how excited our daughter is to get into school in the morning."

"It was lovely to see the changes and how the site has developed over the last few years to enhance the children’s learning experience. My daughter was very proud to show me her work and be my tour guide around the school!"

"My children love attending here & learning. There is a wonderful atmosphere when they are greeted at the gate by the staff, the whole school is vibrant & there are so many creative areas for them to explore. The teachers are always so enthusiastic & supportive & our children are really happy."

Please be aware that the number of positive COVID cases in our community, and across Cheltenham is growing.  As a result of this, we are once again experiencing staff shortages.  We will of course continue to do our very best to remain fully open despite the shortage of supply teachers. We would like to thank staff who are covering additional duties and helping us to maintain safe staffing levels.  Please help us by making sure that you do not send your children into school if they are displaying COVID symptoms. We have had children off with Covid with the following symptoms: headache, sickness, cough, sore throat & temperature and would appreciate it that if your child has any of these that you carry out a lft before they return. If they have tested positive for Covid a negative test on day 5 and 6 is still required for them to return.

Thank you to everyone who came along to our Book Fair hosted by The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop,  from Nailsworth and Tetbury who have been keen to support us with our initiative to create a love of reading in our school.

We were fortunate to benefit from some fabulous new books for our school library.

We hope to invite The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop back as we had such good feedback on the quality of books on sale.

We celebrated Pippin’s 3^rd birthday in the sunshine on Saturday, there were so many families having fun it was lovely to see.  The children (and some adults) fully engaged with Thomas Trilby, our circus entertainer and the ice creams were a big hit too.

Thank you to everyone who came along, we hope to do another family event in the summer term.

Pippin was delighted by the amount of gifts he receievd and absolutey loved the home made cards.

Thank you all so much for your generosity.

We are very excited that children can now explore learning opportunites in different ways, a change from the last two years as we are now organising school trips and visits, some of our year groups already have trips scheduled in this term.  

Whilst we ask for voluntary contributions towards the cost of these trips it is important to know that school will not be able to cover the costs out of our dedicated school budgets, if there are insufficient contributions some trips may be cancelled as a result.  If this is the case any amount contributed would be refunded.

If your child is in Year 3 or Year 6 and you are yet to contribute towards their imminent trips please log onto Parent Pay to do so.

Once again thank you so much to those families who donated, we just wanted to update you that the dontaions have arrived in Poland very close to the Ukranian border.

The No Child Left Behind team are making arrangements for the Easter Holiday Activity and Food programme. This is a government-funded programme that aims to ensure that children on free school meals can access food and activities over the Easter break.

For primary-aged children on free school meals, they are offering:

·         A choice of a food hamper (meat-based or vegetarian-based) that will make four meals that will be delivered to your school, OR

·         The option to choose your own food at one of Cheltenham’s community food pantries.

Both options will be subject to availability and are offered on a one per family basis. 

They would like you to book which food option you would like by using the link below by 3pm Monday 21 March:

https://nochildleftbehindcheltenham.coordinate.cloud/list

They will not be able to take email bookings. If you have not yet registered on the system, you will need to create an account – there is more information here if you need any help:

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/education-and-learning/holiday-activities-and-food-programme/register-for-our-childrens-activities-booking-system/

Registering on the system will also give you the opportunity to book a range of other activities that will go live from Monday 28 March.

It was lovely to see children in school wearing red today supporting the Red Nose appeal. We will let you know how much we have raised in next weeks newsletter.

This pre-loved toddler push along trike has been donated to our Nursery & pre-school and they would like to pass it on. If you would like it for your little one, please let us know.

Please email [email protected] or telephone the nursery on 01242 512391, it will be on a first come first served basis.