A MESSAGE FROM MS PAULSON

Dear Families, we have had another productive week in school and the children have much enjoyed showing off the OPAL play during our event for parents on Thursday. The Year 3 children had a memorable learning experience on Tuesday when they had their Roman Day. Many of them arrived dressed in magnificent Roman costumes ready to be transported back to the time of the Roman Empire!

                            

                        

Today the Year 4 children have had another immersive experience with their Ancient Egypt Day, learning about ancient Egyptian culture and daily life.

A Clean Air School

As many of you will be aware, the school council and the Eco Team did a great amount of work in the last academic year about making school and the area surrounding school a safer and healthier space for children. Our local councillor, Adele Williams, visited the children in assembly and she was presented with a letter from the school council about reducing car pollution and keeping the roads directly around school, as car free as possible. Many children and families have shown concern about cars that have been parked illegally and the children created Road Safety posters as part of a whole school competition. These are now displayed on the school railings along with our banner, promoting cleaner air for children. We have our resident Parking Buddies placed by the zigzg or double yellow lines each day.

As a community, we wish to continue our campaign to make the journey to school a healthier and more enjoyable experience for children. We currently have a group of parents who have set up a ‘Mums for Lungs’ group, that meet regularly in school and work in partnership with children, staff and the community to make a real difference. Look out for meeting dates in the newsletter if you would like to get involved.

You may notice next week some ‘Mums for Lungs’ group members patrolling the perimeter of school at drop-off and pick-up times. They will be monitoring the parking habits of car users so that we gain a better picture of how things can be improved. If you are interested in helping out with this,

 please let Ms Paulson know.

OPAL EVENT

Thank you to all of you who were able to come to our OPAL event yesterday. It was so lovely to see so many parents and carers; your presence and support means a lot to us and has such a positive impact as we continue on our OPAL journey. Fun was most certainly had by all!  The cake sale raised a magnificent £226.45 which we will put towards our upcoming OPAL projects. We really appreciate all of the donations that we received.

 

TRY A SCHOOL MEAL DAY – THURSDAY 2^ND OCTOBER – GOOSE FAIR DAY

To celebrate Goose Fair, we are having a celebratory lunch on Thursday 2^nd October.

If your child doesn’t normally have a school meal, why not give it a try next Thursday 2^nd October – even if it’s only for the day.

The school meal on Thursday will be:

Hot Dog/Veggie Hot Dog served with Diced Potatoes, Fried Onions and Mushy Peas followed by Chocolate Brownie.

The cost is free to children in F2, Years 1 and 2 and £2.90 for children in Years 3 to 6 (unless they are entitled to Free School Meals).

In addition to providing you with a convenient and easily accessed solution to your child’s lunch requirements, next Thursday is also this term’s ‘Hot School Meal Head Count Day’ for the school. This is the day when our uptake is counted and then used by the local authority to instruct the size of the funding they will commit to sharing with the school in the future. It is an advantage, therefore, that if this is one day that we have maximum uptake, it’s next Thursday. (To reassure you, it is only the total number of dinners that will be recorded and not the names of which individuals do or do not partake).

So why not give free hot meals a go next Thursday? It will be helpful to you, it will definitely be helpful to the school and I’m sure your child will really enjoy it. Thank you for your support.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS AT SCHOOL 🎂

🚫 No Sweet Treats, please!

We love celebrating birthdays with our children! To keep everyone safe, healthy and included, we ask that no sweet treats (like cupcakes, sweets or chocolate) be brought to school.

Instead of sweets, here are some fun and healthy ways to celebrate:

• 🎨 Donate a favourite book to the classroom library
• 🧩 Bring in a small game or activity to share
• 🖍️ Stickers, pencils or rubbers
• 🎉 Choose a class privilege (like being the line leader!)
• 🍏 Healthy snacks (e.g. satsumas/packets of raisins)

Thank you for helping us make every birthday celebration fun,inclusive and healthy for all!

There will still be opportunities for treats in school – for example, fundraising cake sales, Christmas parties and the Summer Fair. Parents/carers will be able to support their child at these events to make considered choices. The PTA are working hard this year to limit the number of unhealthier food and drink stalls at events and show children that life can still be sweet without too much sugar!

SECONDARY SCHOOL APPLICATIONS

Please note that the deadline for your application for your child’s Secondary school is 31^st October 2025. Please visit: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/admissions to submit your application.

UNIFORM PROJECT BIN

It’s been a great start to the term, with the blue donation bin for the Uniform Project full already! A quick reminder that uniform should be clean, dry and in good condition (no rips or stains) then placed into a carrier bag. Most of the local charity shops will take clothing that cannot be re-worn if it is bagged up and labelled as 'rags'. Thank you again for saving so much uniform from landfill.

 

WEEKLY % ATTENDANCE FIGURES – THIS WEEK’S WINNERS ARE: 1ST & 3G                                 

FS	98.81%	FW	97.30%	1ST	100.00%	1W	93.33%	2C	98.52%
2F	97.00%	3G	99.26%	3T	97.70%	4H	98.92%	4W	91.95%
5C	98.88%	5H	92.34%	6C	95.56%	6CH	94.81%

 

 

 

 

 

100% ATTENDANCE WINNERS – KS1:Max (1W) KS2:Rohan (4H)  

READING, READING, READING

It's definitely feeling more autumnal and if you're ready to hunker down with a book and a blanket, here are some seasonal reads to share with younger children on a chilly morning or cosy evening.

 

WRITING, WRITING, WRITING

The UK’s most successful writing competition for children, BBC 500 Words is now open.

The competition encourages children of all abilities to dive deep into their imagination and write the story they would love to read in 500 words or fewer, without fear of spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. Open to ages 5–7 and 8–11, the competition’s return was revealed by Alex Jones on Monday’s episode of The One Show, where she also revealed that the grand final will be held at the iconic Windsor Castle.

The judging panel are Malorie Blackman, Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Sir Lenny Henry, Charlie Higson and Francesca Simon and chaired by Alex Jones.

Let’s encourage our children to enter this wonderful competition. You never know we could have a winner…

For further information click on the link below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words

 

MATHS CHALLENGE

Can you solve this number riddle?

I'm a five-digit number

• My first digit is the number of legs on a spider
• My second digit is 3 squared
• My third digit is 7 less than my second
• My fourth digit is half of a dozen
• My last digit is how many legs a dog has

                  The answer will be revealed in next week’s newsletter

Can you make your own number riddle?

SHERWOOD LIBRARY SURVEY – HAVE YOUR SAY

Nottingham City Libraries have launched a survey for you to share your thoughts and help them decide the best way forward for Sherwood Library, whilst the outstanding works have been completed. Please click the link below to share your views:

https://www.nottinghamcitylibraries.co.uk/sherwood-survey/

The survey is open from 11^th September to 23^rd October 2025 (closes at midnight).

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Scholastic Book Fair	Friday 26th September – Wednesday 1st October 3.20pm – 3.45pm
5C Swimming	Friday 3rd October – Friday 17th October
Year 1 Family Feast and Stories Afternoon	Tuesday 7th October – 2.30pm
FS Greens Windmill Trip	Thursday 9th October
FW Greens Windmill Trip	Friday 10th October
Year 6 National Holocaust Museum Trip	Thursday 16th October
Half Term Holidays	Monday 20th October – Friday 31st October
Bike Bus	Friday 17th October
Back to School	Monday 3rd November
Bike Bus	Friday 21st November
Inset Day	Friday 28th November
Year 5 Nottingham Playhouse Panto	Thursday 18th December
Last Day of School	Friday 19th December
Christmas Holidays	Monday 22nd December – Friday 2nd January
Back to School	Monday 5th January
Year 5 Stratford-upon-Avon Residential	Wednesday 21st January – Thursday 22nd January

Signposting.

Tennis Coaching - Tennis coaching at Mapperley Park tennis club takes place for juniors on Mondays and Wednesdays after school. Mondays - 4pm for Years 4 to 6, Wednesdays - 3.15pm for Years 3 and 4 - 4.15pm for Years 1 and 2 - 5.15pm for years 5 upwards. If you would like more details on how to book a place, please contact Simon McBride on 07711080862.

Arnold Hill Spencer Academy Open Evening on Thursday 2^nd October - We would like to invite you to the Arnold Hill Spencer Academy Open Evening on Thursday 2nd October for those looking to start Year 7 in September 2026. Doors will open from 5.30pm, with a presentation from the Executive Principal at 6pm in our Main Hall. This presentation will be repeated at 6.45pm. There will then be time to explore the academy, see our facilities, meet staff and learn all about us. There is lots of parking on site. Once the carpark is full then please park safely on the roads off campus. Once you are on site, please come to main reception to sign in.