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This week, as with pretty much all weeks, has been full of focused learning opportunities and enrichment.
The Reception classes have been busier than ever with a trip to Thrift Wood Christmas Trees. If you have never been, I would definitely recommend it! What an amazing place at this time of year. We can't thank them enough for their kindness and generosity - it was a truly magical trip. The Reception classes also visited the village library and held a sponsored event this week!
Across the rest of the school, rehearsals have started for Christmas performances - try to put the dates in your diary. They are always very special events and a great opportunity to see the children to showcase their performance skills. To get us in the Christmas spirit, the traditional Christmas hoops are now up - the hall is totally transformed.
On top of all of this, we had the most incredible visit from Teach Rex - an interactive day with dinosaurs! Huge thanks to the PTA for arranging this surprise as a Christmas gift to the children. It is not every day that you have this incredible opportunity! Thank you PTA and thank you Teaach Rex - what an incredible day!
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We are absolutely delighted to welcome three new staff to the cleaning team. Mia Carrington and Molly Bayley are former students, so it is particularly great to welcome them back to DPS. We also welcome Mrs Kathy Mazey. The environment is not new to her either, as Kathy has worked here before!
Thank you very much to you all for joining our existing strong team.
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We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting lots of prospective families during individual visits and open mornings. Although we haven't got any more open mornings in the calendar, individual family meetings can continue to be set up as needed. Please make contact with the school office or send an email - head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk or head@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk
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Congratulations to the 24 finalists of our Spelling Bee last week. They all showed incredible resilience, courage and amazing spelling skills.
Year 1 - Leo, Idrees, Theodore and Otto
Year 2 - Adeline, Jessica, Freya and George
Year 3 - Ruby, Georgia, Freddie and Harry
Year 4 - Taran, Kamran, Sandro and Jacob
Year 5 - Amelia, Harrison, Tiago and Gharib
Year 6 - Grace, Holly, Ilyaz and Ciaran
After very close and tense rounds, we would like to congratulate Leo, Adeline, Harry, Jacob, Harrison and Ilyaz on winning in their year group.
The full photo gallery is on the school website.
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If you haven't yet had the opportunity, please enjoy the latest sunflower award newsletter. This award is a very prestigious one and means a huge amount to us. Congratulations to all the children that been awarded with an award.
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We are delighted to share more very positive updates from the ever improving Reception shared area.
Santander came in and painted brilliantly and Wickes have now delivered nearly all the items to transform the area in to a fabulous kitchen zone.
Prep work has gone into the area and the electrics are in hand.
The units have started to be built, thanks to Ryaan Connoly-Boucher, and there are plans to start getting these fitted later next week!
Yesterday, the Reception children and staff held a sponsored event to raise funds for extra equipment.
The transformation, as a result of strong team work and generosity, is very exciting.
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PAG UPDATE
Many thanks to all of you who attended the PAG last Wednesday. It was an incredibly positive and relaxed meeting with many constructive views shared on the behaviour on our school and how it can be made even better. To receive the following comments, as Deputy Head, fills me with a great deal of encouragement.
'The children are very well-behaved in comparison to other schools encountered.'
'Some members of staff have high expectations of behaviour.'
'Behaviour at Deanshanger is generally very good. Children respect staff and are polite.'
The issues/suggestions raised in the PAG will be discussed in an upcoming Staff Meeting and you will be made aware of any changes to our 'Approaches to Behaviour' in due course.
Looking further ahead, the next PAG will be on Wednesday 31st January at 14:30 in the School Library. The theme for our second meeting is yet to be determined. I look forward to seeing even more of you this time around.
Many thanks
Mike Pennington
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Thanks to the hard work and fundraising from the PTA, and your support, we have recently bought a large summerhouse for the forest school. It is arriving on 5th December.
If you are open and able to help us build this, then please make contact.
Thank you very much.
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This week, a group of Year 4, 5 and 6 children took part in a multi-sports event led by Northamptonshire Sport and sixth formers from EWS. The children played sit-down volleyball, archery and new-age kurling. They all showed great determination and skills in sports that many hadn't played before - Well done athletes!
Please visit the gallery page on the website for more photos.
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In addition to signing up your child for their Christmas lunch, please help us spread the word about the free Christmas lunch we would like to provide to older members of our school community on Friday 15th December at 12.30pm.
Booking must be made in advance via the school office.
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Last week in our assembly, we looked at road safety and how we can be aware of hazards when we come to school. We talked about how we can keep safe when we are walking on the pavement and when we are waling across the road. The children were knowledgeable about the safety measures in place at our school such as Mrs Johnstone.
We also discussed how we can be safe when we are riding a bike, such as the safety measures like reflectors, high vis clothing and helmets. We considered the potential risks of cars on our safety on the roads when we walk to school and what to be mindful. The children reflected on their knowledge with a quiz on road safety and were able to answer every question correctly.
Please discuss road safety with your child to further enhance their understanding of road safety.
Miss Peers and Mr Ward
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Safeguarding
Keeping your children safe and happy is a vital part of our role in school. This includes monitoring attendance and providing opportunities to support their well-being. In addition to 'regular' class support and PSHE sessions (personal, social, health and economic education), we have additional support from Mrs Lynn Mildren and Mrs Nicky Tapp in their role of Learning Mentors. They run the Listening Ear every lunchtime, an opportunity for anyone to go and have a chat and share any worries that they might have.
As always, please report any concerns to our safeguarding team:
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) - Mrs Rachel Rice
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs) - Mrs. Lynn Mildren, Mrs. Natalie Parsonson, Miss. Steph Forward and Mr. Mike Pennington
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| 29 Nov 2023 If your child has grown out of any Christmas jumpers, you can drop them off at school and then come back in to select one the right size after school on Monday 4th December. This initiative is a way of reducing clothing waste and recycling. We are extending the original time shared to swap the jumpe... |
| 29 Nov 2023 If you've looked at the school website recently, you might have seen the curriculum overview documents on the class pages. These documents provide an overview of the term's learning in each year group. You'll see how learning builds up across the year and the cross-curricular topics that... |
| 18 Nov 2023 At the MacMillan Coffee Morning on 29th September, there was the opportunity to win a cake made by Mrs Gordon, the head chef for our school and Fresh Start Catering. The Sutherland family were the lucky winners and, true to her word, this beautiful cake was made by Mrs Gordon to recognise Millie'... | |
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We are delighted to see that 284 children have already been signed up to see Snow White as a whole school trip! If you would like to talk about the finances involved in this trip, please don't hesitate to pop in or send an email. We would love to be able to take every child in school. We are getting very close!
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Thank you very much for continuing to buy and sell PTA Christmas raffle tickets. Please send the book stubs and money to the school office. Additional books are available for sale in the office too.
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Thanks to the PTA, and your support at the recent tombola, we have been able to donate financially to St.Mark's Meals.
St. Mark's Meals is a wonderfully caring charity providing food boxes We stock boxes with meals in them, just inside the school office. Feel free to help yourself to one as you would like.
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Oh yes, it's nearly time to open the doors of the DPS Christmas Shop, and let your children come and choose secret gifts if you/they would like. Each gift costs £2, and they will not only select a gift themselves but wrap it and label it up ready to go under the tree.
The year groups have designated times to visit the pop-up shop on either 7th or 8th December next week.
Your child can come with a bit of a shopping list if you would like them to. They can select a few family members and friends.
Please send in the names and money in a named envelope with your child next week.
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The next three weeks @DPS
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Rocksteady concert - Tuesday 12th December at 9.15 am
Year 2 and 3 concert - Wednesday 13th December at 1.30 pm and 4.30 pm
Reception and Year 1 concert - Thursday 14th December at 10 am and 4 pm
Year 4,5 6 concert (@Holy Trinity Church) - Wednesday 20th December at 1.30 pm and 4.30 pm
Tickets are not needed for any of these concerts. We will put out as much seating as possible, but please keep in mind that you may need to stand.
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Uniform reminders
Please be reminded that full forest school kits need to be in school every day, ie, waterproofs and wellies. As the weather is getting colder and wetter, hats and scarves are suggested too as well as possible extra layers underneath waterproofs.
Forest school kits will be used, as needed, if your child chooses to play on the field over the winter months.
Don't also forget to remind your child to bring in a nice warm coat and wear it too!
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Reading mornings
Don't forget that you are all warmly encouraged to come into school on Monday mornings to share your child's reading book from 8.45am - 9.00am.
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As always, please continue to be very considerate and careful when parking off and dropping off in the vicinity of the school. With Mrs. Johnstone's support every morning, we are committed to trying as hard as possible to keep everything safe and calm. Please ensure that you do not park on the zig-zags or drive down the small road to the car park unless you are a disabled badge holder. Thank you
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Supporting Sleep
At any given time, up to 40% of adults and 50% of children (this rises to 80% with a SEND diagnosis) have difficulties with their sleep. Yet in a recent survey, almost 60% of adults felt there was a lack of support for sleep issues. Sleep problems can leave people feeling isolated and lonely.
Our free helpline is run by trained sleep advisors, many of whom are specialists in working with SEND. We can talk to young people directly, or parents (we can also talk to adults, including older people, about their sleep issues).
The helpline is open 5 times a week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday evenings 7-9pm, and Monday, Wednesday mornings 9-11am. The number is 03303 530 541.
You can read more here: https://thesleepcharity.org.uk/national-sleep-helpline/
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Have a wonderful weekend.
Rachel Rice
head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk or head@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk
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