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This week has been assessment week for all children in the school. This is an invaluable opportunity to assess where they currently are and what needs to be put in place to support their next steps. All classes have coped very well with this, and they should be very proud of their achievements and resilience.
Next week will be a 'regular' week in class, but we will also be recognising Neurodiversity Week. The children are very aware that we are all built differently and think and behave in different ways. Continuing to build upon our understanding and support for each other is very important. Neurodiversity Week focuses on the that there's no “correct” way for the brain to work. Instead, there is a wide range of ways that people perceive and respond to the world, and these differences are to be embraced and encouraged.
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Thank you for being so supportive of Red Nose Day today. We haven't yet totalled up the money, but we do know that there have been a lot of generous donations - thank you.
We've also had a lot of fun sharing a plethora of jokes. Here are a few of the favourite that were gathered by the BNTO committee this week:
On the weekend I bought 15 bees but the man who was selling them gave me 16. So I called him and said," I think you accidentally gave me one more than I was meant to get. Then he replied,"It’s a free bee".
What does Santa do to know the weather? He asks the reindeer, "is it going to rain deer?"
What do you call a smelly fairy? Stinkerbell
What do you call a magic dog? A lab-ra-ca-da-bador
What do you give a lemon when it is sick? Lemon aid!
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If you've got any school socks at home that your child has outgrown, feel free to drop them off at the office - these are always very helpful to have when children get wet and muddy. Thank you
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Top Table Lunch
Congratulations to the children selected for the Top Table Lunch this week. This special lunch is a way to celebrate wonderful manners and kindness consistently shown over lunchtime (and perhaps a very special birthday!).
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International Women's Day
With resources from the Co-op, thank you, we took the opportunity to share thoughts about inspirational women on our Mother's Day lunch day. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We are keen, as always, that our children have strong role models and recognise that anything is possible.
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Mother's Day Lunch
Thank you very much for joining us for lunch last week and to the Fresh Start and DPS team for working hard to provide this. It was an extremely busy lunch but so lovely to see so many of you come in. Not only was this event thoroughly enjoyed, it helped us to raise some funds for school projects across the school.
A full gallery is on the school website.
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This week, children from Years 2-6 took part in a target sports festival at John Hellins Primary School. There were lots of fun activities linked to golf, dodgeball, archery, kurling, cricket and boccia. Special thank you to the staff at John Hellins who ran the activities and David Hanson from Northamptonshire Sport for putting it all together. Please see the gallery for more photos:
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World Maths Day
World Maths Day was recognised in a new way this year as we joined up with others schools in the Grand Union Partnership on Zoom. We practised our maths skills by joining up in year groups and completing maths quizzes just for fun.
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Sunflower newsletter
Our latest Sunflower newsletter is now on the school website. Congratulations to the most recent and all previous Sunflower Award recipients.
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Parent Action Group
The date for the third Parent Action Group will be Wednesday 20th March and will take place at 14:30 in the School Library.
The theme for our next discussion will be 'Home/School Agreement' - where we currently are with it, what it stands for, and how we can further improve it.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in attendance.
Many thanks
Mike Pennington
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Parents' Evening
If you haven't already, please head over to Arbor (or call the school office) to book your slot for the forthcoming meetings. These are the perfect opportunity to ask any questions that you have about the curriculum, your child's progress, how to support at home and anything else. Please note that the meetings are only 10 minutes long, and we will try extremely hard to keep to the selected time. Should you need longer, we can schedule this with you for a later date.
The children's books will be outside the classes ready for you to have a look before or after the meetings.
All the meetings are in person in school.
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Building Project Updates
We are pleased to be in the final stages of the heating upgrade project. The team are working extremely hard to complete the work by the end of the Easter break. When you visit the school next week (or the week after for Y4 parents), you'll see that we are not looking our best with lots of exposed pipework and holes in the wall etc, but we are nearing the end and the project will provide an efficient heating system for many years to come.
Shortly after completion, we will be starting another large-scale project as our electricity system is fully updated.
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Bookings for holiday club are now open. The team has lots of eggciting plans ready and we hope to have many children attend.
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Our next school discos are on Tuesday 26th March
3.30pm - 4.30pm for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 with DJ Mr Larcombe
The cost is £3. Squash and pom bears will be provided. Children can bring in a change of clothes if they would like.
5.30pm - 7.00pm for Year 3,4,5 and 6. This disco will be a silent disco!
The cost is £5. Squash and hot dogs (meat and veggie) will be served. Places are limited to 120. First come first served.
You can book places on Arbor now
Thank you to the PTA for organising this event
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Our forest school team have been busy getting the growing area ready for the spring sowing season. If you have any small plastic plant pots that you no longer use, we would love to reuse them. Please drop them off at the school office. Thank you
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Did you know that there is a PTA lottery? Since it started, it has raised £998.40 ! Lottery tickets are £1 a week.
For a chance to win (and support PTA fundraising), click here - DPS Lottery
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Safeguarding
The NSPCC website is a valuable resource for us as a school, but they also have very supportive materials for families. Using their words completely -
There's no such thing as a perfect parent. One day all's calm, the next it's chaos. However it's going, we're here with advice and support for parents and carers.
For lots of great advice and support, click here.
If you have any safeguarding concerns at any time, please be sure to pass them on.
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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Save the date
PTA Family Bingo Night
Friday 26th April
More details to follow shortly
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The next three weeks @DPS
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Please be reminded that our Community Fridge continues to be open from 10 am - 5.30 pm Monday to Friday for you to come and help yourself and reduce food waste. With collections from three different Co-ops, Waitrose and Tescos each week, there is always a plentiful supply of items to help yourself to!
Huge thanks to Lisa, Winnie and Kathy, for doing the pick-ups.
The door is kept closed during the day, but it is unlocked and ready for you to pop in. Please ensure the door is closed behind you after leaving. Thank you
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Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
Rachel Rice
head@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk
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