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Reception children are now full-time and have made a very strong start to school life. It is wonderful to see how settled they, and all the children, are and how much progress they have made since our return from the summer break. You will be able to hear more about this in your parent/carer meetings (for Y1-6) next week.
On Friday we sold your generous donations of cakes and raised more than £350 for Macmillan Cancer! This is a huge amount and I believe it is the highest amount that we have ever raised! Thank you to everyone that baked, bought, helped organise the sale in any way. It was a great team effort.
Every child in school is unique, and we try to ensure that our support for them is bespoke too. If you have any concerns and questions about their learning, friendships or the way we organise school life, please make contact with us. My door is always open and along with the staff team, we are always keen to talk with you about the things that matter to you. Open communication is always appreciated rather than dwelling on items. Providing the very best for your child/ren is a big team effort.
Rachel Rice
Head teacher
head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk
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We have been notified of a very serious car/pedestrian incident this week that could have been horrendous. It is absolutely vital that everyone dropping off their children drives very slowly and pays great attention to the surrounding families.
As you are very aware, the area outside school becomes very congested at drop-off and pick-up times but we need everyone to help us still make this safe. Wherever possible, please park up slightly away from the school and walk down with your children. It will take a few more minutes, but it will make the area safer for us all. Similarly, although we want your child/ren to be in school on time, we would rather that they were a couple of minutes late rather than quickly pulling up opposite the school gates, opening car doors into the traffic and/or reversing into pedestrians and risking safety.
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Parent/Carer meetings are planned for this Monday and Tuesday ie, 27th and 28th September.
These meetings are on Zoom (or if requested, via phone conversations). We look forward to talking to you about how the start of the school year is going and hear your feedback too. It is a valuable opportunity to work together to support your children.
If you haven't yet booked a slot and/or need support, please ring the school office on Monday morning. Thank you
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Chair of Governor Updates
I hope everyone is settling back into the daily routine associated with school life. As Governors, we are preparing for our first full governing body meetings in early October where we will elect the Chair and Vice-Chair, as well as assign roles and responsibilities and committee membership. We will also begin planning the coming academic year and arrange visits.
In the pipeline, we are working closely with staff to support their experiences of working in the school, planning meetings with staff (I will be meeting the SENCo) and ensuring that we are closely linked with safeguarding and all other pertinent school issues. I have regular catch-up meetings with Mrs. Rice to help keep our finger on the school's pulse.
Last Thursday afternoon, I and another Governor, joined the staff for a social on the upper school field, where we enjoyed pizza and ice cream and a chance to meet new as well as existing staff. Thank you for the invitation and a pleasant afternoon.
If any parents/ carers want to speak with me, you can use my Governor email -ChairofGovernors@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk
Thank you
David Aaronson, Chair of Governors
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Amelia, Madison, Emily and Fleur in Year 5 are making homemade soaps to raise funds for cancer charities. They will be selling these on Friday 8th October - a very caring and commendable idea. The price of these beautiful soaps will be shared shortly.
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KS1 Archery tournament
On Wednesday, children from Years 1 and 2 took part in an archery tournament at John Hellins. All the children represented the school fantastically and were a credit to all of their families. Years 1 and 2 showed that it doesn’t matter how young you are, you can still learn a skill that can earn medals at the Olympics!
The Year 1 team amassed a total of 31 whilst the Year 2 team scored 41 points placing them second overall, which is a great achievement.
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Thank you to all those parents and carers who have expressed an interest in attending the online workshop on 'Dealing with uncertainty and anxiety' from JoGo. It is not too late to express an interest. The final list will be compiled and sent to providers on Monday, so please email over the weekend if you would like to attend - senco@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk
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Please be reminded that we are a nut-free school. It is very important that no nuts and nut products are brought into school for snack time and lunchtime.
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Get involved in Women's Football
Hello please find attached information regarding the next Women’s Football Game being held at MK Dons Stadium on 26th September. Please pass this onto your colleagues and young people as we are keen to get young people into supporting women’s football and in preparation for the Women’s Euro’s July 2022 at Stadium MK.
Date – Sunday 26th September
Venue – Stadium MK
Kick off – 14:00
Entrance – Gate 5 – Open from 1pm
Tickets – U17s FREE, Adults £5
Food and refreshments available inside
For more information, please contact: Jack Sharp
Head of Football & Performance
jack.sharp@mkdonsset.com
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On the village's Scarecrow Trail day (Saturday 9th October), please feel free to drop off a sunflower head that you have made as a family — this might be made from paper, paper mache, clay, salt dough, fabric, knitting… uniqueness is the key! Bring them down to the table outside the school between 11 am - 1.00 pm so that we can build a beautiful display ready to permanently display for our new Sunflower Award ( in memory of Mrs. Robson) in the school hall. We also invite you to bring food items for the community fridge at this time. Items such as tins, rice, pasta, cereal, pasta sauces, toiletries…would be amazing.
We also invite children's pictures and paintings of sunflowers for the school admin office.
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We are delighted that a new PTA committee has been recruited for the current school year. Our grateful thanks go to Mrs. Emilie Stevenson for chairing the committee so capably over the last few years and to Mrs. Elaine York for taking on the role from this point on. The committee have lots of great ideas to enrich school life and raise funds — they will be sharing more information shortly including information about an outside school disco before the half-term break!
If you would like to join this committee, please make contact with the school office in the first instance. Volunteers are always very much needed. Thank you
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Thank you very much for your kindness and generosity in our appeal for items to send to a group of Afghan refugees being housed in Newport Pagnell. All the items were very much appreciated.
We will definitely be collecting items again in the future and will call upon you, if you are able, to donate items that are requested.
Thank you to Charlotte and Albert for coming with me to help share the donations. It was a very humbling experience.
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On Wednesday 22nd September children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 were lucky enough to receive a virtual visit from author Tom Palmer and his dog Finn. Tom is an award winning children’s author and has written over 54 books! Some of them you may have read, for example, ‘Armistice Runner’ and his ‘Football Academy’ series. Tom spoke about how he writes his books and his inspirations. For example, he is very interested in history and sport. Tom shared the process behind writing his books. He shared with us that he did not particularly like reading at school and that his mum motivated him to read by sharing comics and football books! We are selling Tom’s books outside school on Friday. If you would like to buy a Tom Palmer book, please email: deputyhead@deanshanger.northants.sch.uk. Book available include: Roy of the Rovers, D-Day Dog, After the War, Armistice Runner, Arctic Star, Foul Play, Football Academy, Arctic Star…For more information about Tom go to his website: https://tompalmer.co.uk. We are feeling inspired to read and write!
Books on sale for £6
 
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This week our Year 2 children linked with a school in France to support their learning! A great o-opportunity for them to practise their French and develop their understanding of school life in another country. Thank you to the Year 2 team and Mrs Stevenson for setting this up.
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If you have any questions about items in this newsletter and indeed any aspect of school life, please make contact.
Stay safe,
Rachel Rice
head@deanshanger.northants-ecl.gov.uk
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