I hope you all had a lovely summer. Summer has been a busy time here in school as we have had extensive building work carried out at the back of our building which has resulted in the SCAMPS nursery area being reconfigured so that we can offer 30 hour childcare provision. The building project has also provided two areas which will be used for small group or 1:1 interventions and we now have a room which we will be using as a sensory room. The building work has been funded by Durham County Council’s Early Years sustainability fund and we are very grateful for their support. The funding, however, only covers the actual building work, flooring and decoration. As you know, our school budget is extremely tight and we are now trying to find creative solutions to finding funding to kit out the sensory area. If you have anything you could donate to the sensory room project, please see the list below and contact Mrs Cross (SENCO) to discuss any donation.
We are in desperate need of:
- Beanbags (clean and in good condition)
- Lava lamps or other visual lighting (such as strobes)
- Trampette (small trampoline)
- Large plastic boxes for storage or to fill with sensory resources
- Small world toys (small figures, cars, lego, characters, small plastic toys)
- Small plastic balls
- Foam and plastic balls
During the holidays, every classroom has been fitted with new blinds which has made a huge difference in each and every room. Over the last few years the blinds have fallen down or broken and the light coming into the classrooms affects children’s learning as they cannot see the board clearly. Our governing body therefore decided the need to replace the blinds had reached crisis point and we therefore allocated some of our capital budget to pay for this.
We also have a huge School Improvement Agenda this year. At the end of last year, we committed to becoming a Thrive School. Mrs Howes is currently undergoing training to become a qualified Thrive Practitioner and she will be taking the lead on implementing Thrive across the whole school. As part of this project we will be creating a Safe Space in the library which will be used to support and meet the emotional needs of all of our children.
Unfortunately, in the first week back, our outdoor activity trail (on the field) was condemned and therefore is no longer available for our children to play on. We are currently exploring options in terms of replacement or creating an alternative outdoor play area. This will be discussed with our various pupil voice groups in order to take the views of our children into account when making any decision.
This year will see us join the Durham Diocesan MAT (1st April 2020) which is an exciting challenge. As parents, you will hardly notice any difference, but within school there will be lots of additional work taking place in order to make the transition as smooth as possible and also to implement the new management and financial systems.
Our website is currently undergoing a complete redesign with some new and exciting pages added, including regular blogs by children, celebration of successes and regular updates on what your children are doing in class.
As always, our teachers have planned exciting and innovative lessons and activities for our children. Our theme this term is ‘Our Planet’ and the planning jigsaw for your child’s class is attached for your information.
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join us at 9am on Friday 27th September 2019 in the school hall for our MacMillan Cancer Coffee Morning. Donations of cakes would be very much appreciated and should be brought into school that morning.
This year looks like an exciting and challenging one for us but as always – our amazing team of staff, governors, children and parents are up for the challenge and I am sure will support us in taking our fantastic school forward.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support. I am incredibly proud of our school community and hope that you, too, take pride in what we achieve here at Stanhope Barrington CofE Primary School.
Yours sincerely,
Mr S. Myers
Headteacher
