Overthorpe C of E Academy

BELIEVE, ENJOY, ACHIEVE

'Overthorpe is more than a school-

We are the heart of the community.

In our family, we nurture the courage,

And skills to fly higher than the flock,

Whilst always providing a nest,

To come home to.'

TRUST, FRIENDSHIP, ENDURANCE, FORGIVENESS, HOPE

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Headteacher - Mr J Mitchell

Senior Leadership Team - Ms L McCarthy (Deputy Head), Ms L Stott (Assistant Head), Mrs S Wood (SENDCo)

Designated Safeguarding lead - Mrs S Wood

Deputy DSLs - Mr J Mitchell, Ms L Stott, Ms L McCarthy, Mrs A Godfrey

A K-M with her amazing home project on the solar system!

What a fantastic half term it’s been! Attendance across the school has been truly impressive — a big well done to everyone, and a special mention to our youngest children in Barn Owls, who have been our top attenders this term.

As I write, the school disco is in full swing and proving to be a super success! A huge thank you to our wonderfully committed PTA for organising such a fun event for the children to enjoy.

Children return to school on Monday 3rd November, and we’ve got an exciting week planned. One highlight will be our Year 6 pupils welcoming a magistrate into school — a fantastic opportunity to learn about the justice system and civic responsibility.

Have a terrific and safe half-term break!

Mr Mitchell

Congratulations to our 44 Cross-country runners for being outstanding at the recent North Kirklees Cross country Competition. We were so proud of the children who competed. They were focused, mature, competitive, alert and confident. They showed great determination and sportsmanship and secured some excellent results.

The following children have secured a place in the Kirklees Finals in November:

Year 3: Elsie, Mable, Sia, Aamira and Charlotte

Year 4: Noah

Year 5: Zara, Suliman, Lewis, Noah, Thomas and Chase

Year 6: Bella and Willow

Attendance has been really impressive this half term. We celebrated this in today's worship and the following awards were given out.

Attendance progress (one per class)

Mohamed A

Jaxson W

Toby G

Ava May M

Skyler P

Jayden G

Karis B

Joseph T

Class attendance - Barn Owls

100% attender - Owais M

Thank you to all parents and carers who took the time to complete our recent survey. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us as we continue to reflect and improve every aspect of our school. We are committed to listening carefully and making positive changes in response to what families tell us, celebrating what works well and addressing areas where we can grow further.

The key outcomes from the most recent parental survey can be found below. Thank you once again for your ongoing support and partnership in helping us provide the very best for our children.

https://www.overthorpecofe.co.uk/parent-information/parent-forum

The Governing Body held their first meeting of the academic year last week . At the start of the meeting, Miss Vaughan spoke to governors about the Early Years curriculum and we then visited the new classroom and outdoor area. We were very impressed with the hard work which has gone into preparing the new classroom for the children and expressed our thanks to the staff who worked hard during the summer to get everything ready.

Also at this meeting we looked at the new Academy Improvement Plan and discussed the priority areas which have been chosen for this year. Ms McCarthy and Ms Stott explained to governors how these priorities have been selected and we also reflected on the areas of success from last year.

I carried out a Safeguarding visit with Mrs Wood a couple of weeks ago to check that all policies and procedures for keeping children safe are in place. I also talked to a small group of children to check their level of understanding, which was impressive as usual!

I hope you all enjoy the half term holiday!

Mrs J Hopwood

Chair of Governors

This week in worship, we have taken time to reflect on all of the picture books we have shared together throughout this half term. Each story has offered us something special to think about, helping us to grow spiritually, morally, socially and culturally.

Through these carefully chosen books, we have explored what it means to show hope, endurance, friendship, trust and forgiveness in our daily lives. The children have thoughtfully discussed how these values shape the way we treat others, face challenges, and make positive choices both in and out of school.

As we looked back on our learning, we also revisited our school vision — “to fly higher than the flock whilst always having a nest to come home to.” The children reflected on how they are encouraged to aim high, to be courageous and unique, while always knowing that the values they learn at school will be a nest of safety both now and in the future.

It has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate how our worship stories have inspired us, deepened our understanding of our Christian values, and helped us to continue growing together in faith and character.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that no jewellery including earrings of any kind should be worn in PE lessons, after school sports clubs and at swimming. This is because earrings can get easily caught on equipment or a stud could penetrate the neck behind the ear should an unintentional blow be received from someone or from equipment such as a ball, which can cause a painful injury.

We understand that newly pierced ears require the earrings to remain in the ear at all times for a maximum of 6 weeks. Once 6 weeks has passed the earrings can be removed. We ask that any new piercings happen at the start of the six weeks summer holiday.

Please make sure your child’s ears are safe by removing their earrings on PE, afterschool sports club and swimming days or preferably teach them how to remove them prior to their PE lesson, school club and swimming.

Unfortunately, teachers are not allowed to remove earrings.

Children will be unable to take part in PE, afterschool sports clubs or go swimming unless their earrings have been removed in order to keep them safe.

Thank you for your co-operation.

If your child is attending an after-school sporting club, we ask that they come to school wearing their PE kit for the day. This will save time getting changed after school and allow them to maximise the amount of active time they can enjoy in the club.

As a reminder, our PE uniform has not changed in recent years and remains as follows:

Plain white t-shirt
Plain navy or black shorts (or joggers in colder weather)
School jumper (in colder weather)
Suitable, safe footwear such as trainers for outdoor PE

All PE uniform should be plain and unbranded to ensure it remains affordable and accessible for all families. Thank you for helping us make the most of every minute our pupils spend being active.