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

To see the latest photos of learning in school please click here

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

In Barn Owls, the children explore the capacity of containers.

This week has been a particularly full and productive one across school, with a strong focus on learning, enrichment and professional development. Pupils have continued to benefit from targeted support in phonics, reading and mathematics, alongside engaging curriculum experiences such as music, dance lessons and practical learning opportunities that have enriched the wider curriculum.

We were pleased to welcome a number of visitors into school, including colleagues supporting moderation, professional development and external partners working alongside staff to strengthen provision. These visits are always valuable and help ensure we continue to reflect and improve our practice. Extra-curricular opportunities have also remained a real strength this week, with clubs and booster sessions well attended and pupils demonstrating enthusiasm and commitment beyond the classroom. Thank you, as always, for your continued support in helping us maintain such a positive and purposeful learning environment.

Looking ahead to next week, on Friday, pupils will be taking part in TT Rockstars Day to celebrate maths learning, followed by our school disco, which promises to be a fun and well-earned end to the week.

Have a great weekend everyone

Mr Mitchell

We’d like to remind all families of the importance of arriving to school on time each morning. Our school doors open at 8:40am, and we welcome children into class at this time to settle in and start their day positively with toast and One Life journalling. School officially begins at 8:50am, and any arrivals after this time will be marked as late.

Arriving promptly ensures children don’t miss valuable time with their classmates or those important early learning activities that set the tone for the day. Thank you for your continued support in helping every child make the very best start to their school day.

We have started to launch a variety of activities at break and lunchtime.

Tuff Trays have been purchased and positioned around school. These trays are filled with different types of materials: Lego, Magnetic Shapes, water toys, Playdoh, fidget toys, building blocks, car small and large character figures and bubbles etc.

Watch this space - as the nicer weather approaches, we plan to offer further improvements including the introduction of three Sports Playgrounds where activities will change each day. The grounds have also had dry rivers carved into them to encourage den building using a wide variety of new equipment.

These changes are being made to ensure all children are active at break and lunch; especially benefitting the childrens' with social and behavioural development. The benefits for these children will be immense as they will be able to choose from a variety of activities which will help them develop friendships and teamwork skills by working together to achieve a common goal. This will build resilience, decision making, calculated risk taking, self-regulation and independence skills. The children will feel a sense of camaraderie and belonging as the activities are inclusive and favour a variety of skill sets other than physical strength or speed.

We will be holding a short information sessions for parents to learn more about the upcoming national assessments for pupils in Years 4. This will take place in Kestrel’s classroom from 3:30pm to 4:00pm.

Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) Parent Meeting – Tuesday 3rd February
We’ll share key information about the national multiplication tables check, explain how it is carried out, and offer practical tips for helping your child become confident with their times tables.

We look forward to seeing as many parents as possible at this helpful session.

Love is Love

In this week’s collective worship, we shared the book Love Is Love by Ken Min and Michael Genhart. The story follows a young boy who has two dads and begins to notice unkind comments and discrimination about his family. This confuses him, because in his experience his dads show him and each other the same care, patience and love as any other parents or family members. Through the boy’s eyes, the story gently shows children that judging families based on how they look makes no sense, when what truly matters is the love within them. We also talked about the importance of challenging homophobic opinions, helping children understand that unkind or unfair views should be questioned and not accepted, and that everyone deserves dignity and respect. As a church school, we are committed to teaching children the importance of kindness, respect and embracing difference, so that every child knows they are safe, welcome and deeply valued for who they are.

Dear Parents/Carers,

We have the highest level of care for our children’s personal development and wellbeing here at Overthorpe C of E, and, as part of the ONE LIFE mission, we are working hard to educate your children with the ‘best that has been thought and said’ in this complex area. One of the biggest challenges we all have as educators and parents is how to support our children growing up in a digital world.

The research is very clear that we need to encourage age-appropriate boundaries and consider carefully what our children are consuming and how this may affect their brain development, particularly before their brain is fully developed (around 25 years old). With this in mind, we encourage our school community to join with parents and carers across the country in asking your MP to raise the social media age to 16. Your voice could genuinely influence what happens next as Keir Starmer is considering adopting the Australian stance.

All you need to do, is follow the link and sign the pre-prepared letter to our MP.

https://smartphonefreechildhood.eaction.org.uk/raise-the-age

Together we can make big things happen.

Thank you in advance.