Dear Parents and Carers,
I cannot believe how fast this half term has gone.  The Christmas Fair on Friday marked the start of our Christmas activities in school and we look forward to welcoming you at the events we will be holding over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you to those of you who attended parent / teacher meetings earlier in the half term.  I hope you found the appointment useful.  As ever, the team are always happy to discuss any questions or concerns you may have regarding your child.

Staff News
I am delighted to tell you that Miss Hannah Garrett and Mrs Bridget Adnett have been successful in securing the role of permanent Deputy Headteacher at Norbury Hall Primary School.  Hannah and Bridget have been doing this role for the past 14 months in a temporary capacity.  Members of the Governing Board joined me to interview last week.  Both Hannah and Bridget’s enthusiasm and commitment to the role were highly evident.  As the role is a job share, Miss Garrett will be available in this capacity on a Monday and Tuesday and Mrs Adnett from Wednesday to Friday.

Whilst sharing this news, it seems relevant to share our leadership structure in school with you.  Mrs Sarah Downes is also a member of the leadership team in her capacity as Inclusion Lead and SENDCo.  Mrs Downes is non-class based on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and is available to meet with parents if you have any concerns about your child in relation to any additional needs they may have.

We also have phase leaders who ensure the smooth running of a couple of year groups in the school.  They are there for the children, staff and parents and spend their leadership time ensuring that the education of the children in their phase is the very best it can be.  The phase leaders are:

Mrs Kerry Robinson
Nursery and Reception

Mrs Sara Turner
KS1 – Year 1 and Year 2

Miss Becca Morgan
Lower KS2 – Year 3 and Year 4

Miss Hannah Garrett
Upper KS2 – Year 5 and Year 6

Parents’ Association News
I am delighted to tell you that our Parents’ Association raised a grand total of £4807 last Friday at our Christmas Fair.  I would like to thank Dannielle and her team for another great event.  Thank you to those of you who helped out in any way – it is much appreciated.  The PA has raised approximately £7000 this term.  Much of this will be supporting the OPAL project.

The PA plan to run the following events in the spring term:
Tuesday 20th January – Movie Night for KS2
Thursday 22nd January – Movie Night for EY and KS1
Thursday 5th February – School Disco
More details about these events will be available nearer the time.
 
OPAL
The OPAL project is starting to take shape.  The Working Party has met with our school mentor three times across this term.  We plan to introduce new areas for play after the February half term holiday.  I am sure you will appreciate that there is a lot of work to do behind the scenes before we can really get going.  Mrs Adnett and Miss Garrett will be writing to you to explain some next steps including a bingo style collection event after Christmas and a working party day where we would appreciate parental help to help us get organised for our February launch.  This date is Friday 23rd January.

I explained earlier this term that we are getting the children outside even when it might be raining.  We would ask that each child has a waterproof coat for playtimes as this will obviously dry off more quickly.  Please make sure this has your child’s name in it.

School Car Park
Can I please remind you that parents should not use the school car park unless you have an agreement with us.  I am mindful more parents are doing this and I am worried about everyone’s safety as cars pull out of the car park during the start and end of the day.

​Dear parents and carers,
 
Thank you so much for the very kind donations for our OPAL play project – this will be a great start to getting our project underway. We are so grateful for the time and energy that people have put in to support this project for the school. It will make such a difference for our children.
 
Over the Christmas break we would like to request a continuation of donations for the project. We have devised a bingo board for each class to collect resources and your child’s is attached to the email. We thought the timing would be appropriate as after Christmas many people like to have a sort out of old toys etc. The classes will try to complete their bingo board with a full house.
 
We would like the donations to be brought into classes on Wednesday 28th January. We will have an area at the junior gate leading onto the junior playground for any large items that are tricky for the children to carry.
 
We will also be having an OPAL working party day on Friday 23rd January from 9.15am where we would like some volunteers to help us to construct some shelters for resources and some wellie boot storage using the pallets that have been donated. If you are handy with a drill, prepared to clear and dig or if you could help organise resources you would be perfect for this job! Even if you could spare us half an hour that would be amazing. We will have made some prototypes to get us started. There will also be some bacon butties for encouragement! If you can offer your support please get in touch with us at:
 
[email protected]
 
We are really excited about this project and hope that you will support us in our efforts to improve playtimes for all children.  
 
Yours sincerely

Bridget Adnett and Hannah Garrett
Deputy Headteacher

Autumn Term — What Makes Our World Work?
Week Beginning: 1st December 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
This week we will be…
· Reading and retelling the story of the Gingerbread Man
· Acting out the story of the Gingerbread Man
· Creating our own Gingerbread Man out of playdough
· Recognising numerals to ten, including zero and numerals beyond  
· Practising our cutting skills
 
Festive Quest
Over the next fortnight as we lead up to Christmas, we will sharing the beautiful story, ‘Christmas Lights on Mistletoe Street’ and talking about the magic of kindness and community at this time of year. 
​
We will be busy practising our singing ready for our ‘Singalong’’, making Christmas lanterns and baking our gingerbread, as well as lots of other Christmas activities.

Library books
Library books will be collected in on Wednesday 17th December. The children will choose a new library book when they return to school in the Spring Term.
 
Thank you so much,
The Reception Team