What is this?
The Christmas card project is an annual design project where the children create their own Christmas design, which is then professionally printed onto cards, wrapping paper, mugs and more! The school receive a commission for every order received. 

What do I need to do?
You will have received an order form in your child's bag. They need to create a design that will be stuck to the blank page on the back. Once done, you need to follow the instructions on the front to set up your order on the website. 

There is a step by step guide on the order form to help you - but please make sure you use the reference number on your order form only, as these are unique to you.

Orders must be placed before the form is returned to school to ensure your products are sent for free back to school, and that we receive a commission from your order.

What next?
Once you've made your order, the design form needs to be returned to school, before
Friday 3rd October. The order forms will be collected by Cauliflower and processed together. Any forms not received by this time will delay your order and you may be required to pay P&P.

This is a lovely project that allows you to send personalised Christmas cards and gifts from your children, and also helps the school!

If you have any further questions, please email us on [email protected]

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are pleased to let you know that on Friday 10th October, our school will be supporting Mental Health Awareness day, with a focus on Young Minds.

This is a special day to help children understand the importance of looking after their mental health and to encourage positive well-being. We will be having age-appropriate discussions and activities in school to raise awareness and support emotional wellbeing.

To mark the occasion, we are inviting all pupils to come to school in full school uniform, but with a touch of yellow - this could be an accessory like a hairband, socks, a badge or even a yellow t-shirt under their school jumper. Yellow is the colour chosen by Young Minds to symbolise hope, happiness, and support for mental health awareness.

Please note: There is no donation required.

Here are some useful links where you can find further information regarding Mental Health Awareness Day and ways to support your child/children:
World Mental Health Day 2025 | Mental Health Foundation
YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People | YoungMinds

Thank you for your continued support, in helping our children grow in confidence, resilience and kindness.
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Kind Regards,
Sara Turner
Mental Health Lead 

Autumn Term—What Makes Our World Work?
Week Beginning: 22nd September 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,
 
An exciting week ahead for our little learners as they learn and play in their learning environments, which they are now more familiar with! 
 
This week we will be…

Continuing to talk about families and where they live. Please send in your family photo if you have not already done so.

Reading stories about families e.g. Owl Babies and retelling the story together.
Drawing pictures and labelling, ‘Who is in our family?’  ‘Where do I live?’
Exploring different materials in our construction area and building houses together.
Creating our own junk models, using different resources including using scissors
Looking at the sounds (phonemes):  i, n, m, d.

Tricky words to learn by sight (these cannot be sounded out) I  go  no  to  the  into
Matching, sorting and comparing objects
 
Bug Club

Bug Club is a brilliant online resource we have in school and you’ll find your child’s login for Bug Club stuck in the front of your child’s reading record book. Please do let us know if you are having any issues logging on.

Last week, we allocated 6 books without words for your child to share with you and to enjoy collecting the rewards through the little bugs.
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We allocate new books on there each week (by Friday), in addition to the reading books that come home. Children can apply their phonic knowledge and practise further at home online.
To access please visit:
https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk/loginc=0 

Labelling

Please can you ensure that clothing is well labelled.  This will include hats, scarves, coats and jumpers.  Many thanks.  PE starts this week!

Please do not hesitate to speak/email a member of staff if you have any questions.

Thank you so much,
The Reception Team

Dear Parents and Carers,
​
As we move towards the start of a new month, I wanted to update you on a few matters.  The children continue to be very settled in school and are enjoying their new Quest – What Makes Our World Work?  Thank you to those of you who attended the Meet the Teacher event for years 1 – 6.  If you were unable to attend the presentations that were shared are on the school website.

School Attendance

For those of you who were with us this time last year, I wrote to you outlining new statutory guidance regarding attendance.  I am sure you will agree that attending school is important for every single one of our children at Norbury Hall.  We understand that children get poorly from time to time and need to be at home but we would encourage you to ensure that attendance at school is maximised.  The following information may help to guide your thinking.

Please be aware that there is no way of authorising a term time holiday.  These are now recorded as unauthorised absences which could lead to a penalty notice.  I am being asked for an increasing number of term time holidays.  As a school we do not currently issue penalty notices but this is a conversation I plan to revisit with our Local Governing Board this term. 

Safety at the start and end of the school day

The gates to school are opened at approximately 8:30 am and are closed again at around 9:05 am.  Please make sure you have left the site by this time.  If you are detained in the school building you will need to leave via the school office.  I would ask that conversations with teachers at the start of the day are brief as they have to start their teaching day.  They will always be willing to make an alternative time to talk if it is a longer conversation.  If you are late to school in the morning, please enter via the school office so that we can ensure your child receives their mark in the register. 

At the end of the day, the gates are opened at approximately 3 pm.  They will be closed at around 3:25 pm.  This is because we have after school clubs on site and need to ensure the children still inside the building are safe.  Again, please make sure you have left the site by this time.

The children are not allowed to play on the adventure playgrounds or tyre park at the start and end of the school day.  Please keep your children with you at all times before the doors open in the morning and after your children have been handed to you at the end of the school day.

School Fund

We ask for a voluntary donation to school fund on an annual basis.  We request a sum of £7.50 per family.  This will be added as a payment to school money.  This helps us buy additional resources for the children in their classrooms.

Parents’ Association

Thank you to those parents who attended the AGM of our Parents’ Association last week and thank you to those parents who have put themselves forward to form the core committee.  We are looking forward to another exciting year of fund raising – please see the diary below for events this term.  As well as attending events, an easy way to donate is to sign up to the Easy Fundraising website which brings funds directly to our Parents’ Association without any additional cost to you.  They are currently working in association with Tesco.  Please follow the link to be able to donate – https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/norburyhall/?utm_campaign=pmc&utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tesco-bff-wa1

The school disco on Thursday 23rd October, is for all children in the school.  This is a Glow Disco with UV lights.  We ask that the children wear a white T-shirt or top.  The Parents’ Association have UV paints and temporary tattoos for the children.  Children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are invited to come between 5:15 pm and 6:15 pm and children in Years 3 – 6 are welcome from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.  Nursery parents are permitted to stay but we ask that all other parents drop their children off and collect them at the end – this is simply due to capacity within our school hall.  Plenty of school staff and members of the PA team are on hand to look after the children.  There is an unlimited supply of juice or biscuits for the children.  Sweets and other treats are available for the children to purchase.

At the end of the disco, please queue outside the main entrance.  We will sit the children down on the hall floor and then allow parents to come through and pick their children up, exiting through the rear entrance of the hall and back on to the school car park.  We have found this is the most efficient and safest way to match the children to their adults at the end of the event.

OPAL

In my last newsletter, I informed you about the Outdoor Play and Learning project we are taking part in.  We have our audit and first staff training session for this on Wednesday of this week.  As a result, we intend to get the children outside as much as possible even if it is wet.  Please can you make sure they come to school dressed for this with wellies and waterproofs. 
Thank you as ever for your continued support.
​
Best wishes
Becky Wood

Each year the children are invited to put themselves forward to be our next class councillors. A Norbury Hall councillor is a pupil, elected by their classmates to represent their views and help improve the school community.

Every class in school from Year 2 and upwards will have two school councillors. We try to do this as fairly as possible, whilst still allowing the opportunity for anyone who wants to take part to do so.

Pupils interested should put together a short presentation, no longer than 3 minutes, explaining why they would make a great councillor.  This could be a poster, poem, a song or speech.

If your child is interested, this needs to be completed by Monday 29th September 2025. All children interested will then be given the opportunity to share their presentation, in class to their peers during the week. As a class, the children will then fairly vote.
​
They will be voted for in class and two new school councillors will be elected.
The meetings for our new school council will always be held during the school day.

Last year the councillors took part in various different projects, raised money for our chosen charities and supported the PA.

I would like to wish all those interested the best of luck. If your child is unsuccessful this year, they have an opportunity to put themselves forward again next year.

Many thanks,
Sian Murphy

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to our Year 5 and 6 children to another fun-filled year! We hope you have all had a great summer break and are enjoying seeing your children settle into the new term. We have enjoyed getting to know the children and seeing their individual personalities shine. They have been working hard across the school to follow new routines and we have been very impressed with the children’s attitude towards their learning.
 
What Makes Our World Work?
This term there is a science focus right across school with the title of our new quest being
‘What Makes Our World Work? ’ We are stepping into the shoes of scientists to bring our learning to life, beginning to think scientifically and to question the world around us.
 
Reading
As always, reading is a very important part of learning at Norbury Hall. We encourage children to develop their reading skills and want to inspire their own reading for pleasure. Every classroom has a reading area for our children to enjoy and an adult in school will hear them read each week. To benefit your child, we are asking children to read at home at least three times a week and for this to be recorded in their reading records. This will be checked daily, during the school day.
​
Each class also has an author box which allows them to explore a range of books from chosen authors. The author boxes will then be swapped between year groups after the half term break.

Scooters and Bikes
As a school we encourage children to come to school on their bikes and scooters, but can we kindly ask they dismount their bike or scooter at the gate and then walk it into school. We do have a large bike shed in the junior playground which is available to use. Our school site is extremely busy in the mornings and at the end of the day and we want to keep everyone safe. Many thanks for your support with this.
 
General Information
With the cold weather creeping in, please can we request that children bring a coat with them each day. It would be useful, as with all items, that they are clearly labelled. Can we also request that children bring water to school, rather than juice for their classroom drink.
 
Walking to and from school
If you haven’t already done so, please can you email or write a note in the reading record to inform your child’s teacher if your child is walking home from school. As the children get older, some of them bring a mobile phone to school. These will need to be given in and locked away as soon as they are in school and they will be given back to them as they leave school (the same for smart watches). Children are not permitted to have their phones out whilst on the school site and they should not use their cameras at any times, in line with out safeguarding policy. Many thanks for your support with this.

Dear Parents and Carers,
​
Welcome back to our Year 3 and 4 children to another fun-filled year! We hope you have all had a great summer break and are enjoying seeing your children settle into the new term. We have enjoyed getting to know the children and seeing their individual personalities shine. They have been working hard across the school to follow new routines and we have been very impressed with the children’s attitude towards their learning.
 
What Makes Our World Work?
This term there is a science focus right across school with the title of our new quest being ‘What Makes Our World Work? ’ We are stepping into the shoes of scientists to bring our learning to life, beginning to think scientifically and to question the world around us.
 
Reading
As always, reading is a very important part of learning at Norbury Hall. We encourage children to develop their reading skills and want to inspire their own reading for pleasure. Every classroom has a reading area for our children to enjoy and an adult in school will hear them read each week. To benefit your child, we are asking children to read at home at least three times a week and for this to be recorded in their reading records. This will be checked daily, during the school day.

Each class also has an author box which allows them to explore a range of books from chosen authors. The author boxes will then be swapped between year groups after the half term break.

TTRS
Every child in the school also has an individual login for Times Tables Rock Stars. This is a brilliant way for our children to secure their times tables in fun way. Your child’s class teacher will set specific times tables personalised to their ability and they will be allocated time at school to practise, however we know that any additional time spent using TTRS at home has a huge impact on securing a quick recall of division and multiplication facts. Alongside reading, we are also asking that children play TTRS at least 3 times a week.
​
Scooters and Bikes
As a school we encourage children to come to school on their bikes and scooters, but can we kindly ask they dismount their bike or scooter at the gate and then walk it into school. We do have a large bike shed in the junior playground which is available to use. Our school site is extremely busy in the mornings and at the end of the day and we want to keep everyone safe. Many thanks for your support with this.
 
General Information
With the cold weather creeping in, please can we request that children bring a coat with them each day. It would be useful, as with all items, that they are clearly labelled. Can we also request that children bring water to school, rather than juice for their classroom drink.

Dear parents,
 
Norbury Hal Primary School is about to start a programme to improve opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, cooperation, coordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and enjoyment through improved play.
 
In what ways, if any, do you think you benefited from playtime? Thinking about your own childhood, what did you like playing at school or at home? Children today don’t have the same freedoms we once did, so we want to give children back time to really enjoy and learn from play. After all, it’s a child’s basic human right.
 
The Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) Primary Programme is the result of over 20 years of testing and development in over 800 schools and has been used in Spain, Canada, France and New Zealand. The programme has also been adapted and used in schools in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Austria under the Play Friendly Schools project. In 2018, OPAL won first prize in an EU-funded award for the best active school’s programme in Europe and two UK national playwork awards. In 2019, OPAL was awarded a quarter of a million pounds by Sport England to bring the programme to many more schools.
 
OPAL is based on the idea that, as well as learning through good teaching, your children also learn when they play. As 20% of their time in school is playtime, we want to make sure that this amount of time (equivalent to 1.4 years of primary school) is as good as possible.
 
One reason the school is carrying out this programme is that childhood has changed, and many children no longer get their play needs met out of school. 

• Average screen time per day is six hours.
• Average outdoor play time per week is five hours.
• Percentage of UK children who only play outdoors with other children at school is 56%.

 
There are many proven benefits for schools that carry out the OPAL Primary Programme. They usually include: more enjoyment of school, less teaching time lost to disputes between children, fewer accidents and greatly improved behaviour. 
 
Play is not messing about. It is the process evolution has come up with to enable children to learn all of the things that cannot be taught, while also having so much fun. There are certain things children must have in order to be able to play. These include:

• Having clothes that they can play in.
• Having things to play with.
• Having a certain amount of freedom.

 
As the school improves play opportunities for your children, you may find the school is asking you for resources and is making changes about how the children use the school grounds. They may use more of the grounds, for more of the year. Your children may get a bit messier, be exposed to more challenges and have greater freedoms to play where, with whom and how they like. The experiences the school is fostering are essential for children’s physical and mental wellbeing and are in line with all current good practice advice on health and safety, wellbeing and development.
 
The school will be supported by OPAL for 18 months and there will be an opportunity to come and talk to the OPAL mentor at your child’s school. If you would like to learn more about the OPAL Primary Programme, please have a look at the OPAL website (www.outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk), where you will find lots of useful information and several videos about the programme.
 
In the coming 18 months you will be invited to events where you can come and see for yourselves what is happening and have the opportunity to join in too.
 
We will be in touch in the near future with how you can get involved with donations, kit for the children and even parent play sessions.
 
Parents Survey
We are looking at our playtimes and thinking about how we can improve them by introducing the Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) Primary Programme.

Can you help? We really want to know what you think of playtimes now. Please click on the link below to fill out our short survey.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdBEuRzqxCYOkyqFIIb3eQyc0-MYKivMTXtCUoEVO2pIQs81g/viewform?usp=dialog
 
Thank you in advance.
 
We are really excited about this project and hope that you will support us in our efforts to improve playtime for all children.
 
Best wishes,
Bridget Adnett and Hannah Garrett
Deputy Head Teachers

Teacher Led Clubs – will run from 3.20pm until 4pm
We are offering teacher led clubs for the children to attend after school from Monday 15th September 2025 clubs and will finish on Friday 17th October 2025. Please be aware that some clubs will have limited spaces. Children are to be collected from the junior playground when the club finishes.
 
If you would like your child to attend a club listed below, hosted by the teachers, please contact them directly using their emails. Please do not contact the office as they will not have waiting lists or numbers. Please do so by Friday 12th September.   
 
Hazel Grove Tennis Club
Advantage You! New Term Starts Wednesday 10th September! 
Get ready to ace the new term of After-school Tennis Club at Norbury Hall Primary School! 
Y3, 4 & 5 + younger siblings
Time: 15:20 - 16:20
Day: Wednesday 10 Sept - 23 Oct 
Amount: £35.00 
We now have a new booking system via our mobile APP! Please download using the link below. You register and book your weekly Coaching or School sessions. 
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/hazel-grove-bowling-and-tennis/id6749573373
 
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.activitypro.hgbat
Please create an account in your name and add your child/children as Family Members to book them on the School Session. 
You can get in touch directly for support with bookings via email or phone [email protected]   07961649667
Faris McGrath - Head Coach - Top Spin Tennis Academy
 
Primary Sports Clubs after school 
PSC will be running an afterschool football club for Years 2, 3 and 4 on a Friday (starting on Friday 5th September, from 15:15-16:30.
The link to book on to the club is: 
https://primaryscl.coordinate.cloud/book/246056

Spanish Club
This will continue on Mondays for those children already signed up. We email parents later in the term to book onto the next club.
 
Best wishes
Mrs Adnett and Miss Garrett
Deputy Headteacher