Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you had a lovely weekend and enjoyed the warm spell we are experiencing at the moment.  The children have come back to school after the Easter break refreshed and ready to learn.  Our Quest ‘Who do I aspire to be?’ continues with a focus on art, dance, music and narrative.  Initial work is focused around the theme of giants with a focus on the BFG.

Relationships and Values at Norbury Hall

I recently wrote to you to consult on our work to redefine the values in school and to share part of the revision of our behaviour policy.  This is a consultative process and I asked for any responses to be sent into school.  Please see the newsletters section of the website to view this and make any responses by the end of this half term.

Sun safety

Whilst we are enjoying this warm spell, I would like to remind you to send your child to school with a hat, a water bottle and with sun cream applied.  If you require your child to reapply sun cream during the school day, we are unable to do this for them.  However, they can do this for themselves.  Please however keep an eye on the weather.  If rain is forecast, please send them with a waterproof jacket or coat.  We endeavour to go outside even when wet so please make sure they have this back up.

Drop off and pick up times

Thank you for your continued support with both parking and safety whilst using scooters and bikes.  Could I please also request that dogs are not brought into the school grounds.  I have been made aware that a couple of dogs are being brought on to the playgrounds. This could be unsafe and we do have some children who are wary of dogs so I would ask you to consider alternative arrangements.

Appointments in the school day

We have an increased number of parents picking children up for appointments during the school day, particularly during the afternoon.  It is important your children are in school as much as possible so where it is feasible we would ask you to make appointments outside of the school day.  I understand that in some instances this isn’t possible and school will always support genuine appointments.

PA news

As ever, our PA are working hard to support our children in a variety of ways.  Thank to those of you who took part in the Easter egg challenge. We have school discos this Friday (16th May).  The EY and KS1 disco will be from 5:15 pm – 6:15 pm and the KS2 disco will be from 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm.  The disco at the end of Year 6’s SATs week is a Norbury tradition and we look forward to seeing all of our children but especially our Y6 children.  For further details please see the PA Facebook page or notices on the school gates.  The PA Summer Festival is on Friday 4th July starting at 4 pm.  We hope to see as many of you there as possible.  We are grateful to the PA for funding a whole school event for our children.  Over the course of a couple of days in July, all of the children will be going on a visit to the Savoy Cinema in Heaton Moor.  We will be going in four separate groups and will be needing some parent volunteers to support each group.  Further details to come from school shortly. 
This is a very short half term but a very busy one! 

​Thank you as ever for your support
Best wishes
Becky Wood

​Our new values are prominent in our school entrance, on our school website and we are familiarising our children with these.  Our values are:

• Curiosity
• Responsibility
• Bravery
• Kindness
• Understanding

We think this summarises what it means to be a learner and part of the Norbury Hall community.

To further our work on a new approach to rewards and consequences, we wanted to ask for parent and carer viewpoint on our thoughts.  We have formulated the attached documents as a full staff team alongside our local governing board and a small council representing the children have also considered them.  If you have any views on our proposals, we would like you to get in touch with us and share your thoughts.

We have used the language within our work of ‘rewards for actions’ and ‘solutions for mistakes’.  We haven’t used the language of sanctions or consequences as we want the children to understand that with the right set of actions we can move forward.

We obviously plan to make sure the children understand these guidelines once they are formalised.

I would like to make it very clear that these guidelines are not for instances of bullying or racist behaviours – these will still be considered under the relevant policies which can be found on the school website.  Similarly, for some children we sometimes have more bespoke plans in place.

We will be rewriting the behaviour policy in light of this work and the attached documents will be a part of this.  This has to be reviewed by staff and governors and will be published for September 2026. 

We look forward to your comments and thoughts.  Please put these in writing and email them to your child’s class teacher or to the [email protected] address.

​Dear Parents and Carers,

As we move towards the Easter break, I wanted to get in touch to thank you for your support this term and to update and remind you about a few things.
​
We have started our final Quest of the year this year.  It is entitled ‘Who do I aspire to be?’  Today the children have discovered the BFG’s knapsack in the school grounds.  The BFG had left the children a letter telling them about their new Quest which will explore the themes of giants and then dreams.  This Quest will focus on the arts and will begin with a focus on painting and drawing skills before moving on to look at sculpture, dance and music.  Our Norbury Fest afternoon on Wednesday 9th July will showcase our learning from the Quest and we hope to see as many of you as possible at this event.

Safety on our Playgrounds

You will have recently received a text message informing you that we had an injury on one of our playgrounds because there was a collision with a child on a scooter.  I have previously written and requested that all parents and children come off scooters or bikes as they enter the school grounds and stay off them once through the gates.  We have a small number of children and parents who are continuing to use scooters and bikes within the school grounds.  This disappoints me as this has led to an injury for one of our school community.  I am sure you will agree with me that the safety of all within our community, especially our children, must be paramount.  I would ask that all adhere to this request.

School Meals

Please could we remind you that you need to give one week’s notice to move your child from school dinners to sandwiches and vice versa.  This is because the kitchen order in advance.  Please email the school office to make any changes to meal arrangements.

Term Dates – 2025 / 2026

I included these dates on my previous letter but have kept them here in case you missed them.  These are available on the school website.

​Autumn term 2025
·       Term starts: Monday 1 September 2025
·       INSET days (children do not attend school) – Monday 1st September and
        Tuesday 2nd September
·       Half term holiday: Monday 27 October to Friday 31 October 2025
·       INSET day (children do not attend school) – Monday 3rd November 2025
·       Term ends: Monday 22 December 2025

Spring term 2026
·       Term starts: Monday 5 January 2026
·       Half term holiday: Monday 16 February to Friday 20 February 2026
·       Term ends: Friday 27 March 2026
·       Easter public holidays: Good Friday 3 April and Easter Monday 6 April 2026

Summer term 2026
·       Term starts: Monday 13 April 2026
·       May Day Bank Holiday: Monday 4 May 2026
·       Spring bank holiday: Monday 25 May 2026
·       Primary half term holiday: Monday 25 May to Friday 5 June 2026
·       INSET day (children to not attend school) – Monday 8th June 2026
·       Primary term ends: Friday 24th July
·       INSET day (children do not attend school) – Friday 24th July 2026
 
 
Parents’ Association News

There will be a planning meeting for summer term events on Wednesday 9th April at 6 pm at the school – all are welcome to attend.

Thank you for your continued support. 
Best wishes
Becky Wood

​SPRING TERM 2025
Wednesday 9th April
6 pm – PA planning meeting at school

Friday 11th April
School finishes for the Easter break

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the spring like weather we have been enjoying.  The term continues to be busy.  Book Fortnight was a great success and the children really enjoyed the many activities made available.  We have now returned to our Quest ‘Where do I?  When do I?’ with a final focus on our geography and history skills.  Our final Quest of the year starts the week before the Easter break so that we can fit everything in with Easter being so late this year.  This will focus on the arts and is entitled ‘Who do I aspire to be?’

Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel to School Challenge

The following message is from the School Council:
We would like to tell you about a special event we will be taking part in.  Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel to School Challenge is from 24th March to 4th April.  If 15% of the children walk. Bike, scoot or drop the car and walk the last part of the journey, we will be entered into a daily prize draw.  It would be great if lots of you could do this.
We will obviously be talking to the children about this but if you would like to know more, please visit https://bigwalkandwheel.org.uk/

School Meals

We welcome Kirsty as our new school cook.  She is working hard to get to know the children.  Thank you for your patience during the time when we were working with relief staff in the kitchen.  We know things didn’t always run smoothly but we are confident that now Kirsty is in post the service will continue to go from strength to strength. 
The school meal provider has increased the price of school meals.  For those of you who pay for meals the cost will be £2.75 from the 1st April 2025.

Term Dates – 2025 / 2026

The Local Governing Board has agreed the term dates for 2025 / 2026.  These largely mirror Stockport term dates but there is one amendment and obviously INSET days have been added.
​
Autumn term 2025
· Term starts: Monday 1 September 2025
· INSET days (children do not attend school) Monday 1st September and
Tuesday 2nd September
·  Half term holiday: Monday 27 October to Friday 31 October 2025
·  INSET day (children do not attend school) Monday 3rd November 2025
·  Term ends: Monday 22 December 2025

Spring term 2026
· Term starts: Monday 5 January 2026
· Half term holiday: Monday 16 February to Friday 20 February 2026
· Term ends: Friday 27 March 2026
· Easter public holidays: Good Friday 3 April and Easter Monday 6 April 2026

Summer term 2026
· Term starts: Monday 13 April 2026
· May Day Bank Holiday: Monday 4 May 2026
· Spring bank holiday: Monday 25 May 2026
· Primary half term holiday: Monday 25 May to Friday 5 June 2026
· INSET day (children to not attend school) Monday 8th June 2026
· Primary term ends: Friday 24th July
· INSET day (children do not attend school) Friday 24th July 2026

Parents’ Association News

Following the non-uniform day and the costume sale the Parents’ Association have now passed the £10,000 mark in their fundraising this academic year.  This is amazing – thank you so much to the team but also to all parents and carers who have supported events so well.  We are in the process of organising a cinema trip for all the children in school – this will take place in July and will be fully funded by the PA.  More details to follow shortly.  There will be a planning meeting for summer term events on Wednesday 9th April at 6pm at the school – all are welcome to attend.

Thank you for your continued support.  I have added summer terms dates below. 
Best wishes,

SPRING TERM 2025

Wednesday 19th March
School Council fundraising event – odd shoe day

Monday 24th March
Y4 to visit Stockport Air Raid Shelters

Tuesday 25th March
5N to visit Ewden Water Treatment works

Wednesday 26th March
5H to visit Ewden Water Treatment works

Wednesday 9th April
PA planning meeting at school - 6pm

Friday 11th April
School finishes for the Easter break

Dear Parents and Carers,
​
I hope you all had a lovely half term break.  We are looking forward to working with your children again this half term. The half term begins with our Book Fortnight with many exciting activities planned for the children.  We then return to our Quest – Where do I?  When do I?  

Website
Our new website is now live – thank you to the Parents’ Association for part funding this.  We hope this will help to improve communications between home and school as well as celebrate the many things that are part of Norbury life. Newsletters will now be posted on the website rather than emailed to you.  We will send a text alert when a new letter is available.  

Governing Board
Following a recent recruitment process, we are delighted to welcome Ruth Rawsthorne and Miriam Bentley to the Governing Board.

Visit from Lisa Smart MP
We were delighted to welcome Lisa Smart to school on 7th February.  She had a tour of the school, met with some representatives of the School Council and led an assembly for the children in Years 1 – 6.  She was genuinely interested in our school in terms of our successes but also some of the challenges we face in the world of education.  We are hopeful that this relationship will continue.

Parents’ Association News
The recent disco raised an amazing £1511.  Thank you to those families who supported this event.  Thank you to the PA for the Valentine’s sweet treat – the children and staff appreciated this.  The Parents’ Association have organised a costume swap before our World Book Dress Up Day on Wednesday 5th March.  Please see the PA website for further information www.norburyhallpa.co.uk.  The Easter egg challenge will be returning – look out for details coming shortly.

PE kits
Please could I remind you that that PE kits shouldn’t include branded items – we appreciate your support with this.  The PE kit is as follows:
Indoor games kit

• Black shorts
• White T-shirt
• Black pumps

  
Additional outside kit for colder weather

• Trainers
• Tracksuit or jumper and jogging bottoms (any plain colour no logos)    

​
​Thank you for your continued support
Best wishes
Becky Wood
      

Dates for your diary (these can also be found on the Parents Hub)

​Monday 24th February
Return to school
Book fortnight begins

Tuesday 4th March
Parent / Teacher meetings

Wednesday 5th March
Norbury’s dress up day for World Book Day 
Nursery Parent / Teacher meetings

Thursday 6th March
Parent / Teacher meetings

Wednesday 19th March
School Council fundraising event – odd shoe day

Monday 24th March 
Y4 to visit Stockport Air Raid Shelters

Tuesday 25th March
5N to visit Ewden Water Treatment works

Wednesday 26th March
5H to visit Ewden Water Treatment works

Friday 11th April
School finishes for the Easter break

Educational visits for Nursery, Reception and Year 2 will take place in the summer term.

Dear Parents and Carers,

This half term is moving at pace and the children have achieved many things in the four weeks since our return to school. We have unfortunately had a lot of our children unwell but we are hoping as we nudge towards spring, we are healthier.

Children's Mental Health Week
Thank you to those of you who attended our coffee morning for Children's Mental Health Week this morning. This will be a focus of learning for the children across this week. This is the link to the official website for the week if you would like to explore this further - https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/. School staff are obviously willing to discuss anything related to children's mental health with you.

Parent Teacher Meetings
Parent and teacher meetings are scheduled for Tuesday 4th March and Thursday 6th March. For Nursery parents there is an additional session on Wednesday 5h March in the morning. We will be using the online booking system again for you to be able to book appointments. The system will go live later today and we will send a text to inform you that appointments are available for booking. If you have any queries about how to use the system, please contact our office team. For parents of children in Mrs Matthews' class we will not be taking bookings at this point. We will look to arrange appointments as soon as possible. If in the meantime, you would like to talk to us about your child, please either contact myself or Sian Murphy.

Parents' Association News
The movie nights were well attended and raised £750. Thank you to the PA team who cooked for the children and thank you to the staff team for supervising the children. We have a school disco this Thursday with a 'Love is in the Air theme. The discos are on Thursday 6*h February - for Nursery, Reception, Y1 and Y2 the disco is from 5:15 pm - 6:15 pm and for Years 3 - 6 the disco is from 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm. The entry cost is £3. For more information, please see the PA website (www.norburyhallpa.co.uk). Friday 14th February will be a non-uniform day as it is Valentine's Day. The children can come in something suitable to mark the day or just something they find comfortable to wear. Please bring a £1 cash donation to support the PA.

Parking
Our School Council have been working hard to encourage responsible parking around our school. You will have noticed that we have cones in certain locations to deter parking. Shortly, you will be seeing banners go up to support this initiative. The School Council held a competition for the children in school to design a banner. Well done to Oakley in Year 2 who was the winner.

Safeguarding
Safeguarding our children at Norbury Hall is at the heart of all we do. Please do not be offended if your children attend Norbury Tinkers after school and school staff will not let you enter the building to pick them up. It is important that you use the Norbury Tinkers doorbell so that they can supervise the collection of your children.

Website
We are in the process of updating our school website and we are very nearly ready to go live. We are very pleased with how the new site is looking. Once live, we would welcome your feedback. There are statutory items that have to go on a school website but we want the new website to be informative for our current parents and carers as well as parents or carers who may be new to our school. Your feedback will help us to achieve this. We will send a text to inform you when the website is available.

Primary Sports Coaching - February Half Term Holiday Club
Please see the following message from Primary Sports Coaching:
Primary Sports Coaching Limited are delighted to be running our established multi sports holiday course at Norbury Hall Primary School this February Half Term.

The course will be led by PSCL's coaching team who work every day in primary schools delivering lunchtime ports, after school clubs and PE lessons.

Jordan Fletcher will be leading the course. Jordan is qualified sports coach and can normally be found delivering sports sessions at St Pauls Primary School in Withington. Jordan will be supported by Amy Shipton who the children will know from lunchtime sessions and after school club at Norbury Hall Primary School.

If you would like to attend our fantastic holiday course please book soon as places are limited (https://primaryscl.coordinote.cloud/project/60548)
Our ethos is to provide a fun and exciting experience for all children that attend our holiday clubs. We want every child to experience a variety of sports and help them create a lifelong love of sport and physical activity. PSCL Holiday Courses are a registered Ofsted provider, all of our settings are on the voluntary part of the childcare register.
​
Key Information
Monday 17h February - Friday 21" February
Boys and Girls aged 5 - 12 years old can attend PSCL Holiday Courses. Children currently in reception can attend specific courses from 9am - 12.45pm. They are not able to access our early drop off.

Times and Prices of Courses
Children can be dropped off from 9am. Children can be collected from 3.30pm.
Standard Day - £22
Reception Child Day - £14
Sibling Discount
Discounts are available for siblings attending together. Please use discount code 'SIBLING25' to reduce the cost to £19.50 per child per day.

Week Discount
When you book a 5 day week use our discount code 'FULLWK' to discount the price to £100 per week

Wrap Around Care
Early drop off - 8am - 8.55am = £3.50 per child, per morning Stay and Play - 3.30pm - 5pm = £4.50 per child, per afternoon.

Thank you as ever for your support.

Dear Parents and Carers,
​
Happy New Year.  I hope that 2025 is a happy year for you and your family.  Thank you for all your support at our Christmas events; the children love having you as part of these special occasions and we enjoy seeing you too.

The start to the new term was a cold one!  Thank you for your support with extended registrations – there was noticeably less traffic on these mornings helping to keep everyone a lot safer.  Thank you also to Mr Holland, our site supervisor, who worked tirelessly all week to keep the site safe for all.  The children loved playtimes and I think the snow sculptures they made will last well into this week.

Our learning this term is entitled ‘Where do I?  When do I?’  The learning focuses on both history and geography and the children will be developing their skills in both of these areas.  Year 4 have been enlisted as WWII soldiers, Year 3 have already visited Stockport County FC and our younger children have talked about where they live and the house they live in.  As the term progresses, there are many exciting learning experiences planned for all our children.  The children are working in role as Junior Ministers in governments both past and present to understand why national issues are of importance.  We are delighted that Lisa Smart, the local MP, will be visiting school later in the term to help them understand more about the workings of Parliament.

Movie Nights
Two movie nights will take place this week.  Tuesday 14th January will be the chance for our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children to attend and our Key Stage 2 children are invited on Thursday 15th January.  You can book these events on the Norbury Hall PA website up until 8 pm the night before the event.  All further details are on the PA website.  The children don’t need a change of clothes for this event.
At the end of the event, please come to the main door to collect your children.  We will organise this in the same way as a disco where parents will come through the main entrance, go into the hall and collect the children and then exit via the back door of the hall.

Thank you in advance to the PA team and teaching staff who will make these events happen.

Children's Mental Health Week - 3rd February 2025
The school will be marking Children’s Mental Health Week at the start of February.  On Monday 3rd February at the start of the school day, there will be a coffee morning in the hall.  All are welcome to attend – the event is free but we will be collecting donations for Beacon Counselling.  Further details will be made available shortly.
There will also be special assemblies and PSHE activities during this week.

Unifrom
We have noticed that some of our children are moving away from some of our school uniform expectations.  We are seeing skirt length, jewellery, make up, nail vanish and layers of clothing that are not school uniform.  I am not talking about last week when children did wear additional layers to stay warm. The staff team will be challenging children who are not following our school uniform guidance and they may also have a conversation with you as parents or carer.  It is important that our children are dressed smartly for school and represent their school in this way and in the best possible light.

Stockport Online Safety Hub

I made parents aware of the relatively new online safety hub provided by Stockport LA last term.  I know many of the children have received new devices and games for Christmas and I am sure that as parents you wish to keep them as safe as possible in this way.  The hub is a great resource with a wealth of advice and is continuously updated with new information.  The address is https://stockport.onlinesafetyhub.uk/ and I would urge you all to take a look.
Thank you as ever for your support – useful dates are listed at the end of this letter.