Headteacher's Newsletter 03/09/2026

Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to a new school year.  For those of you joining us for the first time, can I extend a very warm welcome to the Norbury Hall family.  We recognise that this may all seem very new for you and your child and you may have many questions.  Please ask either the staff who are working with your child or feel free to contact the school office as we want you and your child to feel confident in this new venture.  Please contact the office either by phone or [email protected].  Our newsletters are published on the school website and you will receive a text message when new letters are posted.  The school website is a great source of information about the school so please use this to keep up to date and informed.

Meet the Teacher Event – Wednesday 16th September
Parents of children in Years 1 - 6 are invited to attend our annual Meet the Teacher event.  We will be holding sessions at 4:00 pm and 4:45 pm – the session will be a repeat so that you can attend more than one session if you have more than one child in the school.  The session will outline the necessary information for the children in each year group and you will have a chance to ask any questions.  Please enter the school via the main entrance; sessions will be held in the classrooms.

Communication with School
It is really important to us that you converse with us regarding your child.  There are obviously formal events within the calendar to facilitate this but we recognise there are many other times where you may have messages you want to convey or need a conversation. 

You are welcome to hold an informal conversation with teachers at the end of the day.  However, if this is a longer conversation, it may be necessary to make an appointment for a more formal conversation.  A quick message can be placed in your child’s reading record.  These are checked each day.  The office staff are also available if you need to get a message to us.  Please contact them either by telephone or email. 

Teachers will respond to an email you send to their personal email address but please be mindful that within a busy teaching day they do not have time to check their emails whilst they are teaching.  Emails will not be responded to before 8 am and after 5 pm.

Medical Updates
If following the summer break, you have any medical updates regarding your child, please let us know.  You can either email the office with the update or make an appointment to see your child’s class teacher.  If your child has an inhaler, please make sure we have this in school and that it is date.  If your child has a Medical Care Plan, we will shortly be sending them out for you to review and sign.

If your child needs medication given to them during the school day, you must complete a form which is available in the school entrance.  This must be passed to the office team who will ensure that the right people know about this.  Our School Nursing team encourage us to only administer prescribed medication however we recognise that sometimes medicine such as Calpol will help your child be in school.  If you are available to come and administer this during the school day, we would appreciate this.  However, if this isn’t possible we are happy to administer Calpol that you have sent into school – a form needs to be completed in the same way outlined above.

Safer Eating
In line with statutory national statutory guidance, we have been updating our policy and practice around safer eating in school and the management of allergies.  To support this, we would ask two things:

• Please don’t send any nut-based products into school including in your child’s lunchbox.  This supports our children with allergies and reduces risks.
• Please make sure that any treats you send in for your child’s birthday or another occasion are given to the class teacher as they will have the necessary information about individual dietary requirements and allergies.

Attendance
It is really important that your child is in school as much as possible.  Missing time in school impacts learning and the important social interactions your child has whilst they are with us.  Any child with attendance of 90% or below (regardless of the reason for any absences) is considered to be a persistent absentee by the government and we will pursue a conversation with parents if this is the case. 

We do recognise that children get poorly and if your child is genuinely unwell and cannot come to school we ask that you contact the school office to inform us of the absence.  If your child has sickness or diarrhoea, they must stay off school for 48 hours from the last episode of diarrhoea or vomiting.

We ask that you make any routine medical appointments outside of the school day.
Your child should not be absent for day trips, holidays or birthdays or if a parent or sibling are ill. 

In essence, it is really important that your child is in school.  Equally, it is important that they are punctual so that they don’t miss the start of the learning day and don’t feel anxious about coming in late. 

More information about attendance can be found on our school website in our Attendance Policy.

Home/School Agreement
Please could you read our Home/School Agreement and our Expectations of Parents and Carers.  Both of these documents can be found on the school website.  If you would like to discuss the content of either document, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Online platforms
We use the following online platforms:

• Tapestry (Nursery and Reception) – you will receive information about this from the relevant year groups.
• School Money – this is our school payment system.  This is used for school trips, school events and school uniform.  The best way to access this is through the Eduspot App.
• School Grid – this is the platform for ordering school meals.  It is designed with the intention that you order your child’s school meal rather than your child ordering their meal when they come into school.  This really helps us know what you want your child to eat and helps the kitchen know how much food to cook.  It is the expectation that you order your child’s meal rather than this happening in school.
• Eduspot – this is a messaging service – you may receive either text messages or emails.  You can’t reply to these messages.
• Times Table Rock Stars (from Year 2 upwards)
• Bug Club – an online reading platform
• My Maths – used with older year groups to support maths home learning
  
  

Parents’ Association
Our Parents’ Association raised in excess of £15,000 for us last year.  This money enables us to offer so much more to our children.  They are holding their AGM in school on Wednesday 30th September at 6 pm – all are welcome to attend.
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Finally, we never underestimate the trust you put in us as we care for your children and support their learning journey.  We very much want to make this year a successful partnership with you so that your child can achieve the very best possible outcomes and successes.

​Best wishes
Becky Wood

Dates for your diary...

AUTUMN TERM
Wednesday 16th September
Meet the Teacher for Years 1 – 6 (4:00 pm and 4:45 pm)

Monday 28th September
Flu vaccinations for the children

Wednesday 30th September
Parents’ Association AGM – 6 pm at the school

Thursday 8th October
PA disco (further information to come from the PA)

Tuesday 20th October and Thursday 22nd October
Parent teacher meetings

Friday 23rd October
School finishes for the half term break

Monday 2nd November
Children return to school

Wednesday 11th November
School Photographs
(individual and family groups – siblings only)

Friday 27th November
PA Christmas Fair

Friday 18th December
School finishes for the Christmas break

SPRING TERM 2025
Monday 4th January
INSET day – children not in school due to staff training

Tuesday 5th January
Children return to school