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

Autumn Term: ‘What Makes Our World Work?’
Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Years 1 and 2! We hope you have all had a great summer break and are enjoying seeing your children settle into the new term. In the first few weeks, we have enjoyed getting to know the children, talking with them and seeing their personalities shine. We have been working hard across the school and have been impressed with the children’s attitude towards their learning.

What Makes Our World Work?
The children have been working hard and have already produced some fantastic 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, inventors and explorers to bring our learning to life and are discovering how to think scientifically, questioning 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. We are also encouraging the use of our online reading platform, Bug Club for the children to read a range of books and develop their understanding of what they have read.

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

General Information
With the colder weather on its way, please can we request that children bring a coat with them each day. A pair of wellies is useful for our weekly, outdoor learning activities. 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. All Key Stage 1 children are still entitled to the free fruit and veg scheme and do not need bring in any snacks for 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.

Autumn Term—What Makes Our World Work?
Week Beginning: 8th September 2025
 
Dear Parents and Carers,
 
We are so proud of all of our Reception learners for settling in so well during their first days in Reception. We’ve had a great start getting to know your children and lots of fun exploring the classroom, outdoors and all the resources. The children are learning the routines of the day, expectations and the adults and children in their class. Please make sure all items of clothing, water bottles and wellies are labelled.

Over the next few weeks we will be…
· Talking about who is in our family and lives in our house.
· Starting phonics sessions and playing phonics games together.
· Practising counting sets of objects with 1:1 correspondence and careful counting.
· Subitising numbers to 5 (looking at a small set of objects and knowing how many are there without counting them).
· Continuing to explore the resources and areas of the classroom.

Reading books
Reading books will be changed, where necessary, on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We do ask that you either write a comment or simply sign the reading record to let us know when a book is completed and therefore ready to be changed. You’ll also notice a login for your child for BugClub at the very front of your child’s reading record.  Phonic books will be allocated each week for your child to read on an ipad/computer.  This book will link with the phonics taught in class.
 
Tapestry                                                                                      
You should now all (hopefully) be set up on Tapestry. This is a great resource that we use regularly to share photos and communicate information on.
We also encourage you to share any photos or news on there that we can then share with the class. The children always love sharing and talking about their Tapestry photos.
 
Phonics
Phonics is taught daily and is a key part of our curriculum. These sessions are fun and interactive. Phonics supports us to teach your child to read and write. Over this half term we will mix children from both classes into groups.
At school we follow the Letters and Sounds phonics scheme.
Please follow the link for a useful watch of the correct pronunciation of the phonemes (sounds): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ksblMiliA8 
 
Packed Lunches and Nut-based Products
As we have some children in school with nut allergies, please can we be mindful of not including nut-based products in packed lunches.
 
Please do not hesitate to speak/email a member of staff if you have any questions.
Thank you so much,
​
The Reception Team

A huge welcome to all of our new children into Nursery, we are so excited to get to know you all and your whole family properly. We loved having all the children and adults in Nursery on Wednesday, it was brilliant to see all the children exploring the different areas both in our indoor and outdoor classrooms. We have also spent this Thursday and Friday completing home visits.

Next week (week beginning the 8th of September) we will continue with our transition programme and welcome children into the nursery for two 2- hour sessions. We encourage these sessions to be drop-off, but we will obviously work with yourselves if you feel you want to stay in nursery for a little bit to help settle your child. During these sessions, we will be exploring the areas some more, having a story and snack together.

Then from the week beginning the 15th of September 2025, children will be in for the full allocated hours.

Now you have all met us, we thought we would just let you know who will be working when:

If you have not yet returned your forms, it would be great if you could bring them to the sessions next week. We have some spare forms too if these are needed, so please do ask one of us. Over the weekend, we will be setting up Tapestry accounts. If you have returned the Tapestry letter and consented, then you will be receiving an email to activate your account. Sometimes these emails do go to the junk folder, but if you have consented and not received your email by Monday please speak to one of us. Tapestry is our online tool that we use each week. This online service allows us to share all the amazing things we’ve been up to in nursery, show you photos of your child’s learning and adventures and offer some key communication updates.

Please bring a packed lunch for your child to enjoy at lunchtime and the following items to be kept in school…

• A pair of named wellies.
• A bag with spare clothes and underwear.
  
  

We look forward to seeing you all again next week.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to the start of a new term and new school year.  I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable summer break and that the children are refreshed and ready to return to school.

Welcome to our new Nursery and Reception children who will be starting with us this week.  Welcome also to children joining in other year groups.  If you are a family new to school, you are very welcome.  We know that your child starting school is an exciting time but also recognise this can be daunting as you get to know us and understand how the school works.  Our Nursery and Reception teams are open to any query or question – if you are unsure about anything or need to talk to someone, please ask.  Similarly, our office team are happy to help.  Please either contact them by phone or [email protected].  Our website is a great source of information.  All newsletters and year group information can be found here and there is a Parents Hub – the password for this is NorbertHazel2025.

Staff News
We welcome Mrs Sarah Gray back following her maternity leave.  She is teaching in Year 4 and spent some time with the children in the summer term.

​Meet the Teacher Event – Wednesday 10th September
Parents of children in Years 1 - 6 are invited to attend our annual Meet the Teacher event.  We will be holding sessions at 5:15 pm and 6 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.

Uniform
It was lovely to see the children looking so smart yesterday as they returned to school.  Please can I remind you that the children are unable to wear jewellery to school and we will be asking them to remove any items they do wear.  The children need wellies in school for outdoor activities – please make sure these have your child’s name in them.  The weather is quite changeable at the moment and we will endeavour to have the children outside whenever possible.  Please make sure they have a coat in school so that they can stay dry in wet weather.

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 17th September at 6 pm – all are welcome to attend.

School Office Administrator
We have a vacancy in the school office for an administrator.  If you think you might be interested or know someone who could be the post is advertised on the Greater Jobs website (https://www.greater.jobs/job/75732649).

We are looking forward to another great year for the children in our care.  We very much want to work in partnership with you to make every moment safe, exciting and successful for your children.
​
Best wishes
Becky Wood

Dear Parents and Carers,

This will be the last newsletter of the year.  Your children have amazed us this year
with their enthusiasm for learning, their caring and polite manners and their sense of fun.  Their annual reports are a real celebration of all they have achieved and we are very proud of them all.

We wish our Year 6 leavers the very best of luck as they start new adventures at
high school.  We will miss them. 

There are a few updates I need to give you some of which relate to events
​in September.

Sports Day
At the time of writing, the weather looks fairly unsettled for this week.  We are very much hoping Sports Day can go ahead but will need to decide on Wednesday morning based on the safety of the children.  We will communicate this to you as quickly as possible. The Nursery beginning of the week group, RN, Year 1 and Year 2 event will take place at 9:30 am and the Nursery end of the week group, RH and Years 3 – 6 will take place at 1:30 pm.
​
Meet the Teacher
For Years 1 – 6 we will be holding our annual Meet the Teacher event in September.  We do not hold a September meeting for Nursery and Reception as the induction meeting took place in June.  The presentations shared at the Nursery and Reception meetings are on the school website if you want to refer back to them. 

The Meet the Teacher sessions will be on Wednesday 10th September.  The teachers will share their presentation at 5:15 pm and 6 pm – this is repeated so that parents with more than one child in school can attend different presentations.  The event will be held in the classrooms.  We hope to see as many of you attend as possible.  Following the event, the presentations will be on the school website.

Parents’ Association News
Thank you to those of you who attended the Summer Festival.  I am delighted to say that we raised £3639 on the night.  Thank you so much to the team for organising such a great event.  The total raised this year by the Parents’ Association is £15,700.  The school are so grateful for this as it means we can offer so much more to our children.  The children really enjoyed the cinema visits which were funded by the PA and we were also appreciative of the time some members of the PA gave to organise a Teddy Bear’s Picnic event for our new Reception children. 

The Parents’ Association will be holding their annual AGM on Wednesday 17th September at 6 pm.  This event will be held in the school.  All parents are welcome to attend.

School Meals
The cost of school meals will be rising to £2.80 in September. This increase has been passed on to us by our school meal provider.  School meals continue to be free for children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 as part of the Universal free school meals scheme.

School Library
Do you have some time to spare during the school day to help us keep our school library organised and tidy for the children?  We would welcome any offers of help from September.  If you would like to know more or volunteer, please email the school office.

School Uniform
I sent links to uniform providers on my last newsletter.  Please can I remind you of the uniform requirements for PE lessons.  The children need black shorts, a white T-shirt, black pumps and trainers and jogging bottoms for lessons outside when the weather is colder.  We ask that PE kit isn’t branded – please save these items of clothing for wearing outside of school.

OPAL
OPAL is an Outdoor Play and Learning initiative that we have signed up to as a school.  Children in British primary schools spend 20% or 1.4 years of their school attendance in play.  The programme looks to enhance the offer given to the children during their recreational time.  This will be an 18 month to 2-year programme as we work alongside a mentor from OPAL.  A working group has already been established and taken part in an introductory meeting.  You will hear more about this project as we move forward but we are asking that if you have a tidy of toys over the summer break you consider donating anything suitable to the project.  We are particularly looking for moving toys e.g. cars, diggers etc and small world play toys.  Additionally, if you are getting rid of any old suitcases, these could be excellent for storage.  We will set up some donation points in the new school year.  If you want to know more about this initiative please visit the OPAL website - https://outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk/

I would like to finish by thanking you for your support this year.  I hope you have a lovely summer break and we look forward to seeing the children in September.
​
Best wishes,
Becky Wood