Happy New Year from all of us a Kenton Primary School.

I am writing on Friday morning, we seem to have come through Storm Goretti relatively unscathed. One of the beautiful timeline boards on our fence was broken in half and blown across the pathway so I am very glad that none of us were on site when that happened, however, I know that for many families this will have been a very worrying and upsetting time. I hope that all of you, and all your friends and family, especially those living down towards Cornwall, are safe.

At the start of the week, the focus was less on wind and more on cold. The children enjoyed playing with any with any ice they could find, Mr Finch didn’t enjoying gritting all the paths around the site quite as much! We are very glad that we managed to get all our issues with the heating in Chestnut Class sorted before the break.

This week we have been thinking about or school value of Respect. We thought about respecting each other, respecting our teacher’s right to be able to teach and the other pupils right to learn, respect for what our parents and carers do for us, respect for the school buildings and its resources and, most importantly, respect for ourselves. I don’t know if it is coincidence but I have definitely noticed a great deal of really improved respectful behaviour in the school this week – well done everyone.

Miss Webber has returned to school after her Maternity Leave. She is teaching Willow Class four days each week with Miss Laguna remaining with us to teach the fifth day. It is so lovely to have Miss Webber back and extra lovely that we don’t have to say goodbye to Miss Laguna – a real ‘win win’! The reception class have been gradually spending more time in their own classroom and less in with Nursery which has, I think, been beneficial for all. We love the mixing of the classes and the way children get to learn to be with children older and younger than themselves, but there is no doubt that bringing more of the provision into the one room has allowed us to keep a focus on learning throughout everything the children do. Miss Webber and Miss Laguna have done a phenomenal job this week.

PE Days

This term, we have Mr Tyrell for gymnastics and Mrs Wenman for Dance both visiting the school on a Thursday.

That means that both the children’s PE sessions happen on a Thursday and NOT on a Tuesday.

Children should come to school in PE Kit on Thursdays but not on any other days.

Volunteer To Support our School

We would love to welcome more parents and carers into school to volunteer. We especially urgently would like to ask some adults to read with pupils. This is a really rewarding job that allows you to feel you are making a difference to the life of these children and it’s very enjoyable too. If you could spare an hour two or three times a week, I guarantee that you won’t regret it. We would give you some training so that you know what you are being asked to do and make sure that you are well set up. This would be brilliant for anyone with some flexibility in their working life or for a retired person so do share the word with any grandparents or with other older people in our community.

Additionally, we have many, many books that we need to process onto our system before we can add them to our library. This is a time consuming and meticulous task that might suit someone who is organised and likes quietly following a process. It makes a difference as each book you process might be the very book that a child needs to spark or nourish their love of reading. This doesn’t need to take place during school hours, theoretically it could happen after hours or through a weekend if need be.

Parking

Neighbours on East Town Lane are once again concerned about parking at drop off and pick up times. I have been asked to have a word, especially about parking on the sharp turn at the bottom of our drive. When cars park on that corner, visibility is very much reduced for cars coming up the road an it feels like an accident waiting to happen. We know that some families really do need to drive as we don’t all live near to the school, and we know that it can be hard to find a spot to park but, please, do allow yourself the extra time to park that little bit further away and ensure that driveways are clear and that there is a clear way for children and families to cross the road without having to dodge between cars with limited visibility.

Building Blocks, Toy Cars, Marble Run, Small World Play, Playmobil, Road Network Mat, Equipment for a Play Kitchen, duplo, robust trikes, sand and water play items….

Could you put the word out for us to look out for fun things we can add to the play and learning in Nursery and Reception? If older children have grown out of any of these things, we’d be very grateful if you could push them our way and, please, please, share the list on any community WhatsApp groups or Facebook pages that you have access to. We want a rich play environment for all our children and with school budgets so very tight, every penny counts. Beside which, there’s often more wonderful things knocking about in sheds and attics than we could ever dream of!

Biscuit Questionnaire

This is a nice one – I’m asking you to share your wishes for 2026. Whether it’s more kindness in the world, good experiences for our pupils, a longed for holiday or something in your life. Whatever it is, let us know and I’ll share with the pupils in our ‘attitude of gratitude’ Friday Assembly next week. One entrant will, as ever, be randomly picked and receive some yummy biscuits to share.

To take part, just click here.

Birthday Treats

It has been a long tradition that children at Kenton bring in treats for classmates to celebrate their birthdays. I would like, as gently as I can, to discourage this. We have some children in our school with quite high level allergies. None, thankfully, whose lives are threatened by their allergies but a few whose weekends would very certainly be spoiled if they ate something that they weren’t meant to. Additionally, a lot of parents, very reasonably, want to have a bit of control over what their children are eating and to keep sweets as a real treat rather than a very regular indulgence. It’s very hard and quite embarrassing to say ‘no, you can’t eat that’ to a child who emerges from the classroom clutching a pack of sweeties, even though you are working hard to get on top of your child’s sugar and preservative intake. I would love to invite parents to think of other ways they could celebrate a child’s birthday with the class – stickers? sparkly pencils? A book for the class book corner? If we could find a way of moving away from celebrating with sugar, I would be very grateful.

Blaze had a smashing time finding ice in the tyres on the playground.

Children learned the story of Noah and the Ark and thought about what it could mean for them.

Super work on the glockenspiels from Oak Class