Parents

Weekly Parent Bulletin - Friday 2nd October 2026

Dear parents,

Thank you to everyone for joining us for parents evenings this week. It was wonderful to hear so many families leaving having discussed super starts to the academic year. I've also encouraged staff to be open and honest about any areas of development too, as it's so important we can all work together to help every child succeed.

We began our latest round of EYFS tours this week. If you have any friends or family considering a space at Avonwood for their child, do encourage them to book in for a tour. With the birth rate lower than ever before, families that might not have been able to secure a space in the past may be pleasantly surprised.

On Thursday we celebrated National Poetry Day with recitals from our KS2 classes during a special assembly. I was blown away by some of the performances, notably Year 4 managing to remember off by heart the entire Jabberwocky poem. #EducationWithCharacter

Next week we have a new local business 'Bubbly Sourdough' setting up a sourdough stall for sale on Tuesday afternoons! It feels very Avonwood to have an artisan sourdough stall on site, I suspect they'll be busy! If you know other local businesses that would like to pitch up once a week, encourage them to get in touch.

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jackson

Whole School Reminders

PTA Updates

We will be holding our AGM on Wednesday 14th October 2026 at the school. The meeting will take place at 7:00pm for a 7:15 start and we will be looking at appointing roles, such as trustees, as well as discussing upcoming events, bids and fund raising ideas. We look forward to seeing you there! 😊

Thank you to everyone who has purchased early bird tickets for our firework display. Tickets can still be purchased at the standard rate online using the link below. This event WILL sell out so make sure you get yours before they do!

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/avonwoodprimarypta

If anyone has or knows of a small business who would like to run a stall at our firework event, please email us at avonwoodpta@gmail.com. Prices start at £30 for a stall.

Thank you to all the children that entered the ‘Big Red Button’ competition. Your posters all looked incredible!

If you don't already, please follow us on social media to keep up-to-date on all PTA news.

FACE - October Timetable

Below is the timetable for our new parent support tool - FACE. Please refer to the letter sent out for the Avonwood code to make the talks free.

Christmas Card Competition

Tom Hayes MP is delighted to be launching his annual Christmas Card Competition and would love for pupils at our school to take part.

The theme is "Bournemouth at Christmas", and the winning design will be featured on Tom's official Christmas card, which is sent to local organisations, community groups, Members of Parliament and other recipients.

Please click here for information about the competition, including how to enter and the prizes available.

OPAL UPDATES

This term, we are launching a class competition to restock some of our resources for OPAL lunchtimes.

The below BINGO Card has been given to each class to see if they can bring in and tick off the items that are required. If they can get all 3 in a column the class will receive 5 minutes extra play as a reward. For 5 in a row the class will receive 10 mins extra play. Please take the items to the classroom so the teachers can tick it off and we will take it to the OPAL shed.

Thank you for your continued support. Any other items please take to the donation containers in the front foyer near reception, as before.

Harvest Festival

On 15th October we are holding our Harvest Festival assemblies. Hope For Food charity, support many Avonwood families with supermarket supplies when times are tough. If you are able to spare an item to donate then please bring this to your child’s class room by Wednesday 14th October, but please do not feel any pressure to do so. Please see the poster below for a list of suitable items.

Wessex Rotary Shoebox Scheme

Its that time of year again - The Rotary Club have dropped off their shoeboxes for disadvantaged and displaced children. If you would like to make up a box, then please come to the office to collect one along with the leaflet. Boxes will be collected just after half term.

Weekly Year Group Updates

EYFS

Phonics - We have now learnt the following sounds and are practising reading, writing and using them in words: s, a, t, p, i, n
Phonics Homework- We have now started sending home our phonics homework. This will be sent home every Friday and should be returned each Thursday. Please encourage your child to complete both the front and back of the sheet to support their learning.
Phonics Workshop - All EYFS parents are invited to attend our Phonics Workshop on Thursday 15th October at 9:15am. We will explain how phonics is taught in school and share practical ways you can support your child with reading and spelling at home.
Speech and Language coffee morning - We are also holding an EYFS Speech and Language Coffee Morning with specialist Speech and Language Therapist Jill Thornton on Thursday 8th October at 9:15am. She will share information and advice on how to support your child's speech, language understanding and communication skills at home. We look forward to seeing as many parents as possible at these events.
Home Challenge - Can your child recognise and find their name amongst lots of different names? Please practise name recognition at home. We will be celebrating children who achieve this next week.

Year 1

None this week.

Year 2

None this week.

Year 3

A reminder that all children need to bring a cereal box and a photograph in by Friday 9^th October ready for our exciting DT day.

Year 4

None this week.

Year 5

None this week.

Year 6

Bikeability - If your child is signed up to complete their Bikeability course, they received a letter yesterday informing them which days they will need to come into school in PE kit with their bike and helmet.
Homework - now that Year 6 are settled, we would like them to get back into the bait of completing different homework tasks to recap their learning and aid them in preparation for managing this at secondary. We have set them assignments on both Spelling Shed and Doodle Maths this week.