Parents

Weekly Parent Bulletin - Friday 11th September 2026

Dear parents,

I'm so proud of the marvellous start to the new academic year made by pupils of all ages. Across the school there are so many examples of children getting stuck into challenging new work with positive 'can-do' attitudes. Your support in helping us get off to a great start is much appreciated.

On Monday afternoon (14th September) we are hosting our 'Meet the Teacher' events for Years 1 to 6 from 15:15-16:00. Parents are invited to drop in straight after school and teachers will run through a short presentation about plans for the year ahead. There will also be a chance to ask any questions you may have. If you have more than one child, we would encourage you attend the session for the eldest sibling.

On Tuesday evening we have the first PTA meeting of the year, hosted at the Way Outback Bar. Our PTA is responsible for helping the school in so many ways, most notably helping fund our new library and much of the Opal Play lunchtime resourcing. If you can spare the time to come along, you can help determine new projects, have a say in successful bids and help our community to continue to shine. It would be amazing to see representation from every class.

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jackson

Whole School Reminders

PTA Updates

Our first PTA meeting of the school year is on Tuesday 15th September at the Way Outback bar in Southbourne. We will be discussing upcoming events, bid requests and new fund raising ideas which will benefit the school and all of our children. Come along and find out how we can all help support our school community. Meeting starts at 7:30 pm. We are looking forward to seeing some new faces there! If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to get involved, feel free to send us an email or message us through socials. If you don't already, please follow us on social media to keep up-to-date on all PTA news.

Fireworks

Early bird tickets for our firework display are now on sale! This event often sells out so make sure you don't miss out on this incredible display.

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

It’s time for our annual PTA Firework Display poster competition! If your child would like to be in with a chance to press the red button to launch the display, follow the details in the flyer below.

Important Allergy Information

Avonwood Primary School is a nut free school. Parents should never send in items known to contain nuts. Where many food items state 'may contain nuts', these items are permitted. Sesame is also categorised as a major allergen and we do have children in the school with severe allergies to this which is notably in most houmous recipes. Therefore, although a healthy snack, please do not bring houmous to school.

Items we ask parents to avoid include:

Peanut butter
Houmous - contains sesame oil
Chocolate bars with nuts
Nutella style chocolate spreads
Hand cream / sun cream that contains nut based oils

Children With Allergies

If you child has an allergy, please arrange a meeting with our SENDCO to organise a medical health care plan.

sendsupport@avonwoodprimaryschool.org.uk

SEND & Wellbeing Update

Please have a look at our Padlets - an online platform where we collate lots of information around Special Educational Needs and Wellbeing. We add to these when we find new resources so check back regularly to see if there's something useful for you.

SEND Padlet

A place to find information about support available for children and parents. With sections on ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Speech and Language and much more. There are lots of resources for both children and parents, information about support groups and where to find private assessments amongst other things - please take a look!

https://padlet.com/gemmamorling/avonwood-family-wellbeing-hub-5d71iuw8s895ed3d

Wellbeing Padlet

Here you'll find a wealth of information around areas such as anxiety and worries, confidence and self-esteem, transitions and exams. We often post information about webinars for parents here too and with lots of resources for children there's something for everyone.

https://padlet.com/danielledimambro/avonwood-send-parent-information-hub-59zjxgbg9w817yl1

Summer Reading Challenge

Lego request!

If any families have any Lego that they could donate for a Lego club/Opal play, please could they drop it off at the office. Thank you in advance for your support!

SoundStorm’s Creative Ensemble

SoundStorm’s Creative Ensemble is returning on 10^th October 2026! Please see the attached flyer for details and to apply for a place on one, some or all of the sessions. Sessions are open to all musicians aged 10-17 of any ability on any instrument including voice. Click here for flyer

Inspire Youth Sports - Rugby

Our new Thursday rugby club is available for years 1 - 6. Please use the contact details on the flyer to book your space!

Weekly Year Group Updates

EYFS

The children have had a brilliant week at school exploring different activities each day. We are very proud of them.

Please make sure your child's jumper, cardigan and coat has their name on as we already have some without.
Please encourage your child to practice independently putting their coat on and off and doing their zip.
PE will be on Tuesdays AND Thursdays so please send your child into school in their PE kit on these days.
Children will be provided with a snack each day, so there is no need to send one in.
Please make sure that you let the office know the names of any people who may collect your child to save delay at pick up.

Year 1

PE days are Thursday and Friday.
We are visiting Kings Park on Friday 16^th October as part of our Geography topic. Please speak to your child's class teacher if you are able to volunteer and accompany us on this trip (9am-12.00)

Year 2

Meet the teacher takes place Monday after school in your child's classroom.
Reading records have now been sent home with a reading book. We encourage the children to bring these into school everyday.

Year 3

Well done to all the Year 3 children for a fantastic start to the new school year.
P.E days are Monday and Tuesday, starting next week.
Have a great weekend from the Year 3 staff.

Year 4

Thank you for such a brilliant effort with the costumes and colourful clothing this week. Rio day was brilliant and the children really embraced the carnival spirit.
Starting from this Friday until next Friday morning, Year 4 are taking part in a Battle of the Bands (Hawks vs Eagles) on Times Table Rockstars. The battle times have been set for 7am - 7pm so points earned in school and at home contribute to the scoring. We have limited the daily play time to 45 minutes which should mean that a max of 15 minutes at home. If the children play Garage then we have set the algorithm to encourage the children to learn the tables suitable to them as an individual. Playing the other types of games at home will mean that they will be asked questions up to 12x 12. Please encourage your child to join in with the Battle. Individual prizes will be awarded too.
Next Monday we have a Meet the Teacher Presentation after school. We will be giving you an overview of the year ahead and be able to answer any questions.
Polite reminder that hair longer than shoulder length should be worn up everyday, in accordance with our uniform policy. Keeping spare hairbands in rucksacks is a good idea. If you have any adult shirts or large t-shirts (Please cut long sleeves down) that you no longer need please do consider sending them in with you child ~(named) so they can keep them on their peg as an art shirt. Whilst we try to avoid any spillages, some of our art can become a little messy and we would like to protect the uniforms of the children. Later this half term we will be using clay and acrylic paint, neither of which are easy to wash out.
Starting from Monday the 14th, we will be using our online reading records. Please look out for a link to the 'Learning with Parents' site. Sometimes the email goes into junk folders so please check there first before letting the class teacher that you've not received it.
Lastly, if you are interested in helping Year 4 out either weekly as an adult reader in the afternoons or during special days, such as cookery or design technology days, then please do let the office know and they will be able to help you to become DBS checked. All help is appreciated.

Year 5

Please can you bring in any and all spare shoe boxes and hand them to your child's class teacher. They are needed for a project later on this term. Thank you in advance for these!

Year 6

On Monday we will be holding out 'Meet the teacher' presentations in Year 6 classrooms from 3:15-4:00.
Homework - we have not set any homework this week. We are aware that a number of children are focusing on 11+ practice at home so will begin homework next week with a short task which introduces one of the expected activities (either EdShed or Doodle maths). This should only take 10 minutes or so but will begin to get the children into a routine for completing homework for each Friday deadline.
A reminder that if you would like your children to complete the Level 1 and 2 Bikeability course, this is available to them the week beginning 5^th October in school. A letter was sent home with more details. Please sign up ASAP to ensure they are included in final group numbers.
Buddens - the deposit of £105 is due today to secure a space for your child on the Year 6 residential (Wednesday 26^th - Friday 28^th May 2027). If there are any problems regarding payment, please contact the school office. A breakdown of installments and due dates can be seen below:

Total cost to payer:

£370.00

Instalment 1:

£105.00 11/09/2026

Instalment 2:

£65.00 30/10/2026

Instalment 3:

£50.00 30/11/2026

Instalment 4:

£50.00 31/12/2026

Instalments 5:

£50.00 29/01/2027

Instalment 6:

£50.00 26/02/2027