Parents

Weekly Parent Bulletin - Friday 9th October 2026

Dear parents,

Earlier this week we shared Mrs Grimleys fundraiser on our school Facebook page in memory of her 4 year old daughter Seren. For those of you who may not know, Seren sadly passed away over the summer holidays. She had been due to start at Avonwood this September in EYFS. This weekend, Mrs Grimley is running the Royal Parks half marathon in Seren's memory. It has been heartwarming and humbling to see the many kind messages of support on Mrs Grimleys fundraising page (Stars For Seren - GiveWheel). I always think of Avonwood as a family and this has been an amazing example of the supportive community we have here. #TeamAvonwood

Next week we are holding our annual harvest assembly. Each year we hold a collection for 'Hope for Food', collecting vital supplies for their food bank. At Avonwood we are fortunate to have our own discrete food pantry that supports as many as 50 families each week with items. The pantry is discretely tucked away in the corner of our reception foyer. Hope for Food provide the food found in our pantry, so it's a cause that is close to our hearts here. If you are able to donate an item, please drop it into school one day next week to your child's class. We will present our donations to the Hope for Food team at this assembly.

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jackson

Whole School Reminders

PTA Updates

We are looking forward to seeing you at our PTA AGM next week! See below for all the details.

We need you! The Avonwood Fireworks event is a really big opportunity for the school to raise lots of funds to improve our school facilities but the PTA can't do it alone so we need your help! As before we are rewarding each volunteer with either a free refreshments, a free bounce or a priority ticket for your child's Christmas play. Please sign up for your slot using this link. Thank you! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094CACAC29A6FCC16-65890223-fireworks

Remember to buy your firework tickets online. Get them before they sell out! Purchase them online from the link below.

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

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

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.

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.

Bubbly Sourdough Stall

The Bubbly Sourdough stall will be here on Tuesday 20th October. Feel free to message Patricia on instagram if you would like to pre-order loaves - @bubbly_sourdough.

JP Morgan Coding Club

We're looking for parent volunteers who work at JP Morgan to help run the existing after-school Code Club. No technical skills are required, just enthusiasm, creativity and a willingness to help.

Please contact Shanti Patel or Ben Townson via JPM Teams to sign up, or for more information.

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.

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

What another fantastic week the children have had in Foundation. They have loved setting traps and writing wanted posters to help find the Evil Pea. Luckily he has been found trapped today and is safely locked away in the freezer mwahahahaha!
Recommended reads- please can you remember to return the book and completed book review before taking any new books.
New home challenge: Thankyou for your support in helping the children with their name recognition. This weeks challenge is to encourage your children to independently put on and take off their own coats- especially when the arms are inside out as many are finding this a bit tricky.
Over the two weeks we are focusing on People who help us and will have several visitors.

Year 1

Next week in writing, we are creating a non-fiction book about the children's favourite toys. Please can the children bring their favourite toy into school Wednesday so we can complete our writing. Please think carefully about what toy your child brings in, there is the potential risk of these being damaged or lost.
We have our upcoming science and geography trip to Kings Park on Friday. Please let your child's class teacher know if you have any concerns of them coming on the trip.
This week we have been busy re assessing the children's phonics. Reading books have still been changed.
We are still on the hunt for parent reading volunteers. Let us know if you are free to help.

Year 2

We have been so impressed with the children's narratives work this week, they have all worked so hard.
We are still on the hunt for any parent volunteers for reading, if you would like and are able to volunteer then please speak to the class teacher.
Thank you for sending in the pebbles, we have all really enjoyed decorating them.

Year 3

A big thank you for sending in all of those cereal boxes for our DT day today. We had a great day and hope you love the photo frames that the children have brought home!
Please look out for a letter coming out soon about our Forest School sessions that are taking place next half term.

Year 4

Thank you for your continued support with home learning, we have loved seeing photos and listening to audio clips of the children reading at home!

Year 5

A reminder that parents are invited into school on Friday 23^rd October at 15:00 to see Year 5's STEAM week projects on 'Earth and Space'!
Thank you so much to everyone who has brought in shoe boxes, we now have enough. We will reach out again should we require more.

Year 6

Homework - A reminder that children have Spelling Shed and Doodle Maths assignments to complete each week as part of their homework.
Forest School - We unfortunately could not run our Forest School sessions today due to staff illness. We will speak to Craig about when is best to schedule a replacement session at some point this year.