Parents

Weekly Parent Bulletin - Friday 9th January

Dear parents,

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas break with your families. I certainly felt very lucky to be Dad to a 7 year old and 4 year old - it made for two weeks of wonderful Christmas magic. I always find New Year to be a great opportunity for personal reflection and goal setting too. It left me feeling grateful and excited for the year ahead at Avonwood... to infinity, and beyond!

This week the Children's Commissioner produced a parent guide called "what I wish I knew" about the digital challenges of parenting. It makes for a really interesting read with some thought provoking quotes around what some parents wish they had done differently with smart phones. With Australia banning social media for under 16's, it feels like momentum is building around whether we all need to do more to protect children in this area. If you have 5 minutes; it's a worthwhile read:

'What I wish my parents or carers knew…': A guide for parents and carers on managing children’s digital lives | Children's Commissioner for England

Next week we have our latest round of parent evenings. As well as a holistic update around their progress at Avonwood, you'll also be presented with the latest updates around reading, writing and maths. A reminder to look out for whether your child is making expected progress or reaching greater depth. If your child is 'working towards', they are below age related expectations. Should this be the case, it's worth probing this with staff to understand how we can work together to help. Today, Years 1 to 6 will have also received their mid year reports. There is no formal report for EYFS as there is no data to report at this early stage in the year.

Please double check appointment times in advance of meetings next week too. Where the system was reset, it's worth checking to avoid any double bookings.

A reminder that Miss Keates has challenged staff, parents and pupils to enter the 2026 Rotary Club photography competition. Details about this competition and how to enter can be found below -

Have a great weekend!

Mr Jackson

Whole School Reminders

PTA Updates

PTA Meeting

We will be holding our next PTA meeting at The Way Outback in Southbourne on Wednesday 21st January. Welcome from 7:15pm for a start time of 7:30pm. Lots of fun things to plan for 2026!

Whole School Updates

The latest exciting news from Pop-Up Bookshop:

Parents Evening Fundraising Book Fair - Families have the chance to shop for books and contribute to school book fundraising at Parents Evening next week - visit the Pop-Up Bookshop book fair to browse a wide selection of children’s fiction, non-fiction and activity books. Browse titles from our curated Year Group Reading Lists supporting our pupil Reading Rewards initiative:
Monday 12th January
Reception Foyer
3.30pm - 6.30pm
Cash, card & contactless payments accepted
National Book Tokens accepted

Book Fundraising Results - A huge thank you to everyone who supported book fundraising last term - we raised an extra £196 books, bringing our overall total to a whopping £6,392 books for school! Contribute to school book fundraising 365 days per year on the Pop-Up Bookshop website - choose from over 6,000 titles: https://popupbookshop.net

Reading Rewards - Don’t forget to claim your Reading Rewards discount vouchers as your child completes each reading at home milestone - check out our school page on the Pop-Up Bookshop website for full information: https://popupbookshop.net/avonwood-primary-school

Preloved Book Donations - We are now collecting high-quality pre-loved children's books for our event on World Book Day in March. We particularly need chapter books for 5 - 11 years and non-fiction titles. Please bring your books to school marked 'Pop-Up Bookshop' before 7th February.

Weekly Year Group Updates

EYFS

Welcome back! - The children have all settled back into school life so well! It has been lovely hearing about what they got up to in the holidays.
Parents evening - A reminder that parents evening is next Monday 12^th January and Wednesday 14th January. Please check with Miss Greenwood or Miss Dimambro if you need a reminder of your time slot.

Year 1

Happy New Year and welcome back! Year 1 have settled back into school well after the holiday - we are so proud of them!
Parent Evening - Please sign up if you have not yet done so. We look forward to meeting with you next week to update you on your child's progress.

Squirrels - Monday 12^th January & Wednesday 14^th January

Owls - Wednesday 14^th January & Thursday 15^th January

Year 2

Happy new year, we have had a wonderful first week back.
Monday 12^th January - children to enter school via the school hall with their small bag/suitcase containing items from either a hot or cold country. Children should bring their 'passport' with them that they have in their school bag today.
From next week children will have spelling shed homework. Log ins are in the children's reading records. This is an online homework.
Please check your log ins and times on School Cloud ready for on line parents evening.

Year 3

None this week.

Year 4

A polite reminder that parent's evenings are next week: Monday 12th January - face to face & Wednesday 13th January - online.

Year 5

We are very excited to have our Roman Day on Monday (12th January). Thank you for sending in the cardboard as requested. We are still on the hunt for more, so please make sure that any cardboard you have saved up is brought into school for Monday morning. Children are welcome to dress up in Roman outfits!
We enjoyed our first Forest School session today focused on filtering water safely. Please make sure children are sent in suitable clothing and footwear as it is very chilly first thing in the morning.

Year 6

Well done to Year 6 children for a fantastic first few days - everyone has come back energised and ready for the half term ahead!
New homework sheets were handed out earlier this week so please check these to make sure the correct pages are being completed. The first date for these to be handed in to teachers is Thursday 22nd January.