Learn Together, Grow Together, Succeed Together

{item_alt_tag}

January 2026

Issue 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome back to a brand new term! I hope this message finds you well, despite the chilly weather we’ve been experiencing. It's wonderful to see our Poverest children back in school, full of energy and ready to learn.

I apologise for the temporary closure of the Poverest Road entrance this week. We understand this caused an extended journey for some of you, and we appreciate your patience and understanding. The green gate near Tiddlywinks experienced a technical fault, but I'm pleased to report that the company worked diligently on Thursday and Friday, and the gate is now fully fixed and operational.

During this week’s assembly, I shared the 2026 National Year of Reading which is a National initiative. While we know the majority of our Poverest pupils are already regular readers—which is fantastic news—we want to further ignite a lifelong love of reading. Our aim is to encourage reading not just for the significant academic benefits, but also as a precious time to escape into an imaginative world and enjoy a peaceful moment alone with a book. 

We were so proud to hear about Year 3’s trip to the British Library in London. They had an incredible day, not only learning about the history and importance of the library itself but also getting hands-on with creativity by making their own books and designing all the unique artwork for them. This is a wonderful example of learning beyond the classroom, and they returned full of enthusiasm.

Sportacus hosted our Tree of Success assembly this week. It was a pleasure to celebrate the outstanding effort and attainment of our children, with medals awarded for their commitment to after-school clubs. The Sportacus clubs are truly excellent, providing great opportunities for physical activity and skill development. If your child isn't already involved, please do consider signing up via their website: Sportacus Bookings.

A huge well done is also due to our class winners in the new attendance competition, launched by Mrs Jewitt in assembly today. Congratulations to Blossom Class for achieving the gold cup with a brilliant 100% attendance this week! Well done also to Cedar for securing Silver, and to Elder and Beech for tying for joint third place. Every day counts, and fantastic attendance is the foundation for successful learning.

Finally, a quick but important reminder that next week, on Thursday, is our School Census Day. It is incredibly important for all our children to be in school on this day, as our attendance figures directly affect the school's financial income. Your support in ensuring high attendance is invaluable to us.

We hope the weather warms up a little, and I wish you all a wonderful and restful weekend.

With very best wishes,

Paul Haylock

Focus Week – Year 5 

During November, Year 5 were so lucky to take part in a live link-up with delegates from COP30 in Brazil and were inspired by the ideas shared to improve our impact on the climate.  The children considered what we could do as a school including the introduction of a Climate Curriculum and a Climate Working Party.  We shared our ideas, and details of our fantastic new Outdoor Classroom with Sir Keir Starmer, when we had the wonderful opportunity of hand delivering letters to 10 Downing Street.  What an amazing experience that was!  

As part of our Tudor topic, Year 5 had an absolutely fantastic day at The Tower of London, seeing so much history in the flesh.  We were led around by one of Henry’s wives and learned so much about life in Tudor times. In December, we organised a fabulous science trip to The Paradox Museum in South Kensington, where we were able to experience zero gravity and were transported in many exhibits to explore the museum where nothing is normal! 

Later in the month, we visited the cinema to see Michael Morpurgo’s ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’, which was great as we had been reading the book in our classes.  In DT, we created our own amazing Doodlers which were powered by an electric motor and ‘danced’ around the page. In science, we looked at irreversible and reversible changes and during our experiments, set fire to, and heated, some materials and luckily didn’t set the fire alarm off!

Having written Christmas cards with happy messages to some of the older people in our community, some children got the opportunity to deliver them by hand.  They were gratefully received by all concerned.  The children were keen to support Crisis, the homeless charity, as part of their ‘Bring someone in from the cold’ initiative and organised a cake sale to raise money.  What a fantastic result we had and managed to change the lives of 6 people! 

{item_alt_tag}
{item_alt_tag}
{item_alt_tag}

Winners of the week

{item_alt_tag}
{item_alt_tag}
{item_alt_tag}

Attendance

Class Attendance 
Walnut  97.41%
Willow 95.53%
Hazel  89.17%
Holly 93.55%
Cedar  98.33%
Chestnut 95.83%
Beech 97.41%
Birch  96.55%
Fig 96.67%
Fir 93.53%
Elm  96.98%
Elder 95.83%
Oak  94.44%
Olive  97.18%
Blossom 100%
Damson 98.21%
Mulberry 80.56%
Whole School 95.39%
End of Term - Normal Collection Time
3:00pm – 3:15pm
13
February