Dear Parents & Carers,

With winter well and truly upon us, there has been an added warmth to this week as the children begin to approach the Christmas season and their excitement begins to grow. Our KS1 children have started to prepare for their nativity production and our amazing PTA are busy setting up for the Christmas Fair on Sunday. It is certainly going to be a happy month ahead.

On Thursday, we were visited by Simon Stevens, our Church of England inspector, as he conducted our SIAMS inspection (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools). Christ Church school was last inspected in 2018, at which point we were awarded an Outstanding judgement. Since then, the entire inspection framework has changed and this inspection was under the September 2024 framework. At this stage we are unable to provide an outcome as a report will be written, quality assured and finalised to share with our community. I will of course write to you as soon as the report is released.

The inspection day involved many evaluative actions and meetings with the children, staff, governors, Christ Church clergy and friends and of course parents. Mr Stevens observed our Collective Worship assembly, RE lessons, children at play and took time to view books, learning journeys, learning environments and of course reviewed all of our data outcomes and demographics. It was certainly a challenging and exhausting day for all, but we feel that the inspection went extremely well and recognised the exceptional school and flourishing community that together we have built.

As a highly inclusive school, we believe that children who experience a form of disadvantage, vulnerability or Special Educational Need, deserve the support and nurturing that they deserve. The UK is experiencing what is reported to be a SEND crisis due to increased demand, inadequate funding and workforce shortages. Despite the challenges we all face, Christ Church school is committed to advocating for every child and finding ways to bring support, guidance and advice through local services and partnerships. Just this week we have worked with the school nurse, the Speech & Language Therapy service, North Star behaviour outreach support, Sensory Support Services, the Child and Mental Health Service and run our own parent group. The work led by our wonderful SENCO, Miss Holland is invaluable to so many of our children and families and we wish to reassure you that we are committed to every child and their future.

Today our children arrived in their own choice of clothes and donations of bottles for the Christmas Fair. It is always lovely to see children being children, brightly dressed and enjoying their day at school. We hope that you will all be able to join us on Sunday afternoon to support the PTA and their endless work to bring so much to the life of our school.

We are working hard to build a new school website and App portal ahead of 1^st December, as our current SZapp provider ceases to trade in the UK. We will write to you soon with the arrangements and guidance to ensure that there is a smooth transition between the two. The weekly Newsletter will also look slightly different.

We have held another successful parent tour and talk ahead of the application for places in our 2026 Reception classes, sharing the strengths, aspirations, vision and hopes for the future Please encourage any families that are considering joining Christ Church School to join one of our advertised tours in the coming weeks.

Parent and Foundation Governor Vacancies
Our Chair of Governors wrote to you last week as we are currently looking for a new Parent Governor and a new Foundation Governor. If you are interested please complete the google form below by 12 noon on Wednesday 26^th November. Thank you.

Parent/Governor Application/Nomination Form

Foundation Governor Application/Nomination Form

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend ahead and enjoy the Christmas Fair.

Warmest wishes,

Mark Oldfield

Headteacher

Hello parents & carers!

The Christmas Fair is this Sunday 12-3pm and we can’t wait to see you and your children kick starting the festive season with lots of games and fun for all ✨✨✨

A few little reminders….

• if you haven’t had the chance to buy your raffle tickets, you can purchase some on the day - but this will require cash. There are heaps of AMAZING prizes to win!
• if you have offered to volunteer - thank you! Please turn up to your slot on time and ask your class rep if you need to download the Zettle app for sales 

Thank you so much for your generosity with donations, it is always greatly appreciated. The PTA committee and a heap of volunteers have been busy little elves sorting through it all this morning

See you Sunday!

Term dates 2025-26:

• Term 2 Monday 3rd November 2025 to Friday 19th December 2025
• Term 3 Monday 5th January 2026 to Friday 13th February 2026 (Inset day Mon 5th Jan children not in school) 
• Term 4 Monday 23rd February 2026 to Thursday 2nd April 2026
• Term 5 Monday 20th April 2026 to Friday 22nd May 2026 (Academy day Fri 22nd May children not in school) 
• Term 6 Monday 1st June 2026 to Wednesday 22nd July 2026 (Inset days Mon 20th, Tues 21st and Academy day Weds 22nd July, children not in school) 

Reception have continued finding out more facts about space by identifying and ordering the planets in the Solar system through singing songs and looking at fantastic books such as ‘Meet the planets’ by Carly Hart  and ‘Eight little planets’ by Chris Ferrie and Lizzy Doyle. They have been creating their own planets using crayons, chalks and pastels as well as their own space scenes.

The children were introduced to ‘Drawing Club’ this week (a great initiative by Greg Bottrill) and excitedly let their imaginations run wild after hearing the story ‘Whatever Next’ by Jill Murphy. They were introduced to challenging vocabulary, drawing a character, setting and their own space rocket!

Maths saw the children using 5 frames and counters to physically make 1 more and 1 less from a given number. This meant working with a partner – using our value of cooperation, listening and communication skills. Tweezers and googly eyes were used to put one more or one less onto the alien body – great fun!

We learnt a very important lesson with the help of the NSPCC’s Pantosaurus! We used the acrostic ‘PANTS’ to learn the rules that keep us safe. We loved the Pantosaurus story and song to help us to remember the rules. You can find more information on this learning on the NSPCC’s website.

A big ‘thank you’ to our mystery readers who bravely came and brought their fantastic books to share with the classes! The children love trying to guess who is coming in!

Well done children for another intergalactic learning journey!

Reception Team

We’ve had another jam packed week in year 1 with some fantastic learning being spotted all around the classroom. Pastor Ruthy came to talk to us on Monday about the Church and how it is a sacred place of worship for Christians. We loved looking at the stained glass windows and learning about the importance of different artefacts. We were able to use this learning on Thursday during our RE lesson where we found similarities and differences between a church and a mosque.

The children have really enjoyed Maths this week, focusing on addition. From adding on with numicon number lines, beads on a pipe cleaner to domino addition, it has been great to see so much maths in action.

We have been learning about adjectives in our Literacy lesson and were able to describe some toys in our books. We were even able to use our adjectives in our History lesson to identify why some of the toys we saw were from the past!

Year 2 are excited to be preparing for this year’s festive production, "Christmas with the Aliens", a lively and imaginative nativity play written by Nikki Lewis.

The music is fun, upbeat, and full of energy, and the children have especially enjoyed creating actions to match the words of each song. Their enthusiasm has been wonderful to see! Every child has an important role to play in bringing the story to life, with many taking on speaking parts. We are really looking forward to seeing their hard work shine on stage!

In RE this week we have been recapping the Christmas story. The children have been busy re-telling the tale through the wonderful story wheels they have made. We have been so impressed with their enthusiasm and creativity.

In other news....we have been learning all about Newspapers and their features, ready to write our own Newspaper reports next week.

This week, Year 3 have been learning all about volcanoes and have been creating their own fact files in Literacy. The children learned that a volcano is an opening in the Earth’s crust where magma can escape, and explored the three types of volcano: dormant, active, and extinct. They also discovered more about famous volcanoes around the world, including Mount Fuji and Mount Vesuvius. The class did a fantastic job organising their writing under clear subheadings.

In Maths, we have been practising column subtraction, including exchanging. We were very impressed with the children’s determination and perseverance with this topic.  Well done Year 3!

"All Roads Lead to Learning.”

This week, Year 4 have fully immersed themselves in our term text, A Roman Soldier’s Handbook. The children have enjoyed stepping into the sandals of Roman recruits, even taking part in some authentic marching drills under the watchful eyes of our very own “centurions”! With a chorus of “Dex, Sin, Dex, Sin…” echoing across the playground, pupils gained a real sense of discipline and teamwork as they brought the text to life.

In English, we have been exploring the features of a non-chronological report. The class have been working hard to learn our model text off by heart using a detailed text map to support their recall. This strong understanding will set them up brilliantly for next week, when they will begin to innovate and make changes to the text using the knowledge they have built. The enthusiasm and confidence shown during our learning sessions have been wonderful to see.

Our history lessons have also remained firmly rooted in Roman Britain. After completing our work on Boudicca and her famous rebellion, we have now shifted our focus to the lasting legacy the Romans left behind—spotting influences that still shape our lives today. In maths, Year 4 have continued to develop their skills in multiplication and division, taking on some of the trickier times tables such as the 7s and 9s. The children have shown great determination and resilience as they tackle these new challenges.

This week, Year 5 have begun their exciting new topic on the Vikings. They started by exploring the images we often have of Vikings today — fierce warriors, longships, horned helmets — and discussed where these ideas may have come from, including stories, films, artefacts, and historical records.

The children then moved on to learn about how the Vikings travelled to Britain, why they chose to settle here, and what life was like when they arrived. They explored how, over time, Viking settlers gradually took control from the Anglo-Saxons, shaping Britain’s history and culture.

Year 5 have made a fantastic start and are already showing great curiosity about this fascinating period of history!

This week in Year 6, the children have been exploring an important theme in RE, "How do Christians respond to the needs of the world?". This was linked to our Key Question: ‘Is it better to express your religion in art and architecture or charity and generosity?’

We began by looking at key Bible stories that show how Christians are expected to respond to the needs of others. We drew on several bible stories that teach that Christians should care for others, especially those in need.

Jesus showed that true faith is demonstrated through action—helping the hungry, the poor, the sick, and the marginalised.

Building on these ideas, the children learned about the work of Christian Aid, a global Christian organisation committed to tackling poverty and injustice. Christian Aid believes that every person is created in the image of God and therefore deserves dignity, respect and the chance to live a life of peace and worth. The children reflected on the idea that, in a world with such immense wealth and resources, no one should be left without basic needs such as food, shelter, safety or clean water.

We explored how Christian Aid supports communities around the world by working with people of all faiths and none. Linking with our recent work in Geography and PSHE, the children were particularly interested to learn how the charity partners with local groups to promote sustainable development, respond to emergencies and campaign for fairness. They recognised that this reflects the Christian call to be “Good Samaritans” to everyone, offering help wherever it is needed.

Year 6 showed thoughtful engagement, making links between Christian teachings and real-world examples of people living out their faith. We were incredibly proud of their discussions about compassion, justice and global responsibility. It has been a meaningful week of learning that encouraged pupils to consider how their own actions can make a positive difference in the wider world.

In English this week, Year 6 have stepped into the world of Narnia to write a persuasive speech from the perspective of the Queen. Taking on her commanding voice, the children wrote speeches addressed to her spies and Secret Police, explaining exactly what must be done if they encounter the Sons of Adam or Daughters of Eve. They worked hard to balance persuasion with authority, choosing powerful vocabulary, rhetorical questions and firm instructions to capture the Queen’s tone.

The class also had great fun writing instructional texts linked to Narnian magic, creating detailed step-by-step guides for brewing a Truth Serum spell. They experimented with imperative verbs, precise sequencing, and vivid (sometimes deliciously gory!) details to bring their instructions to life.

Overall, the children showed fantastic creativity and a strong grasp of persuasive and instructional writing techniques.

A surprise package came in the post for one of our class this week – she won a prize in a maths competition at Red Maids. How fantastic!

Finally, Year 6 enjoyed an exciting Times Tables Rock Stars: Battle of the Bands challenge! Girls versus Boys. The children showed brilliant enthusiasm as they competed to boost their accuracy and speed, working together to score points for their team. Their determination, teamwork and competitive spirit shone through, and it was fantastic to see so many pupils pushing themselves to improve. My question is, who has won? At the time of writing this, boys were in the lead, but there is still three more hours of competing time left!

Currently the score is: Boys - 568 points and Girls - 513 points