The festive season is almost upon us once again! All the school staff have been working extra hard to put together some fantastic events and performances for your entertainment – we all look forward to sharing these with you. Your support with line and song learning is much appreciated.
It is going to be an amazing end to the Autumn Term!
We are delighted to let you all know that Mr Dillan Deach will become our Deputy Head with effect from 1st January 2025.
Mr Deach joined us at Colston Bassett School in January 2020 as our Reception Teacher. His early memories of life at the school were very different to the school as it is now, as the Covid-19 pandemic hit us all a very short time after in March 2020 – what strange times they were! Needless to say, Mr Deach took it all in his stride and very quickly became an incredibly popular member of the staff team and as well as being a class teacher, he took on teaching Spanish in the school day and then running the Spanish and Creative after school clubs too. He happily took on a pastoral role as pupil mentor enabling the children to confide in him as they all feel very comfortable with him.
In September 2020, Mr Deach began his degree in Primary Education and completed that after three years. His Qualified Teacher Status followed and we are very proud of his achievements. We know he is very popular with the children and indeed, all the parents too. We are sure you will all agree that this is a well-deserved promotion for him.
Thank you to the parents that have already made appointments and have been to see their child’s teachers this term. For those who haven’t yet signed up for an appointment and would like one, please get in touch with the office at your earliest convenience to arrange a suitable date and time.
The children thoroughly enjoyed their recent trip to Coventry Transport Museum. Children in Class 1 learnt about bicycles through the interactive story about the ‘boneshaker’ bicycle, based on the first bicycle produced in Coventry and its pioneer Mr Rowley Turner. Children in Class 2 and Class 3 learnt how cycles came to be made in Coventry, investigated materials, created cycle frame models and examined cycles up close, before using their newly found understanding to explain why cycles changed in appearance so quickly in the Victorian Era. Everybody then had great fun exploring the vast collection of British vehicles the museum had to offer, before experiencing what it would be like to drive the fastest car in the world through the ‘4D Land Speed Record Simulator’! What a lovely day out and a great asset to all the children’s Humanities topics on 'Transport'.
Families newer to the school probably won’t be aware we always hold an annual tradition of taking the children to see a pantomime, as a Christmas treat and as part of their Drama studies. This year we have opted to go to the Nottingham Playhouse to see ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. We have booked tickets for Tuesday 14th January 2025 for the 11:00am matinee performance. We will send out our usual trip letter after Christmas advising the total cost and payment form for you to complete and return. We hope the children will all have a wonderful time – oh yes we do!
Thank you to Alanna and Matthew Lymn Rose, Chelsea Keightley and all the other parents who kindly arranged and supported these two events this year. The Halloween party at the village hall on Saturday 26th October was full of scary creatures and the children all had a lovely time.
The fireworks party took place at the Lymn Roses’ house on Saturday 2nd November and a good time was had by all. There was burgers and hot dogs to eat, plenty to drink and a particularly dazzling firework display! Well done to the children for behaving responsibly with the sparklers.
We do hope these become annual events once again.
On Friday 15th November, we joined in with BBC Children in Need and had a fun ‘Spotty’ and Non-Uniform Day. We had a ‘Guess the Number of Spots on the Cake’ competition and a ‘Duck Race Sweep Stake’ – congratulations to Stanley who won the cake and to Jessica who backed the winning duck! The children also had great fun having their faces painted and making Pudsey money boxes and Pudsey cupcakes in Creative Club. We managed to raise a total of £165.00 for Children in Need. A big thank you to all the children, parents and staff for their support as always.
This year we marked Armistice Day by placing the children’s poppy wreaths, which they had made themselves, around the Village Cross at the junction of School Lane, Hall Lane and Church Gate. The children paid their respects at the ‘Lest We Forget’ silhouettes, learning a little about the characters from the village that they represent, such as 19-year-old Benjamin Sheppard who used to be a pupil at Colston Bassett School in 1911. At the Memorial Cross outside St John the Divine Church, a minute’s silence was held after the Westminster chimes at 11:00am, followed by Stanley – our Head Boy – placing a wooden Remembrance Cross with the wreaths which had been left on Remembrance Sunday.
Just a final reminder about our forthcoming school quiz. The village hall is booked for Saturday 30th November 2024, doors open at 6:30pm with the aim to start at 7:00pm. The quiz nights we held in the past were always great fun so please make up a team and come along if you can. Tickets are £5.00 per person (to include a light supper) and are available to purchase from the school office. There will also be a bar to pay for on the night and a game of bingo, so do bring along some cash/loose change.
Rosettes and a prize have been purchased for the winning team. Get revising everyone!
This year we have decided that instead of using a printing company, we are printing our own Christmas cards with the children’s designs on. They have already designed these in school and will be available to buy as a pack of five cards (including envelopes) for £5.00, with a limit of two packs per child. If you could please email the office how many packs you would like by Friday 29th November 2024, they will be distributed before the end of term.
For every pack of Christmas cards you buy, we will donate 70% to PASIC (Parents Association for Seriously Ill Children). PASIC was founded in 1977 by a hospital consultant and parents to meet the needs of families dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of a child with cancer. They felt that whilst children were receiving the very best care from the clinical team, additional support was needed for parents and families dealing with the devastating impact of childhood cancer. This group of parents, with the help of staff, set up a self-help group to support others in the same situation facing treatment for childhood cancer. This pioneering group has developed over the years to shape PASIC which today comprises 4 staff, backed up by a hardworking board of trustees and volunteers. For 40 years PASIC have helped hundreds of children at Nottingham Children’s Hospital and currently support around 300 families.
PASIC is a charity that is based locally and helps local children and their families – it is also important to us personally as one of the staff team at Millfield Nursery had leukaemia as a child and PASIC supported her and her family through some very difficult years.
For more information please visit: https://www.pasic.org.uk/.
On Friday 13th December 2024 (the last day of term), we will be having a fun Christmas Jumper Day. Children are required to wear their uniform as normal but can wear a festive jumper instead of their blazer. This half term’s winning House Team will have a full non-uniform day – we will inform you at the beginning of the last week which House this will be. As Christmas Jumper Day is normally a fundraising campaign for Save the Children, please feel free to send in a donation for this cause if you wish.
The school Christmas party will also take place on the last day of term at lunchtime. We are providing party food for all the children, so normal packed lunches will not be required that day. Children with dietary requirements will also be catered for. However, if anybody still wishes to send a little something in for your child, please feel free to do so. Kat Plimmer, our PE teacher, will also be running a disco with the children after lunch – they have all worked really hard this term so we feel they deserve a treat!
You may or may not be aware of the upcoming Christmas Market being held in the village hall on Friday 29th November 2024 at 6:00pm. There will be a selection of 25 local stalls, artisan foods and crafts, a BBQ, mulled wine and refreshments. There will also be a couple of charity stalls including 'Belvoir Vale Riding for the Disabled' and 'The Smile Train'. The school has been invited to have a stall and this is going to be a 'Teddy Bear Tombola'. We would be really grateful if you might be able to help out with this – if you have any old or new teddy bears that you are able to donate, please bring them to the school office. Also if any parents or children are willing to help out on the stall on the 29th, please let Becca O'Connor know. All proceeds from the night will be going towards Colston Bassett Village Hall, which we are very keen to support as one of its main users.
On the same day as the village market, the school council have organised a Christmas ‘games morning’ which will take place in the school day. This will include activities such as apple bobbing, food tasting, 'Roll a 6 and Get a Prize' and 'Pin the Carrot on the Snowman', amongst others. This is a fun event designed purely for the children so please ensure they bring some money to school with them on 29th November. All funds raised will be donated to the school council fund.
May we please stress the importance of parents letting school know if your child is going to be absent. Please ensure you either telephone or email the office before 8:45am if your child is going to be absent due to illness, even if they were off with the same illness the previous day. We use a digital system to record and monitor pupils’ attendance and punctuality and we are legally required to keep this data.
For any planned absence (for example, a family holiday), parents must ask for and complete a ‘Notification of Child Absence’ form explaining the reason for and length of absence. However, where possible, family trips should be arranged in the school holidays or out of school hours – this is to ensure that disruption to the children’s education is minimised.
May we politely remind parents that we expect pupils to be in school by 8:45am when the morning bell rings. Late arrivals can disrupt the start of morning lessons. Should you experience an unavoidable delay and arrive late, please remember to report to the office so that your child can be registered.
Finally, please remember that as a small school, we rely on every child’s participation at school events, particularly the Nativity and Carol Concert where it has a considerable impact on the overall performance. We do appreciate there may be some occasional holidays etc, but where possible we would be extremely grateful if you could make every effort to ensure your child attends. Thank you.
We will be holding our Nativity service on Monday 9th December 2024 at Colston Bassett Village Hall. This year it will be ‘Lights, Camel, Action!’ – join the jam-packed cast of nativity celebrities as they celebrate Jesus’ birth with a dazzling dance show! The performance will begin at 2:30pm and will last for approximately 40 minutes.
We have permission to use the paddock to the left of the village hall for parents to park their cars on the afternoon of the Nativity. We will leave the gate open and there should be enough room for everyone to park, however if not School Lane is available as normal. Please walk back to school to collect your child after the performance – the staff will accompany the children so they can collect their belongings.
Please feel free to extend this invitation to other members of your family and friends. The children will be delighted to see you.
Our annual Carol Concert will be taking place on Thursday 12th December 2024 at St John the Divine Church, Colston Bassett. It will begin at 7:00pm so we ask for the children to be at the church for 6:45pm or thereabouts. The timing allows for those that live further away to get home and eat before returning. It also allows Liz Miller time to finish work at Millfield Nursery before travelling over to play the organ for us. Please note that Karate Club will NOT be taking place to allow Mrs Newcombe time to prepare for the evening.
The service is for all children in Class 2 and Class 3 who will be required to attend in full school uniform, including their blazers. We anticipate that the performance will last for approximately 45 minutes. Parents are welcome to bring younger siblings to watch the concert, and of course other family members and friends are more than welcome to attend too. We would recommend parking on School Lane and walking down as there isn’t much space to park near the church, but please note the Martin’s Arms pub car park is not available for evening events. There will be a collection plate on the night for parents to make any donations towards the church heating costs, or alternatively there is a QR code which you can use to make an electronic donation.
We look forward to seeing everyone there!
As the winter is now upon us, we always endeavour to keep the school drive and playground as safe as possible with our supply of rock salt. The remainder of the grounds may remain icy in places, so please be extra careful during periods of severe weather. We always try to ensure that school remains open, as we are aware of the impact our closure has on working parents. If the weather happened to turn particularly severe during the operational day, we may contact parents and suggest an earlier pick-up so that everyone can get home safely. If parents would prefer not to travel to school should the weather be very bad, please just advise us accordingly. School will notify parents by 8:00am should adverse weather affect the opening of school.
Aside from ‘Show and Tell’ assemblies, we must request that toys and personal possessions from home are not brought into school. We do understand that children sometimes like to bring things in from home for personal reasons, and we are happy to work with families if this proves beneficial for them. However, we are spending more and more time ‘finding’ these items, as their temporary loss can cause distress and distraction during the school day. Mobile phones and any other electronic devices (i.e. tablets, iPads, Fitbits etc) are not allowed in school and should be kept in the office if their presence is unavoidable (please refer to our school policies available on the website). Any monies and medication must also be brought to the office for safekeeping. Thank you for your support!
Class 1 |
Everyday Materials (Science) Travel and Transport (History) Gifts and Giving (RE) Relationships – Digital Wellbeing (PSHCE) |
Class 2 |
Electricity (Science) What A Wonderful World (Geography) Influential People (RE) British Values (PSHCE) |
Class 3 |
Magnetism (Science) Leisure and Transport (History) Influential People (RE) Keeping Ourselves Safe (PSHCE) |
Please refer to the ‘Calendar’ on the school website:
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