Welcome Back! A Message from the Head Teacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you have all had a restful and enjoyable summer break. It is a real pleasure to be writing to you as the new Head Teacher of our wonderful school. I am very much looking forward to getting to know every child, every family, and working closely with you all as we begin an exciting year together.
The staff team and I have been preparing the school for a calm, positive start, and we are delighted to welcome the children back this week. Below are a few important updates for the year ahead.
I am genuinely excited for the year ahead and feel privileged to be leading such a caring, vibrant school community. Thank you for your continued support — it makes an enormous difference to the children and to the life of our school.
Warm regards,
Maria Beck
Head Teacher
School Staff
These are the teaching arrangements for this academic year:
Mrs Maria Beck will be teaching at the top end of the school and she will be teaching Class 3 (Years 4, 5 and 6).
Mr Dillan Deach will continue to be our Class 2 teacher (Years 2 and 3)
Mrs Hannah Joels will continue to be our Class 1 teacher (Reception and Year 1)
Miss Claire Cox will be supporting as a Teaching Assistant.
Mrs Margaret Crooks will continue to lead spellings with all three classes in addition to her role as Midday Supervisor.
Mrs Lynne Clifford is continuing as Midday Supervisor
Ms Amanda Gennard teaching French
Ms Kat Plimmer from Urban Movement Primary teaching PE
Mrs Michelle Oldfield teaching one-to-one music lessons
Mrs Amanda Fairclough running her after school Drama Club.
Sadly, we wish to let you all know that Mr Adam Miller has left Colston Bassett School. Since April 2026, he has been managing the coffee shop at The Haven Hair and Coffee in East Bridgford, and in June he took ownership of the shop. This is a really exciting opportunity for him and we wholeheartedly support his decision. Mr Miller continued in his role at school in a part-time capacity last term whilst transitioning to his new position, however it has now become necessary for him to dedicate his efforts entirely to his new job.
Mr Miller regrets not having the chance to say goodbye to everybody personally. He has been a very valued member of our school community for the past 16 years and he would like to express his heartfelt appreciation for all that his time at Colston Bassett has brought him. He will certainly be missed here at school and we wish him all the best in his new venture.
For the time being, the staff team will be dealing with all the day to day emails etc.
After School Clubs
We would like to inform you that our after-school provision will continue to operate each evening, featuring a themed focus. This term, we are making a slight adjustment to ensure our clubs are more inclusive. We have heard from some parents that while they require after-school care, their children may not be interested in participating in the themed clubs. To address this, we will also offer more flexible activities running alongside the clubs.
The scheduled clubs will be as follows:
MONDAY: 3:45pm – 4:45pm Spanish Club with Dillan Deach and Claire Cox (£8 per session)
TUESDAY: 3:45pm – 5:15pm Creative Club with Margaret Whitaker and Claire Cox (£12 per session)
WEDNESDAY: 3:45pm – 5:15pm Lego Club with Maria Beck and Hannah Joels (£12 per session)
THURSDAY: 3:45pm – 5:15pm After school care and Homework (possibly becoming a chess club) Maria Beck and Dillan Deach (£12 per session)
FRIDAY: 3:45pm – 4:45pm Drama Club with Amanda Fairclough and Maria Beck (£8 per session)
In addition to the themed clubs, we will provide activities such as reading, sports, lego, and homework support each evening.
We hope these themes will encourage all children to engage in activities they enjoy and find beneficial.
If any parent would like their child to join a club and has not yet signed up, please advise the staff team as soon as possible. Taster sessions can be arranged if you wish. The timetable for the clubs is displayed on the Parents’ Information Board on the school drive. The clubs will all run during the first and last weeks of each term unless we advise otherwise.
Term Dates – Slight Adjustments
Following conversations with some parents, please note that our term dates have been slightly amended for the forthcoming academic year:
- Autumn term will finish slightly later than usual on Wednesday 16th December 2026
- Summer term will finish slightly earlier on Friday 16th July 2027
The calendar with the updated term dates are on the school website and will be emailed to all families too
Homework (Years 2 and Above)
For your information, from this term onwards, homework which is set for Year 2 and above will be:
- Sent home every Thursday
- To be due back the following Wednesday
This gives families a full week, including the weekend, to complete tasks at a pace that suits them.
Communication – Email as Main Contact
Just an update for communications with the school.
To help us respond more efficiently to queries, we kindly ask that email becomes the main point of contact for parents wherever possible. Our school email inbox is monitored throughout the day, ensuring your messages reach us promptly.
The school phone line will continue to be available, but email will help us manage communication more smoothly and avoid missed calls during busy periods.
Contact Details
As we enter a new academic year, we would be very grateful if parents could confirm that all of your contact details are up to date. We are conscious that mobile numbers can sometimes change, as do emergency contacts and people who are authorised to collect children. It is vital we always have up to date information should we need to contact a parent in an emergency situation. If any details have changed, please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you.
Drop-Off and Pick-Up Routines
For families new to the school we will outline our arrangements. A member of staff will be on duty in the playground from 8:30am each morning should you wish to drop your child off at this time. The school bell will be rung at 8:45am, when the children will be expected to line up in their respective classes before being taken into school via the side door. If the weather is wet then the children are asked to go straight into the building. At the end of the day at 3:45pm, Class 1 will continue to be dismissed from the assembly room door (in the playground), Class 2 from the side door and Class 3 from the front door.
Parents are responsible for their children around the school at pick-up and drop-off times. Please take care along School Lane and ensure you do not park on the yellow zig-zags or obstruct access to residents’ driveways. We do teach the children basic road safety and remind them regularly to be aware of traffic. Please inform school in advance if you have arranged for your child to be collected by another adult.
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 for other pupils. Ofsted have now introduced site security as part of their Safeguarding measures (previously covered in Health and Safety) which means that we must now lock the side entrance gate by 9:00am every day and it will be unlocked at 3:30pm to allow parents onto the school site for collection. Should you experience an unavoidable delay in the morning and arrive late, or you need to access the school site during the day, then you will need to ring the bell on the side gate to attract the attention of a member of staff, who will greet you at the gate and permit access. Thank you for your co-operation.
Weekly Awards
For our new parents, just to let you know about our ‘Weekly Award’ system to motivate the children. One child from Reception and Key Stage 1 (Years 1-2) will be chosen to be ‘Star of the Week’ and one child from Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6) will be chosen to receive the ‘Merit Award’. These awards, which are small trophies, will be given to children who have worked particularly well. We also have a ‘Sheep of the Week’ award (a toy sheep) for a child who demonstrates particular kindness, a ‘Handwriting Award’ for a child who has worked hard on their handwriting and a ‘PE’ award.
All these awards will be presented during assembly each Friday. The winners can take their awards home for one week, however they will then need to return them to school the following Friday so they can be presented to somebody else. A child may also be nominated by a member of staff to receive a Head Teacher’s Award for hard work or helpful behaviour within the school.
Dates for your Diary
Please refer to the ‘Calendar’ on the school website:
www.colstonbassettschool.com/parent.php#parent_calendar
