Ofsted Outstanding

Weekly Parent Bulletin - Friday 12th September 2025

Dear parents,
 
It's been a super first full week of the autumn term!
 
Across the school I've seen classrooms full of engaged learners, thriving in their new year groups. Special shout out to our new Badgers and Hedgehogs for doing so well with their morning sessions in classes of 30.
 
Please can I remind parents of our guidance around being a nut free school. We are seeing more children at Avonwood with allergies, some quite severe. It does not bear thinking about accidental exposure to nut products, so please take a moment to read the guidance on our website link here.
 
This week the Education Secretary wrote a welcome back piece to parents and teachers which I felt was quite fitting with our #ItStartsWithOne mantra:
 
I know that change can feel unsettling at times. But our profession is built on embracing change for the better. Every teacher who adapts a lesson to reach a pupil who’s struggling. Every school leader who tries something new to support staff wellbeing. Every parent who takes the time to read with their child after a long day. These are acts of quiet transformation. And collectively, they make a difference.
 
Where we take such pride in working so closely with our pupils and their families, it hopefully gives Avonwood children the best possible chance of success. If you ever have any concerns, please do chat to staff at pick up or come to speak to a member of SLT. We are always keen to help.
 
The Rotary Club have very kindly left some boxes here for the Wessex Rotary Shoebox Scheme. This is a great way to get your children involved in putting together a special shoebox that will be sent to disadvantaged and displaced children in Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, - Ukraine via Poland. If you wish to do one of these boxes then please come and collect one at the front office along with a handy leaflet with the all information you need of what to include.
 
Lastly a reminder for children not to wear PE hoodies with hoods up. Whilst we can understand the temptation, it can give an anti-social vibe seeing children with hoods up. We have reminded them to keep them down and to pop coats on if they are chilly. Your support with re-inforcing this message would be most helpful and helps avoid the need to alter this great bit of PE uniform.
 
Have a great weekend!
 
Mr Jackson
 
 

Whole School Reminders

 

Whole School Updates

  • National Fitness Day 24th September: please send your child into school in their PE kits as we will be incorporating a short fitness challenge into the school day. Thanks for your support!
  • Avonwood Community Choir

Do you enjoy singing, but don't want to do an audition? Then come along and join our informal, fun choir!

We meet at school on a Thursday evening from 7.00pm - 8.00pm (this is a change of time from last year). We'd love to see people who have attended before as well as new faces. Last year we sang at the Fireworks event and are planning on doing so again this year.

We have a WhatsApp group which you can join to find out more or come along any Thursday.

https://chat.whatsapp.com/KlZ7etO7y9G5CRfs4ei54c

We look forward to seeing you.

 

PTA Updates

  • Fireworks 2025 - Early Bird Tickets
     
    The early bird tickets for the fantastic Avonwood Fireworks are now on sale until September 30th. The sparkling event happens on November 9th 4-8pm. It's always a glittering event for the whole family.
     
     
  • Poster Competition - Each year the PTA hold a brilliant poster competition for our annual fireworks event. The winning entry gets to press the red button to start the firework display! To enter, please create an A4 fireworks picture that is suitable for us to overlay with text and details about the event. Please hand any entries in to class teachers or the front office by 9am on Monday 22nd September. 
 
 

Weekly Year Group Updates

EYFS

  • What a super 4 days we have enjoyed in EYFS this week! A reminder to make sure lunches have been booked on our parent pay system for next week. If you have any questions about this, chat to our front office team.

Year 1

  • Year 1 have the opportunity to present to the class to tell us they would like to be school councillor. They could make a poster or presentation. We will present these to the class and vote on Friday 26th September. 

Year 2

  • We have had a wonderful first full week in Year 2 and the children are getting used to all the routines.
    A couple of reminders:
    • Reading records to be in school everyday please
    • Doodle maths homework is set on a Friday, due to be completed by the following Thursday
    • Phonics tracking will take place in week 4, new books will be assigned with their new phonic level.
    • Books should be read three times. First time for decoding (sounding out the words), second time for fluency, third time for comprehension and prosody (adding expression)
  • School Council - Next week the children will be shown a PowerPoint about how to apply to be school council rep. They will then have until September 26th to make a poster or prepare a short talk

Year 3

  • From next week, we are switching our PE days to Monday and Tuesday, this will help us with timetabling indoor space in the hall.
  • Keep your eyes peeled for a Stonehenge school trip letter coming soon.

Year 4

  • A massive thank you to everyone for your fabulous Rio costumes! We enjoyed a fantastic day of carnival inspired activities.

Year 5

  • None this week.

Year 6

  • We are back to having Forest School each Friday this half term from next week. For this, Year 6 should come to school wearing appropriate clothing which they don’t mind potentially getting a little messy. Please ensure that your child brings a coat too. 
  • Key dates and information about homework and this half term’s curriculum coverage will be sent home next week.
  • We are aware that tiredness hits after the first full week and with some children also planning on sitting the 11+ soon, we have kept the first week of the homework cycle minimal. Therefore, for homework this week, we are asking children to continue with their daily reading and we would like them to log onto EdShed to complete their spelling assignment. 
 
United Learning Hub

United Learning comprises: United Learning Ltd (Registered in England No: 00018582. Charity No. 313999) UCST (Registered in England No: 2780748. Charity No. 1016538) and ULT (Registered in England No. 4439859. An Exempt Charity). Companies limited by guarantee.
Registered address: United Learning, Worldwide House, Thorpe Wood, Peterborough, PE3 6SB.

Financial Accountability and Freedom of Information
Website Terms, Cookies and Privacy
Policies

United Learning