Newsletter 30th January 2026
Dear Parent/ Carer,
January is finally over! It always seems to be the longest, darkest month but we have kept the sunshine and positivity alive in school and are looking forward to brighter days ahead in February as we move into spring.
Sporting success
Our Year Six footballers certainly had a spring in their step this week as they played in the North Northamptonshire Pokemon county finals. They got all the way to the final match where they unfortunately lost 1-0. A huge well done to our team who represented the school superbly with their play, sporting values and behaviour on and off the pitch. The team was: Ethan, Josh, Angus, Henry, Betsy, Odette, Lola, Brandon-Lee and Jude K-S. Thanks also to Coach Ryan for coaching and accompanying the team. Please see the attached match report written by Ethan and Josh to read more about the nail-biting final!
In other sporting news, we took a group of Year 3 and 4 children to New Age Kurling tournament this week as well. They were amongst the youngest children there; competing against lots of older and bigger children but, once again, our school values shone through and the children represented the school superbly and had great fun learning a new sport!
HAT English visit
Now we are part of Hatton Academies Trust, we benefit from the support, challenge and collaboration of working with other schools and educational experts. We have welcomed HAT visitors to review our Early Years provision, behaviour, maths and most recently our English curriculum.
The visitors saw the well-embedded strong practice in the teaching of phonics, reading and writing across the school from Reception up to Year Six. The visitors commented on the high-quality work in children’s books and the strong practice seen in lessons. Our approach to reading and prioritisation of this essential skill was also highly praised by the visitors.
Parent survey & governor availability
It has been three years since our last full parent / carer survey so we felt it was time to repeat it! As before, we welcome all of your views and you can choose to respond anonymously or give your name in the final question if you would like any direct communication back in regard to any points you raise.
The short survey can be found here and is anonymous.
We truly value parental opinion and will collate the results of the survey after February half term to produce an analysis to share with you all. Your responses will inform our school development priorities in the years ahead and we would really appreciate a response from all families.
If you would like to speak to any of our governors or have their support whilst you complete the survey, some of our parent governor volunteers will be in the school library next Wednesday during the face-to-face parents’ evening with some ipads where you can complete the survey and have a discussion with a governor about your views. Please note, Governors will not be able to answer questions about individual children – those should be directed to your child’s class teacher.
Bartonian Blooms passports
As it approaches the end of term, please continue to work with your child on ticking off their Bartonian Blooms passport activities at home. If passports can be brought into school next week please to be checked, our Y6 House Captains conduct brief interviews with all children who believe they should be awarded the next “petal”. Certificates will then be given out in assembly in the final week of the term.
Reception children will be given their passports next week ready to get started during the half term holiday and a separate letter will be sent to Reception parents and carers explaining this.
Music lesson opportunities
We are very lucky that Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust (NMPAT) offer lessons in school to Key Stage 2 children. To find more information about the lessons available, including cost, please see the attached leaflet. We have availability for strings, keyboard, woodwind and brass lessons. Year 4 are currently having a First Access brass project in school every week and the brass teacher has capacity to take on pupils so please do contact NMPAT if you think your child would like to start learning an instrument. If your child has a natural aptitude for music, but the costs are a barrier, please speak to us in confidence as we have been given a very generous “ring fenced” donation of funds to support music development in our school.
NMPAT also run Saturday Centres, offering a variety of music and dramatic arts opportunities and these are having a ‘free open morning’ on 7th February. Please see attached flyer for more information.
Absence reporting
A reminder that if your child is absent from school due to illness, we ask that you contact us EVERY day. The exceptions to this are diarrhoea and/ or vomiting, where we follow the NHS guidance that children should be absent for 48-hours after the last bout of either. There are also other conditions, such as chicken pox, where it may be clear that your child will need to be absent for several days. Please report absences via our preferred method: Parent Mail, alternatively via email – schooloffice@eb-pri.northants.sch.uk or phone 01604 810371 Opt. 1. Thank you.
Also, if you know in advance that your child is going to absent for a day or longer, for reasons other than illness, we ask that you complete our online leave of absence form. Please note Headteachers are unable to authorise term time absence for holidays and unauthorised absences of a week or more, or 5 days in any 10-week period, will be reported to the Education Inclusion Partnership Team at NNC who may issue a fixed penalty notice.
Attendance
Attendance this week was 93.83%. The top classes this week were Primrose with 98.08%, Daffodil with 98.28% and Holly with 98.33%. Well done!
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
Miss Lally & Mr Morris
Letters home this week
Plea for loan of humidifier and thanks for responses
Heating/ Boiler fault – school will be open
Year 2 Great Fire of London day
Excellence in Everything certificate – eligible children only
Payment reminder Y5 trips – non payees only
Messages regarding traffic problems due to burst water main
Year 1 local area walk 12th February
Attachments
Proud pieces
What parents and carers need to know about mental health misinformation
NMPAT music lessons flyer
NMPAT Centres open morning
AIR
Earth
FIRE
WATER