Autumn 1 2025 | Meadowbank Primary School

Wednesday 10^th September 2025

Dear Parents and Guardians.

I hope that you have all enjoyed the summer break. The weather has been warm and sunny which has given lots of opportunity to be outside with friends and family. School staff returned last Monday where we began our training programmes and spent some time preparing classrooms for the children’s return.

We have had a wonderful first week in school. The children arrived back with us on Tuesday looking taller and very smart. The start of the school year is always enjoyable as the children are happy to be with their friends and adults and like getting back to learning. All of our classrooms are calm and industrious and time in the playground has been busy and happy.

Our new, youngest children also joined us last Tuesday, having shortened days during the first week, and they were all with us fully from Monday. These young learners have started their school career as though they have been with us for years. Their independence has already been commented on, as has their creativity. In fact, Miss Gill drew my attention to a group of children who were working as a team sharing her pride in them with me, as it was only their second visit. She was wearing a crown that had been made for her at the time, so I knew that she was enjoying getting to know our new young cohort.

Even though this year has only just begun, we are already thinking about the children and families that will join us in September 2026. We have a number of opportunities for families with children who will begin school next year to come and look around Meadowbank, talk with us about our school and see our children learning. If you know of any parents with young children who may like to come and visit us, then please share these dates with them and ask them to contact school on 0161 428 6286 to book a place on one of our tours.

Date	Time
Thursday 16^th October 2025	9.30 am
Thursday 16^th October 2025	1.30 pm
Wednesday 19^th November 2025	9.30 am
Wednesday 19^th November 2025	1.30 pm
Thursday 27^th November 2025	4.00pm (after school)

Additionally, we also have a few places still available in our Foundation Stage classes this year. If you know any families who may have recently moved into the area and are looking for school places, please do ask them to contact school.

The Education Learning Trust will be holding an additional INSET day on 19^th December 2025. On this day, our schools will be closed to all pupils. School will reopen as normal on Tuesday 6^th January 2026. This additional INSET day will provide staff with valuable time to focus on curriculum refinement and evidence-informed practices that will strengthen classroom delivery and further drive improved outcomes for all children. As part of ELT’s wider priorities, we continue to invest in developing its people and supporting staff wellbeing, recognising that a well-supported and highly-skilled workforce is essential to delivering the best possible education for our pupils. We appreciate your understanding and ongoing support as we take this step forward in our journey of improvement.

Here are the school term dates for 2025 - 2026.

Families should have received the half-termly curriculum letter from class teachers via Class Dojo. These curriculum letters will share the learning that will take place in your child’s class this half term.

Below you will find the dates for this half term ready to hang on the fridge door, and then underneath, there is information that we share with parents at the start of each year to help us keep our community safe and harmonious. Please take the time to read it. I will continue to write to you all close to each school holiday with dates for the following half term.

Dates for this half term Autumn 1 (Tuesday 2nd September – Friday 24^th October 2025)

Whole School events

School reopened after the Summer break	Tu 02.09.25	8.55 am
	(Gates open at 8.45am & close at 8.55am)
Children’s individual photographs	Wednesday 24th September 2025
European Day of Languages	Thursday 25^th September 2025
World Mental Health Day	Friday 10^th October 2025
Harvest Festival Celebration - Led by our FS2 children	Wednesday 22nd October 2025
Non-uniform day - Please donate chocolate for Christmas hampers	Friday 24^th October 2025
School closes for the October half term break	Friday 24.10.25	3.20 pm
	(Gates open at 3.15pm & close at 3.25pm)

Class events in school –children only

Class / Year	Event	Date
FS1	Dental Community Nurse Workshop	Wednesday 1^st October 2025
FS2	Dental Community Nurse Workshop	Wednesday 1^st October 2025
Yr1	Birds of Prey Workshop	Thursday 2^nd October 2025
Yr2	Visitor from the Jewish Synagogue	Monday 29^thSeptember 2025
Yr3	CIST Workshop for RE, Values and Beliefs	Wednesday 10^th September 2025
Yr4	Geography field work in Cheadle Village	Tuesday 14^th October 2025
Yr5	Past Productions Anglo Saxon Workshop	Tuesday 16^th September 2025
Yr 6	Visit to Chester Zoo	Thursday 2^nd October 2025

Class events with parents joining the learning

Year	Event	Date	Time
FS1	Parent transition meetings	Tuesday 3^rd September 2025	All day
FS2	Early Reading Workshop	Thursday 23^rd October 2025	FS2Gu 9.00 am FS2Gi 2.00 pm
Yr1	Parents are invited to an ‘animal poo’ investigation to learn about herbivores, carnivores & omnivores	Friday 10^th October 2025	2.30 - 3.10 pm
Yr2	Join children in our ‘Wonderful World’ Geography workshop.	Wednesday 15th October 2024	9:05-9:35 am
Yr3	Share our Stone Age stories	Thursday 2^nd October 2025	2.30 pm
Yr4	Join children to play number fact games	Wednesday 1^st October 2025	2.30pm
Yr5	Are you smarter than a ten year old? (Anglo Saxon quiz)	Wednesday 15^th October 2025	2.30 pm
Yr6	Celebrate our work on Climate Change	Monday 13^th October	2.30pm

Our children have already chosen the charities that they will support this year and we look forward to the events that they organise. Some dates are already planned and others arranged during the year.

Cohort	Charity for 2025/2026
Foundation Stage One	Save the Children - Christmas Jumper Day - 11^th December 2025
Foundation Stage Two	Chelwood Food Bank Collection
Year One	R.S.P.C.A
Year Two	Millie’s Trust
Year Three	Place2Be - Children’s Mental Health Support
Year Four	Comic Relief
Year Five	Cheadle Civic Society - Litter picking in the community
Year Six	UNICEF
Other	Friends of Meadowbank Santa Dance Children In Need Comic Relief Red Nose Day

If you have any queries during the year please do not hesitate to contact school. Most questions or concerns can usually be resolved quickly through a conversation. Please contact your child’s class teacher in the first instance using Class Dojo or the school office team. Class Dojo messages do not come directly to me, so if you would like to communicate with me please do this via the school office or admin@meadowbankprimary.com and I will respond from there.

As we start this new school year, we ask our families to support the safeguarding and smooth running of our school in the following ways:

Please

ensure that your child comes to school every day and on time, unless they are too unwell.

do not take your children out of school early for any reason, this disrupts learning and reduces the commitment to education.

do not use mobile phones whilst on school grounds. We are a mobile free school and so we ask that phones are put away before you enter the gates and are not used until you have left.

do not allow your child to bring a phone to school. The only exception to this are a small number of year six children who walk alone and parents are concerned, wishing to contact them as they travel between school and home. We do not want any child in our school to walk without a grown up but recognise that some parents wish to begin to prepare their older children to walk to their high school and so we make a concession for this, in year six only. Phones are locked away and an agreement must be signed by parents. It is expected that this will only apply to a small number of children.

The school gate opens at 8.45 am. Please do not arrive before the gate opens as this creates an unnecessary queue that blocks the pavement. Arriving at 8.45 am gives ample time to walk to your child’s class door. Similarly, lessons begin at 8.55 am, therefore if you are coming through the entrance gate close to 8.55 am your child will be arriving in class after learning has started and teachers will be delayed in the playground to receive your child.

always use the parent path in the correct direction when bringing your child to school and collecting them at the end of the day. Do not come into the exit gate or leave by the entrance gate, as this is unsafe and can be frightening for children and their parents.

ensure that your children dismount bikes and trikes before they enter the school gates and do not get back on until they have passed the exit gate

ensure that your child is in full uniform, with only blue accessories and without jewellery, coloured hair or nail varnish. We do allow birthday badges and birthday headbands.

please do not park in our school carpark at the start and end of the school day and remember to park respectfully of our neighbours and community by not blocking driveways.

Please only send water into school for children to during, not juice. However, a small juice in a lunchbox is acceptable to during with a packed lunch.

Last year it came to our attention that there have been instances where information about alleged incidents involving school staff have been shared within parent WhatsApp groups. While these platforms offer a convenient way to communicate, it is important to remember that the information shared may not always remain within these groups and can often be disseminated more widely.

We urge all parents to exercise caution and thoughtfulness when sharing or commenting on any information in these forums. Please consider the accuracy and necessity of the information you share. It is important to ensure that our communications are responsible and reflect the values that our school upholds. You will also be aware that there can be serious legal consequences in some circumstances arising from the dissemination of false information. At the end of this letter I have added all of the different methods of communication we have that we encourage you to use.

I know that there are a number of things on this list to remember but your partnership in our school being happy and safe will support teachers’ ability to focus upon learning and your children’s wellbeing. Thank you in advance for your support in this.

Finally, please can you ensure that your child’s name is in every item of school uniform. We have 430 children in school with the same uniform and if an item is lost, it is almost impossible to return it to the child if it does not have a name in it. We have small mountains of lost property each year that is not claimed, which is so much of our families money wasted.

We are all looking forward to working with you in support of our children this year and to seeing you in school. Remember if you have any concerns or questions please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher via class dojo.

Kind regards

Janine Appleton