Newsletter

Head Teacher's Welcome

Welcome back to the second half of the Summer Term — our final stretch of the school year! 

After a fantastic first half term, including a hugely successful Fundraising Week, we’re excited to build on that momentum. This half term is packed with enriching activities, class trips, Sports Day, end of year performance and many more opportunities for our pupils to shine. We look forward to celebrating their achievements and making this a memorable end to the year!

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Livvy Wilding, who is joining our 4+ sessions on Thursdays and Fridays this half term in preparation for joining our Reception class in September, along Sebastian Jenks and Margaux Ratcliffe who joined us in April. Everyone is making them feel very welcome and we look forward to them starting with us.

Visits and Visitors

On Tuesday 7th July 2026, we have arranged a whole school outing to Cadbury World. With over 30 years of experience and more than 2,000 school groups visiting each year, Cadbury World provides a unique opportunity to explore the rich heritage of the nation’s favourite chocolate brand.

There have been some exciting improvements made to the attraction, and all chocolatey zones are now part of the children’s main self-guided tour. This includes the 4D Chocolate Adventure and the Bournville Experience. During the visit, the children will:

• Explore the journey of chocolate from “Bean to Bar” through a curriculum-linked talk.
• Handle cacao pods and roasted cocoa beans, learning about chocolate’s ingredients and origins.
• Discover cocoa’s historical significance.
• Gain insight into the chocolate-making process, with selected children dressing as Cadbury Chocolate Makers.

This outing will complement the children’s English topic and our summer production of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.’ A letter with further details will be sent out in July.

Parent Appointments

As always, an opportunity to speak to your child’s teachers is available this half term. If you feel that you would like an appointment, please contact the office to arrange a mutually convenient time. Please indicate which teachers you wish to speak to if you have any specific preferences. As we had our Open Morning last half term and your child’s end of year report will be due out in a few weeks, we are happy for you to decide if you feel an appointment is necessary or not. We are happy to meet throughout the year if other times are more convenient.

Chick Hatching Project

Thank you very much to ‘Incredible Eggs’ for providing us with the wonderful opportunity to hatch pet chicks during the last half term. The experience was really memorable for both the children and staff. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the process of caring for the chicks and witnessing their growth.

A special thank you to Laura Knight for kindly adopting all the chicks. We hope they are enjoying their new home!

Fundraising

We would like to extend a big thank you to everyone for your incredible support during our Fundraising Week before half term. The combined efforts of the sponsored walk, Break the Rules Day and the fayre led us to a total fundraising achievement of £1,189.80, which is fantastic!

All the funds raised will go directly to the School Council, who have some exciting plans in mind for new playground equipment and classroom resources. Your contributions will make a significant difference in enhancing our children's experiences.

Thank you once again for your dedication and support. 

School Photographs

We have scheduled a school photo morning with Ali Jones on Monday 22nd June 2026. Ali is a Nottingham based photographer and loves to capture special moments.

During the photo morning, Ali will capture individual photographs of the children, as well as family group portraits and shots of each class. The images will be made accessible in private galleries for online viewing. After the photo shoot, each child will receive an individual code that will allow them to access their own gallery, where prints can also be purchased. There will also be a proof available for a whole school photograph for anyone who is interested in purchasing a print. After the photo session, we will send an email with instructions on how to access the galleries and place any orders.

In the meantime, if you wish to view Ali’s style of photography, these are the links to her Facebook and Instagram pages:

https://www.facebook.com/alijphotos
https://www.instagram.com/alijphotos/

We do hope you enjoy the photographs!

Sports Day

Our annual Sports Day will be held on the afternoon of Friday 26th June 2026. The events are scheduled to begin at 2:00pm, so please plan to arrive a little early to secure a good seat.

We are excited to include family events as always, so don’t forget to bring your trainers for participation! The children will compete as part of their House Teams, and it is essential for them to wear a plain T-shirt in their respective House colours:

• Light blue for Eagles
• Turquoise for Tawnies
• White for Snowies (the Snowies may opt to wear their PE tops if that is more convenient)

At the conclusion of the day, the winning team will be awarded the Sports trophy during the finale.

In the event of poor weather, we have set a reserve date for Friday 3rd July 2026, with the same arrangements and timings.

Please also note that, following Sports Day, Drama Club will not take place. This was not included on your Summer Term club invoices.

We look forward to an enjoyable and spirited day.

'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' / Leavers' Service

Our summer production this year will be ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ inspired by the beloved 1971 classic ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ starring Gene Wilder.

In this enchanting story, Charlie Bucket and four other children find golden tickets hidden in Wonka chocolate bars, granting them exclusive access to Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory. Throughout the tour, the other children face the consequences of their negative traits and are gradually removed from the experience. Charlie, with his kind and curious nature, perseveres and ultimately inherits the chocolate factory as his reward.

Details of the event are as follows:

• Performance Date: Thursday 23rd July 2026
• Time: 2:00pm
• Location: Colston Bassett Village Hall

We would like to invite all parents to join us for a picnic lunch on the school grounds prior to the performance. Please arrive at school by 12:30pm. You are welcome to bring along picnic blankets, food, and drinks of your choice. Children may join their families on the field for lunch instead of having their usual school lunch.

After the show, we will also host a leavers’ ceremony to honour our Year 6 child who will be moving on in September. The House Cup will also be awarded to the team that has accumulated the most house points throughout this academic year.

We hope that you can join us for this special event. A reminder email will be sent closer to the date.

Show and Tell

Just a reminder about the dates for Show and Tell assemblies for the remainder of this term:

CCTV Surveillance

As you are all aware, we now have a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system installed across our school site. At Colston Bassett School, the safety, welfare and safeguarding of our children, staff and visitors are our highest priorities.

After careful consideration and a thorough review of our security protocols, we have decided to introduce these surveillance measures to:

• Enhance Safety: Maintain a secure and protected environment for everyone on the school grounds.
• Deter Incidents: Discourage anti-social behaviour, trespass, theft and vandalism.
• Support Safeguarding: Provide clear evidence to help resolve incidents and protect children.

There are two CCTV cameras installed: one at the front of the building facing the drive and another in the playground, which also provides visibility of the rear fences. Please be assured that cameras are not situated in private areas where individuals have an expected right to privacy, such as classrooms or toilets. All monitored areas are clearly signposted.

We take our responsibilities under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR very seriously. All footage is recorded securely, accessed only by authorised staff, and will only be retained as long as necessary before being permanently deleted. We will never use covert surveillance, and we share footage only in strict adherence to data protection laws (e.g. if required by the police to investigate an offence).

We hope you will support us in this effort to make our school an even safer and more secure place to study and work. For more information, our complete CCTV Policy is available on the school website: https://www.colstonbassettschool.com/about.php#about_policies.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Primary Maths Challenge

This half term, we are delighted that some of our children will be taking part in the Primary Maths Challenge. The PMC is a fun and exciting mathematical challenge designed to make pupils think outside the box – it is not just another ‘test’ in the school year.  We are of the belief that the PMC encourages enthusiasm, boosts confidence in mathematics and shows the different way questions can be asked. 

There are 20 multiple-choice questions in the PMC. The questions asked are not necessarily subjects that have been covered in the curriculum, but the questions can create a great starting point and lead to discussions later in the year. The questions are not heavily reliant on formal mathematical knowledge but can be solved by logical reasoning.

The PMC will take place over two weeks, from Monday 8th – Friday 19th June 2026 and the children participating will all receive a certificate once we have submitted the results. We wish them luck with the challenge!

Sun Safety and Summer Clothing

This is a friendly reminder to please provide a bottle of sun cream for your child, if you have not already done so. While we do keep some high protection factor sun cream at school, having your own reduces the risk of any potential allergies. Please ensure that any sun cream brought to school is handed directly to a member of staff, rather than left in your child’s book bag.

Additionally, please ensure that your child has a sun hat at school. If they do not have one, we have a supply available for purchase at £5.00 each. We will remind the children to wear their hats and to drink plenty of water during sunny weather. It is also important to note that waterproofs will be required. We will continue to hold PE classes outside, even if it is raining. Thank you.

New Parish Rector

We would like to share some news from Jackie Fish, the Church Warden at St John the Divine in Colston Bassett. The parish is pleased to announce that the Reverend Lauren Simpson will be joining them as the new Rector, commencing her duties in mid July 2026. We are delighted to welcome her to our community.

The installation service for the Reverend Simpson will take place at Langar Church on Wednesday 15th July 2026 at 6:00pm. This will be an open service, and Jackie has extended an invitation to anyone who wishes to attend and celebrate this special occasion. If you are able to go along, it would be wonderful to see you there to support our local community.

Sickness Policy

Just a reminder and also for your information, we do follow a strict policy as advised by the NHS with regard to exclusions for vomiting and diarrhoea bugs. These bugs spread rapidly and because of this, we do need children to be kept at home for 48 hours (two full days) after the last time they were sick or had diarrhoea. We do appreciate that this does seem a long time, however due to the nature of how children play together with lots of close contact with each other and the staff, these bugs can quickly spread to other children and the staff team. We do need to ensure that everyone at Colston Bassett remains fit and healthy, including the whole staff team so that we can remain open at all times.

If a child is sick while they are with us during the day, we will contact parents and ask for the child to be collected.

Please see the NHS guidelines: https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/diarrhoea-and-vomiting/.

We do appreciate your co-operation and understanding with this and the staff team will be consistent with the above approach to these kinds of illnesses for the health and safety of everyone.

Flu Vaccinations

Just an update regarding the Nottinghamshire School Aged Immunisations, specifically the flu vaccinations that are normally administered during the Autumn Term.

After careful consideration, we have decided not to facilitate the flu vaccinations at our school for the upcoming academic year. Our experience over the years has shown us that a significant number of parents choose not to grant permission for their children to receive the vaccination, often due to concerns about potential side effects. This situation frequently results in extended absences from school both during and following the vaccination date, which raises similar concerns among other families.

For those who would still like their child to receive the flu vaccine in the autumn, you may do so through local community clinics or your child's GP. These options are available to you, and you can arrange them independently outside of school.

Thank you for your understanding and support in this matter.

Curriculum

Dates for your Diary

Please refer to the ‘Calendar’ on the school website:

www.colstonbassettschool.com/parent.php#parent_calendar