Welcome Back to School – September 2025!
Dear Children and Families,
We are so excited to welcome everyone back to school for a brand-new term! It’s hard to believe we are already at the end of week three. The children are really enjoying their swimming lessons and the fantastic extra-curricular opportunities on offer this term, including football, gymnastics, coding, and chess. We are ready for lots of fun learning and new adventures.
This half terms value is Self – belief.
Our focus will be on creating the very best opportunities for learning and growth by:
- Being the best we can be – encouraging children to develop resilience, confidence, and pride in their achievements.
Knowing more and remembering more – building knowledge step by step, while ensuring learning is meaningful and lasting.
Working together – fostering strong partnerships between home and school so that every child feels supported on their journey.
Promoting children’s wellbeing – prioritising happiness, health, and positive relationships, because we know children learn best when they feel safe and cared for.
Curriculum Overview – This Term.
We are excited to share what your child will be learning this term. Detailed information about our curriculum is always available on the school website https://blanford.sch.life/# (look under the curriculum tab for further information), which provides further insights into the topics and learning objectives for each year group.
Here is a brief snapshot of what is coming up:
- Reception: All About Me and Lets Celebrate! – exploring personal identity, feelings, and special occasions.
Year 1: Very Important People – learning about influential figures from the past and present.
Year 2: Gunpowder Plot and The Great Fire of London – investigating key historical events that shaped our nation.
Year 3/4: Victorians and Ancient Greeks – studying life in historical periods, their cultures, and lasting legacies. - Year 5/6: Ancient Greeks – exploring Greek history, mythology, and their impact on the modern world.
- We encourage parents to visit our website for a more detailed view of the curriculum, including learning outcomes and resources. Our aim is to keep you informed and involved in your child’s learning journey.
Working Hard
This term, we’ll be focusing on giving our best effort in all we do, whether it’s in lessons, play, or supporting one another.
Uniform Pride
A big thank you to everyone who is already showing pride in our school by wearing the correct uniform. Looking smart helps us feel ready to learn and part of our school family.
Being on Time
Arriving at school on time every day makes such a difference! It means we can start the day calmly, ready to join in and not miss out on any of our learning.
Kindness and Friendliness
Most importantly, let’s continue to be kind, friendly, and polite to each other. A smile, a kind word, or helping hand makes our school a happy place for everyone.
Congratulations
We are delighted to share the wonderful news that Mr. Raybould has welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Arabella, last Sunday. We wish him and his family every happiness for the future. During Mr. Raybould’s paternity leave, Mr. Hyde will be covering his class. Congratulations again to Mr. Raybould and his family on this special occasion!
Miss Porter will begin her maternity leave on Friday 26th September.
Nuts in School
We kindly remind families that we are a nut-free school (including products like Nutella) due to severe allergies. Thank you for helping us keep all children safe.
Birthdays
To celebrate their special day, children may wear their own clothes to school. Outfits should still be suitable for a normal school day. If a birthday falls on a weekend or holiday, children may wear their own clothes on the following Monday. Families are also welcome to send in sweets if they wish.
Talking with Teachers
We value strong communication with parents. If you would like to speak with your child’s teacher, please make a note in their planner and we will arrange a time to talk.
Collection Arrangements
If your child regularly attends After School Club, Playbox, or is collected by someone else, please record this in their planner. For any changes on the day, call the office on 01384 818365. Thank you for keeping us informed.
Healthy Tuck
To support healthy habits, tuck from home should only include:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Plain water
Children may also order daily fruit each half term. Thank you for supporting our Healthy Tuck. Please remind children that plain water is allowed in class; juice and squash are fine in lunchboxes.
This term, we will continue to celebrate successes, overcome challenges together, and nurture the unique talents of every child. With your support, we can ensure that all our children not only learn well but also flourish and thrive.
Thank you once again for being such an important part of our school community. Together, we can make this a truly successful and memorable term.
Warm regards,
Mrs Crook and Miss Stanton
Dates for the diary
2nd – 26th September – KS2 Swimming. Email sent to KS2 parents.
Friday 26th September - Macmillan Coffee Morning – Join us in supporting a great cause and help make this year's event truly special. Come along for a cup of tea or coffee and a slice of cake for just a £2.00 donation via School Money. Everyone is welcome from 9.00am to 10.15am. Enjoy live performances from our wonderful Music Club throughout the morning.
We would be very grateful for any cake donations, whether homemade or shop bought, which can be brought in by children on Thursday 25th or Friday 26th.
On the day, children are invited to wear their own clothes and bring in a minimum £1 donation via School Money. In return, they will enjoy a drink and a piece of cake.
Let’s see if we can beat last year’s fantastic total. Thank you for your support.
Thursday 25th (Year 3/4) and Friday 26th (Year 5/6) September - KS2 European Languages Day.
Tuesday 30th September – Blanford Babies – 9am-10am
Thursday 2nd October - National Poetry Day
Monday 6th – 17th October – Harvest – more details to follow.
In the weeks leading up to half term, we will be celebrating Harvest.
This year we have decided again to help the Black Country Foodbank who collect items to feed families in crisis in our community. Black Country Foodbank helps vulnerable individuals and families in crisis through the provision of 3 days emergency food supplies while a longer-term solution is developed. The services we provide have an enormous impact on the people who use them, giving them an important breathing space at a time of great need.
The Foodbank would like to collect a range of items so that they don’t have an abundance of some items and a shortfall of others. So, we are going to ask each class to donate particular items, so that we should manage to collect a selection across the school. We will be launching the appeal in classroom assemblies next week, but thought you may like advance warning so that perhaps you can add an extra item into your shopping. Please make sure that the foods are “in date”, i.e. within their ‘best before’ dates as the Foodbank can’t give away food that is past its best—before date and we don’t want to waste any donations.
In these uncertain times, many parents are turning to Food banks for help. I know that they will greatly appreciate your donations.
If you feel able to support this appeal, then please send the item asked from your child’s class on the list below, from Monday 7th October until Friday 17th October 2025
- Nursery – Any items from the lists below.
- Year R - Miss Cleeton - Tinned meat or fish
- Year R — Mr Kimberley - Carton of U.H.T.(long life) milk
- Year 1 — Mrs Cameron - Tinned Potatoes, tinned Vegetables
- Year 1 – Mrs Davis/ Miss Jordan - Tinned fruit, cartons of orange juice
- Year 2 – Miss Hughes – Hot chocolate, small jars of coffee, tea
- Year 2 — Miss Davies– Sugar, biscuits
- Year 3/4 — Miss Bullock -Soup, (tinned/carton/packet), instant noodles
- Year 3/4 — Mrs Cope - Rice, dried pasta, couscous
- Year 3/4 — Mrs Cartwright/Mrs Woodley - fruit squash/cordial
- Year 5/6 — Mr Baker Cereal (preferably non-sugared)
- Year 5/6 — Mr Raybould Toiletries (soap, shower gel shampoo, baby toiletries, wipes etc)
- Year 5/6 — Mrs Oliver Any of the items above.
Wednesday 15th October – Parents Evening
Thursday 16th October – Parents Evening
Tuesday 21st October - Blanford Babies – 9am-10am
Thursday 23rd October – VIP Day
Friday 24th October – INSET day – school closed to children
Monday 3rd November – Children return to school in winter uniform
Friday 7th November – Remembrance Day. Children who are members of Cubs, Scouts, Brownies, Beavers, or similar organisations are warmly invited to wear their uniforms to school on this day. It’s a great opportunity for them to proudly represent their associations.
W/C 10th November – Anti-bullying week
Monday 10th November – Odd Socks Day.
Odd Socks Day is designed to be fun! It’s an opportunity to encourage people to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique! There is no pressure to wear the latest fashion or to buy expensive costumes. All you have to do to take part is wear odd socks to your school, at work of at home, it couldn’t be simpler! Odd Socks Day will take place on the first day of Anti-Bullying Week each year to help raise awareness of bullying.
Friday 14th November – Loudmouth Bully Busters - Year 3
Mon 17th November – 24th November – Cycling – Year 5/6. More details to follow.
Friday 21st November – Children in Need.
Tuesday 25th November- Blanford Babies – 9am-10am
Thursday 4th December – Rec – Year 6 Film Night
Friday 12th December – Christmas Breakfast and Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day. More details to follow
Tuesday 16th December – Blanford Babies – 9am-10am
Tuesday 16th December – Nursery and Reception Christmas Craft and Singalong. More details to follow.
Wednesday 17th December – Christmas Lunch for children. More details to follow.
Thursday 18th December – Santa’s Grotto. More details to follow.
Friday 19th December – VIP Day. School closes for Christmas break.
Dates this academic year 2025/2026
Autumn 2025
Term starts – Monday 1 September 2025
Half term – Monday 27th October to Friday 31st October 2025
Term Ends – Friday 19th December 2025
Spring 2026
Term starts – Monday 5th January 2026
Half term – Monday 16th February to Friday 20th February 2026
Term Ends – Friday 27th March 2026
Summer 2026
Term starts – Monday 13th April 2026
Half term – Monday 25th to Friday 29th May 2026
Term Ends – Monday 20th July 2026
Bank Holiday
Monday 4th May 2026 (Early May Bank Holiday)
INSET Days
Monday 01/09/2025
Friday 24/10/2025
Friday 13/02/2026
Friday 22/05/2026
Monday 20/07/2026
Break up Friday 17th July 2026
Polling Day
Thursday 7th May 2026
