Dear Families,

Dougie Mac Coffee& Cake morning
Thank you so much for all of your donations for today.  It was lovely to see so many people join us.  I can’t believe how many delicious home made cakes were brought in - shame I couldn’t get to test them all!

Sam from Dougie Mac is coming in on Monday to collect the donation tubs and she’ll be back again on Monday 6th October to lead an assembly and share how much we raised.

Thank you again everyone.

School times
Just a reminder that children in nursery and Reception classes must be in the class at 8:45 so that they are not marked late in the registers.

Children in KS1 and KS2 must be in the class for 8:50am so that they are not marked late in the registers. 

The doors and gates are closed at 8:50am.  If you arrive after 8:50am, you must go to the main entrance with your child and sign them in.  Please do not leave your child to come to the main entrance by themselves.

Driving safety
I have been made aware that some children are not wearing seat belts in cars and that some of these children are standing in between the two front seats of the car. 

Not only is this very dangerous but it is also illegal.  Please can you ensure that your child is safely fastened into their car seat / seat belt before your drive.  If a person;s name is reported to me, I will have to take further action.

Useful information regarding online spending (from the E-safety advisor)

For Parents - Managing In-Game Spending

In-game spending can be problematic with some children and young people. The urgency to level up, to look unique, to be better than your friends, and to top all this off the persuasive techniques that games companies use.
Internet Matters have an excellent guide for parents which includes:

• How do children spend money while gaming.

• How does in-game currency work.

• The benefits and risks

• Supporting resources, and more.

You can view the guide HERE.

Thank you for your support.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Wilmer

Upcoming events (please note there have been a few PTA events added)

Dear Families,

We’ve had a super week in school.  I’ve been into all of the classes and felt very proud of how well the children are focused and learning.

Fire Service
Year 1 had the fire service visit them today.  They’ve learnt a great deal about being safe outside and on the roads.  They were so enthusiastic about what they had learnt and very excited about the fire engine.  Well done Year 1.

Dougie Mac Coffee & Cake morning
We will be holding our annual coffee & cake fundraising event on Friday 26th September.  This event is for family and friends.  For those new to this, we ask for your baking donations on the Thursday or Friday morning so we can sell them.  If you are unable to make it, please send your child in with some money so they can buy themselves a yummy treat.

We have a member of the Dougie Mac team coming into school to lead an assembly too so the children can understand what special job this hospice does for families.

Online safety advice for parents from the e-safety advisor

For Parents - Talking to your Child about Online Safety

It's the area that a lot of parents struggle with yet it is the single most important aspect for any child of any age - continuing conversations with children to mitigate risk, including topics that can be very difficult to approach.
The NSPCC has some wonderful resources for parents including age-appropriate conversations and topics, top tips, quizzes and more.  You can find all the resources listed HERE.

Job adverts
We have two posts being advertised; a playworker for Small & Tall and a Lunchtime Assistant.  If you or anyone you know is interested, please do get in touch.  Details can be found on the website.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Upcoming events 

Dear Families,

After a very busy week, we’ve finally reached the end of another super year.  This year has been successful in so many ways.   The children have been successful with not just academic work but with sporting activities too.  We’ve had many trips, visitors and special events which have allowed the children to learn more and experience more.

A huge thank you to all of our families for your ongoing support.  It’s always such a privilege working with you to support the children on their learning journey.  Your support and involvement always makes such a positive difference.  Your kind words, encouragement, and trust have been truly appreciated. Whether it was helping with homework, attending school events, or simply having a chat at the beginning or end of the day, your support has meant so much.

A special thank you also for the thoughtful gifts and cards—your generosity and kindness are genuinely appreciated. It’s lovely to feel so valued and to know that the work we do is making a difference.

Today we say ‘Goodbye’ to our wonderful Year 6 children.  There have been lots of emotions over the last few days.  I am proud to know that they will leave Friarswood with the knowledge that they can achieve anything they set their hearts and minds to.  They have been such a truly amazing class, and we will miss them a great deal.  

Today we say ‘Congratulations’ to Miss Johnson who is getting married in the summer holidays.  She will become Mrs Salisbury.  We wish them lots of love and happiness.

We also say ‘Goodbye’ to Miss Smith today.  Miss Smith has covered maternity leave in Year 4 for the last two years.  She has shown so much dedication and has supported the school in so many ways.  We wish her all the best for the next stage of her career.

I wish you and your family a restful, joyful summer break. I hope the holidays are filled with sunshine, fun, and happy memories.  I look forward to seeing you back at school on Tuesday 2nd September.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer and the Friarswood team

Upcoming Dates
 

Dear Families,

What a thoroughly exciting week it’s been for KS2.  They have performed twice this week in their Summer show and what a spectacular performance it was!

Their singing, acting and enthusiasm was outstanding.  We had some solo singers who were so brave and who sang beautifully.  We had a member of year 6 who was in charge of all the music and slides.  It takes a very dedicated person to do this job due to the pressure to get it right - and he did this perfectly! And we even had a fabulously drunk Miss Hannigan!

I am so proud of all of the children.  A huge well done to all of them.  A big thank you to the parents for their support and a massive thank you to all of the staff for their time and effort to ensure that this show was so successful.

Swimming Gala
On Tuesday, a group of Year 5 and 6 children took part in the Newcastle schools swimming gala.  There was a lot of cheering and clapping and some very close races.  Friarswood won lots of medals for first or second place.  We came back with a trophy too for coming overall second - by one point.  So close!!

A huge well done to the swimming team and their champions - Ava, Nora, Jack F, Henry, Jack A, Michael, Ben, Alice, Sofia, Freddie and their champions Bella, Grace and Arthur.

Move - up morning
All of the children have visited their new class.  They’ve been shown where to go in the mornings from September, where they will leave and, most importantly, where their new toilets are!  Year 6 have had their transition days to high school.  Over the next couple of weeks, the children will have more opportunities to meet their new teachers.  If you have any concerns, please just let me or the teacher know.

Year 3 teacher
On Monday, we are interviewing for the Year 3 teacher.  There were some very strong applicants.  Hopefully, by Monday afternoon, I’ll be able to let you know who will be our newest member of the team.  Once we have recruited, the new teacher will come into school to meet the class and to get to know Friarswood.

Mrs Dean
Some of you may have spotted Mrs Dean this week.  She is back at work on a phased return.  At the moment, Mrs Dean is working in the afternoons.  She’s updating herself on the many events that have happened since Autumn. 

Year 3 swimming
Unfortunately,  Chesterton has cancelled the last swimming dates.  This means that there will be no more swimming for these children now.  

I do want to just say that this is the first class ever that we have had all of the children swimming, without armbands, by December time.  The class are confident in the water and know how to float on the top of the water if they were to fall in.  The vast majority of the class can swim 25 metres , which is the National Curriculum KS2 requirement (to be reached by the end of KS2).  The few children who can not do this yet can certainly swim at least 15 metres.  Myself and Mrs Dickens are so proud of all of the children.

Career’s Fair
Next Thursday, Year 5 & 6 will be taking part in a career’s fair.  We have held this for the last two years, and it’s invaluable for the children.  They get to ask questions and learn about jobs which they may not have heard about before.  Even if they have heard about them, they get the opportunity to ask questions about the skills needed for the job.  

If any of you would like to take part in this, please contact myself or Mrs McConvey.

(This could be for this year or for next year)

End of year reports
The end-of-year reports will be coming out next Friday.  I hope you will be as proud of your child as I am.  It was such a pleasure reading through them.  

Along with the reports will be your child’s attendance certificate.   Any attendance under 95% is a concern due to the amount of learning time your child has missed.  Anything under 90% will be monitored by both the school and the Education Welfare Officer, as such poor attendance really does have a massive impact on your child’s learning and therefore their life chances.  Teachers do not have the time to help your child to catch up with missed learning as they have the rest of the class to teach.  If your child’s attendance is low, please try to work with us next year to improve this.

Parking on Abbots Way
Unfortunately, we’re starting to have more and more complaints about parking on the yellow lines and parking dangerously.  Please park safely.  No one wants anything awful to happen to any of our children and families.

Please can I ask all parents to ensure their child has their seat belt fastened before driving.  Failure to do so is against the law, not to mention very dangerous.  

Online Safety Information 

For Parents - Moving to Secondary School

For many children, the move from primary to school has many 'firsts', including digital firsts. Internet Matters have a wonderful guide for parents to help with that transition from primary to secondary school, all digital and online related.

You can find the guide HERE.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Upcoming Dates
 

Dear Families,

We’ve certainly had a hot week.  Thanks for sending everyone in with sun-cream, hats and water bottles.

INSETs for 2025 - 2026
Along with the holidays, we have got some staff training days booked in.  On these days the school and Small & Tall will be closed.  You may have seen the dates on the website, but if not, here they are:

Monday 1 September

Monday 10 November

Monday 1 June

Friday 24 July

Monday 27 July

Small & Tall price increase
Due to a rise in costs, from September, the prices will increase to:

Mornings - £5.95

After school - £9.85

Mrs Dean
This week, we had a visit from Mrs Dean who will be coming back to work part way through July.  It was lovely to see her and the children were very excited about seeing her too.  She will start back to work for a few hours each day and then build up to her usual hours.  I’ll keep you posted to the actual dates.  Mrs Kumar will be with us until the end of this term.

Mrs Rafferty
Mrs Rafferty has been selected to become a Primary Director of English for the Trust for 12 months.  This means that although her maternity leave is about to finish, she won’t be coming back to Friarswood in September.  The job advert is out and interviews are soon.  I will keep you informed about who will be teaching Year 3 next year.

PTA - bring a bottle
Thank you to everyone who took part in this today.  We have got some lovely prizes now for the tombola.

Have a lovely weekend in the sunshine.

Take and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Upcoming Dates
 

Dear Families,

It’s been a very exciting last week of the half-term.  All the children have taken part in their sports day activities.  It was great to see the children having a go and competing, enjoying their own successes and so many children showing resilience when things got a bit tough.  There was some super teamwork and team spirit shown along with plenty of resilience.

Thank you to all of the parents who supported this and had fun in the rain on Wednesday!

Eco Conference
Mrs Bebbington and myself had the pleasure of taking a group of children to a very exciting eco-conference in Manchester yesterday.  We met other children from the other primary trust schools.  We learnt about a wide variety of facts, focusing on how to be eco-friendly.  The children proudly presented their eco-warrior work at the conference, and they had lots of fun making bug homes and bird feeders.

Well done to Alicia, Billy, Ruben, Lorna, Ella and Emma.  We were so proud of you.

Small & Tall news
After half-term, we have a new manager, Mrs Mann, who will be joining us.  She has been in to meet the staff and children already.  We look forward to welcoming her to Friarswood and we know that you’ll support her whilst she’s getting to grips with how Small & Tall runs and whilst she’s getting to know all of our families.

A reminder that Small & Tall is closed on Wed 4th June after school due to staff training.  Due to all the staff being involved in this, the school gates will be closed at 3:30pm.  There will not be anyone in the offices.

Father’s Day Lunch
Please make sure you have paid and sent your food order choices in by the start of the half term.  The payments etc will close on Wed 4th June.  

Classes for next year

Here is the staffing list for next year.

Nursery - Mrs Tagg & Miss Goodwin

Reception - Mrs Williams & Mrs Ashton (& Mrs Simpson)

Year 1 - Mrs Elkin & Mrs Harris (Mrs Elkin Mon & Tue, Mrs Harris Thu & Fri, Wed are alternated between them)

Year 2 - Mrs Dickens & Mrs Simpson

Year 3 - Mrs Rafferty

Year 4 - Ms Cooper

Year 5 - Mrs Hartley

Year 6 Mrs McConvey

Mrs Bebbington - TA for Years 1 & 2

Dr Fletcher - TA in Yr 5

Ms Master-pupil support in Yr 6

Miss French - TA for Years 3 & 4

Mrs Hughes - Cover supervisor ( Mrs Hughes covers classes when teachers have PPA time, leadership time or out on training)

Have a lovely half-term everyone.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer

Some information for parents which you may find useful.  One of my friends was scammed at a car park not so long ago, so I thought you may find this useful.

The Hidden Dangers of scanning QR Codes - Action Fraud and Sky News

Cyber criminals are increasingly exploiting QR technology to direct people to malicious websites designed to steal people’s personal and financial information.

QR codes have become a convenient part of everyday life—but they also carry hidden risks. A recent Sky News investigation revealed that organised crime groups are using QR code stickers across UK streets, including near schools, to promote illegal online cannabis delivery services. These links lead to slick websites offering next-day delivery, with transactions handled through banks and cryptocurrency. The products are often unregulated and potentially dangerous.

https://news.sky.com/story/the-online-drug-trade-behind-qr-code-stickers-plastered-on-streets-across-the-uk-13365660

Meanwhile, Action Fraud warns that criminals are also using fake QR codes to trick people into giving away personal or financial information. Some replace legitimate QR codes in car parks with scam versions, while others send malicious codes via email in phishing attacks known as ‘quishing’.

To stay safe, only scan QR codes from trusted sources, avoid using third-party scanning apps, and double-check links before following them. Suspicious QR code activity should be reported to Action Fraud at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/a-z-of-fraud/qr-codes

Upcoming Dates