Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 13th December 2024

ashley.coley • December 13, 2024

Headteachers Update

Hello, I would like to take this chance to say a massive thank you for the warm welcome I have received from children, staff and parents. The performances this week, were so lovely. I am really looking forward to leading the school in Miss Laycock's absence and already I feel I have got to know the strengths of this wonderful school. Fortunately, I have been able to spend a couple of days with Miss Laycock to handover and I know your thoughts and prayers will be with her and her family.


I have been a headteacher for over 7 years, and for the past two years, I have been working in an advisory role supporting both Primary and Secondary schools. When Tim Coulson asked if I would come to Lingwood, I did not hesitate. I live just outside Bury St Edmunds with my wife and 16-year-old twin boys. I am an avid sportsman and fan and am currently training for an attempt to run a sub 3-hour marathon, so you might see me running around the village.


I will be working from home on a Wednesday, but we have made arrangements for another senior leader from Unity to come and support Miss Coley when I am not in school. Please do catch me at the gate at the start or the end of the day and say hello.


Have a lovely weekend.


Ben Jeffery

Interim Headteacher

Dates for the diary 

  • Monday 16th December - KS2 Christmas Performance 9.30am
  • Friday 20th December - Last day of term
  • Monday 6th January - Spring term begins

Year Group News

Nursery

This week in Nursery we have been learning about the Christmas Story. The children have been re-telling the story in our small world tray and they have enjoyed dressing up and acting out the story in our role play area. We also had our Christmas performance and we are so proud of the children who all shone.


Reception

Reception have been learning about the Nativity story this week and have enjoyed re-telling the story using a story map. They have also been decorating the classroom with paper chains using repeating patterns and remembering the shapes we have learnt over the last few weeks. We were so proud of them all during their Christmas show on Wednesday. They were so brave to perform in front of such a big audience and we think they are all superstars! 


Year 1

We are so proud of the children and their hard work for our nativity play this half term! They were fantastic during the performance, showing off their amazing singing and speaking parts!  Thank you for all of your support with costumes, line learning and no doubt hearing the songs on repeat at home!


We were also lucky to have a visit from a parent who brought in a posada which was visiting them for the night from their church. The children enjoyed hearing about where the statue and tradition originates from and why it is important to the family and their religion.


Year 2   

What an amazing nativity performance from Year 2! Thank you to all the parents that were able to join us- you were an amazing audience! Thank you for all the lovely costumes! We are so proud of all of them- they all worked really hard to learn their parts and songs. 


This week we have also learned about the Lantern Festival in China during our reading lesson. We practised sequencing events from the story and finding events in the story by identifying the beginning, middle and end, which makes it easier to find information when answering questions about the text.

Year 3

This week Year 3 have been working hard to write their historical stories, including dialogue. They have been using their learning in History to help them use precise vocabulary. 

In reading we have begun reading the poem The night before Christmas and have been practising our scanning skills to identify key words and phrases which help us answer questions.


Year 4

This week Year 4 have started their new writing unit, News Reports! They have already begun by looking at various news articles and annotating their features. We are nearly at the end of our core text, The Girl Who Stole an Elephant. In Science, we were solving why water droplets form around cold cans and glasses. The children also recorded what had happened to their experiment from last week. Lastly, we had our final music lesson with our Norfolk Hub music teacher where we rehearsed our performance of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on the ukulele!


Year 5

This week, Year 5 had a whole day of DT, where they designed and created a road safety belt in groups. They carefully selected particular materials so that they were reflective and would be able to be seen in the dark. I was so proud of them all - well done! In Writing, we have planned and started writing a balanced argument about whether we should ban school uniforms or not. The children have recognised points for as well as against to ensure they remain balanced and not biased. 


Year 6

Year 6 have been rehearsing hard for their Christmas performance this week. They have also written a news report and edited it. In maths, the class have been multiplying and dividing fractions with success. Finally, they are really enjoying the class book How to Live Forever.

Achievement Awards

Rabbit Class  - The whole class for being superstars during their Christmas show.


Squirrel Class – Mollie - for fantastic addition and subtraction work in maths.


Hares Class  – Brooke - for her commitment to rehearsing lines and songs at home - a fantastic donkey!


Fawns Class  – Theo, for working hard to apply his knowledge in his writing this week.

               

Otter Class - Jess B - For your amazing adventure story. You had a clear plot, characters and setting. It was a very exciting read.


Badger Class – Georgia for doing amazingly well on your spelling test - well done!


Fox Class - Luca for working really hard on his handwriting when completing his news report.


Star Pupil Awards


Rabbit Class -  The whole class for being superstars during their Christmas show.

Squirrel Class –Isabelle - for being a kind and helpful member of Squirrels class.


Hares Class  – Alfie - for being a great member of Hare’s class. We will miss your smiley face


Fawns Class - Talula Gregg, for consistently trying her best in all lessons. Well Done.


Otter Class – Thea - for always being so positive and sharing your lovely smile with us every day!


Badger Class – Tye for being respectful to all adults - well done!


Fox Class – Alesha for an improved focus and effort this week in class.


Congratulations to you all - we are very proud of you!

Attendance Update
   This week's whole school attendance

95.5%

  • In first place is Year 3  with 96.1%
  • In joint second place is Year 1 and 6 with 96% 
  • In third place is Year 4  with 95.1%.


Well done to all the children arriving at school on time, ready to learn lets see if we can increase our attendance next week! Fawns won the extra reward this week!


A reminder that the school gates will continue to be open from 8.30 am. Registration is at 8.40 am and school finishes at 3.25 pm.


Fines for parents for taking children out of school: What you need to know 

Remember that every day counts and we are in every day next week!

Congratulations Mr Scott


A big congratulations to Mr Scott and his wife on the birth of their beautiful daughter Ivy.


We look forward to welcoming Mr Scott back after his paternity leave, but in the meantime Mrs Gregory will be in full charge of the nursery.


FOLPA Christmas Raffle

Reminder:


If you would like to buy a square to win the Christmas raffle please visit the school office.


Squares are £1 each.


The winner will be drawn on Wednesday 18th December.


Thanks everyone.

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 18th July

By ashley.coley • July 18, 2025
Dear parents and carers, We made it! It has been a good year at Lingwood, and I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported the school. The sun shone at our summer fete last Friday. Events like this are only such a success when you have a group of parents who spend hours of their own time before, during and after the event. Thank you so so much to the members of FOLPA for your amazing efforts all year round. We raised a whopping £1317. We want all of our children to have a lovely holiday and are not setting homework. We do however expect children to read over the holidays. Miss Long recently sent a letter out about a reading challenge, and I have sent a letter out this week about the importance of reading over the six-week break. It would also be a good idea for your child to go on Timestable Rockstars to keep their maths ticking over nicely. We have had a few children turning up to school in incorrect uniform including wearing coloured trainers. Please can you make sure your child has the correct uniform for September. Staff will return to school on Monday 1st September for two PD days and children will return on Wednesday 3rd September. Please see below dates for the rest of the academic year. We are still in the process of moving over to a new communication system called Arbor. You will receive an update before the sort of term. Good luck to our year sixes and to anyone else who is leaving. Have a wonderful summer with your children and see you in September. Have a lovely summer. Stay safe. Mr Jeffery and the Lingwood Team

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 11th July 2025

By ashley.coley • July 11, 2025
Dear parents and carers, One week to go! This week we got our SATs results. I am delighted to announce that 81% of our children reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. This is significantly above the national average of 62% and a big increase in what we achieved last year. Those children who did not quite get there have done brilliantly making incredible progress – we are so proud of you all. We celebrated in style at Great Yarmouth on Wednesday. We also have had our phonics results. In year 1, 85% of the year passed their screening. Again, this is above the national average. Those children who didn't quite get there will receive additional support next year. School is far more than results, and it was lovely to see our year 6 athletics team competing at the track in Bury on Monday. They did brilliantly and finished a very creditable 8th out of all of the Unity schools. Continuing with the sporting theme, it is always good to hear about sporting achievements out of school. Esme (year 6) has been representing Norfolk at basketball. Last weekend she took part in a tournament in Essex and did tremendously well coming second. Well done, Esme. Now we have confirmed our staffing for September, I can announce that Mrs Luck will be teaching Fox class on a Monday and Fawn class on a Tuesday. Mr Dibden and Mrs Smith will teach the rest of the week. In Nursery, Mr Scott will be the lead teacher on Monday and Tuesday with Mrs Mann leading on Wednesday to Friday. Mrs Gegory will be there all week. In Reception, Mrs Brighton will be the lead teacher Monday to Wednesday and Mr Scott on Thursday and Friday. I hope to see you all after school for our summer fete. Thank you to FOLPA for running this event. Have a lovely weekend  Mr Jeffery

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 4th July 2025

By ashley.coley • July 4, 2025
Dear parents and carers, What an absolute scorcher! The children have coped well in the heat and did really well in their new classes. I am so glad we have had two full days in their new classes - it was time well spent and there was a lovely buzz in each classroom. It is understandable that some children are anxious about being in a new class, especially one with younger and older children. I also understand that this can be a worrying time for parents. As I explained at the meeting last week, we are spending all our meeting time planning to make sure this is a success. Your feedback is valuable to us. A lot of the discussions I have had with parents have been about lunchtimes and children who are not in the same class as some of their friends. We have decided that children will be eat in the hall with their year group rather than their class and when they have their time in the MUGA this will also be in year groups. In September there will be a chance to meet your child’s new teacher and then we will have a proper parents evening before October half-term. A reminder that it is our summer fete next Friday. I have committed to spending some time in the stocks! I am delighted to announce that from September Mrs Smith will be our new SENCO at Lingwood. For the remainder of this term please continue to contact me with any questions regarding SEND. Have a lovely weekend.  Mr Jeffery

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 26th June 2025

By ashley.coley • June 26, 2025
Dear parents and carers, It has been quite a week. It was such a lovely day on Tuesday watching the children work together in their houses during a wonderful sportsday. I was blown away by how the children behaved and competed against each other showing our school values of kindness, ambition and determination. The parents were equally impressive with their fantastic support and the parent races were certainly a highlight! It was positive to see a good turnout on Monday evening for our meeting about mixed aged teaching. For those that did not attend I will send my PowerPoint upon request. We are looking forward to our two transition days on Monday and Tuesday. Please see more information below. I am delighted to tell you that when Miss Coley is away on maternity leave in October Mr Dibden will become the interim deputy head. He will continue to be the class teacher for Foxes. I hope to announce who our new SENCO is next week. Have a lovely weekend. Mr Jeffery

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 20th June 2025

By ashley.coley • June 20, 2025
Dear parents and carers, I wanted to say a massive thank you to the parents who have come and spoken to me face to face about the changes we are having to make in September. In some schools the easy thing to do is to take to social media and wind each other up. I will try and make myself available in the playground as much as possible for the rest of the term, so please do come and speak to me. I have had several emails asking, ‘Which class is my child is in?’ I understand you want to know, but we will be sending this information out to every parent at the same time next Wednesday. I want the meeting on Monday to be about how all children will have a successful year in mixed classes, rather than focusing on individuals. We have sorted out the classes but want to triple check them on Monday morning. Thank you for your understanding over this. I know some parents have had a few worries over the senco situation. I wrote to you a couple of weeks ago to explain that Ms Clack was now working primarily at Heartsease. We now have an internal advert out for our new senco and hope to be announce who this is in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, if you have any SEND related questions, please speak to the class teacher or contact me through Mrs Tubby at the front office ( office@lingwoodprimaryacademy.org.uk ). A reminder that Sports Day starts at 9.30am for Key Stage 2, but parent are welcome to come from 9am. Key Stage 1 will start at 1:15pm. Please bring a chair with you. I thought I would share this email I received on Wednesday: Good evening, I just wanted to send a quick email praising the pupils who I saw in the village this morning completing their cycling safety sessions. They were really respectful and polite moving to make sure I could get along the path with my pushchair. I am looking forward to seeing you on Monday evening and for what looks like a very warm Sports Day on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend in the sun. Mr Jeffery

School support from Anguish's Charitable Foundation

June 20, 2025
Unity Schools Partnership is delighted to announce that we have received some grant funding from the Anguish’s Educational Foundation to support our school. The Trust, of which we are a member school, applied for funding under its charitable foundation to start a Happy Top Up Shed for our families. The project will provide food, warm clothing and bedding, relief from period poverty and energy support. Our knowledge of our families, and the trust between our pupils and families and the school, allows us to provide effective immediate support to help against the ongoing cost of living crisis. Children who have their most immediate needs met will attend school more frequently, engage more and achieve better outcomes. Children who feel the school cares will experiment, commit and be more resilient. Unity Schools Partnership and our wider school community would like to thank Anguish’s Educational Foundation for their support.

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 13th May 2025

By ashley.coley • June 13, 2025
Dear parents and carers, It was lovely to see so many parents coming along to our FOLPA picnic today in th every warm sunshine. Our next big event is Sports day on Tuesday 24th June. I will send more information next week, but we hope you can come along and support. Years 3 – 6 will be in the morning and Nursery – year 2 will be in the afternoon. Please make sure you have seen the letter sent out on BromCom about some important changes for September. Have a lovely weekend. Mr Jeffery 

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 6th May 2025

By ashley.coley • June 6, 2025
Dear parents and carers, It was great to see Lingwood in the newspaper over half-term. Please see the link below. Lingwood Primary Academy win Acle Cluster Competition | Norwich Evening News Yesterday I received a certificate celebrating the fact that Lingwood was in the top 25% of primary schools in the country for our attendance last term. This is recognition for everyone at the school. Well done and thank you. Please see the letter I have sent out today about the actions we are taking having read all of the responses from the surveys that were sent out last month. Next week I will update you about staffing for September. Mrs Clack is now only working at Heartsease because of a leadership change there. Fortunately, we have got the expertise of Sarah Porter supporting all this SEND for the remainder of the summer term. Have a lovely weekend. Mr Jeffery

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 23rd May 2025

By ashley.coley • May 23, 2025
Dear parents and carers, This term seems to have gone by in a flash. There have been many highlights but what stands out most for me is how children talk about being part of Team Lingwood and wanting to the very best version of themselves. The year ones had a lovely trip to the SeaLife Centre on Thursday and were absolutely buzzing when they returned. It was great to hear how well they represented the school. This week our attendance is a disappointing 90.6% but our attendance for the whole year still remains above the national average but we are never looking for average at Lingwood! I can report back that the staff quiz team more than held their own but were unlucky not to win! Thanks to FOLPA for organising this and for all their hard work and support. After the half-term break, we will be able to share information about transition days and who your child's teacher is. Have a great half-term and see you all on Monday 2nd June. Mr Jeffery

Lingwood Primary Academy Newsletter 16th May 2025

By lorraine.long • May 16, 2025
Dear parents and carers, What a lovely week of weather! I have been really impressed how children have stayed smart with shirts tucked in despite the heat. Well done to year 6 - they coped superbly with their SATs and had a well-deserved reward yesterday. One of the many highlights of my week was hearing from a parent who told me that her children go home and tell them that Mr Jeffery says in assembly that we want to be the best school in the world. Firstly, I am glad children listen to my assemblies, and more importantly, it is great to see and hear children with such great ambition. Mrs Clack is having to spend her Tuesdays at Heartsease for the upcoming weeks. Fortunately, we have the very experienced Mrs Porter supporting the school and carrying out the SENCO role. Her email is sporter@unitysp.co.uk. This week our attendance is once again impressive and stands at 97.4%. Well done to Year 6 for a stomping 100%. Good luck to the staff team (and parent teams!) at the quiz tonight and have a lovely weekend. A reminder that half-term is the week after next (w/c 26th May) with children returning on Monday 2nd June. Mr Jeffery 
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