Dear Parents and Carers,

It has almost felt like summer has arrived at De Havilland this week. Seeing the children enjoying the sunshine on the field in their summer uniforms has been lovely and has acted as a teaser for what we hope are some gloriously sunny months ahead!

This week, it was wonderful to see so many of you at our parent consultation evenings. These meetings are a vital opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and their end-of-year projections and I hope you all left feeling fully informed of where your child is at with regards to their learning. I encourage you to act on the specific guidance shared by class teachers, particularly the essential habit of daily reading and mastering multiplication tables. When these become second nature at home, the school day becomes much more accessible and rewarding for your child. I must also say a huge thank you to Charlotte and Hayley from our FODs team, and Raquel, our parent governor, for giving up their time to greet families. It was wonderful to have them there to share more about their roles and how they support our school community. Our FODs team are always keen for more people to jump on board and support! If you would like to get involved, the next meeting is this Tuesday after school. It would be fantastic to see you there!

This leads me nicely into a communication you will have received today regarding OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning): an exciting new programme we are beginning here at De Havilland. Rather than repeating everything in the separate letter, I will simply say that all of us are thrilled to transform our break and lunchtime offering and move our school another step forward. I must also highlight that this would not be possible without the incredible generosity of our families; a significant portion of the funding for this project has come directly from money raised by FODs at our school events. I cannot thank you all enough for your contributions, and I am delighted that we are embarking on something that will benefit every single child in our school.

While I prefer to share only positive news in my newsletter entries, I must address some concerning behaviour that has come to light this week. We have been notified of several incidents involving our older children and their use of social media, specifically WhatsApp and Snapchat. These incidents involve the sharing of inappropriate content and unkindness within group chats. I must be clear: these platforms are not designed for primary-aged children, and the school does not have the capacity to manage the fallout that occurs online outside of school hours. Our stance is firm because it is rooted in safeguarding. We ask for your full support in monitoring your child's devices; preventing access to these apps is the only sure way to protect them from these risks. Thank you to those of you who are working with us to keep our community a kind and safe place.

As always, I appreciate you taking the time to stay informed through these weekly updates. I wish you and your families a pleasant weekend as we move into the final week of spring term.

Mr Bostock

Headteacher