SHARED VISION 2024

Thank you to Mr Crawford for leading our meeting. So many positive and possible ideas to move our school forward and make it the best it can be. Our class ambassadors participated very well and had some fabulous ideas!

Year 2 Harvest Festival Assembly 

Please join us on Tuesday 8th October at 10am to celebrate the Harvest Festival. Please note this is for Year 2 parents/carers.

WORLD BOOK WEEK - OUR POP UP LIBRARY

Our POP UP LIBRARY has popped up again tonight, all ready for

Class 1 & Class 5 in the morning.  A reminder that parents are invited to come and share stories with their children from 8.45-9.20 this week - please come and join us if you can. Please see the timetable below as a reminder:

Monday - Class 6 and Class R

Tuesday -  Class 1 and Class 5

Wednesday - Class 2

Thursday - Class 3

Friday - Class 4

Thank you to Class 6, Class R and their parents for joining us this morning - what a special way to start the week.

EYFS and Key Stage 1 Sports Day 2023

A huge well done and congratulations to all of the children from Class R, 1 and 2 who participated in our annual Sports Day, last Wednesday.  The children were in mixed teams and worked hard to score as many points as they could by competing in 10 different events, including the water carry, beanbag aim, football goal score, as well as Sports Day favourites like the sack and egg and spoon.

Thank you to all of the support from our Parents, Carers and Year 6 Buddies - what a lovely event!

Please enjoy the photographs below:

We have been asked to pass on the information about the holiday football club, at Codnor Boys football club, by one of our parents, who is managing a team there. Of course, we are not able to  recommend any particular club over another, but are publishing the information so that parents can choose to use the club if they wish.

Yoga, wellbeing and toast!

To mark Children's Mental Health Week, with the theme being 'Let's Connect', children from Reception to Year 6 took part in yoga sessions as a class to connect with their mind, body and soul, and, afterwards, enjoyed toast and drinks together to connect with each other in what was a lovely, social time after the movement and calm of yoga.

Everyone loved it and had the opportunity to talk about their wellbeing and mental health, as well as simply chat and enjoy each others' company. It was such a pleasure to share the time with them!

KS2- Year 5 and 6 Dodgeball competition

Two teams from Years 5 and 6 took part in the AVSSP Dodgeball competition this week.

The children played extremely well, in fact so well, we ended up winning it! We are the Dodgeball Champions!

Well done children you were amazing and were worthy winners against some very stiff competition. 

For more details please click on the link below.

KS2- Year 3 and 4 Dodgeball competition

Today we took 12 children from years 3 and 4 to a dodgeball competition. The children played many games showing excellent effort and sportsmanship! We are so proud of all of you and we are very pleased to have received runner-up certificates.

KS1 Dodgeball Competition

This afternoon, our wonderful children worked hard at the dodgeball competition.  Our two teams showed super sportsmanship, honesty and resilience.  We came RUNNERS UP and......WINNERS!

Well done everyone!

And YES - there was even a game against our parents!  A special thank you to our parents for supporting the event and bringing the children to the leisure centre.

Once again, the school has been kindly asked to decorate a tree at the Smalley Church Christmas tree festival and the children have been busy creating their own decorations at home. Our tree is one of many beautiful other trees in church and hopefully, the children will get to visit over the weekend. 

Hand ball competition - Heanor Leisure Centre

On Tuesday 29th November, Classes 3 and 4 took part in a handball competition at Heanor Leisure Centre . They played really well securing 3rd and 4th place and showed real sportsmanship. 

Congratulations and well done to all who took part.

The Christmas Tree Festival

St John's the Baptist Church - Smalley

We were very proud to see this beautiful handmade Christmas Tree decoration in Class R this morning - thank you - what beautiful work!

If you would like to create one too, then the deadline is Wednesday, 30th November 2022. 

The event is on Saturday, 3rd December at St John's the Baptist church 11am-3pm.

                                                     ANTI - BULLYING WEEK 2022

This year the theme is REACH OUT. Bullying affects millions of lives and can leave us feeling hopeless. But it doesn’t have to be this way. If we challenge it, we can change it and it starts by reaching out.

Are you Water Wise?

On Wednesday, we welcomed Lucy from Severn Trent Water.  She took our assembly and told us lots of interesting facts about water.  She explained the water cycle and explained how Severn Trent clean the water.  She also wowed us with how much water it takes to do certain jobs around the house. Lucy asked us to be Water Wise and think about how we can save water - can you remember some of the ways, children?

We look forward to welcoming Lucy back later in the school year to take another assembly and work with our School Council.

  Mrs Gregory's odd socks! 

ANTI-BULLYING WEEK 

We kick- started our week wearing odd socks with the aim to celebrate uniqueness.

The theme of the week is to ‘reach out’, with the hope that children will chat to friends or someone they trust if they need to talk about bullying.

OUR PUMPKIN PARADE 2022

What a wonderful time we had at our Pumpkin Parade yesterday!  It was so lovely to welcome our children and their families into the hall to have a look at all of the super creations!  There were over 110 entries - WOW!  Thank you to everyone who entered the parade with their pumpkin creation and to those who attended after school. We hope you had lots of fun!  A special thank you to the PTFA for organising the event and supplying us with cosy treats, refreshments and prizes. What a lovely community event!

Take a look at the pumpkin gallery...

OUR HARVEST GIFTS - thank you

Thank you so very much for your kind Harvest gifts - look at the mountain of cans of soup that will be making their way to our local food bank.

Thank you for your kindness.

Here are our school council helping to sort all of your generous donations - they packed them all in bags ready for the Salcare food bank team to collect on Tuesday. Thank you children.

Here are our children helping to load the cans of soup into the lorry.

All of our 'souper' donations were collected by members of the Salcare food bank team in Heanor.  They were very grateful for the donations which will help families in our local community.  Thank you so very much.

World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day is celebrated on 10 October every year. The theme of 2022's day is 'Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority'.

We believe passionately that mental health should be treated on a par with physical health. Mental health problems exist in our lives, families, workplaces and communities, impacting everyone. We must do as much as possible to prevent mental ill-health - as individuals and as a community - and, of course, we seek to do everything we can to support the mental health of the children in our care, as well as our families and staff.

World Mental Health Day is a chance to talk about mental health in general, how we need to look after it, and how important it is to talk about things and get help if you are struggling.

Please see below some useful links with helpful advice and further information to help us all look after our mental health and wellbeing and, of course, please do reach out to us at school should you need any support at all. We are here for you.

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/world-mental-health-day

https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/world-mental-health-day/

https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/resources/world-mental-health-day-2022-toolkit/

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/mental-health-services-for-young-people/children-young-people-mental-health-services-cypmhs-parents-carers-information/

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/get-help

https://www.youngminds.org.uk

https://www.place2be.org.uk/our-services/parents-and-carers/supporting-your-child-s-mental-health/

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/childrens-mental-health/

https://www.barnardos.org.uk/what-we-do/helping-families/mental-health

Smalley Community Group

On Sunday 31st July, Smalley Community Group will be hosting Encanto at Stainsby Hall Cricket Club. This is a great event for all the family to enjoy, with live entertainment followed by the film. 

There will also be: 

     - Bar

     - BBQ

     - Bouncy Castle 

     - Sally's Cakes

     - Face Painter 

Gates open at 3.30pm, with entertainment starting at 4.00pm and the film at 6.00pm. 

Get your tickets here: 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/smalley-outdoor-cinema-2022-tickets-333420759467 

Mrs Hull and Miss Berridge had the pleasure of taking our Key Stage 2 children to a cycling competition.

The showed fantastic teamwork as they worked together to race in a cross-country style relay and an Italian pursuit. They were amazing at adapting quickly to the changes in the different races and working together as a team to communicate.

Well done!

Mrs Drury and Mrs Shaw accompanied some of our budding golfers to a competition at Ormonde Fields Golf Club, organised by AVSSP. The children represented school showing a real interest and enthusiasm for the game, and resilience throughout, as for some, this was their first time playing. Amongst the showers and the sun, there were smiles all round and everyone improved their golf skills, thoroughly enjoying the course. Thank you Team Smalley! 

As a school at the heart of our community, the children have created a piece of work to decorate the school, as part of the village celebrations marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee event. This half term’s topic is Heritage, which links brilliantly with our art work, to commemorate the day with some of the children writing letters, thanking the Queen for her dedication and hard work. The children celebrated earlier by having a “royal picnic” all together on the last day of term. 

Well done to the Year 2 footballers!

What a pleasure this team was to take to Aldecar High School for the Key Stage 1 football competition! They played brilliantly together and did not have one goal scored against them; their behaviour and commitment was outstanding - well done!

Thank you to Mrs Swann, Mrs Gregory and Mrs Mason for taking them.

The Richardson Express Opening Media Coverage 13th May 2022

ITV News Coverage

BBC News Coverage

BBC News Article

Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week will take place from 9-15 May 2022 and the theme is 'loneliness'. 

It is more important than ever support and celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week 2022.

In school, we will be celebrating Mental Health Awareness Week through a variety of activities with the children, such as art and outdoor learning sessions, for example. We will also be sending information to children and parents about our next Wellbeing Club so please do look out for more details on that.

For more information on Mental Health Awareness Week, including a range of booklets on Mental Health, please visit the website https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week/resources.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you or your child like more information or support with wellbeing and mental health. 

Denby Community Fun Day

Come and have a amazing day!

Put your baking skills to the test and enter the Denby jubilee bake off! Just bake a cake with a royal theme and present it to the cricket club the evening before and see if you get first prize! All entries will be on display from 2pm on the day and then sold off from 3pm. 
Get the children dressed in a royal theme and enter the fancy dress competition, this will be judged at 4.15pm.

The Richardson Express

We are excited to share with you that our train carriage has arrived in Smalley - in our school playground! Please enjoy the photographs which show a little of the complexities of the installation operation.

Once on site it took over 5 hours to get it from the lorry to our train track.

It was a magical experience to see a dream turn to reality after many years of planning and preparation. We can't wait to share it with our pupils on Monday morning. However, further works will be taking place external and internal in order for it to become a fully functioning facility which the children can access safely.

Porterbrook, who have kindly donated the train carriage, prepared a formal press release, the link to which is below.

Porterbrook Press Release

Congratulations to our Performance Club!

Performance Club were invited by the East Midland Chambers to perform at the East Midlands Chamber Celebration of Culture and Communities Event which was held at the Leicester Tigers Stadium!

This was a real honour for the school to be asked; the children got to perform with a professional band and the children were absolutely amazing! Well done!

Shout About SEND- Family Fun Day

A 2.5/5k run, a sensort circuit and family day called Shout about SEND is being held on Saturday 14th May, which will be a fabulous day for all!

It is a great day for SEND families in particular but anyone and everyone would enjoy it. If you are interested please click on the link below:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shoutaboutsend-5k-inclusion-festival-tickets-93796865951?utm_campaign=post_publish&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eventbrite&utm_content=shortLinkNewEmail

Key Stage 2 Boccia Competition on Thursday 17th March 2022

Well done to the boys who represented our school at the Boccia competition last week at Alfreton Leisure Centre. All of the boys played well and represented our school beautifully. 

Key Stage 1 Gymnastics Competition, 14th March 2022

Our Class 2 gymnasts did us proud tonight when they performed in a competition at Alfreton Leisure Centre and came in 3rd place! Congratulations to all the children who took part and thank you for being true superstars!

Mental Health and Well-being

The mental health and well-being of our children and community are of paramount importance to us at Richardson Endowed Primary School and we understand that some children will be feeling anxious about the current global situation and coverage in the news of the conflict surrounding Russia and The Ukraine.

Please see below a useful resource about how to cope during these difficult times. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us should your children be showing or feeling any anxiety at all.

Big on Bikes - The Big Bike Revival

Monday 28th February 2022

Safer Internet Day 2022

 #SID2022

We would be delighted if you could join us in celebrating the day by continuing the conversation at home. To help you with this, you may be interested in downloading the free Safer Internet Day Resources for Parents and Carers which is available at: saferinternet.org.uk/sid-parents.

There are top tips, quizzes, and films which you can use at home with your child.
Some other resources which you may find helpful in supporting your child online are:

• Tips, advice and guides for parents and carers from the UK Safer Internet Centre

                   (saferinternet.org.uk/parents)

• Advice for parents and carers from Childnet (childnet.com/parents-and-carers)
• Reviews and information about games, apps, TV shows and websites from

                   Common Sense Media (commonsense.org)

• Help on using parental controls and privacy settings from Internet Matters

                   (internetmatters.org./controls)

• Information and reporting of online grooming or sexual abuse from CEOP (ceop.police.uk)

________________________________

Children's Mental Health Week 2022

Next week, 7th-13th February, is this year's Children's Mental Health Week and the theme is Growing Together. 

Children, schools and adults across the UK will be exploring how they have grown and also how they help others to grow.

There is a wealth of resources to support, schools, youth groups and families with this, and there's also a super section on the website designed especially for families. Please do visit https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk for more details.

Today is Time to Talk Day 2022 so let's get the nation’s biggest mental health conversation started.

Today is the day that friends, families, communities, and workplaces come together to talk, listen and change lives.

Visit https://timetotalkday.co.uk and take part in the day by downloading a free conversation starter pack to help you talk about mental health.

We will be exploring this in school and you can also get involved so please do visit the website above or Mind for more information.

However you do it, have a conversation about mental health this Time to Talk Day!

300 Challenge Achievers

Congratulations to all the children and adults that have achieved our 300 Challenge 2021.

Here are just a few of their achievements: £300 raised through cake sales, 300 pieces of litter picked up in the village, 300 laps of the garden and 300 cakes made.

We are very proud of you all.

A Christmas Celebration!

 
On Monday 20th December our playground was filled with the sound of Christmas carols, the sweet smell of hot chocolate and lots of happy families.

A huge thank you goes to Essentially Brass for leading the singing, the air was certainly filled with Christmas cheer!

Smalley Reunion

Some of the former pupils of Richardson Endowed Primary School recently met for their annual reunion.  Due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, we were unfortunately unable to hold this in school.  Thankfully, The Bell Public House were able to accommodate this wonderful event! 

In front of over 300 people, the final of the Gregg Cup took place last night at Heanor Town FC ground with Smalley playing against Langley Mill. Prior to the game, there was a "Penalty King" competition where one nominated player  from each participating team took shots against the Heanor first team goal-keeper . Our captain Sam did very well but was runner-up to Langley Mill.

From the start of the game, Smalley played some amazing football and went 1-0 up within the first five minutes. The opposition battled hard but to no avail, and we went on to score several more goals and passed the ball around with great confidence. At the final whistle, our  Smalley team ran out victorious with a score-line of 6-0.

The players were each presented with an individual trophy, along with the presentation of the Gregg Cup by Mayor Eileen Hamilton who thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Player of the game went to one of our players, George, whose strength holding the back line stood out through the game. We are immensely proud of the team for showing great determination and confidence over the whole tournament. A huge thank you to everyone who came along to cheer the boys on and enjoyed another great moment in Smalley history.

PTFA Challenge 300

In 2021, Richardson Endowed Primary School is 300 years old!

The PTFA would like you to help us celebrate, and we invite all children to take part in our ​Challenge​ ​300.

13th February 2021 - PLEASE NOTE THAT, IF YOU DOWNLOADED THE SPONSERSHIP FORM BEFORE THIS DATE, THERE WAS AN ERROR WITH THE ACCOUNT NUMBER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FORM.  IT HAS BEEN UPDATED NOW AND HAS THE CORRECT ACCOUNT NUMBER ON - thank you.

Please click on the below links for more information:

Useful learning links

Week 2

https://www.primarygames.com/holidays/easter/games.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3UKd6LQKng

https://www.spellzone.com/word_lists/list-3931.htm

Week 1

Monday - English and spelling games

https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/member-only/

https://www.spellzone.com/word_lists/lists-curriculum.cfm

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=9

https://spellingframe.co.uk

https://www.readwithphonics.com

Rainbows

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51953553

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/messy-goes-to-okido-what-makes-a-rainbow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCPPLhPTAIk

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/ni-sc-33-all-the-colours-of-the-rainbow-stem-powerpoint

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/roi2-s-36-rainbow-in-a-jar-powerpoint

Tuesday

Online Maths games - timetables and counting

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years/counting

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/ordering-and-sequencing-numbers

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/multiplication-and-division

The children from Richardson Endowed visit Church.

Last Thursday, children from Key Stage 2 were kindly invited to attend St John the Baptist Church for a Christingle Service. Thankfully the weather was extremely kind to us and as 120 children walked proudly through the village, the sun shone.

Reverend Plant greeted the children at the church door and everyone focussed on the beautiful sight at the altar, more than 120 Christingles which had been lovingly made by members of the church. Reverend Plant gave the children a quick safety talk about handling lit candles and the service began with a hearty rendition of the traditional carol, We Three Kings of Orient Are.

The children were told of the significance of the Christingle and how it enables Christians to celebrate Jesus Christ as the ‘Light of the World’. The service also gave us an opportunity to think of other children, who often need the help of The Children’s Society, and how we can support this.

We came back to school with both children and staff commenting that they felt part of a big family. Our thanks to Reverend Plant and all those church members who worked hard to produce the Christingles. The children are still talking about their experience in church and the significance of the Christingle.

Lion King Theatre Adventure

Yesterday, children from our school had the incredible opportunity to join the rest of our Embark family on a once in a lifetime time trip to London.

After an early start and a long bus journey we arrived in London. Our first stop was the world famous Pineapple Dance Studio. Here we were fortunate to take part in a workshop run by cast members from the Lion King. We even got the chance to question them about their jobs and how they began their careers in dance.

After working up an appetite we headed to Covent Garden for Pizza. The meal was best summed up by one young lady, who's feedback was, "Mr Redmond, I must be dreaming because I am in heaven". The best was yet to come! With full stomachs we headed to the Lyceum Theatre, where we were treated to a backstage entrance and perfect seats to enjoy the show! We were astounded by every aspect of the show; dancing, singing, costumes, lights, props and more. The children even managed to spot the dancers we had learnt from in the morning. 

All in all, we had an experience I'm sure the children will never forget. It was a pleasure to be a part of. Even more so to see the children represent their school through their respectful behaviour and incredible manners.

14th November 2019

A busy evening at the Christmas fayre! Thank you to all who came and enjoyed it and also to the PTFA for organising another fun event 😊

Wow! What a fantastic turn out for our first ever Smalley school Pumpkin Parade. We enjoyed seeing the amazing pumpkin creations and drinking yummy hot chocolate after school. A wonderful event for everyone- thank you to the PTFA for organising! Here is a video for your enjoyment 😊🎃🎃🎃

Our school Summer Fayre

What a wonderful day was had by all at our school Summer Fayre ! Thank you to those of you who attended.

 Thank you to the children who sang so beautifully to open the fayre, to the parents, grandparents, family and friends of the school who spent lots of money and to the staff who gave up their Saturday and supported our children as always. 

The PTFA have worked so hard to make it all happen led by Mrs Ufton our PTFA chairperson. Without the PTFA to raise funds the children would miss out on so many wonderful resources. We are delighted that the PTFA raised over £1300 yesterday which is a huge reward for all their  time and effort and we are extremely grateful to them . 

As you know our  core beliefs of  Embark Federation are : Family, Integrity, Teamwork and Success - all 4 were definitely clear to see at our Summer Fayre-Thank you everyone for playing your part.

The smiles on the children’s faces were a pleasure for all to see !

Robin Hood record

If anyone likes dressing up, supporting charity and spending time with family and friends this could be for you 😊

Handball practice for Embark Federation!

I was lucky to watch a fantastic Handball session after school which was our first inter-school session for children at Smalley and Kilburn. 

This was a great chance to link together as two schools and practice before the competition in a couple of weeks time. This will hopefully give the children a slight advantage over the other schools attending but more importantly have fun and make friends with others from the Embark Family.

A huge thank you to Mr Whiteman and Mrs Shaw for organising this and we are looking forward to the next inter school sports session in December. 

Well done children and good luck in the competition. 

Afternoon Tea

Huge thank you to all the parents, grandparents and friends who came to our Afternoon Tea for Gold September.

There was a lovely atmosphere in the hall and we raised a whopping £240.

Superhero staff at Smalley!

As always our staff entered into the spirit of superhero day! What an amazing group!

Thank you BMWMAN

It was a real privilege to accept a huge cheque for Gold September today.

A parent at Smalley Helen Wright has been busy all year with her business and raised a whopping £1044.45 in exchange for free software upgrades for BMW cars.

This is such a generous act and the cheque was presented to myself, Mrs Evans and Miss Longdon as trustees of the charity.

Massive thanks to all at BMWMAN for such a kind gesture.

Swimming Gala

Well done Y5/Y6 swimming team. 🏊

Fantastic performance in the swimming gala finishing 4th, very narrowly missing out on a 3rd place finish! 

A Heart for Hannah

5 years ago today the school lost one of its ex pupils when Hannah Meakin tragically passed away after suffering a bacterial heart infection. The family kindly donated money to the school which we used to purchase our new sound system as Hannah loved the school shows.

Her brother Tom is doing a skydive today in her memory.Good luck Tom! Let's help him reach his £1000 target. The link is below.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Thomas-Meakin

Gary Wilson - Parents workshop

It was wonderful to see so many parents turn up to our first Federation workshop for parents led by the brilliant Gary Wilson.

60 parents from Kilburn and Smalley enjoyed a fantastic, thought provoking session on how boys learn.

The feedback was excellent and there was such a buzz in the room.

It is great to see a real benefit of the Federation after just 4 weeks as all our staff and now 60 parents have received first class training which we otherwise would have struggled to afford as single schools.

We look forward to organising another evening like this in the near future.

Gary Wilson Training

The staff from our Federation received first class training from National Speaker Gary Wilson on Fridays inset day. He spoke around a range of strategies that were particularly useful to engage boys with their learning but of course was useful for girls too. The day was thought provoking, entertaining and gave staff lots of useful tips and ideas that they can take back to the classroom.

We also welcomed a number of colleagues who joined us from other schools as well as two of our school governors.

Parents from the federation have been invited to a workshop tonight at 7:00pm. By working together as a federation one of the advantages has been that we can afford high quality training and provide workshops for parents such as the one this evening.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Fantastic Futsal!

Our sports teams are going from strength to strength this school year with another amazing performance last night. Our year 5/6 Futsal team attended a competition,held at Alfreton Leisure Centre , after school. There were 9 teams in total, split into 3 smaller leagues, and we topped our league with wins against Heage Primary (1-0) and after a nail-biting penalty shoot out, won 2-1 against Riddings Primary

We then moved on to a winners league play off for overall 1st place, where we lost 2-0 to Mundy Juniors, and only 1-0 to overall winners, Swanwick.

All our team played exceptionally well but some fantastic saves from our goalkeeper kept us in the game on more than one occasion.  A big thank you to all our parents, who came to support and help at the touch line and to Mrs Shaw and Mrs Parkinson.

Carol singing at Tesco!

We have had another fabulous day and it was a real privilege to go to Tesco Carol singing with performance club this afternoon.

They sang a range of carols for an hour and it sounded beautiful. We had so many lovely comments from shoppers and managed to raise £115.

Huge thanks to Mrs Mason and Mr Redgrave for playing the keyboard and leading the singing. Also, thank you to Mrs Hull for her support in organising the children and of course her singing!

Thank you to our PTFA, parents and grandparents for supporting this visit out of school.

It has certainly helped me get into the Christmas spirit children, thank you!

Christingle 2016!

I have just returned from a lovely Christingle service at St. John the Baptist Church led by Rev. Geoffrey Marshall.

Our performance club sang beautifully as always, led by the wonderful Mrs Mason.

It was fabulous to see the church full and brilliant to see all our parents and grandparents join other members of the community.

A fantastic finish to the weekend. Enjoy some pictures below.

Smalley Remembers 2016.

Last Friday was a special day in the calendar again as the whole community came together for our Remembrance service.

The hall was full as usual for this moving service and it was led so beautifully by our year 6 pupils. Well done children, we are so proud of you for the respect and dignity you demonstrated once again.

Children laid wreaths on our memorial which were kindly donated by 'Smalley Parish Council' and 'Smalley Old Boys.' The memorial in our car park remembers boys who used to attend our school that fought and died in World War 1 and World War 2.

A huge thank you as always to our staff and to Mr Reckless who played both during the service and the 'Last Post' outside.

Thank you to everyone who attended the service, it is such a dear tradition in Smalley and I know it means as much to you all as it does to me.

Smalley Old Boys 2016!

It was a real pleasure to welcome our 'Smalley Old Boys' back to school today. Twelve ex-pupils returned for our annual lunch and we enjoyed a run through for tomorrow's Remembrance Service. This is always a highlight of the year for me and it was lovely to see our children chatting about school in years gone by. The oldest member of the group today was 94 and used to teach at Smalley too. The stories are so wonderful to here and reminds me of how lucky we are to live in a period without the cane! The gentlemen were blown away by our facilities and love the new chickens!

Our children were amazing as usual and i am so proud of them.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Drury, Mrs Shaw, Mrs Hull and Mrs Hudson for setting up and serving lunch and to the kitchen for preparing such a lovely meal for everyone.

I look forward to next year already!

Children.....don't forget the homework challenge set by one of our old boys to find out about the Scottish poppy!

Tag Rugby 2016!

It was a privilege to attend tonight's Tag Rugby competition and watch the skill, determination and teamwork of our year 5 and 6 pupils. They played really well, scored some wonderful team tries and came third in their group.

A huge thank you to Mrs Shaw as always for organising the team and to our parents and grandparents who braved the cold to support the team!

Well done to all, I hope Wales show as much skill this Saturday!

Film Night - October 2016!

The PTFA held their first film night of the academic year with the children watching the very apt 'Chicken Run' following our new arrivals!

The children had a fantastic time and the event raised almost £300!

A huge thank you to Mrs Ufton, Mrs Worth and all the staff who supported this event.

Lizzie in class 5 won the competition that evening to pick the next film!

We look forward to seeing you there.

Enjoy some pictures below!

Aspirant Heads - Sharing Good Practice

We are very proud of Mrs Mason who represented our school today speaking to a number of Aspiring Headteachers in Derbyshire.

She spoke about our Shared Vision and how much we had achieved as a school since September 2011 as we work towards our goal of becoming an 'Outstanding School at the Heart of the Community.'

The talk was very well received and it is always a pleasure to share our practice widely with others. Thank you Mrs Mason!

Basketball winner!

Last week we held a basketball competition as part of our Golden Festival. children and adults played against Spider-Man to try and win the first prize which was a signed football by Robbie Savage and donated by Gold September.

The winner was our past pupil Isaac who scored 45 points! Amelia was a very close runner up with 44. Everyone showed great skill and determination and the game raised over £100! After 100 plus games Spider-Man's record was 76!

It was a real pleasure to present Isaac with the ball yesterday. He has very kindly asked if he can have a stall at the Christmas Fayre to raffle the ball and give the money to Gold September which shows what a lovely, generous boy he is.

Isaac was a brilliant friend to Eddy which makes it even more special and we have found a picture of them playing together.

Well done Isaac and everyone who took part!

Gold September Festival 2016!

Friday was a very special day that will live long in the memory of those that attended. As part of our awareness raising this month for Gold September a mini festival was held after school. There were a number of fun stalls, crafts and games as well as a very popular BBQ!

During the afternoon we unveiled our new playground in memory of Eddy Parry, a very special boy who attended our school and tragically lost his life to Bone Cancer. We were very pleased that Eddy's parents; Jon and Claudia, were able to attend the playground and open it with us.

Part of the playground are two new personalised basketball nets, located in the area which Eddy loved to play. A huge thank you to Jamie Eaton for his support with this.

Also, our past pupil Sam came to present a huge cheque after his amazing achievement cycling from London to Paris during the Summer holidays. It was brilliant to see him.

Jon, Claudia, Sam, Martin from Derby Wheelblazers and myself all took shots to officially open Eddy's Court.

A few children then attempted wheelchair basketball and took some more shots along with trustee of the charity, Graham Salisbury.

It was a fitting tribute and occasion for a very special boy. During the last month well over £1000 has been raised for Gold September. This is a wonderful amount of money and a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed in any way.

A few pictures are attached below and a more comprehensive video will be posted very soon.

Sharing our practice!

Mrs Shaw and I had the pleasure of attending Howitt Primary after school yesterday to lead their Shared Vision session.

We received a very warm welcome from their pupils, staff, governors and parents who between them came up with some excellent ideas which were captured expertly by Mrs Shaw.

It was a privilege as always to work with Mrs Rhodes again who'd invited us. It is always an honour to share the best practice here at Smalley with others.

Here are just a few pictures below.

Year 6 Bike Ride 2016!

We took our Year 6 children for a 13 mile bike ride on Monday in our beautiful Derbyshire countryside as a reward for all their hard work this year.

The children had a brilliant time and enjoyed being outdoors together again.

A huge thank you to all our staff and the parents who came to support us on the day.

Also, massive thanks to Mrs. Evans who met us halfway with gorgeous home made cakes! This was much needed and enjoyed by all.

This is a fabulous tradition here at Smalley and one that was enjoyed by all.

Bring on the bike ride 2017.....I hope year 5 work hard to earn this reward!

Smalley Old Boys 2016!

Mrs Mason and I had the pleasure of attending the 'Smalley Old Boys' reunion again tonight.

It is such a pleasure to attend this each year and the 'Old Boys' play such an important part in the schools rich history.

We look forward to welcoming them all back to school to see the children at Remembrance in November.

A Tribute to Disney!

There are tickets remaining for all the shows. It is such a brilliant show for all ages and would be great to bring KS1 children or those who aren't in the show to watch. You will have an evening to remember.

The performances are as follows:

Monday Eve - 7:00pm

Tuesday afternoon - 2:00pm

Tuesday Eve - 7:00pm

Go Ride - Team Smalley!

Some of our pupils competed last week in a Go Ride competition for pupils across Amber Valley.

They rode brilliantly and represented our school really well.

Picnic at the Pavilion!

Please find below a flyer for Smalley Community Groups first event a Picnic at the Pavilion.

Fingers crossed the sun will shine and it will be a huge success.

Still smiling!

Despite the Great British Summer our amazing staff are still smiling with our children! Thank you Mrs Mason and Mrs Shaw!

PGL 2016 - we have arrived!

Just a quick post to say we have arrived safely, all the children have taken their luggage to their rooms which they are very happy with.

We have just had lunch, met our group leader and the children are now going on a tour!

Look out for posts throughout the next few days!

SATs breakfast!

After our early morning yoga sessions the Year 6 children enjoyed a lovely breakfast each day.

Toast tastes better at school apparently!

For our final day this morning the children enjoyed bacon baps which went down a treat!

A huge thank you to Mrs Drury, Mrs Boole, Mrs Shelton, Mrs Annabel and all other staff who helped this week. It was very much appreciated and the food was lovely.

Thank you also to our staff who swapped and covered gate duties and gave our children such support this week. It was a real team effort and I'm so proud.

Enjoy the pictures!

SATs Yoga 2016!

SATs at Smalley means the return of yoga again for our children. Every year for the last five years our children have took part in a four week programme led by Naomi Smith from YogaBeamz. A huge thank you to Naomi as always for her expertise and hard work.

During SATs week Mrs Shaw and Miss Hill led the children with great skill and ensured the children got their day off to the best possible start! A huge thank you to them both.

The children worked through a series of yoga postures, breathing techniques and positive affirmations which helped them to remain calm in class.

Well done to the children for taking it so seriously and learning the techniques well.

All together......."I am fearless, I am confident, I am special, I am calm and relaxed!"

PGL tips from Bear Grylls!

I was lucky enough to be invited to London yesterday to represent our wonderful school at the RM Real conference.

We were inspired throughout the day by a number of high quality speakers.

Dr Sakena Yacoobi told her story of how she returned to Afghanistan to set up the Afghan Institute of learning despite the pressure of all around her including the Taliban. This saw her setting up 80 underground schools educating 3000 girls. She risked her life because of her belief in education for all and how education can change the world. Wow! What an inspiration.

We also had a very interesting talk on anti-bullying from Alex Holmes who works for the Diana award which was set up in memory of Princess Diana.

There was input from Apple, Google and Microsoft with lots of good ideas to bring back to school.

After lunch we had the pleasure of a keynote speech from Bear Grylls about his climb of Everest. It was gripping stuff and he told us how his father was his inspiration, to never give up and the importance of being dogged and determined. I got plenty of tips before our year 6 trip to PGL!

The day ended with a lively debate hosted by Jeremy Vine on the governments White Paper and the proposed Academy agenda.

What a brilliant day and lots of learning to bring back to Smalley!

Brilliant Derby 2!

I was very lucky this morning to accompany our amazing year 5 class to the first session of the Brilliant Derby 2 project at the Roundhouse Derby.

Children's author and creator of 'The Art of Being Brilliant' Andy Cope and Lisa Higginbottom will lead 3 sessions with our children before we meet in September to show the impact.

The children learned that it is a choice to be positive and happy and the effect that has on others around you. They also found out that just like a sausage machine you get out what you put in.

Our children over the next twelve months have been given the task to inspire the whole community of Smalley which I know they will do brilliantly.

Many thanks to Andy, Lisa and the sponsors Motorpoint for a fantastic morning and to our staff and parents for their support this morning.

In the original Brilliant Derby project our children achieved fantastic things. For a reminder click the link below.

http://richardsonendowedprimary.typepad.com/.services/blog/6a01539095cf24970b01539095d4a5970b/search?filter.q=Brilliant+Derby