Newsletters

We believe that our children should have the aspiration and opportunity to ‘Live life in all its fullness’ and ‘Shine like stars in the sky’.
 
Spotlights from Learning…
 
In Rocket Class this week, we are in full glitter and sparkle mode!  We have been busy making Christmas decorations, trying on our Nativity costumes and enjoying role play in Santa's Workshop!
Please can you spend a little time this weekend having a last run-through of your child's words?  Thank you for all of your support with this.
 
In Comet Class, we have been thinking very carefully about the endings to our Christmas story – plotting our ideas on narrative maps, drawing out the events as comic-strips and discussing our ideas in class before writing the final piece.  The Y3 children have also enjoyed some practical Maths comparing masses with Mrs Marley, whilst the Y2s have been exploring patterns on a 100 square.  Can you tell your adult what stays the same/what changes when we add or subtract 10 to/from a 2-digit number?
 
This week in Asteroid Class, we have been writing their instructions for How to.... they have chosen some wonderful things to create and make: snowmen, Christmas hats and baubles, Gingerbread houses and biscuits and many more!  This will be the end of our Snowman by Raymond Briggs piece of work.  We have also been thinking about the story of Exodus in RE and how justice is shown through the Ten Commandments.  Can you tell your adult the story of Moses and what he went through to show his belief in God and wanting to make things better and fair?
Also, this week…
We are very grateful to the Bourne-Arton family for donating a beautiful Tanfield-grown Christmas tree for the school hall.  Many thanks also to Violet and Ada’s dad for bringing it up for us.
Rockets have been down to church this week to decorate the church Christmas tree.  Many thanks to Mrs Raw and Mrs Bramley who had a few treats ready to say thank to the children for their help…not to mention a rather special visitor who called by to say Ho! Ho! Ho! Please note…
CHANGE OF PLAN
As you know, Year Three, Four, Five and Six children will be going to see ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Leeds Playhouse after the Christmas break. This will actually now be on Friday 9th January 2026 for an afternoon performance.  Due to this change of date, please look out for the revised consent email coming through and respond as soon as you are able.
We will leave school at 11.30 am arriving back to school at approximately 5.30 – 5.45pm.  As last year, the children will require a packed lunch to eat ahead of the performance.  These can be ordered from Sharon in advance or provided by home.  Please ensure that no items are included which contain nuts, sesame or prawns.
The cost of the trip is £16.00 per child and we ask parents to support us by making a voluntary contribution of this amount.  Please check your ParentPay account to make the payment or speak to us in confidence if you are experiencing difficulties.

WORD OF THE WEEK
To help children develop their vocabulary and a love of words, a focus ‘word of the week’ is introduced each week for the children to investigate.  This week’s word is: The children are encouraged to find out what the word means and perhaps use it in a sentence or explore its etymology.  Their efforts are then displayed in the hall.  Although aimed more at the KS2 children, everyone is welcome to join in.
 
Reminders for the coming week…
A message from the Friends of St Nicholas School
The Friends have two Christmas events coming up:
Christmas coffee morning at the Village Hall on Sunday 14th December, 10am - 12 noon. Tea, cake and coffee will be available to purchase. There will be fair stalls, crafts and the opportunity for the children to meet Santa! Some of the stallholders may take card payments but some purchases will be cash only, so please do bring some cash along with you. 
 
Christmas Disco in the school hall on Wednesday 17th December, 3:30pm until 5pm. The disco is free to attend, and a tuck shop will be available for children to purchase snacks (cash only). Nursery children must be accompanied by a parent or carer please, unless they are already signed up for after-school care that day. ROCKETS’ NATIVITY
Rocket Class will be performing their Nativity for their families on Tuesday 16^th December.  There will be two performances at 10.30am and 2.00pm.  This year, we  will need to limit audience sizes. Due to growing numbers of children in school, we no longer have the capacity to fit all our families in the school hall!  With this in mind, we invite parents and family members of children in Rocket Class only to join us for the Nativity performances.  There will be space for no more than two audience members per family per performance please.
 
CAROLS AROUND THE TREE
Parents and family members of children in Asteroid Class are warmly invited to join our Carols Around the Tree on Friday 19^th December at 1.30pm, when the KS2 children will lead our celebrations as we finish for the Christmas break.  Just a reminder that school closes for Christmas at 2pm next Friday.
 
FESTIVE FEAST
Just a reminder that Sharon will be serving Christmas lunch on Wednesday 17^th December.  These meals have been ordered in advance.  There will be no jacket potato or sandwich options on that day so, if you have not ordered a school Christmas lunch for your child, you will need to provide a packed lunch on that day.   
News from the wider community
A MESSAGE FROM THE FRIENDS OF ST NICHOLAS SCHOOL
(see above for details of Christmas events)
 
CHRISTMAS CAROLS
As we all begin to feel very Christmassy, there are two lovely community events coming up.  On Sunday 14^th December at 6pm, there will be the usual service of Lessons and Carols in St Nicholas Church.  All welcome.
There will also be Carols at the Bruce Arms, West Tanfield on Tuesday 16th December at 6pm.
 
CHRISTMAS READING CHALLENGE
The volunteers at Masham Library have planned their own Christmas Reading Challenge! A lovely seasonal activity for the children to enjoy. BREAKFAST WITH SANTA
Crazy Kingdom has asked us to share information about this event with families...
Safeguarding, Health and Wellbeing Updates
NSPCC PANTS
This month we are revisiting the NSPCC PANTS rule in our PSHE lessons.  Please click on the link below to find out how you can support this work at home, including advice for parents and carers on how to start a PANTS conversation.
Talk PANTS: Conversation to help keep children safe | NSPCC

Online safety support for neurodivergent children
Online scams like trust trades and fake giveaways can cause harm and upset to all children, but neurodivergent children are at greater risk of falling victim to scams.
 
Internet Matters have worked with Ambitious about Autism and Roblox to create new resources to help families with neurodivergent children learn and stay safe from scams within games.
 
There’s a guide for parents, a video for children and young people, plus stories for families to read and discuss together to explore the risks, with practical actions for children to take to help stay protected.
 
Find all the resources here.
Protect neurodivergent kids from scams in games | Internet Matters