Newsletter No7 – April 2026

Dear Parents and Friends of the school,

I know that many of you are on ‘School Ping’, social media and other forms of communication with the school. Just in case, here is a roundup of articles you may have seen already and other items of school news.

Staffing

Hello! I am thrilled to have been asked to act as Interim Headteacher for Kempsford C of E Primary School for the duration of the Summer Term. I’m very excited to be supporting you as your Head into a new chapter, working with the staff, children, governors and wider community, to continue the good work within your existing vision and positive school ethos. If you see me ‘on the gate’, please stop and introduce yourselves. Thank you to the pupils, staff and governors who have made my start here so enjoyable. There is lots to do but the team is very willing. That being said, there are a few changes.

• Miss Heavisides has reduced her hours teaching in school to 4 days. The ‘gap’ will be covered by Mrs Ballard and myself.
• Mrs Turner will not be able to teach for a minimum of 3 weeks, beginning Thursday 23^rd April, due to a planned operation. We wish her the very best and hope to see her back safe and well when she is able. Her absence will be covered by two new members of staff (a job share), Mrs Caddy (Monday to Wednesday) and Mrs Donaldson (Thursday & Friday). We look forward to welcoming them.
• Ms Wilkes needs to reduce the hours she can spend at school and as a consequence After-School child care is bookable from 3:15 to 4:15 only. However, for any families unable to make alternative arrangements, she is willing to go on until 5:00 p.m. by negotiation. This should be the exception rather than a regular booking so please respect her flexibility and dedication to our school community. Thank you for your understanding.
• Mrs Sharples has already shared with the community that she is unwell and is undergoing treatment. Although we understand she might ‘pop’ in to say hello, we do not expect her back working before the beginning of the next school year.
• In the Easter holidays Mrs Brooks made the decision to move on from Kempsford and she is currently working out her notice period. We are recruiting and have had interest already, but please help to spread the word to potential applicants. Details are on the website.
• The Governors are actively considering potential, substantive Head Teacher applicants and will update you in due course.
• Governor elections – we hope to bring you news of vacancies at a later date but please spare a moment to consider if you have experience and qualities that would aid the school in the future.

Doing Good

At the weekend two of our children embarked on a litter-pick around the village, managing to collect an incredible FIVE bin bags full of rubbish from our beautiful countryside; mostly bottles and cans which will be recycled.

The Friends ‘Spring Tidy-up’ of the school has been postponed, but already our list of school-based jobs is growing. Do we have a friend who might move the water butt – and connect it to the nearby down pipe? We have a number of items on the school roof and guttering. Anyone good with heights? The gardens always need a tidy, even cheap plants can brighten the grounds? I suspect you have seen tasks, which have escaped me. I will not be offended if you ask to help! It would be a joy to re-establish the use of the school bell. New rope needs attaching. Roofers and others who work at heights might be able to advise me (please).

Congratulations to our swim team! A report “in their own words.”

“On Wednesday last week our swimming team of Y6 pupils swam in the Cirencester Swimming Gala against 7 other schools. Overall, we came in third place with one of our members, Frank, winning all three of his races. We really enjoyed ourselves. We cheered each other on and pretended to be sea-lions (with actions!) on the side of the pool for extra encouragement.” Well done to each and every one of you – proudly representing your school and doing so well.

Thank you…

…to all those who came and supported the school for the Thermomix presentation. As a result of your attendance the school will soon benefit from a Thermomix of our own, which will have a direct benefit to the children.

Website

I have begun to tidy up the school website, so if information and advice you previously relied upon are not where you expect them to be, please ask. School Hours and Terms dates are recent additions (under ‘Parents’) and Key Information now has its own section. Other documents will be added or brought up to date as fast as time allow.

New Pupils

Welcome to two new pupils and their parents. We hope you’ll be happy here, learn lots and make great friends.

RISErs

Congratulations to last week’s RISErs who have been recognised for Respecting, Improving, Succeeding and Excelling across a range of subjects. Keep up the great work!

Premises Update

Now that the Ark is finished, we have an opportunity to review the use of multiple spaces in our school. We have agreed the following: The Ark, as well as being a safe space for SEN work and interventions, will double as the library. This will enable whole classes to use it at a time. Hopefully Parents and friends with access to local ‘Freecycle’ and ‘Trash Nothing’ sites could identify a couple of small sofas and perhaps some bean bags to help transform this space into a relaxing area. The ‘Old’ library will become the main resource area of the school, with content organised to support curricular areas such as Science and History. It will also be a retaining space for a small group when ‘break out’ space is needed.

Upstairs in the School House – we hope all PTFA equipment can be moved to a single room, leaving the second room free for meetings as needed. I am hopeful someone has an old blind 2 metres wide that we can use in Class 3 since the current light-blocking measures are insufficient.

We are a nut free school

Children who suffer from nut allergies can develop a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. If someone has a nut allergy it is not just eating nuts that can cause a severe reaction, just being touched on the skin or smelling the breath of someone who has had nuts or a product containing nuts can trigger anaphylactic shock (which can cause breathing and swallowing difficulties). First aid staff in the school are trained to use the Epi-pens (an injection of adrenalin) which is required immediately if this happens.  We cannot have nuts in school in any form. So please can we ask that you have no nut products in the lunch boxes or brought into the school as treats.

For example:

• Peanut butter sandwiches
• Chocolate spreads
• Cereal bars
• Some granola bars
• Cakes that contain nuts
• Biscuits / Cookies that contain nuts
• Peanut butter cakes
• Some Asian food, including satay
• Sauces that contain nuts

This list is not exhaustive, so please check the packaging of products closely.

We appreciate that this is an additional thing to check, and we know that you recognise the importance of it. We do have to insist we are a nut free school. I know if this was your child you would expect that we all help, especially as it is a life-threatening condition. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of staff.

Staff-run clubs

I am grateful to staff running afterschool clubs. Mindfulness, Multi-sports and ‘Stories and Art’ will enrich the children’s learning. Some children already independently play chess in the lunch hour. If anyone can donate old (but complete!) chess sets, I am sure they would be appreciated.

Home School Values

You can read more about the school’s value of Perseverance on the website here –

HomeSchoolValues-PERSEVERANCE.pdf

Important Dates

The school year dates can be found on our website – https://www.kempsfordschool.com/school-hours-and-term-dates/