Dear Parents/Carers,

We have been notified via ParentPay that their system is down. They have advised they are working to resolve the issue as quick as possible. 

Can I kindly ask if you are looking to apply funds to your account, to try and login from 12 noon. 

Many thanks

Kind regards,

Mrs T Chakmak

Finance/Wraparound Admin Officer

Olton Primary School

This message for Children who are not going to Red Ridge Residential

Dear Year 6 Parents/Carers,

We are delighted to be taking the children who aren't going to Red Ridge to Planet Ice in Solihull on Thursday 13^th November 2025. While the children are there, they will have an hour of ice skating with their friends and will then have lunch before returning to school. The cost of the trip is £13.55 which includes an hour on the ice and lunch with a drink. As this is not a curriculum trip, payment does need to be made for your child to attend. The children will be walking to and from Planet Ice and so will need to wear warm clothes and have a waterproof jacket please. Please ensure children bring thick socks and gloves for ice skating. We will be returning to school for a normal end of the day routine. If you would like to hire a skating aid for your child, there is an additional cost of £7.50, please indicate this on the form and this additional cost will be needed to be paid in cash. Please select your child's lunch choice.

https://forms.office.com/e/YmFcttcyxD

We kindly ask that the form is completed by Monday 3^rd November and that payment is made via Parent Pay by Friday 7^th November 2025. 

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind Regards,

Year 6 Team

Dear Aardvarks Parents/Carers,

Unfortunately, Mrs Priddey is unwell this week and therefore we need to postpone the Tuesday 21^st October (tomorrow) parents’ evening until after half term. 

Thursday’s appointment with Miss Morgan will still go ahead.

We will be in touch after half term to rearrange.  We apologise for any in convenience caused.

Kind regards,

Mr L Chamberlain          Mrs E Gray

Head Teacher                  Deputy Head Teacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are looking forward to welcoming you into school for our Autumn term parents’ evenings on Tuesday and Thursday.

All appointments will be held in your child’s classroom.  If your child’s class is in the infant block (including Year 4 Wallabies) please enter via the main Meadow Reception and walk along the corridor to your child’s classroom.  Please note the external doors that you pick up and drop off from each day will not be open.  You can only access the classrooms through the main indoor corridor.

If your child’s classroom is in the junior block (Year 3 to Year 6), the white door behind the bike shelter will be open for you to access the KS2 classrooms.  Year 6 classes will be along that corridor.  Racoons, Coyotes and Armadillos.  The remaining classes can be reached by walking past Year 6, along the main corridor where the school hall is and then turning right at the end.  Year 4 (Possums and Dingoes) followed by Year 3 (Leopards and Pandas) are on the ground floor.  Year 3 (Gibbons) and Year 5 (Aardvarks, Antelopes and Impalas) are upstairs. 

The children’s books will be also available for you to look through.

We hope this is helpful in you being able to locate your child’s classroom.

Kind regards,

Mr L Chamberlain          Mrs E Gray

Head Teacher                  Deputy Head Teacher

Clarification for Parents on Right to Withdraw from A SPECIFIC RSHE

(Relationship, Sex and Health Education) lesson.

Dear Parents and Carers,

In the spring term, we will be teaching our pupils all about changes in their lives as part of our RSHE curriculum. Much of this work is part of our Science, PSHE curriculum which is well established at Olton over many years. This enables us to guide children through the skills and knowledge needed to be a healthy and well balanced person in modern society.

We understand that sometimes our children become anxious as their bodies start to change and develop and this has informed our approach to ensuring our children have the right information and knowledge ahead of these changes. We hope you will encourage your child to talk with you at home about the things they learn in school so you can support them through the stages of growing up.

We have had a few parents who have emailed in to withdraw their child from ALL learning in this area and we need to make it clear that in EYFS and KS1 there are no lessons that you can withdraw your children from, and in KS2, there are just 3 specific lessons, spread over Year 4, 5 & 6, which you may withdraw your child from.  

·       Nursery to Year 3 - no lessons are able to be withdrawn from

·       Year 4 – Lesson 2 “Having a Baby” (see attached Year 4 leaflet)

·       Year 5 - Lesson 4 “Conception” (see attached Year 5 leaflet)

·       Year 6 - Lesson 4 “Babies – Conception to Birth” (see attached Year 6 leaflet)

If you wish to withdraw your child from one of these specific lessons in their year group, please send your wishes through the Forms link here: https://forms.office.com/e/Xygg4MkVYH.

Please note, if you have withdrawn your child in previous years, this request does not withdraw your child from our RSHE curriculum for the remainder of their years at Olton, and therefore, any parent wishing to withdraw their child for the above lessons during this academic year must use the link above.

This needs to be completed before the end of the autumn term so we can coordinate arrangements and ensure that your child has alternative learning during this lesson.

We have attached a Parent Information Leaflet relating to your child’s year group.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Best wishes,

Mr Chamberlain                       Miss Hunt

Head Teacher                           KS1 & KS2 PSHE/RSHE Leader

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please be advised that there will be no Girls Football club on Monday 20th October and no Netball Club on Thursday 23^rd October. The clubs will continue after half term.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Walton

Mrs A Fitzpatrick

Senior Administration Officer

Dear Parents/Carers,

We are holding our Autumn Term Parents’ Evenings on Tuesday 21^st and Thursday 23^rd October 2025 and for these, parents will be able to make an appointment using the online booking system. Appointments will be in person, in your child’s classroom and will be offered from 3:30pm – 6:30pm on both evenings.

Our unique website through which you can book appointments is: https://olton.schoolcloud.co.uk/.

You will log in to the system by adding your details and those of your child, including your child’s date of birth. The parents evening system uses the details we hold on the SIMS school system. If it does not allow you to log in, please check that you have used your child’s full name or tried the legal name and preferred name. You can add in an email address you wish to use for confirmation and reminders of your chosen appointment time.

Attached with this letter is a Parents’ Guide for Booking Appointments which should take you through the process step by step. You will be able to book appointments through the online portal from 4pm on Tuesday 7^th October 2025.

We hope that you find the online booking system quick and easy to use. It should allow you to book the most convenient slot based on availability and for you to co-ordinate appointments, as necessary, if you have more than one child at our school.

If your child is also part of Chameleons class, taught by Miss Jordan, please book an appointment with your child’s class teacher as normal on the online booking system and Miss Jordan will join the class teacher for the appointment time. If your child joins our Robins intervention group, Mrs Chatterley will give your child’s class teacher information about their time in Robins which they will share with you in the meeting.

If you are having any problems logging in, please contact the school office who can offer support.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Chamberlain                     Mrs Gray

Head Teacher                         Deputy Head Teacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please can we remind parents and carers who are picking up children from Orchards after school club or any other club, that the school driveway and the pavement by the driveway is to be kept clear at all times.  This is to allow members of staff and the emergency services access to the school.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Kind regards,

Mrs E Gray

Deputy Head Teacher

Dear Parents/Carers,

This year’s school photographs will be taken on Tuesday 16^th September. We are using Tempest Photographers again and we hope you will be pleased with the result as we were last year. Please note there will only be individual pupils’ photographs taken within the school day.

Sibling Photographs

We are aware that some families have expressed an interest in having photographs taken with sibling(s) again.

With this in mind, we have arranged for our photographer to join us on site on Tuesday 16^th September between 7.30am and 8.15am to accommodate any such requests.  Please note we are only able to accommodate siblings attending Olton Primary for these photographs.

Please be aware that photographs will be taken in the order in which families arrive. It will not be possible to pre-book time slots.

Yours sincerely,

Mr L Chamberlain          Mrs E Gray

Head Teacher                  Deputy Head Teacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been wonderful to welcome children and families back into school this week. Overall, the children always impress us with how well they settle back into the school routine although we know this can be tricky for some children. We will continue to support them over the coming weeks as they transition back into school life.

Next week, we look forward to welcoming our Reception children into school full time from Monday and our Nursery children will start to build up their time in school without their parents over the course of the week.

Class Dojo

All parents should now be attached to their child’s class via Class Dojo. If you are not yet connected, please speak to your child’s teacher who can issue an activation code. Class Dojo is a wonderful way to connect with your child’s learning and access useful reminders about upcoming school wide or specific class events. You also have the ability to message the class teacher directly. Please be aware that any urgent messages should be passed via the school office as once the teachers are in class with the children they won’t necessarily have the opportunity to view or reply to messages. Teachers may not access messages outside of their working hours and so if you send a message in the evening, you may not receive a response until the following morning.

Attendance and Punctuality

Attendance and punctuality will continue to be a priority for us this year. regarding pupil absence and punctuality.  Our overall attendance for the 2024-25 academic year was 94.07% and the Government target is 95%.  For a pupil to have more than 95% attendance they will have had less than 10 days off over the academic year. 

Please see below a reminder of the changes nationally that came into effect at the start of last academic year and remain in place going forward. Our school has a duty to follow these.

·     Increased fines (£160, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days) for pupils who have unauthorised absence (10 days).  This will be over a rolling period of 10 weeks and can roll over terms, e.g. summer term plus autumn term.

·     Punctuality - arriving late after the register has closed will mean a ‘U’ code is applied which counts towards an unuthorised absence.

·     Direct work with families where absence or punctuality are an issue.

·     Absence from school including leave of absence will be challenged.

School Uniform and PE Kits

We expect all of our children to come into school each day with the correct uniform.  In KS1 and KS2, children can choose to wear a white collared shirt with a school tie or a plain white polo shirt alongside a charcoal grey skirt/trousers.  Shoes must be black and not trainers.  Our EYFS children wear a white polo shirt and sweatshirt and charcoal grey skirt or trousers. 

Up until October half term, blue checked summer dresses can also be worn.  We do not stipulate logos on jumpers, as we appreciate the cost involved but they are available from local school outfitters, should you wish to purchase. 

PE Kits

We wear our PE kits for two days a week and want all of our children to look smart whilst they are in school or representing Olton at an event.  Our PE consists of a plain royal blue t-shirt and black jogging bottoms/shorts/sweatshirt/hoodie.  Children can also wear their school jumper or sweatshirt on PE days.

Branded items with a logo or football kits are not allowed for school PE kit.

School lunches

All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a free school meal however, you may choose to send your child into school with a lunchbox.

Each Friday we will attach the school lunch menu for the following week with the weekly newsletter. If your child is having school lunches, please share the menu with your child and discuss with them what they will order for lunch. As part of their daily routine, all children will be asked to make their lunch choice each morning and so particuarly for our younger pupils, it helps them to be familiar with this before they come into school each day.

Snacks

IN EYFS and KS1 children will continue to have a snack, such as a piece of fruit, provided each day. In KS2 pupils should bring in a healthy snack, fruit, vegetable based to sustain them until lunchtime.  Crisps, chocolate and sweets are not allowed at breaktime - please support us in speaking to your child about this - especially if they bring in a packed lunch each day and may be tempted to eat some of the contents at breaktime.

School Office

As you can fully appreciate the office is a very busy environment.  To assist the smooth running of the office, please can you ensure that your child has all their necessary items they need for the day (e.g. lunchbox, water bottle, coats, after school club kits, etc).  This will also help your child to become responsible for their own property.  Any late items will be distributed when staff are available.

Cash

Can we politely remind you that we are a cashless school and use ParentPay for the large majority of school events.  As a general rule the office staff are unable to accept cash.  The purchase of uniform items, PTA and other events may be an exception to this rule and you would be notified, if this was the case.

Reminder of start and finish times

We shall be sending out our usual newsletter on from Friday 12^th September, but wanted to send out a few reminders today to help the year ahead run smoothly. We are much looking forward to working in partnership with our families again this year to help each child be the best that they can be.

Best wishes,

Mr L Chamberlain          Mrs E Gray

Head Teacher                  Deputy Head Teacher