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Dear Parents and Carers,
As we reach the end of the second full week back at Greasley Beauvale and Nursery School, I wanted to take a moment to share with you how proud we are of all that our children, staff, and whole community have achieved so far — especially in embedding our new OPAL play approach, living the school rule of Kindness, and bringing to life our Rainbow Values.
For those who may be newer to OPAL: it stands for “Outdoor Play and Learning”. It’s about making playtimes richer, more engaging, and giving children more freedom, variety and challenge in their play. The aim is that children gain confidence, social skills, resilience, and joy from their play — and that school is a place they feel excited to come to every day.
Already, in these two weeks:
There’s been a real buzz in the playground — children exploring new kinds of play, being inventive with what’s available, and working together more.
Staff are reporting more natural leadership among children, better turn-taking and sharing, and fewer arguments — often because children are choosing how to play and negotiating together.
We’re also seeing great improvements in behaviour immediately after play — calmer transitions, happier faces, and more focus in lessons.
Every school year we try to focus on what really brings out the best in everyone. This year, our rule of Kindness is central. We believe kindness underpins everything — how we speak to each other, how we treat our environment, how we support one another.
Over the past fortnight:
Children have been especially thoughtful in welcoming those less confident at play, including new pupils and those still finding their place post-summer.
Acts of kindness, big and small, are being noticed by staff — children helping clean up, sharing resources, encouraging others, offering apologies and understanding.
In class, “kindness” has become something we talk about: “What does kindness look like?” “How did someone show kindness today?” This helps it move from being a rule to being part of our culture.
As you know, our Rainbow Values are the backbone of our ethos here at Greasley Beauvale. They are:
Respect and Acceptance – “Being ready, respectful and safe in everything we do”
Active Body and Active Mind – “Take ownership over your physical and mental wellbeing”
Inclusive yet Individual – “Embrace diversity and be proud of who you are”
Nurture, Develop and Grow – “Persevere and take risks with your talents and potential”
Believe in Yourself – “Be confident in your choices”
Overcome Your Obstacles – “Be brave, show resilience and challenge yourself”
Wonder and Curiosity – “Ask questions and seek answers”
Here are some ways these values are coming alive already:
Respect & Acceptance: Children are following routines with more care—listening to each other, being safe in spaces like corridors and playgrounds.
Active Body & Active Mind: Our OPAL play has contributed hugely here — children are physically active, trying new challenges, and also talking about how to take care of their feelings when play is hard.
Inclusive Yet Individual: We see children showing pride in who they are, and also noticing and celebrating the differences of others.
Nurture, Develop and Grow: Risk-taking is happening — children experimenting, making mistakes, then learning from them. Staff are encouraging this, giving space to try out new things, even if they fail first.
Believe in Yourself: Already, I have seen more confidence — children volunteering answers, stepping forward, sharing in class and in play.
Overcome Your Obstacles: It’s been wonderful to see resilience — maybe when a game doesn’t go as planned, or when a new activity is hard — but children persisting and getting support.
Wonder & Curiosity: Curious questions are being asked: “What if…?”, “Why…?”, “How…?” especially during open-ended play, in stories, in lessons.
As we move forward these next weeks, we’ll be continuing to:
Embed OPAL more broadly, refine the resources available in play, and ensure all children feel confident using them.
Make kindness ever present — recognising and celebrating it more (in assemblies, in class) so children see it valued.
Reinforce the Rainbow Values by weaving them into everyday life: in lessons, breaks, interactions, decisions.
Here’s how you can help from home:
Talk with your child about their day: ask “Where did you see kindness today? When did someone show one of our Rainbow Values?”
Encourage play, risk-taking, resilience in small ways (letting them try things even if they might fail).
Model kindness, acceptance, believe in yourself — children learn hugely by watching adults.
I want to say a heartfelt thank you — to the children for their energy, courage and friendliness; to the staff for pulling together to make OPAL, kindness, and values work; and to you, as parents and carers, for supporting at home, talking with your children, and trusting us to grow this culture together.
We are laying strong foundations this term. If these first two weeks are anything to go by, it’s going to be a wonderful year. Let’s keep building – together – a school where everyone can be happy, healthy, brave, curious, and full of kindness.
With warm thanks,
Mrs Bates
Head Teacher Awards go to...
Josh - Amber 3 - For excellent independent writing, where he concentrated on full sentences and accurate punctuation
Bodie - Indigo 1 - For constructing a piece of independent writing, concentrating on incorporating inverted commas. He spent the week using the skills, planning the speech and then adding dialogue to a full piece of writing. Great work, Bodie
Good afternoon,
The link to this weeks newsletter is, https://sway.cloud.microsoft/A8exRbZ3mwpGFcpk?ref=Link
Have a lovely weekend
Kind regards
The Office Team
A reminder that tomorrow is individual photo day for everyone. Remember those smart uniforms, hair dos and SMILES! :)
Head Teacher Awards go to...
George - Amber 2 - Super independent writing on his first day in Year 1!
Scarlett - Rainbows Nursery - For fantastic work using a categorising frame to sort pictures of number 1 and 2
Good afternoon,
Please see below for the link to this weeks Newsletter.
https://sway.cloud.microsoft/KYVKszsciHur3ThH?ref=Link
Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you Monday morning.
Many thanks,
Greasley School Office
Following a Senior Leadership Meeting tonight, and through listening to Pupil Voice, we have made a small change to our school rules.
Our school rules have always been 'Ready, Respectful and Safe'. However, last year, we spoke about being kind a lot and added this word as part of our criteria for achieving the 'Always Child' award.
Kindness is not just an 'add-on' though!
Therefore, our school rules are now:
'Ready, Respectful, Safe and Kind'
Today, Mrs Bailey and I have been working hard on the School Improvement Plan (SIP) for this academic year. Why not take a look a what we will be developing and what is important to us:
Priority 1:
To further enhance the quality of education across the curriculum, with a particular focus on raising attainment and accelerating progress for all learners (including those with SEND and Disadvantaged Pupils)
Priority 2:
To promote greater consistency in pupils' behaviour and attitudes, ensuring that all pupils show respect across every aspect of school life
Priority 3:
To further cultivate children’s strength of character by embedding SMSC and British Values throughout all areas of the curriculum
Priority 4:
To strengthen the expertise of all leaders, including middle leaders and governors, to ensure consistent delivery of high-quality outcomes across the curriculum for every child, including those with SEND and those who are disadvantaged
Priority 5:
To enhance the quality of education across the Early Years Foundation Stage, ensuring improved attainment in core areas for all children, including those with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
Dear Parents, Carers and Pupils,
After 2 successful days back at school with the children, welcome back! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable summer break. It has been truly wonderful to see the children return with such enthusiasm, smiles and a readiness to learn.
The positive energy around school this week has been fantastic, and we are already off to a brilliant start to the new academic year.
Over the summer, we’ve been busy behind the scenes making some exciting improvements—particularly in our play provision. As part of our ongoing OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) developments, children will now benefit from even more enriching and imaginative outdoor play opportunities. We’re passionate about the power of play and the difference it makes to children’s well-being, creativity and social development, and we look forward to seeing the children enjoy all the new additions.
We are also delighted to welcome many new members to our school team this year and children in Reception and Rainbows Nursery. A very warm welcome to each and every one of them, who have already made a great start and are settling in just brillianlty. We know they will be valuable additions to our school community.
This term, we’ll continue to place a strong emphasis on our Rainbow Values, which help guide our behaviours, choices and how we treat one another. Alongside these, we will be reinforcing our simple, but very important school rules: to be Ready, Respectful and Safe. And of course, at the heart of everything we do, we never forget the importance of Kindness – something we value every day in school.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. We are excited for the year ahead and all the opportunities it holds for our children to nurture, develop and grow.
Warmest regards,
Mrs Bates
Headteacher
We are recruiting!! We have vacancies for Play Leaders to help out at lunchtime during OPAL play and also for a Temporary Learning Support Assistant. If you are interested in applying or know someone that is please get in contact with the school office or look on the website for more details.