School News 15th May 2026

Friday 15th May 2026

Headteacher's Message

Dear Families,

At Goldthorn Park Primary School, we place great importance on our values, as they help guide our pupils to become confident, capable and caring individuals.

In April, we focused on the value of Optimism—encouraging our children to believe in themselves, stay positive and approach challenges with a can-do attitude. It has been wonderful to see this reflected across the school.

This month, our focus is on Leadership, and our Year 6 pupils have truly embodied this value during their SATs week. They approached each test with positivity, confidence and maturity, drawing on all they have learned and the support provided by their teachers. They have shown resilience, determination and a fantastic attitude throughout.

We are incredibly proud of each and every one of them—they have been excellent role models for the whole school and a credit to our community.

Very well done, Year 6!

As part of our continued focus on enhancing PE opportunities, following feedback from parents in the Summer 2025 parent survey, Year 3 have been very fortunate to begin a series of dance lessons led by a specialist from Our Lady and St Chad’s, which will run over four weeks.

The children have shared their experiences from the first session, which focused on developing timing. They used wooden sticks to move to the beat and did a fantastic job. They were fully engaged, showed great focus, and clearly enjoyed the experience. A big thank you to the dance specialist from Our Lady and St Chad’s for providing such a wonderful opportunity for our pupils—we are very grateful.

Thank you to all our families for your ongoing support.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs R. Purshouse

Headteacher

Together we learn, lead and grow.

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Safeguarding is Everyone's responsibility - Road Safety and Walk to School Week

In school, we have been focusing on the importance of road safety. We were delighted to invite a real School Crossing Patrol Operative into school to work with our Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children, teaching them how to cross the road safely. The children really enjoyed learning these important skills—and we hope they have been singing their road crossing song at home with you!  Road Safety in Reception  Year 1 Road Safety Year 2 Road Safety

Next week is Walk to School Week, which is a celebration of walking and wheeling to school. The children will have the opportunity to use their crossing the road skills during the week, we would love as many families as possible to walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or Park and Stride to school.

There are lots of reasons why we should try to travel actively:

• It supports better physical and mental health

• It helps to protect the environment

• It provides valuable time to spend with family and friends

Each day during Walk to School Week, children will receive a sticker for walking or travelling actively to school. Let’s see how many of our pupils we can get travelling actively next week—every journey counts!

At Goldthorn Park Primary School our door is always open. If you have any concerns about a  child or family, please contact the school. We are here to listen and help provide the  support you need.

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Medical updates

We kindly ask parents and carers to ensure that the school is informed of any medical updates relating to their child at the earliest opportunity. This includes information about allergies, asthma inhalers, prescribed medication, or any new medical diagnosis. Sharing this information promptly allows us to work closely with you and ensure the appropriate support is in place. Keeping our medical records up to date helps us to work together to keep all pupils safe, healthy and well throughout the school day.

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The Importance of Good Attendance

Regular school attendance plays a vital role in every child’s learning, progress and overall development. Children who attend school consistently are more likely to achieve strong academic outcomes, while also developing essential skills such as resilience, good routines and confidence that support their future success.

At Goldthorn Park Primary School, we are committed to working in close partnership with our families to ensure every child attends school regularly, arrives on time and is ready to learn each day.

We are incredibly proud that attendance has improved in every year group over the past two weeks—this is a fantastic achievement. Well done to all our children and families for your continued effort and commitment. Let’s keep it going!

Key Attendance Information

• Attendance below 96% is considered low

• Attendance below 90% means a child is classed as Persistently Absent

Ms Tolley

(Deputy Headteacher & Attendance Lead)

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Whole School

93.81%

Year Group	Attendance %
Reception	92.17%
Year 1	93.04%
Year 2	93.17%
Year 3	94.74%
Year 4	93.00%
Year 5	94.63%
Year 6	94.22%

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Autumn Term 2025  Term Time: Monday 1st September 2025 - Friday 19th December 2025

Monday 1st September 2025 - INSET Day school CLOSED to children

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 - INSET Day school CLOSED to children

Autumn Half Term - Monday 27th October - Friday 31st October 2025

Spring Term 2026  Term Time: Monday 5th January 2026 - Friday 27th March 2026

Spring Half Term Holiday - Monday 16th February - Friday 20th February 2026

Monday 23rd February 2026 - INSET Day school CLOSED to children

Summer Term 2026 Term Time: Monday 13th April 2026 - Monday 20th July 2026

Monday 4th May 2026 - Bank Holiday school CLOSED to children.

Thursday 7th May 2026 - Polling Day School CLOSED to children (apart from Year 6 a.m.)

Monday 18th May 2026 - Walk to School Week.

Tuesday 19th May 2026 - Choir event.

Tuesday 19th May 2026 - Year 4 Rainforest Roadshow visitor in school

Half Term Holiday Monday 25th May 2026 - Friday 29th May 2026

Friday 5th June 2026 - Year 3 Assembly

Thursday 11th June 2026 - Theatre in school Y2 - Y5.

Friday 12th June 2026 - Day of Welcome

Monday 15th June - Friday 19th June 2026 - Refugee Week

Wednesday 17th June 2026 - Trust Word Cup Football Event

Friday 19th June 2026 - INSET Day school CLOSED to children

Tuesday 23rd June 2026 - (AM) KS1 Sports Day.

Tuesday 23rd June 2026 - (PM) UKS2 Sports Day.

Wednesday 24th June 2026 - Year 4 Assembly.

Wednesday 24th June 2026 - Morning Nursery Sports Day 10:30

Wednesday 24th June 2026 - Afternoon Nursery Sports Day 2:15

Thursday 25th June 2026 - (AM) LKS2 Sports Day10:00.

Thursday 25th June 2026 - (PM) Reception Sports Day 2:15.

Thursday 25th June 2026 - Year 5 Trip

Monday 29th June 2026 - Year 4/ Year 6 Bikeability

Tuesday 30th June 2026 - Year 1 Trip.

Friday 3rd July 2026 - Year 3 Trip

Wednesday 8th July 2026 - Year 4 Violin Concert 9:15 parents invited

Wednesday 8th July 2026 - Goldthorn's Got Talent

Thursday 9th July 2026 - Rocksteady Concert 10:00 parents invited

Monday 20th July 2026 - INSET Day school CLOSED to children