Welcoming new members of staff 

We are delighted to welcome several new members of staff to Dunalley this September, all of whom bring a wealth of experience to our team. 

Amy Beck joins us as a new Year 4 teacher, Emily Fitzsimmons and Karen McSorley will become part of our Reception team, Roxy Seymour will be our new Receptionist and will work in the school office each morning, and Sari Tabrani will become part of our Pre-school team. 

We are very pleased to have recruited such experienced colleagues and know that our children and families will help them to quickly feel part of the Dunalley community. 

Family support 

Emily Alway, our Child and Family Support Worker, is now on maternity leave. We wish Emily and her family all the very best and look forward to welcoming her back to Dunalley in due course. 

We have not yet been able to recruit a suitably qualified and experienced colleague to cover Emily's absence and are keen to ensure that we appoint the right person to this important role. In the meantime, Alison Godrey will be providing much of our family support. She is looking forward to the opportunity to spend more time working in this role next term. 

Please continue to email familysupport@dunalley.gloucs.sch.uk if you or your child would benefit from support or advice. Whether you have a particular concern, need some practical help or would simply value someone to talk something through with, please do get in touch. We will be very happy to help. 

We have scheduled a number of informal drop-in opportunities for families, the first one is on Friday 4th September from 2.30pm. There is no need to make an appointment; these are simply opportunities to come into school, have a cup of tea and a chat, ask a question or talk through anything that might be on your mind.  

You will find the dates and times for these sessions for the year ahead in our school calendar. We hope that many of you will be able to pop in and say hello. 

Uniform 

Nursery and pre-school 

Children in nursery and pre-school are not expected to wear school uniform. 

Reception to Year 2 

For Reception to Year 2, children should wear a brown Dunalley jumper or cardigan, white polo shirt, plain black jogging bottoms, leggings or PE shorts and plain black trainers. Children in these year groups wear this uniform every day and do not need to change for PE. 

Years 3 to 6 

For Years 3 to 6, children should wear a brown Dunalley jumper or cardigan, white polo shirt, black trousers, shorts or skirt and sturdy black school shoes. On PE days, children should come to school wearing their PE kit.  

Please note: PE days have not yet been confirmed for the new academic year. Children in Years 3 to 6 should therefore return to school wearing their usual school uniform, as described above. We will let children and families know their PE days as soon as these have been finalised. 

Reminders for all children 

Please remember that: 

• long hair should be tied up;  

• jewellery is limited to stud earrings, with watches permitted from Year 2;  

• children need a waterproof coat for outdoor play;  

• clothing should not have visible branding;  

• children need a pair of wellies which can be left at Dunalley; and  

• everything should be clearly named – this makes returning lost property considerably easier!  

Our PTFA runs a pre-loved uniform shop, providing an affordable and sustainable way to purchase uniform. Please contact us if the cost of uniform is causing any difficulty; we will always be happy to help. 

Other items 

There are a few other things that children will need to bring to school: 

Water bottle: All children should bring a named plastic water bottle to school every day. 

Bag: Children need a small bag in which to keep their belongings. A book bag is also helpful for bringing reading books and other items between home and school. 

Spare clothes: If you think your child may occasionally have a toileting accident at school, please send a named change of clothes in their bag. Having familiar clothes readily available can make these situations much easier for children. 

Pencil cases – Years 5 and 6 only: Children in Years 5 and 6 are welcome to bring a small pencil case to school. It would be really helpful if this contained writing pencils, coloured pencils, a pencil sharpener, rubber, glue stick, ruler, blue and green biros and a highlighter pen. 

Please make sure that all belongings are clearly named wherever possible. This gives us a much better chance of reuniting children with anything that goes astray! 

Times of the main school day 

A reminder that our usual school day is: 

Nursery and pre-school: 9.00am–3.00pm for children attending a full-day session  

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2: 8.40am–3.10pm  

Years 3–6: 8.45am–3.15pm  

Please help children to arrive on time each morning, as our school days get off to a swift start. Even arriving just a few minutes late can mean that children miss important information and the opportunity to settle alongside their classmates, leaving them feeling rushed as they try to catch up. 

Dropping off for the main school day 

Arrangements for the start of the main school day are as follows: 

Nursery and Pre-school children will be welcomed through the Nursery and Pre-school front entrance.  

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children will be welcomed through the double doors next to the main school entrance.  

Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 children should enter through the main field gate. However, if they have a younger sibling who needs to be dropped off at the main school entrance, they may enter there with them. This means that families with children in different parts of the school can use a single drop-off point.  

It is extremely helpful if families using the main school entrance follow our one-way system, as this helps everyone to move around the site safely and keeps things flowing at this busy time of day. Please enter the site through the gate onto the Early Years field, drop off your child or children, and then leave via the main pathway. 

Morning messages for teachers 

At the beginning of the school day, class teachers need to focus on welcoming children into their classrooms, taking registers and getting learning underway. They are therefore not usually able to speak with families at this time. If you have a time-sensitive message for your child's teacher, please write a short note and send it in with your child. Alternatively, you can hand it to a member of staff on duty at the entrance, who will make sure that it reaches the teacher as soon as possible. 

Collecting your children 

Arrangements for collection at the end of the main school day are as follows: 

Nursery and Pre-school children are dismissed from their outdoor play area.  

Reception, Years 1, 2 and 3, and 5H children are dismissed into the central playground.  

Year 4, 5R and Year 6 children are dismissed through the doors leading onto the main school field.  

If you have more than one child at Dunalley, please collect your youngest child first and enter the school site through the double doors near our main reception area. 

If you are only collecting children from Year 4, 5R or Year 6, please enter the school site through the main field gate. 

If you have arranged for someone else to collect your child, for example for a play date, please let their teacher know by sending a note at the beginning of the school day. If arrangements change during the day, please phone the school office and the team will ensure that your child's teacher receives the message. 

Year 6 - walking home independently 

If you feel that your child is mature enough to leave school independently, as may be the case for some children in Year 6, please complete a ‘Year 6 Walking Home Alone’ form. Children will only be permitted to leave school independently once we have received your permission. 

The form can be found on EduLink by selecting ‘Links and Communication’. For ease of access, it is also available here: Year 6 Walking Home Alone. 

Earlies and Lates – wraparound care 

Dropping off at Earlies 

Children who have secured a place at Earlies should arrive at 8.00am. This enables us to take the register promptly and ensures that children can settle in and enjoy the activities available to them before the school day begins. 

Pre-school and Reception children should enter through the Nursery and Pre-school entrance. 

Children in Years 1 to 6 should enter through the main reception area. 

Collecting from Lates 

Our Lates sessions finish at 5.30pm, with all children collected from the main school entrance. The main gate will open at 5.20pm, enabling us to manage the handover of children safely and efficiently. 

If you need to request an earlier collection time, please email dunalley@dunalley.gloucs.sch.uk in advance and we will do our best to accommodate this. As Lates staff will be supervising children and leading activities, we need to consider staffing arrangements and ensure that we can facilitate an earlier handover safely. For this reason, earlier collection needs to be agreed with us in advance wherever possible. 

Early Birds 

Early Birds is our invitation-only, before-school provision, offering additional learning support to some of our children. Invitations, together with further information about the provision, will be sent to families during September. 

School lunches 

Please remember to choose and book your child's meals in advance using SchoolGrid. Ordering at home gives you an opportunity to look through the choices with your child and helps to ensure that they receive a meal they are happy to eat. It also helps our kitchen team to cater safely for dietary requirements, plan effectively and reduce food waste. 

School meals are free for all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 through the Universal Infant Free School Meals scheme. We also encourage all families to check whether their child may be eligible for benefits-related Free School Meals, even if they already receive a free meal because they are in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2. For every eligible child, the school receives additional funding which helps us to enhance provision for children. 

For ease of access, here is the link to SchoolGrid: https://app.schoolgrid.co.uk/. 

If you need help logging in, or assistance in checking whether your child qualifies for benefits-related free school meals, please email dunalley@dunalley.gloucs.sch.uk or pop into the school office. We will be very happy to help. 

Catching up with teachers 

Teachers are always happy to meet with you at a mutually convenient time. It is sometimes possible to speak with teachers briefly at the end of the school day without an appointment; however, this will not always be possible as they may need to attend staff meetings, run clubs or fulfil other responsibilities. 

To avoid disappointment, it is usually best to arrange a time to catch up in advance. You can do this by popping into our main reception, phoning the school office, emailing dunalley@dunalley.gloucs.sch.uk, or sending a brief note in with your child. Your child's teacher will then get in touch to arrange a convenient time to speak with you as soon as possible. 

School clubs 

Our school clubs run for eight weeks each term – four weeks before half-term and four weeks afterwards. We are extremely grateful to the members of staff who generously give their time to provide these additional opportunities for our children. 

We will send out a clubs booking form in September and will do our very best to ensure that every child who would like to participate is able to access at least one opportunity. Children in our new Reception cohort will have the Autumn Term to settle into school and become familiar with life at Dunalley before being invited to take part in clubs from the Spring Term. 

We also really value the support of parents, carers and grandparents who are able to help with our clubs. Having additional adults available often enables us to offer places to more children and can further enhance the experience for everyone involved. If you think you might be able to help with a club, please email dunalley@dunalley.gloucs.sch.uk. We would be very pleased to hear from you. 

Term dates 

We look forward to welcoming all children back to school on Thursday 3rd September. 

Our full term dates and school calendar are available on the school website and here. 

Please also make a note of the following INSET days, when the school will be closed to all children: 

• Friday 23rd October  

• Monday 30th November  

• Monday 5th July  

These dates fall outside the main school holiday periods, so we hope that highlighting the again will help families to plan ahead. 

Key dates for your diary 

You will find that key dates for the new academic year have already been posted on EduLink – simply select ‘Links and Communication’.  They are also available on our school website: Dunalley Primary School - Upcoming Events. 

Please take some time to look through the calendar and make a note of the events that are most relevant to you and your family. We will continue to add dates as arrangements are confirmed and will highlight upcoming events in our weekly newsletters. 

Some of our first events of the new school year are:  

• Years 1 and 2 Family Meet the Teacher: Monday 7 September, 9:00–10.00am  

• Year 6 Call of the Wild meeting for parents and carers: Tuesday 8th September, 3.25-3.50pm 

• Years 3 and 4 Family Meet the Teacher: Wednesday 9 September 2026, 9:00–10:00am  

• Years 5 and 6 Family Meet the Teacher: Thursday 10 September 2026, 9:00–10:00am  

Our Meet the Teacher event for Reception families is scheduled for later in the term, once children have had time to settle in.