Newsletters

We want to remind families that our annual Literature Festival will take place from 18th to 22nd May and promises a rich programme of activities designed to inspire a love of reading and writing across our school community.

Throughout the week, students will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of exciting events, including:

Book Swap: 

We warmly invite families to support our upcoming Book Swap by donating any good-quality books that are no longer needed at home. This is a wonderful opportunity to give pre-loved books a new life while helping to build excitement around reading within our school community.

The Book Swap will take place during Literature Festival Week, alongside our Reading Café. During this event, children will have the chance to browse a range of donated books, choose one to enjoy during the session, and take a book home to keep.

We kindly ask that any donated books are suitable for primary-aged children and in good condition. Donations can be brought into school in the lead-up to the festival.

National Year of Reading

The festival forms part of the National Year of Reading, a nationwide initiative that highlights the vital role reading plays in developing creativity, confidence and academic success. Encouraging regular reading not only strengthens literacy skills but also broadens perspectives, supports wellbeing and fosters a lifelong enjoyment of learning. For more information, check out the website: National Year of Reading 2026 | National Literacy Trust

Author Visits

We are pleased to welcome a range of talented authors and storytellers who will share their experiences and insights:

• Emily Lloyd-Gale – Books include: Mighty Maurice, The Moose that saved Christmas
• Andy Seed The official website for children's author Andy Seed
• Rachel Chivers Khoo Rachel Chivers Khoo – Children's Author
• Peter Chand – international storyteller Peter Chand has enthralled audiences with his skilfully told tales, specialising in traditional tales from his Indian background.

Following our author visits, there will be opportunities after school for families to purchase books written by our visiting authors. Signed copies will be available, offering a special keepsake and a chance to further inspire children’s interest in reading.

Library Visits

Some classes will visit Cheltenham Children’s Library to explore new texts and discover the wealth of resources available to support their reading journeys.

Book Swap and Reading Cafe

Alongside our book swap this year, we will be hosting a Reading Café after school. Parents and carers are warmly invited to join their children to read together in a relaxed setting, with light refreshments available. This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate reading as a shared experience.

10K 'Read with Me' Run

A fun and engaging challenge encouraging students to combine reading with physical activity while working towards a shared goal.

Bedtime Stories' Event (Friday 22nd May)

To conclude the festival, we invite children to come to school in their pyjamas or comfortable clothing for a special ‘Bedtime Stories’ session, creating a cosy atmosphere to enjoy storytelling together.

We look forward to an inspiring week that celebrates the joy and importance of reading.

Further details, including specific event dates and opportunities for parents to support and promote reading at home, will be shared shortly. Please stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

This term, the Dunalley Governing Body has continued to work with school leaders to support and challenge the school in delivering the best possible education for all pupils.

Our governors are volunteers from a range of professions and backgrounds. We’re made up of parent governors, a staff governor, and co-opted governors from the wider community. Together, we help shape the strategic direction of the school, monitor standards and ensure accountability, while supporting school improvement.

This term, governors have focused particularly on Dunalley’s curriculum, including the teaching of writing, adaptive teaching practices to support all learners, and securing strong provision in the Early Years. We have also considered attendance, safeguarding and the school’s financial position.

Through meetings and school visits, governors get a real insight into the work behind the scenes to support Dunalley pupils and families. The care and commitment from staff is clear to see, and goes beyond what parents and carers may see day to day. We would like to thank staff, pupils and families for their continued hard work and support.

Understanding the world in EYFS

This week Nursery, Preschool and Reception had a visit from the police. They talked about their job and what they do to help people.  They showed the children their uniform and some of the special equipment that they use and even brought in a police car for the children to explore.

We look forward to welcoming the police back on Thursday 11^th June for some more of our children to be able to meet the police officers.

We will be holding a lost property collection for all the unnamed items we have gathered over the last few terms.

Please do come and have a look, as there are lots of jumpers, coats, water bottles, and other belongings waiting to be reunited with their owners!

The collection will take place on Friday 22nd May at pick-up time in the playground.

Any unclaimed items after this date will be passed on to the PTFA or used as spare clothes.

We are currently running low on spare socks and leggings for children who occasionally have little accidents. Unfortunately, some of the items we have lent out have not yet been returned, so we would really appreciate any donations you may be able to provide.

If you are able to help, please drop items into the main office for the attention of Mrs Byrne. Thank you for your support.

Last Friday, Year 2 went on a trip to Nature in Art. We all had a lovely time and got to take part in 3 activities. We all looked around the gallery and then went to visit the artist in residence. Miss Fire was a sculptor and used metal to create many flowers and insects. The children particularly loved the ladybirds!

All the children had the chance to do some weaving with wool and marbling with shaving foam and paint. They created their own pictures from their marbled foam designs. The children behaved brilliantly and were a credit to the school. 

All classes have been focussing on how to stay healthy this term in their Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PHSE) lessons.

From how to stay clean and learning about germs and medicines in Key Stage 1 to learning about our lungs and heart and the impact of smoking and alcohol on our bodies the children have been keen to develop a deep understanding of being a 'Healthy Me'.

We have also discussed what makes a healthy relationship and friendship and the concept of peer pressure and how to be emotionally well.

Year 4 have had some great discussions on the topic and thought about how to differentiate between healthy friendship traits and unhealthy friendship traits.

Zones of Regulations
We use the Zones of Regulation across the school to support our pupils’ wellbeing.
We’re sharing them again so you can use and refer to them at home too.

What a fantastic week Year 6 have had!

We are so proud of their efforts, not just in SATs week, but throughout the academic year so far. The school celebrated their efforts in assembly today, and we had some lovely comments from the children.

Flossie said, "The SATs breakfast was really fun and I am really grateful for the teachers who organised it and made sure it could happen. Also, I know not all Year 6 children are lucky enough to get SATs breakfast or have their leavers' hoodies so soon, so we are a really lucky school."

Emilis said, "I thought SATs was going to be scary and hard, but my family and friends encouraged me and it was actually okay. Thank you to the teachers for the SATs breakfast, the long breaks, and for giving out the hoodies."

At Dunalley, we are committed to ensuring that all visitors have a positive experience. We strive to maintain a safe, respectful and orderly environment in which all members of the school community feel secure and valued. Essential information for visitors is available on our website, and all visitors are expected to familiarise themselves with and adhere to this guidance. Printed leaflets are also available at reception for reference.

We kindly ask that children do not use the climbing frame or playground equipment at the end of the school day during pick-up time.

We’ve noticed that some children are continuing to play after being collected. 
To help ensure a smooth and safe end to the day for everyone, we would really appreciate your support in encouraging children to leave the playground once they have been collected.

Staff are responsible for locking the school promptly. We would ask that families vacate the playground as soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to one of our Year 6 parents, for nominating Dunalley Primary School to receive a generous donation from:
C Software Ltd.

Thanks to her nomination, the school has been awarded an incredible £1,000. This is a truly appreciated contribution, and we are very grateful to both our very supportive parent and the generosity of C Software Ltd.

We are now carefully considering how best to use this funding to ensure it has the greatest possible impact, benefiting as many of our pupils as we can.

SAVE THE DATE: Summer Fair - Friday 3rd July 3:15-5pm

This year, to help make our Summer Fayre even more successful, we are inviting families and local businesses to sponsor a stall at the event.

Sponsorship opportunities
The PTFA have a range of sponsorship packages available at different tiers, and all sponsors will be proudly featured in our publicity and advertising in the lead-up to the fayre.

If you would like to find out more, please email dunalleyptfa@gmail.com for further details.

This week in OPAL, we’ve experienced a real mix of sunshine, showers and even the odd hailstorm—but this hasn’t stopped the fun!

Our site continues to grow, with some fantastic new additions. The music wall has had a wonderful transformation and is now filled with a variety of ‘instruments’. The children really enjoyed exploring and playing with the new features.

Mark, our Groundsman, is busy preparing a raised bed for our new OPAL Garden. Mrs Byrne will soon be looking for volunteers to help keep the garden looking its best. We are very grateful for the kind donation of sunflower seeds and are also getting ready to plant some potatoes.

Basketball, cricket and football remain popular, particularly in Years 5 and 6. We’ve taken the opportunity to remind children of our core values, Ready, Respectful and Safe, especially during team games. It would be really helpful if families could continue to reinforce these values at home.

We are hoping for an improvement in the weather so we can continue developing more social and quiet spaces for the children. We would welcome donations of bean bags, cushions and throws to help create these areas.

The value of OPAL play was highlighted on ITV News on Wednesday evening, with a focus on encouraging more schools to take part in the OPAL initiative. The feature showcased how active, child-led play supports children’s mental health, problem-solving and social skills.

We are now in our fourth year of OPAL and are delighted to have this initiative firmly embedded in everyday life at Dunalley.

BE A PART OF HISTORY!

Read all about the exciting day planned for June 14th below:

We will be saying goodbye to our Catering Manager, Alex, next week.

Alex has been part of the Dunalley community for several years, initially with AiP and more recently with Dolce Ltd. During her time here, she has built wonderful relationships with both staff and pupils and has played a key role in developing our school meal provision.

We would like to thank Alex for all of her hard work and dedication and wish her every success in her future endeavours. She will be greatly missed by us all.

After a week of hard work completing their SATs, our Year 6 pupils were presented with their leavers’ hoodies this morning.

There were smiles all round as they proudly wore their new, cosy hoodies while making their way around the school.