Wincheap Primary School

Dear Parents and Carers,

As you will be aware, temperatures are expected to be very high this week. The Met Office has issued an extreme heat warning for large parts of England, including Kent. Currently, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are forecast to be the hottest days.

We are following the Department for Education's guidance for schools during heatwaves. This guidance states clearly that schools must remain open to pupils where it is safe to do so.

Adjustments and changes we will make:

• Relax uniform expectations – Pupils may wear loose fitting shorts and T- shirts throughout this week to help them remain cool. Safe and sensible footwear is still required i.e. no high heels, crocs or flipflops.

• Maximise ventilation - Classroom doors and windows will be opened as early as possible each morning to allow the coolest air into the building.

· Sports Day will be postponed this week. Instead, we are planning to hold this on Tuesday 30th June (again weather dependent!) We will keep you updated should this change again and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Should this go ahead next week, we will keep the timings the same (Years 1 and 2 from 9.00 -10.30 am, with Reception joining at 10.00am; Years 3 and 4 from 10.45am – midday and Years 5 and 6 from 1.15 – 2.45pm)

· Due to the limited shade available on our school site, we will not be carrying out PE lessons, as this could create an unnecessary risk to health. After school girls’ rugby for Years 4, 5 and 6 and Years 3 and 4 football clubs will also be cancelled this week (both on Wednesday).

· Adaptations to breaktimes – Pupils will spend less time outside during the hottest parts of the day. They will be kept in the shaded areas when outside as far as possible, and no vigorous sports or activities will be allowed. We will also have classrooms available over the lunchtime period where pupils can cool down.

Please help us to help the children by:

· Ensuring that pupils bring a bottle of water to school every day.

· Ensuring that pupils have a high-factor sunscreen applied before school (and bring some in to reapply if appropriate) and bring a hat each day.

Our risk assessment for the extreme weather will be continuously reviewed throughout this week and we will update you with any changes.
As always, we are very grateful for your support and understanding while we work in partnership to keep the children safe during this time.

Kind Regards, Nicola Dawson
Headteacher

School Age Childcare Survey

The need for childcare does not stop when children reach school-age, we know that families continue to need childcare before and after school, and during the school holidays. As a result, the Department for Education is taking a strategic approach to the future of School Aged Childcare (SAC) which builds on the successes of programmes such as the National Wraparound Childcare programme, the Holidays Activities and Food programme (HAF) and the national rollout of the Free Breakfast Club programme, to ensure families are supported, year-round, by an outstanding SAC system.

The Education People’s Early Years and Childcare Service is conducting a survey on behalf of Kent County Council, of parents and carers to determine their term time and holiday childcare requirement for children aged 0-14 and up to 18 for disabled children.

The information will help us assess if there are any gaps in provision and how best to meet the needs of all families. Please find below the link and QR Code. We would be very grateful if you could please complete by 17 July 2026.

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=DaJTMjXH_kuotz5qs39fkPRmb32Rn2NAratfkhIVZfxUQ0VXWFlSVEZJOTRFWThDOU45REdWRlo1NS4u

Dear Parents and Carers,

Just a reminder that Monday 4th May is a Bank Holiday. The school is closed and will reopen on Tuesday 5th May as normal.

Kind Regards, Wincheap Primary School

The children in Sewing Club have had a fantastic start to their sessions! They’ve been learning how to thread a needle, tie knots to secure their thread, and have even mastered the running stitch. Stay tuned to see some of their exciting creations!

Miss H***e

BioBlitz is an interactive, participatory, one-day event bringing together families, school groups, and local community members to engage in nature-based learning with University of Kent students, scientists, and local wildlife experts, including Kent Wildlife Trust, RSPB Canterbury, and Kent Moth Group among others. There is also a Nature Detectives trail designed to allow young children (and their parents or guardians) to explore the wildlife on campus through enjoyable mini challenges.

Hosted by the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), the aim of the event is to record as many species of wildlife as possible on campus.


Event Details:

- Date: Saturday 30th May 2026
- Time: drop in to surveys running from 8:00 AM to 9:30 PM
- Location: Colyer-Fergusson foyer, Gulbenkian, University of Kent

University of Kent BioBlitz 2026! Please sign up to the individual surveys you'd like to attend. There will also be interactive stalls and an exciting nature detectives trail! Parking is free at the university on weekends. For updates follow on instgram.

And we’re off! This week saw our first trip out in the minibus! Some of our year 6 children attended the ‘New to tennis’ event at The University of Kent Sports Pavillion. They were incredibly excited to be the first Wincheap pupils to enjoy the bus; perhaps he/she/they/ will prove to be our lucky mascot with our children going on to win their group. Through to the finals, we saw them finish joint third place which is AMAZING – we’re very proud of the determination, teamwork and resilience they showed. Thank you to Mr Henton and Miss Kirk for taking them too!

After today's trip out, we feel the need for a ‘Name the minibus’ competition – get thinking and we’ll start voting in classes soon 🙂

TCS Mini Marathon

Are any of you marathon runners? Will you be watching the London Marathon on Sunday? Wincheap are taking part in the TCS mini marathon in school on Tuesday 28th April. We’re going to be part of a team of hundreds of thousands of children across the UK who are running, jogging or walking two miles. It’s such a great way to challenge ourselves and celebrate getting active together as well as raising some money for our school playground fund. Donations can be made via Parent Pay and will be gratefully received.

The children should come to school on Tuesday 28th April wearing sportswear and trainers. Should the weather be against us we will postpone and the children will complete the remainder of the distance with their class teachers.

Thanks for your ongoing support,
Miss Heckley