Alver Valley Schools

In 2 more days…The Alver Valley Early Years Network is returning on Thursday 4th June 4:00pm-5:30pm. The network is a free opportunity for Early Years Practitioners from pre-schools, nurseries, schools and childminders to meet and share good practice. The focus for this session will be: Subitising and Early Number Sense.
We have some brilliant resources and support to signpost you to and a little surprise to take away 1 per setting! We will also be joined on the day by Claire Hargreaves the Community Engagement Officer at the Diving Museum in Stokes Bay. Find out more and book a free place here: https://www.alvervalleyschools.co.uk/june-2026-early-years-network/

Happy Half Term Break to all of our families. Hopefully you will find time to enjoy the beach with the sunny weather expected just like Year R Owls class did yesterday! Thanks Kate and Frankie our beach school teachers were amazing and we had the best time learning together. Check out our latest newsletter here: https://www.alvervalleyschools.co.uk/may-2026-newsletter/

Swimming season is well and truly underway here at Alver Valley Schools. Thanks to the pop up pool and our fabulous swim instructors, Year 5 and now Year 2 children each have the opportunity to take part in 3 weeks of daily 45-minute swimming lessons. Children learn to develop their swimming skills, water confidence and essential water safety knowledge. Children from year 1-6 also have had the opportunity to join in through the free afterschool swimming lessons offered. The progress through this small group provision has been fantastic. Well done Alver Valley Swimmers, and thank you

What a beautiful sunny day for another Forest Friday adventure with Year R. The journey into the forest saw us searching the skies for clouds. Next was a visit to our landmark tree (named Sticky) to check for changes: the branches are so full of leaves now and the leaves have grown again but are still super soft to touch. After an impromptu game of stuck in the mud - so much fun - it was up the hill and into the woodland for us all. Today we spent our time on our favourite activities: den building, bug hunting and swinging. Some of the children made different types of bird feeders and others built animal homes. The bug hunting was a huge success - we spotted so many types of millipedes, centipedes, beetles including one stag beetle, and even some slow worms. The damp places, including under logs, were the best places to look. At the end of Forest we always gather for Think and Thank. Today the children were thankful for ‘dancing butterflies, slow worms, stuck in the mud, bird feeders, the bugs, each other, and everything!’ Just as we will thinking a black hopped onto a branch where we hung the bird feeders and took a nibble! What a fabulous way to end a school week.

Year R have being learning about domestic animals, including their needs and how we can best care for them, over the past week. Today was the final visit from the softest baby bunnies and their mum. From tortoise, to snake, budgie to dogs and finally rabbits, we have had the best time exploring all of the pets that staff and families have brought in to meet the children. A huge thank you to everyone from all of Year R.

The Alver Valley Early Years Network is returning on Thursday 4th June 4:00pm-5:30pm. The network is a free opportunity for Early Years Practitioners from pre-schools, nurseries, schools and childminders to meet and share good practice. The focus for this session will be: Subitising and Early Number Sense.
We have some brilliant resources and support to signpost you to and a little surprise to take away 1 per setting! We will also be joined on the day by Claire Hargreaves the Community Engagement Officer at the Diving Museum in Stokes Bay. Find out more and book a free place here: https://www.alvervalleyschools.co.uk/june-2026-early-years-network/

Last week we were blown away by the creativity seen in the PTA’s first Easter Bonnet competition. Mrs Lockwood was given the very tricky job of judging the bonnets and so she enlisted the help of some Year 6 children. Children were given cubes to vote for their favourite hats in each year group and then the children totalled the scores to decide the winners. Thank you to everyone who took part and to the PTA for another fabulous opportunity for the children.

We had such a fabulous day in Year R, when Mill Cottage Farm came to visit today! We learnt lots about the animals and about where they came from. The gobbling turkey and noisy rooster were so funny and those cheeky goats had a munch on our hedgerow. The ducklings were only 10 days old and kept trying to escape! After Year R had explored the farm year 1 and 2 children also had time to say hello to the animals. What a super special day. Mill Cottage Farm Experience

Check out our March Newsletter for stories and updates from across our Nursery and Schools. We would like to wish our whole school community a wonderful Easter Break. https://www.alvervalleyschools.co.uk/march-2026-newsletter-2/