Valley Primary School

We are delighted to announce that we have successfully achieved the prestigious Dingley’s Promise 'Mark of Achievement' Inclusion Award.

This recognition is a massive milestone, but what makes it truly exceptional is the feedback from the moderation team, they specifically celebrated Valley Primary School as a "beacon for inclusion."

Inclusion is something at the heart of what we do at Valley so we are very proud of this achievement. Well done Team Valley!

World Culture Day at Valley was fabulous! Our children proudly spoke about their backgrounds and discussed their family culture or backgrounds. We then each learnt about a different country in each class and shared our learning, a lovely way to promote diversity. It was great to showcase what a wonderfully diverse school we are and how accepting and respectful our children are of differences!

Our Year 2 and 3 Gem groups enjoyed a wonderful Tudor express event this week. Thank you to all our parents who joined us for this celebration of learning.

Thank you to all our Year 4 and 5 children and parents who made our express event such fun yesterday. A wonderful example of us learning about British Values and of our vibrant Topic Curriculum in action!

Our EYFS children thoroughly enjoyed the visit from The Animal Man and all of his friends this week! We all enjoyed learning more about the animals and we met a snake, a tarantula, a rabbit, a chinchilla, an owl, a bearded dragon and a tenrec.

We enjoyed stroking and holding the animals very carefully plus learning about how the animals have different ways to express how they are feeling, learning about their diet and habitats.

A fabulous enrichment activity, thank you to all our EYFS for showing our school values of kindness and respect when handling the animals.

Mr Stoneman would have been so proud of us today and so delighted that we linked Science day to our Green Curriculum. This involved planting and developing our school
grounds purposefully. He would have particularly enjoyed seeing Y6 planting in the beds that he, our staff, the Eco Warriors and enrichment groups have developed over time.

Today, Mr Stoneman's family joined us, alongside Mr Greenway, the Elliot Foundation Trust Chief Executive Officer, as the children sang Mr Stoneman's favourite song and the school council read poems and reflections on his time at Valley. Our School Eco Team
then dedicated an acer tree to Mr Stoneman, carefully feeding it and watering it to ensure it started to grow nice and quickly. He would have loved this as he was always keen to bring colour and attract bugs, bees and butterflies. We planted the tree amongst the wooden signs Mr Stoneman lovingly carved for us and added a new sign in his memory. We created a special time capsule using Mr Stoneman's last paint tin including special memories of him which we will bury in the ground near to the tree
ready for a future generation to find, just like he did in many of our walls across school as he built them.

The acer tree is a resilient tree and we chose this tree to remind us all of Mr Stoneman who was a real life Resilient Robbie.
In the ice and snow, he was first at school, making sure we could come and go safely. When we had a fire, we assembled
outdoors whilst Mr Stoneman put it out, and we all know how hard Mr Stoneman tried to be here, even when he felt poorly,
because he wanted to keep helping our school and our school family, just as he did his own family at home. He gave Valley
Primary, and Hatchford Brook before it, many years of love and support and he would have loved the idea that he will have
a special tree as a reminder of him on our school playground.

Thank you Mr Stoneman, you live on at Valley and we will always remember everything you did for us!

World Book Day was wonderful! There was excitement and buzz across the school as we focused on different authors and enjoyed exploring books. Reading for pleasure is so important! Thank you to everybody who dressed up and joined in with Valley's World Book Day celebration of reading!

On Tuesday 10th February, we celebrated Safer Internet Day, a global event promoting the safe, responsible, and positive use of digital technology. This year, the focus was on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it is shaping the online world.

Within assembly, the children learned about what AI is and how it is used in everyday technology, from search engines to voice assistants. They explored the benefits of AI, as well as the importance of using it safely and responsibly. They also discussed how to think critically about online content and the importance of checking information before trusting or sharing it.

To celebrate Safer Internet Day, we're inviting all children to design a powerful and creative poster demonstrating their knowledge of AI and the importance of using it safely and responsibly.

The closing date for this competition is Wednesday 25th February 2026 and winners will be announced by our digital ambassadors on Friday 27th February 2026. Good luck all!