Itchen Abbas Primary School

☀️ ONE MORE FULL WEEK OF SUMMER! ☀️

We hope you enjoy the last full week of the summer holidays and making the most of these final days before the new school year begins! ❤️

We’re getting everything ready and can’t wait to welcome our children and families back through the gates on Wednesday 2nd September. 🎒📚✨

Enjoy the rest of the holidays, have fun, make some memories and enjoy that last bit of summer! ☀️

We can’t wait to see you all! 👋❤️

Well done 👏👏

As we reach the end of another successful school year, we would like to thank all our children, families, staff and governors for their continued support.

It has certainly been a year to remember! From internet outages and extreme weather to finishing with a summer heatwave, our school community has faced every challenge with resilience and positivity. Throughout it all, our children have continued to impress us with their enthusiasm, determination and achievements.

This year has been packed with exciting opportunities, including school trips, special visitors and memorable experiences ranging from dodgeball and opera performances to CPR training and the unforgettable visit from Team Rubicon. We were also delighted to see our new climbing frame installed, thanks to the incredible support of our families, local community and PTA.

A huge thank you to our fantastic Itchen Abbas Parents (PTA) for their hard work throughout the year, and to everyone who supported events and donated items from our Amazon Wishlist.

Today, we also said goodbye to two valued members of staff. Mrs Honey leaves after 19 years of dedicated service, and Mrs Young after 11 years. The Year 6s hosted a special 'Breakfast Club' for Mrs Honey and we got to play lots of fun games with them both this morning - including guessing the voice of the person, which turned out to be harder than they or I thought! We thank them both for the enormous contribution they have made to our school and wish them every success for the future.

We look forward to welcoming new children, families and staff members in September, as well as working with Revd. David Cooke, the new Rector of the Itchen Valley.

For now, I wish all our families a wonderful summer filled with fun and laughter! Thank you for being part of our special school community. We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Wednesday 2nd September from 8.15am. 🌟

Have a fantastic summer! ☀️🏖️📚

🥇 We’re Staying GOLD! 🥇

We are incredibly proud to announce that Itchen Abbas Primary School has once again achieved the Gold School Games Mark!

This award recognises our commitment to providing high-quality PE, school sport and physical activity opportunities for every child.

A huge well done to all of our children for their enthusiasm, teamwork and determination throughout the year. From festivals and competitions to lunchtime clubs, Sports Leaders and active lessons, every child has played their part in making this possible.

A big thank you also to our staff, parents and volunteers for supporting our sporting journey. We can’t wait to build on this success next year and create even more opportunities for our children to be active, healthy and confident.

Here’s to another fantastic year of sport at Itchen Abbas! 💪⚽🏃‍♀️🏅

This afternoon, our Key Stage 2 children had the fantastic opportunity to attend The Soul of Opera at The Grange Music Festival. It was an inspiring afternoon that introduced the children to a different style of music and performance, broadening their musical experiences and encouraging an appreciation of the arts. We are very grateful to The Grange Festival for providing such a memorable experience for our children.

Following careful consideration of the forecast for Saturday, which is currently predicting temperatures of around 29°C and potentially rising, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the Summer Fair.

This decision has been made in conjunction with the PTA, with the safety and wellbeing of our children and families as our priority. Unfortunately, setting up tomorrow and some of the planned activities, such as the cake sale and bouncy castle, cannot safely operate in these conditions, and we do not feel it would be appropriate to proceed with the event in such heat.

We know this will be disappointing, and we are very grateful to the PTA and all those who have worked hard to organise the event.

Instead, we will be planning a family BBQ event later in the term after school, where the raffle will be drawn and we can hopefully come together in more comfortable conditions. Further details will follow in due course.

As you know, events like the Summer Fair raise much-needed funds to support and enrich provision for all our children. If you would still like to contribute, we have included a link to our Amazon Wishlist, where any donations - big or small - are hugely appreciated and make a real difference.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2EYFOEG4SQDHC/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex

Thank you, as always, for your understanding and continued support.

With the very warm weather forecast for this week, I wanted to let you know about some adjustments we will be making to ensure that all children remain safe, comfortable and able to enjoy their learning.

We will be adapting our outdoor learning lessons to include more shaded and water-based activities, helping children to stay cool whilst continuing to enjoy outdoor learning. We are fortunate to have our four house coloured gazebos, which will provide additional shade throughout the day for all children.

In addition, instead of Outdoor Learning clothes or school uniform, please send your child to school in their PE kit each day this week, as this will be much cooler and more comfortable than their usual uniform. (Friday remains non-uniform day.)

To help keep everyone safe in the heat, please ensure that your child:

• Arrives at school with sun cream already applied before the start of the day.
• Brings a named sun hat.
• Brings a named water bottle containing plenty of water.

Children will have regular opportunities to drink water throughout the day and access shaded areas as needed.

Thank you for your support in helping us keep everyone safe and comfortable during this period of hot weather.

Hedgehogs had a lovely trip to the River Itchen today! As part of their learning about river features, they enjoyed exploring the Itchen firsthand. We’re so grateful to our wonderful community for allowing us access – and for taking the time to talk to the children about the river, even showing them the fish!

🏆 What a fantastic Sports Day! 🏆

A huge well done to all of our children who took part today. Your effort, determination, sportsmanship and positive attitudes throughout the day were incredible to see. Whether you were competing, supporting your teammates or trying something new, you should all be extremely proud of yourselves.

A massive thank you to all of our staff who worked tirelessly behind the scenes and throughout the day to make everything run smoothly. Events like this simply wouldn’t be possible without your support, enthusiasm and teamwork.

Thank you also to all of the parents, carers and family members who came along to support the children. It was wonderful to see so many of you cheering from the sidelines and joining in with the afternoon games and races. Your encouragement helped make the afternoon even more special.

Days like today remind us what school sport is all about – participation, enjoyment, teamwork and creating lasting memories.

Now that this year’s Sports Day is complete, the planning for next year begins! 💪🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️

Have a lovely weekend.
Mr R 🙂

In English, the children in Hedgehogs have been so enthused by our new story, Clem and Crab. They were upset that the crab had to live on a beach full of rubbish, so they painted a new beach that they thought the crab would much prefer - and I agree! Their beautiful artwork showed lots of care for the environment and a real understanding of the character and his feelings.