Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Summer Term Dates

  Thu 08 May 2025

  Date	Event	Location	Who?
  Tues 22 April	CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL		All
  Tues 22 April	Y2 WOW day – Florence Nightingale	Cator Lane	Y2
  Mon 28 Apr	EY Mini-Beast WOW Day	Meadow Lane	EY
  Mon 5 May	May Day – School Closed		All
  Weds 7 May	Y2 visit to Derby Museum	Derby Museum	2DW & 2BB
  Thurs 8 May	Y2 visit to Derby Museum	Derby Museum	2HC
  Mon 12 – Thurs 15 May	Y6 SATS week		Y6
  Tues 13 May	Y1 Parents Event @ 2.30pm - details to follow	Meadow Lane	Y1
  Mon 19 May	Y1 visit to Twycross Zoo	Twycross Zoo	Y1
  Mon 19 May	5MW Class Assembly @ 2.30pm	Cator Lane	5MW
  Tues 20 May	Y2 Dance Festival at Trent Vale	Trent Vale	Selected pupils only
  Tues 20 May	5CC Class Assembly @ 2.30pm	Cator Lane	5CC
  Thurs 22 May	5CT Class Assembly @ 2.30pm	Cator Lane	5CT
  Thurs 22 May	Y4 Parents’ celebration event	Cator Lane	Y4
  Mon 26 May	HALF TERM		All
  Mon 2 June	CHILDREN RETURN TO SCHOOL		All
  Mon 2 – Fri 13 June	Multiplication Tables Checking		Y4
  Tues 3 June	Y2 Residential – 1 night	Sherwood Forest	2DW
  Mon 9 - Fri 13 June	Phonics Screening Check Week		Y1
  Mon 9 June	Y5 Visit to Space Centre	Space Centre	Y5
  Mon 9 June	Y2 Residential – 1 night	Sherwood Forest	2HC
  Mon 16 June	Y2 Residential – 1 night	Sherwood Forest	2BB
  Tues 17 June	EY trip to East Midlands Airport	EMA	EY
  Weds 18 June	Disco at Cator Lane	Cator Lane	Y2 – Y6
  Thurs 19 June	EY trip to East Midlands Airport	EMA	EY
  Tues 24 June	Class Photos & Individual Y6 photos	Both sites	All
  Weds 25 June	KS1 Sports Day - Morning session	Cator Lane	EY, Y1 & Y2
  Thurs 26 June	KS2 Sports Day – Morning session	Cator Lane	Y3 – Y6
  Tues 1 – Thurs 3 Jul	Alderman White Transition days	Alderman White	Y6
  Friday 4 July	INSET DAY – SCHOOL CLOSED	Both sites	All
  Tues 8 July	Rock Steady Concert	Cator Lane	Rock Steady pupils
  Weds 9 – Fri 11 July	Chilwell School Transition days	Chilwell School	Y6
  Weds 9 – Fri 11 July	The Lanes Transition days	Both sites	EY – Y5
  Weds 9 July	Disco @ Meadow Lane	Meadow Lane	EY & Y1
  Weds 16 July	Y2 Production – Dress Rehearsal 9.30AM	Cator Lane	Y2
  Thurs 17 July	Y2 Production @ 10.00am & 2.00pm	Cator Lane	Y2
  Fri 18 July	Reports sent home	Both sites	All
  Tues 22 July	Y6 production @ 1.30pm & 6pm	Cator Lane	Y6
  Weds 23 July	Y6 Leavers Disco @ 6pm	Cator Lane	Y6
  Thurs 24 July	Y6 Graduation @ 2pm	Cator Lane	Y6
  Fri 25 July	BREAK UP FOR SUMMER	Both sites	All

• General Info March 25

  Thu 27 Mar 2025

  School Meal Cost Increase

  If your child is in Y3 - 6 and you pay for school dinners, the cost of a meal will increase to £3.16 as from 1st April 2025. Please ensure that your child's dinner account is in credit before they request a meal.

   

  sQuid refunds

  We have been made aware by a number of parents that they are experiencing issues when requesting a refund from their child's sQuid account. As previously informed, sQuid ceased to trade on 14th March. The company advised us that they would refund any accounts in credit, however we are now aware that accounts with less than £10 credit will not be refunded and any accounts with more than £10 credit will incur a £10 administration fee. At no point were school informed of this, we only found this out after we sent emails enquiring on parents' behalf. This issue has since made the local news, and while we cannot guarantee that all monies will be repaid, we would advise you to contact sQuid to request a refund in order for your request to be logged on their system should the company’s practices be looked into further.

   

  MyChildAtSchool App

  Just a reminder to download and register your child on the MyChildAtSchool app. We will be using this app for all on-line payments.
  As of 1st May we will no longer be accepting cash payments for dinner money or trips, if you would prefer to pay using PayPoint please contact the office and we will provide you with your child's bar code for you to use when depositing cash. PayPoints are located in numerous local shops, Plumbs and CO-OP are the closest to school, however a full list can be found via this link https://consumer.paypoint.com/cashout.

  We will also start to use this app to send text messages and emails during the Summer term. Once you have registered on the app you are able to amend any contact details for your child without the need to contact the office.

  If you have any problems accessing your child's account please contact the school office.

   

• Important sQuid informtaion

  Tue 11 Feb 2025

  To all Parent/Carers                                                                                      

  We have recently been informed that with effect from 14^th March 2025 sQuidcard Limited will be ceasing payment processing services in the UK. As you are aware, this is the payment system we have used at our school for a number of years.  

   

  Having considered a number of providers we have made the decision to use the MyChildAtSchool payment system which is also supported by the Bromcom Management Information System which we will also be moving to in the near future.     

   

  In order to ensure a smooth transition to the new system we are asking that all dinner arrears are cleared by Friday 28^th February 2025 at the latest. All dinner accounts MUST be in credit before your child requests a meal, therefore please ensure your child’s dinner purse has enough credit to cover meals requested up to and including the 14^th March. If your child requests a school meal without the account being in credit, we will call to ask you to provide a packed lunch or to provide cash payment to cover the meal charge.

   

  If you are partway through making payments towards a school trip then the outstanding balance can be paid by one of the three options below;

  • Outstanding balance to be cleared online via sQuid before 14^th March
  • Cash/Cheque payment to school before the date of the trip
  • Online payment made via new system once users are set up – this will be week commencing 17^th March.

   

  If your Catering/Trips and Offers purse is in credit at the end of the day on 14^th March you will receive a refund to your original payment account – this will be managed directly by sQuid

   

  We will obviously need to ensure the transition to the new system runs as smoothly as possible and we will be working closely with the new provider. 

  We will be liaising with them this week and information regarding the new payment system will be sent out to parents/carers as soon as possible.   Following this, we will be there to support you with any questions or queries you may have.  

   

  Thank you    

   

  Pete Wilkes

  Head Teacher

   

• Autism In Schools Project

  Thu 16 Jan 2025
  

• Changes to School Day Timings - Jan 2025

  Sun 05 Jan 2025

  Dear Parents/Carers
  I hope you are looking forward to the Christmas break, the staff most definitely are! It has been a very busy term with
  so much going on and I have absolutely loved getting to know the children and families. Thank you for your kind words,
  support and challenge throughout this term
  We have been reviewing the current start and finishing times of the school day. The current teaching hours do not
  meet the requirement within the DfE Length of the School Week document which was released in July 2023. Schools
  have been given time to adjust their school day and it should now be in place.
  I have been working with the staff and the governors to look at options in order minimise any change or disruption
  whilst increasing the teaching time in school. There are a couple of tweaks but no significant changes.
  We have taken into consideration the nature of the split site and the travel time between buildings.
  The changes that we will be adopting from January 6th 2025 are outlined below

  	Meadow Lane	Cator Lane Y2, Y3 and Y4	Cator Lane Y5 and Y6
  School gates opened	8.35	8.45
  School day starts	8.45	8.55
  School day finishes	3.15	3.25	3.30

   

  The time for the start of the school day is the time that the register will be taken. All children will need to be in class
  by this time.
  Due to the changes in times, teachers will not be available on the school doors in the mornings for as long. However,
  we will make sure there is a member of staff from each year group available so you will be able to pass on any key
  information and maintain this key communication opportunity.
  We will also need your support to ensure children are not on the school site too early. There will be no supervision on
  the playground before the school gate opening time.
  We recognise that this is a change and for some children this may be a challenge. Please discuss this with your children
  and review your morning routines so we are able to start the new term smoothly.

   

   

• NCC Wraparound Childcare Survey

  Thu 10 Oct 2024

  Nottinghamshire County Council are looking to gather the views of parents to see how they currently use wraparound childcare, and how they may use wraparound childcare in the future. 

  The survey can be found here: https:  Wrapround and holiday childcare places for primary school aged children - Nottinghamshire County Council - Citizen Space

   

  The closing date is Sunday 3rd November 2024

   

  

• Autumn Term Parents' Evening

  Wed 25 Sep 2024

  Dear Parents/Carers 

  
  Parents’ Evenings are due to be held at both sites on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th October. You will receive
  a text message and email containing a link to book your appointment. If you need guidance on how to book
  your appointment, it can be found here https://support.eduspot.co.uk/guide/parents-evening-parent-guide/
  Each appointment is for 10 minutes, we would also like to invite your child to attend with you in order to join
  in the discussions with yourself and the teacher. Please enter by the main school entrance and make your
  way to your child’s classroom where you will meet the teacher at your appointment time and look at your
  child’s work.

  
  The Friends of the Lanes will be having a preloved uniform sale at the Cator Lane entrance on both evenings.
  Payment for items can be made via QR code.

  
  Scholastic Book Fair will also be running over both nights – proceeds from the sales of this event are used to
  purchase books for the school libraries.

  
  I will also be available on both evenings to speak to parents.

  
  Yours sincerely

  
  Pete Wilkes
  Headteacher

• Letter from Mr Wilkes

  Tue 03 Sep 2024

  Dear Parents/Carers

   

  I hope you had a good summer and managed to get some rest and relaxation.  I have had a wonderful start to the term and I have been made very welcome by the staff, children and the parents.

   

  The children have been fabulous today, looking very smart in their new uniforms and showing real enthusiasm for being back at school.

   

  Your children may have come home tonight and talked about some changes that have happened in school and I wanted to inform you of these and our rationale for the change.

   

  Lunchtime

  We have aligned lunchtimes at Cator Lane so all children now have the same time.  This will help with balancing the teaching time across the day.

  Lunchtime at Cator Lane site is now 12.15 until 1.15. 

  At Meadow Lane it remains unchanged at 12.00 until 1.00.

   

  Break time

  We have also reviewed break time during the afternoon for year 5 and year 6.  This has now shifted to a ‘flexi’ break meaning that the class teachers will make the decision about giving the children a short pause in their learning for up to ten minutes.  The rationale for this is to enable the teachers to have a sustained period of time on a piece of work and to have the flexibility not to interrupt the flow when children are really focused and engaged.  We will be monitoring this during the half-term and considering introducing this for other year groups.

   

  Communication

  I have reviewed the answers to the questionnaires from last term and there was a strong thread of communication – sometimes too much, sometimes too little, sometimes too late and in too many ways!  I will be looking at streamlining this during the term and will be working with the staff to ensure we are communicating the right information to the right people at the right time.  As part of our communication approach will review and update the parent communication policy which will outline our systems and processes.  Please bear with us on this.

   

  Something I have discussed with the staff is the expectation of communicating with you, and you with them.  When sending emails to staff please be mindful that they will only be able to review emails between 7.30am and 6.00pm and only when they are not teaching the children.  With this in mind I have asked the staff to ensure they respond to you within 24 hours of receiving the email and between these hours.  If a communication is urgent then please ring or email the office who will do their best to resolve any issues as soon as possible.  Staff are always available for a brief chat at the start and end of the school day.

   

  Year group specific information

  As part of our communication review, we will be considering the purpose and content of the year group weekly newsletters.  You will be receiving some information this week which will outline some of the key information about your child’s year group, for example PE days, any visits planned, outline of any key learning. 

   

  Uniform

  It was great to see so many children in their new school uniforms, they looked incredibly smart and had a real sense of pride in the way they carried themselves around school.  We will be keeping a close eye on this during the coming weeks and in the event of any uniform not meeting the school uniform requirements, teachers will discuss this sensitively with the children.  Please refer to the website for the current uniform policy if you are unsure about the expectations - https://www.thelanes.notts.sch.uk/school-uniform-information/

  If for any reason you are having difficulty in providing the correct uniform, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

   

  A strong thread of the INSET day and the assembly theme today has been that of excellence.  I have challenged the children to consider how they will be promoting excellence in all that they do – I have already seen a lot of this at playtimes, lunchtimes and walking around the school.

   

  This is just a short update to let you know some of the decisions that we have made and I will keep you informed as we review how we work to ensure we are doing our very best for your children.  I look forward to meeting you on the playground and if you have any questions or queries then please do not hesitate to stop me and have a chat.

   

  Thank you for your support

   

  Mr Pete Wilkes

  Headteacher

• Y6 Ambassadors Fundraising

  Thu 25 Jul 2024

  Ambassadors Fundraising 2023-24

  This year the Ambassadors chose a local charity to support. The charity we chose was ‘Forget Me Notts’ This is the UK based project run by Operation Orphan and is all about helping and supporting vulnerable children to have a safe place to sleep and to support children in times of crisis. You can find more details here https://www.operation-orphan.org/forget-me-notts

  During the year we have held several events including a Readathon, collections at Christmas performances and a tombola at the Family picnic. The children have also collected and delivered over 100 selection boxes and Easter eggs for vulnerable children in the local area.

  On Tuesday 24^th July some representatives from Forget Me Notts came into school and the Ambassadors presented them with a cheque for £3200. This is an amazing amount of money and will mean that the charity will have a real impact on so money people.

  The Ambassadors are really proud of themselves and I am so proud of them too. They have worked really hard all year and have been a real credit to the school.

  

• The Lanes Family Picnic

  Sun 07 Jul 2024