Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
-
Y5 Maths Day at George Spencer
Sun 20 Jul 2025This week a group of ten Y5 pupils visited George Spencer Academy for a day of mathematical fun. The day included finding out about fibonacci sequences, magic squares and a systematic thinking investigation (with sweets!).
The children represented our school brilliantly and had a suoer day.
-
Brilliant Club visit to Nottingham University
Sat 19 Jul 2025School arranged for a group of twelve Year 5/6 children to tour The University of Nottingham to celebrate their achievements, writing a dissertation on, ‘What Is Fairness?’
Dr Collins showed us around a variety of buildings including the Trent Building, Portland Building, the Science Library and the children thoroughly enjoyed meeting a myriad of animals used to learn about DNA.
-
Newsletter 10.07
Thu 10 Jul 2025Dear parents/carers
There are no year group newsletters this week as it has been transition, instead please find below information regarding school organisation and upcoming dates.
We have had a fabulous few days of transition and the children have been fantastic.
They have settled in well to their new classes and there has been a great buzz around school.
I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you the teaching staff so that you have a clear overview of the school.
It has been great to welcome Mr Wilson, Miss Pitts, Miss Myerscough and Mr Shaw to school.
Headteacher: Mr Pete Wilkes
Deputy Heads: Miss Anna Hodkin & Mrs M Brown
Assistant Head: Mrs Leah WignellMEADOW LANE SITE
Nursery (F1)
Miss Harriet Clarke (F1HC)
Reception (F2)
Mrs Rachel Darke
Mrs Leah Wignell
(F2DW)
Mrs Annie Olson (F2AO)
Mrs Fran Pack
Mr Adrian Bacon
(F2PB)
Year 1
Miss Natasha Williams
Mrs Rose Verey
(1WV)
Mr Alex Wilson
(1AW)
Miss Emma Holyland (1EH)
CATOR LANE SITE
Year 2
Miss Chole Hodkin
(2CH)
Miss Sarah Buckley
Mrs Julie Johnston
(2JB)
Miss Hannah Pitts
(2HP)
Year 3
Mr Chris Dale
(3CD)
Miss Izzy Myerscough (3IM)
Mrs Mary Caldwell
Mrs Louise Day
(3DC)
Year 4
Mrs Ruth Roberts
(4RR)
Mr Tom Grain
(4TG)
Mr Mike Nunez
Miss Tamsin Malone
(4NM)
Year 5
Mrs Charlotte Taylor (5CT)
Mr Christian Cudworth (5CC)
Mr Michael Shaw
(5MS)
Year 6
Miss Louise Strickland (6LS)
Mr Dean White
(6DW)
Mr Paul Wilkins
(6PW)
Most of the Year 6 children have also been out this week as part of their transition and we have had some really positive feedback about their conduct and attitude at school.
As we move into the last few weeks of term there are a number of key events we would like to share with you.
Friday 11th July – 6pm to 8pm – Family picnic on the Cator Lane field.
Thursday 17th July – 10am and 2pm Year 2 production – Robin Hood
Friday 18th July – 10.30am Rock Steady Concert
Friday 18th July – Reports sent home with the children at the end of the day
Monday 21st July – 4.30pm until 6pm. Open school session. This is an informal opportunity to come into school to have a chat with your child’s current year group teacher and meet the new teachers. Unfortunately Miss Myerscough and Miss Pitts are not available owing to prior commitments.
Tuesday 22nd July – 1.30pm and 6pm Year 6 production – Matilda
Wednesday 23rd July – Y6 trip to Twinlakes and Leavers Disco at 6pm
Thursday 24th July – 2pm – Y6 graduation
Friday 25th – break up for Summer.
We look forward to welcoming you to school over the next few weeks.
Kind regards
Mr Wilkes -
Summer Term Dates
Thu 08 May 2025Date
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
Mon 7 July
Y5 Taster day at Chilwell
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 – Thurs 10 July
The Lanes Transition days
Both sites
EY – Y5
Weds 9 July
Disco @ Meadow Lane
Meadow Lane
EY & Y1
Fri 11 July
PTA Summer Event
Cator Lane
Y2
Weds 16 July
Y2 Production – Dress Rehearsal 9.30AM
Thurs 17 July
Y2 Production @ 10.00am & 2.00pm
Cator Lane
Y2
Fri 18 July
Rock Steady Concert Fri 18 July
Reports sent home
Both sites
All
Mon 21 July
Y6 production dress rehersal
Tues 22 July
Y6 production @ 1.30pm & 6pm
Cator Lane
Y6
Weds 23 July
Y6 Trip to Twinlakes
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 2025School 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 2025To all Parent/Carers
We have recently been informed that with effect from 14th 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 28th 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 14th 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 14th 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 17th March.
If your Catering/Trips and Offers purse is in credit at the end of the day on 14th 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 2025Dear 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 belowMeadow 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 2024Nottinghamshire 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 2024Dear 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
