Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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Autism In Schools Project
Thu 16 Jan 2025
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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
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Letter from Mr Wilkes
Tue 03 Sep 2024Dear 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
