Dear Parents/Carers,

Happy Easter! 

The end of another full term that has been packed with excitement and great opportunities for all our young people.

This week we have had 'Experience Easter' hosted by our friends from St Catharine's Church which has allowed children to explore the Easter story through interactive activities. We have also had the 'In The Net' theatre group to share their important message about online safety. 

A couple of weeks ago the school commissioned a mock Church School Inspection. As a Church of England Primary School we are inspected by the Church under the SIAMs framework. This is due in Summer this year. The inspector that visited was hugely impressed with all that she saw. The school's Christian ethos shone through, but what was most impressive is how inclusive the school was. The focus on ensuring all faiths, cultures and backgrounds were supported to be part of a community was evident throughout. The children's work in RE was celebrated and the children's understanding of the new school vision was mind-blowing - considering how recently this has been introduced. All in all it was a really positive experience

'Although the school is early on its journey, the vision is known and understood. RE quality and work is valued and of a high quality. A truly caring, compassionate school where everyone is Valued.'  - SIAMs Inspector

'Pupils were excited in some classes and quiet in others, but the whole school was calm, purposeful and the vision was clearly ‘visible’ in the way staff were interacting with the pupils, caring for them and being at their level to talk to them. Displays all around the school demonstrated purpose – actions that showed how the vision was high profile and the root of all they do.' - SIAMs Inspector

Government Free Breakfast Club Trial

From September we are looking to offer the Government free breakfast club. Earlier this week we sent out a google form to gain some insight into parent interest to help us shape this provision over the upcoming summer term. 

The funding model for the club identifies that schools will receive £25 per day + £1 per child. This money is expected to cover food, staffing and energy costs and is likely to be extremely tight. 

I wanted to share the rationale for the pricing of the rest of the club as I know some will feel that the appears expensive in relation to the free part.

Prior to the announcement of the Government funding the school was looking to raise prices as this provision was loss making. With the additional funding coming into school we have been able to slightly reduce the price to support the costings of staff, resources and food.

As a school we will continue to review our pricing model and ensure that we provide value for money.

Staff News

It is with sadness that we will be saying goodbye to two members of staff over the summer term. 

Mrs Jeffreys in Y5 will be leaving to join a new school shortly after Easter. She has been with the school for 13 years and has helped 100s of children to have the most wonderful time. Mrs Jeffreys has made the decision to move on to another school to take on a new challenge and we wish her well. 

Mrs Mountain will be covering some of this time for the rest of the year to provide the class with consistency as they move through summer term; the additional time will be covered by Mr Forsyth, who regularly works at the school.

In addition, at the end of Summer, we will be saying goodbye to Mr Edwards. For a long time Mr Edwards has had aspirations to take on further leadership responsibility and the opportunity has recently presented itself with a Deputy headship. Kingsholm has a reputation for developing the headteachers of the future, with many previous staff going on to lead their own schools. Mr Edwards is a phenomenal practitioner and will be sorely missed; however, Kingsholm's loss is education's gain as he now has the opportunity to have further influence within a school and move closer to a headship of his own. We all wish him the best of luck.

Kind regards

Mr Larner

A message from Mr Edwards:

It is with great sadness that I share that I will be leaving Kingsholm C of E Primary School and Nursery at the end of this academic year. After 13 truly wonderful years, this decision has not come easily. Kingsholm has been such a special part of my life, and I feel incredibly grateful to have been part of such a caring and supportive community. I will always cherish the many moments, memories, and relationships I have built with the children and families here—memories that will stay with me forever. For that, I want to say a sincere and heartfelt thank you.

I genuinely feel that Mr. Larner and the school are on a very positive journey, and it is a really exciting time for Kingsholm to continue to grow and flourish. While I will be sad to leave, I also feel that now is the right time for myself and my family to take on a new challenge, as I move into a Deputy Head Teacher role. Kingsholm will always hold a very special place in my heart, and I will look back on my time here with immense pride and gratitude. Have a safe and enjoyable Easter! 

Mr Larner's Joke of the Week

What do get if you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole?

A Hot Cross Bunny

Hello Forest School families,

It has been a crazy two weeks of weather; very warm and sunny, then freezing gales, rains and hail.  We have been at Forest School whatever the weather having fun and learning.  The children have been amazing at working with the bushcraft knife safely to make butter spreaders and with Year 3 we extended their knife skills into chopping vegetables to make Minestrone soup which most of them tried and some had seconds and thirds!  Amongst all this the children have built small fences around dens, climbed trees, used the saw and began to design and construct puppets. There have also been a lot of cafes and an ice cream shop built. They have such great imaginations and it's always wonderful to see where they will take an idea next.

Wishing you all a fantastic, playful and sunny Easter holiday.

Kind regards

Kate Shepherd (Forest School Leader)

Thank you to all our families who helped to support our end of term Rainbow Raffle through donating coloured items and purchasing raffle tickets.

Well done to those winners who will no doubt enjoy their hampers.

Well done to all our fabulous iRockers - they certainly performed brilliantly:

The bands were:

• The Awesome Stars - performing 'call me maybe'
• Lightning Stars Forever - performing 'golden'
• The Five Chicken Wings - performing 'ordinary'
• The Potato Army - performing 'Lush life'
• The Green Arrows - performing 'Everybody wants to rule the world'

Thank you to our band member's families for joining us and supporting your brilliant band members.

 We hope you enjou viewing the photos taken during the week of our Explore Easter . Our Key Stage 2 children engaged with the story of Easter through interactive prayer stations

We politely ask our parents/carers to have a look at our School Uniform policy below as we are seeing a number of cases where children are arriving at school in clothing / footwear which is not compliant.  These include the following items: (and if worn children will be provided with clean second hand clothing to wear instead).

• Hooded sweatshirt
• Crocs, flip flops etc
• Jeans
• Football strips
• Clothing with slogans or pictures

Reminders:

Hair - Hair hould be kept neat and tidy (extreme styles are not acceptable including dyeing). Long hair should be retained with sensible accessories in royal blue or black (no large flowers or other adornments).

A loose headscarf, in the school’s royal blue colour, may be worn by Muslim girls. Health and safety in Science, DT and PE lessons may necessitate the wearing of smaller/shorter headscarves.

Jewellery - Children should not wear jewellery to school other than plain small gold/silver stud earrings (no bigger than 5mm). Where children choose to wear watches they are the responsibility of the wearer, as a school we encourage children to wear analogue watches. Due to their high value and the pressure this then places on other families to provide their children with one, smart watches are not allowed in school.

Kingsholm is well-aware of the cultural diversity that exists and will work with communities to ensure that suitable agreements can be made.

It has been agreed that female members of our GRT community are allowed to wear a maximum of two bangles as part of their cultural heritage. These will need to be removed for PE.

We have introduced a new parent / carer code of conduct - The purpose of this policy is to provide a reminder to all parents, carers and visitors to our school about their expected conduct. This is so we can continue to flourish, progress and achieve in an atmosphere of mutual understanding.

Please do take the time to have a look through.

Parent Code of Conduct 2026

[docx 49KB]