I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and feedback. Both are really valued. I hope you are able to have a restful half term with your families. We are already halfway through the year and the children have achieved a huge amount. We are very proud of them all and are looking to sharing more of their experiences and learning with you next term. Please look out for special events to showcase learning in the calendar dates leaflet. 

As another term ends there are some minor changes to staffing for next term to be aware of and a few thank you's I would like to share. 

We have a new learning partner joining us in Reception from the 27^th February. We would all like to welcome Jahnavi Potladhurthi to the team. 

In light of current headteacher recruitment processes, we have worked as an SLT to reshape supporting roles for the school. I am really pleased to announce that Francessca Beers (Wed-Fri) and John Edwards (Mon-Tues) will fulfil the role of Acting Deputy Headteacher until the end of the academic year. They are incredibly passionate about supporting the school and the exciting journey we are on. 

As shared, Lucy Bennett will be stepping back. Michelle Ginn will be joining us after half term as our SENDCo.

Lucy Bennett currently teaches 6P on a Friday. This will now be covered by an expereinced teacher, Claire May. We are really pleased that Claire has agreed to continue with us after half term and provide a consistent adult for other PPA (teacher non-contact time) sessions across the school. She will be working with 1M, 2T, 5Y and 6P. 

Any other changes to PPA staff, internally, will be shared via Class Dojo by your child's current class teacher. 

We are pleased to share that Mr Foulds-Byczok will be returning to work after the half term break. He will have a teaching commitment in 3U alongside Mr Duffy and will continue as Phase 3 lead. 

Hayley Hanson

Acting Headteacher Inclusion and Early Intervention

We are very excited to share with you our curriculum vision at Kingsholm. Please take a look at our video on the website which will explain it:

https://www.kingsholmprimary.co.uk/the_kingsholm_curriculum/the_hive_curriculum/hive_curriculum_vision/the_hive_curriculum.html

Additionally, we have updated the website to explain what is happening during the interim whilst we develop the curriculum. Please take a look at what we are doing:

https://www.kingsholmprimary.co.uk/the_kingsholm_curriculum/the_hive_curriculum/interim_curriculum_24_25/interim_curriculum_24_25.html

We hope you as excited as we are!

Dear friends and supporters of Roots,

Welcome to February 2025! It's hard to believe it is almost a year since we took the plunge to 'Rescue Roots', and Roots Renewed took over running the shop, cafe and community space on Alvin Street.  Over the year we’ve made a £4,000 profit - we are so grateful to everyone who has supported us over that time by shopping with us, buying coffee and cake, hosting events, making one-off gifts, or regular donations.  There is no way we could have got so far without such a supportive community behind us!

Looking at the calendar now, we have become the home for a great range of community activities and regular groups, such as:

• Grief-kind space (Sue Ryder) - two hours every Tuesday morning to support those experiencing bereavement

• Little tots - a safe space for 0-4 yr olds and their carers every Friday morning

• Gloucester furries - a monthly safe space on a Saturday to connect together

• Roots Runners - a weekly running group promoting healthy activity

• Community lunch - a monthly low cost (£3) meal with others on a Sunday lunchtime

• Acoostic Cafe - a monthly open mic evening focused around live music, a space to try performing and receive encouragement 

• The Bizz Cooking - weekly sessions working with young people excluded from schools to build their confidence and grow skills through working in the kitchen

• Roots counselling - individual private counselling sessions

• Healthy lifestyles - tailored training courses for the local community

• Yoga sessions - twice weekly exercise classes

• Sol sessions - monthly gathering focused on healthy eating, networking and an open-mic

• Gloucester contemporary artists - annual gallery for emerging talent

• MP surgeries - opportunities to connect with Alex McIntyre

• Police drop ins - monthly opportunities to connect with the local PCSO

• Acting as a physical sales outlet for local artisans and producers - soaps, jewellery, honey, reusable cleaning products, and Social Source foodstuffs made by Wiggly Charity

We've also become more consistent in our food and drink offering, focusing on teas and great quality filter coffee, accompanied by a piece of cake or a savoury. These are all freshly baked on the premises, with Owen making vegan sausage rolls, cheese and onion pasties, vegan samosas and vegan 'steak pies', whilst Rosie concentrates on our cakes: brownies, lemon drizzle, tiffin, flapjack, and date cake. We're aiming for the best gluten-free and vegan options in town! If you haven't tried one, come in and treat yourself. 

The refills shop continues to emphasise affordability, with many goods price-matched to Asda, and we enjoy seeing a good mix of returning and new customers. At the same time, we have a growing number of people hiring  the community space. 

But…. the reality is that we are still seriously struggling to meet the costs of staff, lease and heating, and have been on the verge of needing to wind up the company each time we've received a new bill for the past couple of months. 

We're excited that someone has offered to help us seek grant funding, and are encouraged to see some increased use of the community space by paying groups. However, we're also putting out a plea for a few more regular financial backers - 'Friends' of Roots - who could help us keep going. It has been amazing and humbling to see those that have joined us over the past couple of weeks.  We estimate that if we could find just 30 new friends willing to give £10 a month, we would be on a much more secure financial footing. Is this something you might consider? If so, please visit the community page of our website for more details:  https://www.rootsgloucester.org.uk/community.  

Thank you so much for reading this far, and many thanks once again for the support you have shown to Roots Renewed over the year.  We are hoping to have a ‘Roots Day event’ on the afternoon of 1^st March, when we celebrate everything that has been happening at Roots over the past year and share some plans for the future. Please put it in your diary - we’d love to see you if possible!

All the best,

Phil King, Kate Berkeley and the rest of the Roots team