Newsletters

Witheridge Weekly Newsletter - Friday 13th March 2026

Witheridge

Church of England

Academy

Encourage One Another And Build Each Other Up

Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been another busy and joyful time here at Witheridge C of E Academy, and it has been wonderful to see so many examples of our school vision in action: “Encourage One Another and Build Each Other Up.” Throughout the week, children and staff have shown kindness, determination and teamwork in so many ways – a great reminder of what makes our school community so special. 🌟

Assessment Week

This week has been assessment week across the school. The class teachers have been incredibly proud of the children for the way they have approached their assessments. We have seen so much perseverance, determination and positive attitudes, with children encouraging each other and trying their very best. Well done to everyone for demonstrating such resilience – you have truly been building each other up!

World Book Day Celebrations

Last week’s World Book Day celebrations were fantastic. Our theme celebrating the wonderful stories of Janet and Allan Ahlberg brought so much creativity and excitement to the school. The children looked amazing in their costumes and it was lovely to see everyone sharing their love of books and stories together. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day so special. Thanks to the fantastic fundraising from the PTFA and Mrs Seymour from the Book Fair, we also received LOTS of new books for our classes to enjoy! 

PTFA World Book Day Disco

KS2 had a brilliant time at the PTFA World Book Day disco! There was lots of dancing, laughter and fun. A huge thank you to Mrs Seymour and Dean Dibble for generously giving up their time to run the disco and for selling tuck and merchandise to raise money for the PTFA. We are also very grateful to Mrs North for providing first aid support during the evening. Events like this really show our community coming together to support the children. 💃🕺

Parents’ Evening Reminder

A quick reminder that Parents’ Evening is taking place next week. If you have not yet signed up for a slot, please do so via Arbor as soon as possible. These meetings are a valuable opportunity to talk with your child’s teacher about their progress and celebrate their achievements together.

Red Nose Day – Friday 20th

On Friday 20th, we will be celebrating Red Nose Day. Children are welcome to come to school wearing something red to help us support this wonderful cause.

Red noses will be available to purchase from the school office soon, and if you would like to make a donation, you can do so via our JustGiving page.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/witheridge-academy-20?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL&utm_campaign=020

It will be a fun way for us to come together, support others and once again live out our vision of encouraging one another and building each other up. ❤️

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. It is a pleasure to see our school community working together to help every child flourish.

With best wishes,

Miss Ratcliffe

Life, Love and Learning to the Full

School Attendance

This week's whole school attendance percentage is:

95%

At Witheridge C of E Academy, we believe that regular and punctual attendance is key to helping children thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. 

Further Information

School Calendar

Parents/Carers Evening for FSU, C2, C3 and C4
All Day
from 16 Mar until 17 Mar
16
March
TLC - Dance
All Day
16
March
Outdoor Learning Class 3 Group 3
1:30pm – 3:30pm
from 25 Feb and on Wednesday each week until 01 Apr
18
March
TLC Gardening Club
3:30pm – 4:30pm
from 25 Feb and on Wednesday each week until 18 Mar
18
March
Class 2 PE
2:00pm – 3:30pm
from 26 Feb and on Thursday each week until 02 Apr
19
March
Teacher Led Club - SATs Club for Year 6
3:30pm – 4:30pm
from 26 Feb and on Thursday each week until 19 Mar
19
March
Comic Relief - Red Nose Day 2026
9:00am – 3:30pm
20
March
Class 1 PE
2:00pm – 3:30pm
from 27 Feb and on Friday each week until 27 Mar
20
March
View school calendar
View school term dates

School Lunch Menu

The cost of a school lunch is currently Nursery £2.05 per meal, Reception & KS1 Children – Universal Infant Free School Meals & KS2 £2.61 per meal.

Payment is via your Arbor account.

Latest News

12 Mar 2026
Outdoor Learning - Life Cycle of a Frog
Thursday 5th March 2026
Read more
12 Mar 2026
World Book Day
Thursday 5th March 2026
Read more
12 Mar 2026
KS1 and KS2 Farm School
Wednesday 11th March 2026
Read more

Celebration of Achievements

Class Awards
Nursery  Effy for settling well into nursery and following the routines and boundaries
Reception Willow for fantastic partner work in PE
Class 1 Finley for trying really hard with his phonics and reading during R.W.I sessions this week
Class 2 Nancy for hard work in all areas of learning
Class 3 Ava H for taking a responsible and active role in our Class 3 team
Class 4  Jack M for showing a fantastic mathematical understanding when finding the area of triangles and parallelograms
Writer of the Week
Class R Ocean for excellent effort when writing her sounds
Class 1 Teddy for such a massive improvement in his handwriting and focus this week
Class 2 Mitchell for fab sounding out in writing
Class 3 Maggie for superb descriptive writing about rivers
Class 4 Alfie for always demonstrating well-thought-though written responses in all curriculum areas
School Contribution Award

Ava H for showing courage and perseverance at the farm.

Harry V for helping support our younger children in breakfast club.
Merit Awards
20 Merit Awards ArthurB (4), Chester W (R), Isabel (2)
40 Merit Awards Olly G (4), Mya B (3)
House Points

Discovery: 58

Endeavour: 57

Enterprise: 48

Voyager: 65

TEAM Multi-Academy Trust Vacancies

Further Information and Apply Here

 

Important Notices

School Council News - Charity of the Year: Cancer Research UK

Our school council has chosen the charity, Cancer Research UK, to be our named school charity of the year. Over the course of the next few months, we'll be sending out details about upcoming fundraising events and opportunities. The school council explained the reason for their decision to choose Cancer Research UK:

"We all know someone who has been affected by cancer, and we know every penny raised for Cancer UK counts to help those battling cancer."

We have set up a school giving page, should you wish to support this great charity and help the children with their fundraising this year.

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/witheridgecofeacademy-giving-page-27107223

Watch out for details of fundraising events coming soon!

 

Nursery Charges Update

From 20th April 2026, our fees for non-funded places will be increasing to £5.80 per hour.  This is in line with government changes to funded places.

For more information about funding, please use the following link:

https://beststartinlife.gov.uk/

Chicken Pox Advice

We would like to inform you that we currently have one case of Chicken Pox in the school.  Please click on the following link for further advice and symptoms to look out for.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chickenpox/

Witheridge CofE Academy PTFA

Firstly, we would like to say a huge thank you to Miss Ratcliffe and Mrs North so that we could facilitate a school disco. It was brilliant to see the children's happy and smiling faces as they enjoyed the music, snacks and glow-in-the-dark accessories we had to offer. The event was a great success and, as well as being a great event for the children, raised just under £50 towards PTFA funds. We are hoping to hold a KS1 disco and KS2 Leavers Disco in the summer term – further info to follow next term. 

We are super excited about our Easter events coming up on the 27th and 28th March. 

We are holding an Easter Fayre after school on Friday 27th March and are desperately seeking volunteers so that we can run all of the stalls that we want to make the event a success. Please speak to Phoenix Griffiths, Dean Dibble or Mrs. Seymour if you can give an hour of your time that afternoon. Alongside this, we are holding an egg-cart competition for the children. Please see the additional poster for more details. If you have any queries or questions, please speak to Mrs. Seymour.

Another reminder that we are still looking for raffle prizes for our bingo evening on the 28th. Please bring them to the school office or feel free to bring them with you on the night. 

Thank you for all your support. 

Help with Raffle Prizes

We are seeking raffle prizes for our bingo night on the 28th March. If you have a donation, please drop it to the school office or bring it along with you on the night. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

Community News

Any articles which appear in the school newsletter that have not been organised by or on behalf of the school, have not been verified by TEAM Multi-Academy Trust as to the suitability for children.  The news items are for parent information only!