Here we are at the end of the first half term of our Spring Term already! The children have been working so hard on being the very best versions of themselves; by showing their engagement and enthusiasm to their learning in lessons but also by contributing to so many aspects of Maidensbridge life and representing our school and community at many events!

The children have attended the Dudley Maths Competition, Netball and Football matches, Athletics and Multiskills events as well as one of the highlights of our year; Young Voices 2025! Well done to the 5/6 maths team who are in the finals later this year.

I am extremely proud to say that we are oversubscribed for Reception places next year and we have 32 families who have picked us as their first choice of school for their children. This is a huge reflection on how wonderful our children are at Maidensbridge and that their achievements their success and happiness is something that many others want to be a part of too! Well done everyone!

Watch out for the collection of clubs we have on offer for children after school next half term!

We wish you all a lovely half term and we will see you all on Monday 24th February.

Since being successful in achieving our roles in September of last year, we have taken the lead on many aspects of school life. Some of our daily and weekly activities are: greeting parents for Praise assembly, showing visitors around school, being role models for other children around school as we wear our badges with pride. 

One of the most important events of the year is the Open Evening for new parents in Reception. At this event we give speeches that give an insight to Maidensbridge life from the children's perspective and we had to speak in front of over 75 people this year. This was a new challenge for us; we were nervous to begin with but we overcame our fear and were proud of ourselves. We continued this leadership as we opened the Nativity performance for adults and the KS2 Carol Concert. Watch out for us at Easter!

We love our leadership roles at Maidensbridge and we are thankful for this opportunity.

Adam, Ava, Marnee and Oscar.

Yet again we have been awarded the Music Mark Award for our commitment to music throughout our curriculum. We make sure that all children in years 1-6 are taught to play a musical instrument and then they can continue this if they would like to with individual lessons. Our Choir attend many events throughout the year and our next commitment is going to be a social concert being held at Dudley Town Hall in April, watch this space!

This academic year, Year 3 have been part of a pen pal project run by Dudley Zoo where Maidensbridge have been linked with schools in Sierra Leone. So far, we have written letters about our school and family and received letters back from the children in Sierra Leone on the same topics. Children have recently sent off our next letter all about their favourite foods and which ones they dislike and they are looking forward to receiving responses on the same topic next half term! As part of the project, Year 3 will also be visiting the zoo next half term and taking part in a chimpanzee workshop.

Well done to all of our super talented Maidensbridge dancing stars who took part in the Helen's School of Dance annual dance show at the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton on Sunday 9th February. I was very proud to see so many of our children on that stage. Well done everyone!

Thank you to everyone for your support for the NSPCC with our 'Dress for Digits Day'.  We raised £146 for this worthy cause.

We will also be supporting the Red Nose Day charity later this term and the charity ambassadors are working on support for the Birmingham Children's Hospital nearer to Easter, so we will be asking for your chocolate donations!

Thank you for your support with all of our charity work, it is important to the children and they always have so many ideas of how they want to help, which is fantastic to see.

A BIG thank you from me and the children to the HSA for the contributions to so many important aspects of Maidensbridge life. The money raised by our community this year has so far paid for: 7 ipads, 20 chromebooks and a charging trolley, board games for each class for wet playtimes and new sports kit for our children who represent the school at athletics, netball and cricket. The HSA have also supported the School Council in their drive to add friendship benches to the KS2 playground. As well as the contribution to our annual whole school Theatre Trip and allowing us to go ahead without this being cancelled due to soaring costs.

Your work is vital to us maintaining many aspects of school life that cannot be afforded on challenging school budgets. Thank you.

Pre-school have had a very exciting half term! They have been visited by the Fire Engine and Fire Fighters, which they loved! Being able to see the engine up close and hear the siren as it pulled out of the gates was a fantastic experience for the littlest members of our Maidensbridge family. The children were also excellent when Reception and Pre-school took part in a road safety session where a visitor came with her road and traffic lights and taught the children about safely looking and crossing the road. The visitor told me how wonderful she thought our children were and how brilliantly they had listened. Well done EYFS!

I know the Pre-school adults were also very proud of the children who tried the different foods on offer as they celebrated Chinese New Year!

The children at Maidensbridge spent last week remembering and talking about the importance of Children's Mental Health. Their week started with an online assembly that talked to them about looking after their own mental health as well as the mental health of their friends by showing positivity, kindness and making connections. The children then all came to school wearing their SCARF to remind them of their PSHE lessons and our school values. Reminding the children that if we follow our school values of: Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience and Friendship we can achieve a positive mental health for ourselves and our friends. The week then concluded with our 'Dress for Digits Day' where we were able to have a focus on maths in order to raise money for the NSPCC, who do incredible work with children who find themselves in difficult situations, where it becomes very difficult to remain positive.

We are always talking to the children about who they can talk to, if they need to and the safe adults that are at home and school.

On each Newsletter, I would like to share with parents an insight in to some of the strategies that are used in school to support children with SEND.

Every classroom at Maidensbridge has a visual timetable. This changes daily and allows all of the children to be able to see what is happening throughout the day and the order that these events are happening. This is crucial for some of our children with Autism and ADHD but is also beneficial to all of the children to add a feeling of calmness and stability to their day.

Look out for these when you are next in the classroom for Parents Evening.

As a school that is part of the PINS project with Barnardos, staff have accessed training in ADHD, PDA and Girls with Autism. All of which helps us to understand our children and their needs a little bit better.

Don't forget to use our parent drop in sessions on a Thursday morning with the SEND team, if there is anything you would like to discuss about your child's needs. 

Mrs Starkey and Mrs Price have been working really hard on transferring all of our school data and systems in to one place on Arbor, which is going to be a much easier system for parents and school to use and better for communication all in one place! Watch this space for your account details and get set up as quickly as you can so that you will have access to all communications, transactions, clubs and attendance.

3.3.25 Parents Evening

4.3.25 - 10.3.25 - Book Fair

6.3.25 World Book Day

14.3.25 Red Nose Day

17.3.25 Parents Evening

25.3.25 Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day

2.4.25 Autism Awareness Day

9.4.25 Allergy Awareness Day

10.4.25 Year 3 and 4 Easter Assembly/Last Day of Term for Children

11.4.25 INSET Day

Please call: 0300 555 0050

If you are concerned about a child’s welfare please speak to a DSL in school, or call Children’s Social Care on the number above.