Dear Parents/ Carers,

We are almost there!  The children are suitably excited and enjoying varied Christmas related activities in lesson time and are ready for a well-deserved rest after a long and busy autumn term.  As you will be aware, end of term arrangements for the children leaving school on Friday are as follows:  

Reception - 1.45-1.55pm, Key Stage One - 1.50pm, Key Stage Two - 2.00pm

I am overwhelmed with the quality of the tasks completed by the children in Year 5 this half-term.  They were given a research task to support their current Geography learning about Biomes. The effort and creativity to their tasks demonstrates the soft skills they develop in their learning and reflect the excellence they demonstrate with their work.  They are on display on the gallery landing in Key Stage 2 if anyone wishes to come and look at the work.  Year 6 will have their home learning task set in the new year. 

Thank you to all families who have supported our various Christmas performances.  The children have worked exceptionally hard and have enjoyed performing their songs and words for you to enjoy.  Endless patience from the members of staff to produce such lovely events was a joy to witness. 

A reminder that the parent survey remains live until 9.00 am on Friday 19 December.  Thank you for the responses thus far, if you could take a few moments to complete the survey I would be very grateful.  Feedback from the survey will be sent to you in the new year. 

I would like to close with a sincere thank you for your welcome to me since joining The Ridge in September.  It has been a joy to meet and work with your amazing children, I couldn’t be more proud.     

We return to school on Monday 5th January 2025.  A polite reminder for the additional INSET day on Monday 19th January 2025 which is the first staff training day for our new phonics scheme, Read, Write, Inc.  

Whether the Christmas period is easy or difficult for you as families, I send you the warmest wishes for this festive break and hope you have lots of fun and rest celebrating family and friendship. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you from everyone at The Ridge. 

Kind regards

Mrs C Gilbert

Headteacher

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Mrs Gilbert is the Designated Safeguarding Lead and any concerns should be shared with her or the Deputy Safeguarding Leads – Mrs Hadley and Mrs Morley.  Where child protection concerns are raised, the school has a statutory duty to refer these concerns to children’s social care.

As we head into the Christmas break, we’d like to wish all our families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 
 
The Christmas Fair was a huge success. Everyone loved Elfridges, the Inflatable Grotto and the presence of Mrs Gilbert loving her role in the new fruit machine game was a joy to see. we’re pleased to share that we raised £1,735. Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event. 
 
This term, the RFA has gifted £50 from Santa to each class. The children worked together to choose something special for their classroom which the RFA have been shopping for, wrapped and look to deliver this week. 
 
The RFA have recently donated £1,400 for new equipment for the Ruby Garden, supporting the next stage of improvements to this important space. In 2026 we are hoping to help and support Mrs Gilbert in bringing the Ruby Garden back to life and creating a more suitable, and accessible pathway for prams and wheelchairs leading up to KS1. 
 
We are super happy and are finally able to confirm that the “children’s growing garden”, adjacent to Forest school, will be started in January. We will be sharing progress and hope for completion end of January beginning of February. 
 
A huge thank you goes to all our volunteers. These events simply wouldn’t happen without you. As we look ahead to next term, we’d love to welcome more RFA members. Even a small amount of time makes a big difference, and every bit of help is truly appreciated. 
 
Thank you again for your ongoing support. We can’t wait to see what we can achieve together in the new year. 
 
2026 has lots of exciting and enhancing ideas for the Ridge children and families and we can’t wait to help towards all the fantastic projects. 
 
Merry Christmas from 
The RFA xx