Dear Parents/Carers

This part of the spring term is another busy and active time in our school.  To think we only have this school week and three more before we break for the Easter holiday is quite surprising.  Often schools have the same things to do in a half-term and sometimes those things are nicely spread out or tightly packed as they are in this one.  There are a number of important dates to confirm with you as follows:

• Thursday 5 March – World Book Day and RFA Wonka Event
• Monday 9 March – Parent Consultation Book Looks 3.30 pm - 5.50 pm
• Tuesday 10 March – Parent Consultation Meetings 2.00 pm – 7.00 pm
• Friday 13 March – Non-uniform day. Donations of chocolate please for the RFA Chocolate Bingo event
• Tuesday 17 March – Full Governing Board Meeting 5.30 pm
• Friday 20 March – Comic Relief Day
• Friday 20 March – RFA Chocolate Bingo evening 6.00 pm – 7.30 pm
• Thursday 26 March – KS 2 Easter Assembly 2.00 pm
• Friday 27 March – Reception and KS 1 Easter event 9.00 am
• Friday 27 March – End of Term. School closes to all students at 2.00 pm
• Monday 13 April – Start of Summer Term

Thank you for your continued support, have a lovely week.

Kind regards

Mrs C Gilbert

Headteacher   

We have now completed our compulsory training, and I am delighted to inform you that the phonics teaching sessions are now in place for Reception and Key Stage 1 children.  We are already seeing improvements in the screening data for children and look forward to sharing with you some workshop times to further explain the new approach. We will be in touch with a date and time for the workshop.  Mrs Melia as our Reading Leader will send out further updates via Class Dojo.

As previously discussed, we are now in a position whereby parents of Years 1 – 6 will be unable to message the teacher directly.  Any messages for the class teachers, please do continue to email info@ridge.dudley.sch.uk and we will ensure they are processed appropriately with any messages shared with teachers when they are able to access them.  You are also welcome to email me directly with any question on cgilbert@ridge.dudley.sch.uk and I will ensure any urgent messages also get passed to the class teacher as quickly as possible.

The date for this half-term is Monday 23rd March.  Please do contact school reception if you wish to make an appointment to meet with me.

The times available are: 9.30am, 11.15am, 12.30pm, 2.00pm and 2.45pm.

Our new management information system is now live.  We are waiting for a launch date for our Arbor App for parents.  This will be the first port of call for communication with school and is much more efficient using mobile technology to its best.  We will share further information when we have the necessary date.

Friday 20th March is the annual Comic Relief Day.  Our School Council have requested the opportunity to have a day to celebrate this very important fundraising event.  Children have been asked by their school council members to wear something red or have a red accessory as part of the day.  Parents who would like to donate to this cause can do so via ParentMail.

I am aware that this date follows on from the previous Friday non-uniform day for the RFA fundraising events by asking for donations of chocolate for the Chocolate Bingo evening so am aware it is a lot for parents along with the World Book Day requests too. Thank you for your support with these dates, the very short half-term does condense these events unfortunately.

I have been asked to share with you information from Public Health around the importance of the MMR and MMRV vaccinations.  The relevant resources are attached with this newsletter.

The week prior to half-term marked the important topic of Safer Internet use by children.  The children were supported in their learning about the appropriate use of the internet, and this was carefully provided by class teachers in an age-appropriate way.  As parents, this is a very useful link for children of all ages as we navigate such a complex use of technology:

https://saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/safer-internet-day-2026/top-tips-for-young-people

This link to BBC Bitesize is a useful resource for children under the age of 7 years:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zg96cxs#zpyds82

We look forward to welcoming you to school next week for the parent consultation meetings.  You can book your appointment via the Parents Evening section on ParentMail.

Please be aware that this booking system will be live from 6pm today (Monday 2 March 2026).  On the day I am available to meet with any parent up until 5.20 pm where I do need to leave to get to my youngest child’s parent consultation evening.  I do apologise for not being here for the last part of the event, but sometimes dates do clash.

On Monday 9^th March there is an open session for any school parents who wish to come and look at the work and books for your child in the classroom.  This runs from 3.30 p m to 5.30 pm.  No appointments are required for this event, and no teachers will be present.

I would like to confirm to you that for the next academic year, 2026 – 2027, the end of the spring term finish will be at the usual time of 3.20 pm and not at 2.00 pm as it currently is and has been at the school. 

We will be updating you with the arrangements for this event in the coming days.

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.