Dear Parents and Carers,
We have had another busy week in school. Don’t forget to check the blogs at the end of the newsletter to see what your child has been learning in class!
At Dorothy Barley Infant School, we are passionate about reading. We have been very fortunate to win a nationwide competition for a brand new school library! The building team have been in over the summer holidays creating an immersive magical woodland themed library for the children to enjoy.
We are opening our new school library on Thursday 24th September. This will be a non-uniform day and children are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite book character. All the children will have the opportunity to visit and explore the library on Thursday and will then visit weekly with their class teacher. We will also be announcing our class librarians on the day.
For the past year, we have been working with the NHS Wellbeing in Schools and Education (WISE) team and are pleased that we will be continuing to work with them this year. Through this team, we are able to access a variety of healthcare professionals who can give expert advice and support both families and us in school to achieve the best for all of our children.
The WISE team will be visiting school on Monday and introducing themselves to the children in an assembly. They will then be visiting us frequently throughout the year, delivering assemblies and lessons in class as well as running sessions for parents and staff.
The team will be leading our first Time to Talk session on Thursday 24th September at 9:00am. This session will be about sleep and routine. It will be an informal, non-judgemental session and refreshments are provided! We hope to see as many of you there as possible.
We will begin selecting pupils for our leadership teams next week. If your child is interested and hasn’t already returned their application form, they must do so by Monday 21st September.
Our leadership teams are as follows:
House Captains: Two children from each house in Year 2 are elected by their classmates to be House Captains. House Captains represent the school, count and manage the house points, support with our House Challenges and present information during our weekly celebration assembly. House Captains are responsible and committed to making our school be the best that it can be.
Team Protect: Two children from each class will be selected to join Team Protect. Team Protect help their friends and classmates, making sure that everyone feels welcome and included at our school. They look out for the other children at playtimes and lunchtimes, helping anyone who needs it and being a kind friend.
Librarians: Two children from each class will be selected as librarians. Librarians love books and help to look after our brand new school library. They also recommend books to their classmates, helping everyone to love reading.
All Reception parents will have received a letter inviting you to our Little Wandle Parent Meeting on Tuesday 22nd September at 9:00am. In the meeting, we will explain how we teach children to read following a scheme called Little Wandle Letters and Sounds. Children begin this programme in Nursery and follow it through all the way to Year 2 to become confident and capable readers. We will also explain how you can support your child’s reading development at home.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Our back to school photos for 2026-2027 are available to purchase on Parent Pay for £3 each. The children all looked very smart in them!
Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs S O’Hara
Head of School
This week in Nursery, the children have been learning the nursery rhyme “Incy Wincy Spider”. They have really enjoyed singing along and joining in with the actions. The children got creative by painting their very own spiders and explored early maths by counting the spider’s......
This week in Oak Class, the children have been developing their social skills by learning how to share, take turns and play together with their friends. They have also been exploring different animals and learning their names and the sounds they make. The children especially......
This week, Reception have had lots of fun developing their early maths skills! We have been learning to count, recognise and order numbers from 1-10 through a range of fun and practical activities. We played a fun dice game, where we rolled the dice, identified......
Please note: If your child is absent you must inform the school on the morning of the absence. Please do this by phoning the school office on 0208 270 4655 or emailing us at office@dorothybarleyinfant.org.uk.
We aim for the best education for your children at Dorothy Barley Infant School. Full Attendance and Punctuality are essential for your child to make the maximum progress.
To reach the school target pupils must not have any more than 6 days off per academic year. If you need to make appointments for your child, please aim to make them out of school hours or during school holidays. Thank you.
Children with 100% attendance each half term will receive a certificate. Pupils with 100% attendance for the whole year will receive a special reward.
| Attendance during one school year | Equals this number of days absent | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | 19 days | ||
| 80% | 38 days | ||
| 70% | 57 days | ||
| Outstanding 100% | Good 96% – 99% | Requires Improvement 91%-95% | Inadequate (PA)Below 90% |
Do you know our Child Protection and Safeguarding Team?
Mrs Ratford
Assistant Headteacher & Designated Safeguarding Lead
If you have a concern about a child, please see a member of our Safeguarding Team.
In an emergency call 999.
| Class | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Reception | |||
| Ladybird | 95.73% | ||
| Bumblebee | 96.02% | ||
| Year 1 | |||
| Rabbit | 97.12% | ||
| Squirrel | 95.73% | ||
| Year 2 | |||
| Kingfisher | 95.56% | ||
| Tawny Owl | 100% | ||
| Woodpecker | 95.56% | ||
The whole school attendance this week is: 96.47%