September News & Celebrations

 

Student Leadership Announcements

We are proud to announce our new Pupil Leaders for the 2026–27 academic year! Following formal letters of application and interviews with the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher, our student leaders have already begun their roles:

  • Head Prefects: Demi & Kavya

  • Deputy Head Prefects: Layla & Poppy C

 

Sports Corner: Unbeaten Success!

Congratulations to our Year 5 & 6 football team (including two Year 4 pupils who stepped up) for taking 2nd place overall in the Heywood schools tournament! The team remained completely unbeaten (2 wins, 3 draws) and did not concede a single goal throughout the competition.

 

Important Admin & Policy Reminders

  • Free School Meals (FSM) Application Workaround: Eligibility criteria have expanded, allowing more families to qualify. If you encounter an issue on the Rochdale Council application portal where Heap Bridge is missing from the drop-down menu, please select ‘School outside of borough’ and manually type Heap Bridge into the text field.

  • Breakfast Club Safety: Please ensure your child is safely inside the Breakfast Club building and visually acknowledged by a staff member before leaving. Children must never be left unattended outside. If your child is having a difficult morning, please alert a staff member so we can assist.

  • Arbor First Language Census Check: Please log into your Arbor account and ensure your child’s First Language details are updated ahead of the upcoming Autumn Census.

  • School Uniform: Uniform items featuring the school logo can be purchased from Moses Schoolwear; however, plain navy jumpers or cardigans remain fully acceptable.

  • Lost Property & Clothing Labels: Recent lost property is periodically placed outside on the playground at home time. Please ensure all jumpers, cardigans, and PE kits are clearly labeled with your child's name.

  • End-of-Day Release Form: If you wish for your child to be released at home time without a staff member handing them directly to a parent/guardian (Years 1–4), please complete the online release form via the link shared on ClassDojo.

  • Year 6 Reminder: Chewing gum is strictly prohibited in school.

 

Dates for Your Diary

Date

Event

Details

Friday 9th October

Flu Immunisations

09:00 AM start (Reception & absent pupils with parent consent)

Wednesday 21st October

Parent-Teacher Consultations

15:15 – 18:15

Wednesday 21st October

Year 4 Viking Day

Special themed learning day

 

 

Curriculum highlights and Enrichment

 

Year 6 

  • Forest Forge & Outdoor Team-Building: Weekly outdoor house challenges in the environmental area, including natural den building, problem-solving, and structural adjustments after rain leaks (Supernova and Comet houses). 

  • Team-Building Challenges: Participating in structured collaborative physical and problem-solving team challenges. 

  • Student Leadership Applications: Writing formal letters of application and attending interviews with the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher for Head Prefect, Deputy Head Prefect, and School Council positions. 

  • Robinwood Residential: A fantastic weekend of adventure activities and pursuits. Well done Year 6! 

  • Peer Mentoring: Supporting younger pupils during weekly celebration assemblies and assisting Reception/KS1 children. 

 

Year 5 

  • Ancient Egypt Immersion Day: Hands-on history day exploring mummification, Egyptian storytelling, hieroglyphic writing as scribes, pharaoh city design, and playing traditional Egyptian board games. 

  • Forces Fieldwork in Science: Park visit to test physical forces in action, including pushes, pulls, gravity, air resistance, friction, and observing changes in speed, direction, and shape. 

  • Art & Design: Crafting and constructing personalized dream catchers. 

 

Year 4 

  • Gas & Chemical Reaction Experiments: Producing carbon dioxide in science using white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, and balloons. 

  • Music Lessons: Weekly practical ukulele practice and chord learning. 

  • Sports & PE: Regular cricket skills and practice sessions on the field. 

  • Cursive Handwriting Practice: Specific handwriting drills focusing on lower-case joined letters (such as 'a' and 'o') using digital repeater tools. 

  • Upcoming Viking Day: Preparation for an immersive Viking history event. 

 

Year 3 

  • Prehistoric Outdoor Art: Exploring the environmental area to collect natural materials, replicating ancient art techniques to create prehistoric cave art books. 

  • Dodgeball Club: Participating in the Year 3/4 after-school dodgeball club. 

 

Year 2 

  • Material Testing in Science: Experimenting with various materials to evaluate flexibility, opacity, and waterproofing to select optimal shelter materials for tents. 

  • Maths Partitioning: Hands-on math activities partitioning numbers up to 100 using physical place-value apparatus. 

  • Art: Designing and creating textured collages. 

  • PE & Wellbeing: Yoga warm-ups for physical education, along with friendship photo activities on the school "friendship bench" linked to their English unit. 

 

Year 1 

  • Geography Fieldwork: Conducting traffic and vehicle-color tally surveys outside on the pavement in pairs. 

  • Art & Printing Techniques: Designing and carving polystyrene tile stamps to print into art books, alongside exploring line thickness (bold vs. thin) and mixing primary/secondary color wheels. 

  • Peer Teamwork: Joining Year 6 pupils outdoors to assist with den building. 

 

Reception 

  • Woodland & Autumn Explorations: Woodland visits to investigate signs of autumn, play with water, and explore outdoor habitats in waterproof suits and wellies. 

  • PE & Physical Development: Animal movement practice (giraffes, elephants, monkeys, tigers), balance drills, and playing "domes and dishes." 

  • Sensory & Fine/Gross Motor Activities: Shadow tracking, building block structures, fine motor water/roller exercises, and practicing the tripod pencil posture ("nip, flip, and grip"). 

  • Phonics: Learning individual phonemes (s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k), practicing grapheme writing, learning the tricky word "is" as a classroom password, and sharing wordless storybooks at home. 

  • Maths: Comparing "big" vs. "small", set-matching by quantity, and introducing the Reception Maths Passport. 

  • Music: Finding and tracking musical rhythm through clapping, shoulder tapping, and swaying. 

  • Topic Studies: Learning about community roles ("People Who Help Us"). 

 

 

Cross-Class & Extracurricular Activities 

  • Year 5/6 Football Team (plus select Year 4s): Representing the school at the Heywood schools football competition (achieving 2nd place unbeaten without conceding a single goal). 

  • School Choir (Key Stages 1 & 2): Weekly lunchtime rehearsals and preparing registration forms for the Young Voices 2027 performance. 

  • Year 3/4 After-School Dodgeball: Multi-year group sports club. 

 

 

Community & Support Resources

SEND & Neurodiversity Support Events

  • The Umbrella Sessions: Neurodiversity 'All about it' – October 5th (9:30am–12pm or 6pm–9pm) at Spotland Bridge Mill.

  • Tools to Communicate: October 8th (6pm–8pm) at Spotland Bridge Mill.

  • Rochdale Inclusive Activities Fair: Saturday 10th October (2pm–4pm) at Heywood Sports Village.

  • Parent Carer Coffee Session: Tuesday 13th October (10am–12pm) at Spotland Bridge Mill.

 

Cost-of-Living Financial Assistance

Support for families during the October half-term is available via Rochdale Council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund. Families facing immediate financial pressure can apply for crisis food vouchers by calling the Our Rochdale Helpline at 01706 923 685 or visiting rochdale.gov.uk/costofliving.

 

Urgent NHS Eye Care (MECS/CUES)

If your child experiences sudden vision changes, red/painful eyes, or floaters, NHS-funded urgent assessments are available locally without needing a GP referral. Contact Nye Bevan Optical at 01706 868333 to book an appointment.