Current Newsletter

12th September 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,

This week, our school community has been reflecting on the importance of making others feel welcome. In our collective worship, we explored what it means to feel truly welcomed — not just through words, but through actions and empathy. We then took a step further by considering this idea from someone else’s perspective.

To support this, we read the beautiful and thought-provoking book What Happened to You? by James Catchpole. It tells the story of Joe, a boy who faces challenges in feeling a sense of belonging when making new friends. The children responded with such thoughtfulness, sharing ideas about how they would help Joe feel welcome in our school. Their compassion and insight were truly heartwarming.

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of spending time in writing lessons, looking through children’s work, and chatting with them about their thoughts on writing. It was wonderful to see the care and concentration they bring to their learning. The children are applying their SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) knowledge brilliantly, and they spoke with pride about the importance of writing well and presenting their work neatly. Many shared how taking time with their writing gives them a real sense of achievement — and it shows!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We’re so proud of the kindness, creativity, and care our children show every day.

Warm wishes,

Hannah Shillito

And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’
Revelation 21:5

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the new school year. I do hope you are well and that you had a fantastic summer break – what weather we had!

A new school year means lots and lots of new experiences, opportunities and possibilities ~ and, yes, new challenges. September marks a new ‘season’ for the school as a community; a fresh start, a clean slate, requiring new ways of thinking, learning and being as the school welcomes new members, new lessons and new expectations.

The great thing about any new season is that it gives everyone the chance to truly see God’s purposes working out in exciting ways. All that will unfold as the school year progresses doesn’t happen by accident. It’s through prayer, being with God, seeking His will, His strength and His encouragement in all that we do that we explore ‘the new’. We are never along in the new; God is always with us, for as John says we may have “confidence in approaching God and when we ask anything according to His will, He will hear us. 

We never walk into the new alone. Of course, it takes courage and confidence, but it offers the chance to grow and expand. The new also allows us to let go of things which might hold us back: Isaiah suggested we should “forget the former things; not to dwell on the past, for God is doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not see it?

At the start of this new term, I hope everyone in our amazing learning community can confidently look forward rather than backwards, grasping all that God has planned for us, all that He will gift us and that this is another wonderful year in the life of the school.

Gracious God,

thank you for the gift of this new school year and for the promise of a fresh start.

You are the Lord of new beginnings, and we thank you for your faithfulness through every season. 

As we step into this new season, fill our hearts with new blessings, joy, and peace.

Give us a fresh vision for the future and a hopeful expectation that Your goodness is coming.

In your name we pray,

Amen

Blessings and thanks

Jonathan
Rector

Wylye and Till Valley Benefice. 

Friday 26th September 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am delighted to share that our school has been successful in receiving a generous grant from the Wilton Middle School Trust. This funding will be used to subsidise school trips throughout the year, specifically by covering the cost of coach hire. This fantastic support means we can offer more enriching experiences for our children while keeping costs manageable for families. We are now in the process of creating a list of trips linked to the topics being covered in each year group, and we look forward to sharing these exciting opportunities with you soon.

Attendance & Morning Routine

A gentle reminder that the school day begins promptly with the whistle at 8:45am. It’s really important that children are on site by this time to ensure they don’t miss any of their learning. Please note that the school office is not always manned, so arriving late can cause delays and disruption.

To help with busy mornings, our Breakfast Club is a great option. It opens early, provides a healthy start to the day, and is just £2 per child. It’s a brilliant way to ease the morning rush and ensure children are ready to learn.

Homework & Doodle Learn

We’re really pleased with how well children are engaging with their homework—thank you for your continued support! If your child hasn’t yet completed the baseline activity on Doodle Learn, please encourage them to do so as soon as possible. This allows us to set homework that’s tailored to their individual learning needs. You will have received a letter via parent mail explaining the homework expectations for each class. If you have an further questions, please chat this through with the class teacher in the first instance.

Afterschool Club – One Off Wednesdays & Teddy Bear’s Picnic

Our Afterschool Club is hosting a series of exciting ‘One Off Wednesdays’, running until 5:30pm. Each Wednesday will feature a different themed activity, and next week we’re kicking things off with a Teddy Bear’s Picnic! Children are invited to bring their favourite teddy and join us for an afternoon of fun, games, and picnic snacks.

Please make sure to sign up so your child doesn’t miss out!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend – I intend to some of mine taking Mylo on a long autumn walk to enjoy the changing colours of the trees.

Kind regards,

Hannah Shillito

Dear Parents and Carers,

It’s hard to believe how quickly this term has flown by! The children have been absolutely fantastic, and we’re so proud of everything they’ve achieved. From exciting lessons to thoughtful discussions, it’s been a term full of love, joy and determination!

As we approach the end of term, excitement is building for our special Golden Time activites. Next week, the children will have the chance to choose from a range of fun activities for the last day of term – a well-deserved treat for all their hard work.

This week in Collective Worship, we learned about the inspiring life of Jane Goodall, a pioneering scientist and conservationist who dedicated her life to studying and protecting chimpanzees and the natural world. Her story sparked a wonderful idea among the children – they want to create a wildlife garden to help support the natural world! We’ll begin this exciting project during our Monday sessions with Bear Roots, and we’d be incredibly grateful for any donations of wild flower seeds or bug houses to help bring the garden to life.

We also want to say a huge well done to everyone for their amazing homework efforts this term. We’ve been especially impressed by those who have already read for over 840 minutes this year – what an incredible achievement! If you have any reading bookmarks at home, please send them in so we can log your child’s reading and celebrate their progress with our rainbow certificates.

Warm wishes,

Hannah Shillito