Dear Parents & Carers,

I hope that your children had a restful and fun half term and that as a family, you managed to have  a little time together. The children have made a great start to the term and so many have returned to their learning with energy, enthusiasm and focus – a recipe for success.

Despite the mild temperatures, it is beginning to feel like winter with the falling leaves covering the school (despite Mr Ford’s very best efforts), and Guy Fawkes celebrations lighting up the sky on Wednesday. We used this in our collective worship this week, watching a short film about the history of the Gunpowder Plot and then considering what the celebrations feel like for some people and animals who may not enjoy the occasion. We asked the question of how we can show kindness and understanding of others on this day, each year. This week was also a good opportunity to talk to the children about safety around bonfires and fireworks.

It is always a proud moment when we see our children living the value of kindness in their daily life. This week, I watched as a group of our year 6 children led a fun game with many of our youngest children during their lunch play. This unplanned and completely child led event shows yet again the sense of care, compassion and community amongst so many of our children – something for parents to be proud of.

Next week as part of Anti-Bullying Week we will be celebrating ‘Odd Socks’ day on Monday 10^th November. This is a normal uniform day, with the addition of some bright and wonderful socks. We will of course be learning about Remembrance Day and will come together for collective worship to mark a one-minute silence to show our respects for the fallen who sacrificed so much.

On Monday 10^th November, we have a professional photographer visiting to capture the rich life of the school. We will use the images to build a new website and also to implement a new parent portal, as SZapp is closing down in the UK at the end of this month. We will write to you shortly to share more information regarding this change.

We have held another successful parent tour and talk ahead of the application for places in our 2026 Reception classes, sharing the strengths, aspirations, vision and hopes for the future. It was lovely to hear some of our House Captains talk about their experiences at Christ Church School and their favourite memories so far. We are optimistic and hopeful that we will have two new full Reception classes in September 2026; please encourage any families that are considering joining Christ Church School to join one of our advertised tours in the coming weeks.

Uniform – thank you for ensuring that your child wears the correct uniform to school every day; please do check that on non-PE days, they are wearing school shoes not trainers. Please ensure on Monday for the professional photographer visit that they have the correct uniform on, this is especially those in PE kit.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend break.

Mark Oldfield

Headteacher

Term dates 2025-26:

• Term 2 Monday 3rd November 2025 to Friday 19th December 2025
• Term 3 Monday 5th January 2026 to Friday 13th February 2026 (Inset day Mon 5th Jan children not in school) 
• Term 4 Monday 23rd February 2026 to Thursday 2nd April 2026
• Term 5 Monday 20th April 2026 to Friday 22nd May 2026 (Academy day Fri 22nd May children not in school) 
• Term 6 Monday 1st June 2026 to Wednesday 22nd July 2026 (Inset days Mon 20th, Tues 21st and Academy day Weds 22nd July, children not in school) 

We would love all children to come to school wearing their odd socks on Monday 10th November to celebrate the start of Anti-Bullying Week!

This year’s theme is “Power for Good” – encouraging everyone to speak up, support one another, celebrate differences, and help build a world where kindness always wins.

We blasted into term two this week in Reception! It was lovely to share with our friends what we had been up to over the break and to listen to what they had done too. 

We got back into the swing of things remembering our routines, rules and responsibilities well.

On Wednesday we found out about why we remember, remember the 5^th of November – Bonfire night! We then learned all about how to keep ourselves safe on this exciting night.

In phonics we continued practising our phonemes and learning our new phoneme and tricky word each day.  ‘j’ for jellyfish was a particular favourite!                                 

In maths we have been finding circles and triangles in our environment and thinking about what does and does not make it a triangle or circle. We took lots of pictures of our successful shape hunting around the school. We also worked in partners to use positional language to say where the teddy was in relation to the box.

On Tuesday we thought about our exciting new topic, Space. We shared with our class all the things that we knew and then we came up with some wonderful questions that we would like to answer. Our adults were really impressed by our knowledge and ideas. We read ‘Astro Girl’ by Ken Wilson-Max to find out why someone would want to be an astronaut and to imagine what it would be like to zoom off into space.

We are all really excited for next week and what we will discover!

We’ve had a fantastic week this week. The week started with introducing our new topic "Toys".

In Literacy, we looked at the front cover of our new book ‘Lost in the Toy Museum’ and came up with some predictions about what we thought would happen. We loved having our special toys in school on Tuesday during our History lesson. We thought about toys we like playing with and were able to draw them and label our images. We were so impressed with how sensible the children were and it was a joy to watch them interacting with each other.

We have loved working on our maths this week too, we’ve been learning about the part-whole model as well as learning how to write addition number sentences. The children have done a brilliant job and are really looking forward to continuing our addition and subtraction unit this term.

This week in Maths, our Year 2 children have been building their confidence with two-digit addition. Using a range of concrete materials such as base ten blocks and number lines, students explored how to add larger numbers in a hands-on and meaningful way. By physically grouping tens and ones, children were able to see how numbers combine and regroup, helping them understand place value and develop stronger number sense. They worked both independently and in small groups, explaining their thinking and checking each other’s answers. 

We’re so proud of how students enthusiastically approached these new challenges!  

Year 3 have been hard at work in their Science topic investigating rocks, soil and fossils.

We had a special visit from Rhian who led a rock Workshop on Thursday morning. The children observed and investigated, asking thoughtful questions and learning all about rocks. Even though some of the vocabulary was difficult and fairly technical the children stuck with it!!

This week in Year 4, our literacy lessons have focused on protecting the polar bears. Inspired by a wonderful video of polar bear cubs playing on the ice, we have been planning and writing persuasive texts to raise awareness about their endangered habitats. The children have worked very hard to develop strong, emotive writing and are excited to be entering their finished pieces into a competition run by the Natural Curriculum. It’s been lovely to see how passionate everyone has become about helping these amazing animals.

In maths, we have successfully completed our unit on area and have now started to explore multiplication and division. The children are already making great connections between these topics, and their growing confidence is fantastic to see. This work ties in perfectly with our daily times tables practice—please do keep practising at home as it really helps to strengthen understanding and fluency.

During our RE lessons, we have continued to think about Jesus as an inspirational figure. We have explored some of his parables and learned about the Sermon on the Mount, discussing the meaning of the Beatitudes – the “Blessed are…” statements. The children even created their own modern Beatitudes before sharing their own ‘Sermons on the Mount’ with the class, showing great thoughtfulness and creativity.

In PE this week, we began our new football unit. Our first focus has been on dribbling skills – learning to keep the ball close, under control, and moving with confidence. The children have shown excellent enthusiasm and teamwork as they practised these new skills. We are looking forward to building on these foundations in the coming weeks as our football sessions continue.

This week, Year 5 have been diving into the world of Blues music. They discovered that the Blues has its roots in Africa and travelled across to South America before developing into the style we know today. The children listened to The Moanin’ Lisa Blues (from The Simpsons) to learn how to spot and recognise “bent notes” — a key feature of the genre. They also showed fantastic musical skill performing the 12-bar Blues on glockenspiels and xylophones.

What a brilliant musical effort, Year 5!

It’s been another fantastic and thought-provoking week in Year 6! We have been busy finishing our Geography unit on Climate Change, and the children have shown great curiosity and teamwork throughout. Our final lessons focused on the Paris Agreement (2015) — an important global promise to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect our planet.

The class took on the exciting challenge of becoming World Leaders for their own invented nations! Each group designed a country, complete with a creative name, flag, and national identity. They then had to decide whether their country would sign the Paris Agreement, what changes they might suggest to make it fairer, and how they could work to reduce emissions at home. It was wonderful to see how passionately the children debated, using facts they had learned throughout the unit. There were some brilliant ideas about renewable energy, protecting forests, and encouraging citizens to make greener choices.

In RE, we began our new enquiry question: ‘Is it better to express your religion through art and architecture or charity and generosity?’ This fascinating topic has already led to some great discussion and thoughtful reflections. We started by exploring special and sacred places — thinking about what makes a place feel special to us and why some places hold spiritual meaning for others.

Our next lesson focused on mosques, with the key question, ‘What makes a fine mosque?’ Pupils worked collaboratively to rank statements about mosque design and purpose from most to least important, explaining their choices and considering the different ways Muslims might find beauty and meaning in these sacred spaces. They especially enjoyed learning about the stunning domes, arches, calligraphy, and patterns that make mosques so distinctive.

What an amazing start to the Ashton Park Schools Partnership basketball league!

The Y5/6 Christ Church teams showed incredible determination and teamwork as they faced some very agile opponents. They battled hard, giving 100% effort in every game. While some matches were won and others lost, their spirit and enthusiasm never wavered. We’re so proud of their resilience and sportsmanship and can’t wait to see them back on the court over the coming weeks!

The PTA Christmas Fair is fast approaching and we are hosting a raffle with the most AMAZING prizes! Raffle tickets are coming home in children’s book bags today along with instructions, a prize list and a general letter about the fair, what to expect on the day and how you can get involved.

Raffle tickets can be bought by you or sold to family and friends. If you need more tickets, please ask at the school office.

We look forward to seeing you at the Fair!

On Friday 14^th November it is "Children in Need Day". This year’s  theme is focused around challenges. As a school we have decided to base our challenges around the theme of maths.

Children in Need have worked with White Rose, who are our maths planning partners, to put together a daily maths challenge. Each year group will attempt these daily challenges, from Monday 10^th November – Friday 14^th November.

Link to BBC Children in Need

Each class teacher will nominate one child from their class to receive a Star of the Week on Friday's assembly (14th November) who has shown effort and perserverance around the challenges - we will send an email invite to this assembly to those parents/carers!

On Friday 14th November we are asking the children to come into school dressed up as something "mathematical" for Children in Need". Please don't feel that you need to buy anything special for this - home-made costumes and thinking outside of the mathematical box will be welcomed. Maths concepts, games and equipment can be a great starting point…

I will be looking for  3 cracking outfits from EYFS/KS1 and KS2 who will be  applauded in assembly for their costumes - see below for some ideas!

As usual there will be a voluntary contribution of £2.00 towards the charities supported by Children in Need.

We’re counting on an exciting week full of mathematical puzzles and sum serious fun! Join us as we multiply our efforts and add up our achievements in assembly on the 14th — it’s sure to be a prime celebration!

(Move over Mr. Eades!)

Thank you for your support, Ms Duggan

Last term, we did a fantastic job collecting for the food bank — thank you for your amazing generosity.

Out Term 2 charity challenge is to support the North West Foodbank, who are preparing Christmas Hampers to spread some festive joy to local families. This year, they aim to create 250 hampers, filled with seasonal treats and everyday essentials. Alongside this, they will continue to distribute their standard emergency food parcels.

During December last year, in addition to 200 Christmas hampers, the Foodbank provided 370 emergency food parcels, supporting 1,088 people — 610 adults and 478 children.

We would like to support the Christmas Hamper Appeal by donating items from the Foodbank’s Christmas shopping list. Donations can be brought to the school office or handed in at the classroom door from Monday until Monday 17th November.

Thank you for your incredible kindness and generosity in supporting one of our chosen charities.

Bristol Rovers Community Trust "Premier League Kicks" football sessions - are a fantastic opportunity for young people to get active, stay healthy, and engage positively with their community.

These sessions are:

• Completely free of charge
• Open to young people aged 8 – 18
• Held at Lockleaze Sport Centre, Bonnington Walk, Lockleaze, Bristol BS7 9XF
• Focused on building active lifestyles, confidence, and teamwork