Rodings Primary School Parent Portal

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Issue Number: 29

17th April 2026

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Welcome back everyone and I hope you had a restful and enjoyable Easter!

Changes to the newsletter

Over the last couple of months, it has become apparent that fewer people are reading the newsletter, as we have seen a significant increase in phone calls and messages asking for information that has been made public on our website and in the newsletter. Society has changed and people are accessing information in different ways, mainly through app notifications and messaging.

Furthermore, I have had several informal conversations with parents who say that there is too much information in our newsletter to read all at once and that information in small chunks would be more useful.

Taking this into consideration, this term, we are going to change the regularity of the newsletter and pilot sharing more information through Class Dojo. Going forward, the newsletter will be published twice a half-term celebrating all the wonderful things that have happened over the course of the term.

Information, updates and events from the school or the Friends will be published on Class Dojo. Standard items like the lunch menu will be hosted on the school website, and we will notify you of any changes.

We will trial this for the summer term and collect parent feedback in June and July. If successful, we will roll this out as a permanent arrangement.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mr Raraty

Governors met in the last week of the Spring term for a Full Governing Board. This is a key period for governance as we reflect on the progress of the first two terms while looking ahead to the Summer term and our strategic goals for September

We discussed entrance applications for the 2026-27 school year and considered planning implications for the start of the year in September. Reception places will be confirmed on the 16th April.

Enrichment activities held jointly with the DEEP schools continue to provide valuable experiences for the children. The schools are looking to extend these so that more children benefit. The DEEP SCITT (our teacher training programme) is also performing well. Places are already filling for next year's intake. Please contact Mr Raraty if you have an interest in applying.

We are very proud to have been awarded the Gold ArtsMark. This wouldn't have been possible without the commitment of Mrs Coates Reynolds. Thank you also to the volunteers who've supported the initiatives.

Attendance remains a priority for both the school and Ofsted. Unauthorised absence was very high in the Autumn term. High levels of unauthorised absence impact learning momentum; we kindly ask parents to review the Attendance Policy on our website and refamiliarise yourselves with the guidelines.

Finally, we are delighted that Nikki Gates will be joining us as a Parent Governor from April and that Andrea Beard will be renewing her term as a Co-opted Governor. Andrea will remain Chair of the Finance Meeting where, along with the committee members, she performs a vital role of the Board.

The Board hope you had an enjoyable Easter break and look forward to the Summer term.

Leeann Goddard

Weekly Attendance (week ending 17/04/2026)
School target: 97%		Number on roll: 291
Whole-School Attendance	Unauthorised Absences	Persistent Absentees	Lateness
95.1% (improving)	1.4% (increasing)	9.2% (decreasing)	0.9% (same)

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News from the Friends

School Disco

We certainly started the Summer term with a BANG with the school disco in the first week! What a fun night it was for all the children (we had around 200 over the two discos). Special thanks goes once again to Moji Entertainer who are so great at keeping the children entertained the whole time. The helpers may still be getting over their headaches though!!

Colour Run -15^th May

Please save the date for this very popular event. Due to health and safety requirement and lead time with ordering the paints, this is a strictly ticketed event, so please look out for information about it very soon!

If you would like to volunteer to help with the Colour Run, please get in touch. This event requires a lot of helpers!

Save the Date - Summer Fete – 13^th June

This is the last event of the school year so please do save the date. We love to see as many as you as possible there.

Easyfundraising

Thank you to everyone who raised donations for Friends of Rodings Primary School with Easyfundraising. This is such an easy way to raise funds for the school while shopping as you normally would!

Not joined yet? Sign up to Easyfundraising and when you shop online with your favourite brands, they’ll donate to us. It's free and your shopping won't cost you any extra - the brands you shop with will donate, not you!

https://join.easyfundraising.org.uk/friendsofrodingsps/wc9zo6/at/ixjes5ko/facebook/

School Lottery

Thank you to those winners who donated your winnings back to the school, it is greatly appreciated.

If you do not take part but would like to support this you can sign up here: https://www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/rodings-primary-school.

This is an easy way to support the school and you might be a winner!

Contact Us

If you would like to connect with us please follow us on social media:

Facebook – Friends of Rodings Primary School

Instagram - @the_friends_of_rodings_school

Or email us at: friendsofrodings@gmail.com

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Lydia performed two nights of her dance show Believe with Dunmow Theatre Dance School over Easter. She was brilliant in all her dances - tap, ballet and jazz, and made us so proud.

Well done Lydia, we are so proud of you :-)

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