Welcome to our October round up of activities, and updates across the school.

The overview below is a summary of all the posts our staff team have added to Class Dojo this month. If you would like to see photographs of each event then please log in to your Class Dojo account.

Mr Cockcroft

 

School Highlights & Celebrations

  • KS2 Girls’ Football Champions: Huge congratulations to our girls’ football team, who finished in 1st place at the Heywood Schools Competition! They scored brilliant goals and won 5 out of 6 games with incredible teamwork.

  • Year 3/4 Boys’ Football Success: Well done to the Y3/4 boys' team for finishing 3rd place overall in their local tournament, showing fantastic teamwork and determination in their first school competition.

  • Harvest Thanksgiving: The School Council shared a formal letter of thanks from Heywood Foodbank for the overwhelming amount of food items and toiletries donated during our Harvest celebration.

  • SCARF Visits & Harold/Gerald the Giraffe: Classes across the school took part in interactive workshops with SCARF focusing on mental health, brain functions, physical exercise, and personal hygiene.

  • Black History Month: Reception celebrated by studying jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, decorating trumpets, and listening to live trumpet music played in class.

 

Key Dates for Your Diary

 

Date

Event

Details

Wednesday 21st October

Parent-Teacher Consultations

15:15 – 18:15 (Book time slots via Arbor)

Wednesday 21st October

Year 4 Viking Day

Special themed day (Children may bring a small cushion & blanket)

Friday 23rd October

Non-Uniform Day

Bring chocolate or sweet donations for the Christmas Fair

Friday 23rd October

Eco Refill Shop Opening

15:00 – 15:30

26th – 30th October

October Half-Term

School closed

Tuesday 17th November

Year 4 Vikings Class Assembly

09:00 – 09:20

Thursday 3rd December

School Christmas Fair

15:15 – 16:30

 

Important Admin & Office Notices

  • Arbor Emergency Contacts: Please check your Arbor profile to ensure you have at least 3 up-to-date emergency contacts listed for your child.

  • Absence & Appointment Reporting: Always call the main school voicemail line to report an absence or medical appointment (stating your child’s name, class, and reason). Please do not message teachers directly on ClassDojo regarding attendance, as they are teaching during the day.

  • Free School Meals Portal Workaround: If you are applying for Free School Meals via the Rochdale Council portal and Heap Bridge is missing from the drop-down menu, select ‘School outside of borough’ to manually type in Heap Bridge.

  • Sports Kits Return: Please return all borrowed competition kits to Miss Hayward immediately so they can be prepared for upcoming fixtures.

 

Classroom Spotlights

  • Year 6: Transformed their classroom into an RAF Headquarters to simulate World War II radar command chains during the Battle of Britain, mapped target cities, and built museum exhibits on The Blitz. In science, pupils constructed absorbent models to investigate blood vessel nutrient transport.

  • Year 2: Practiced subtraction strategies (counting back and partitioning to the nearest 10), explored historical artefacts from the Great Fire of London, and crafted Tudor house collages.

  • Year 1: Conducted hands-on sensory tests for smell and taste (crisp flavor testing), mapped local Heap Bridge landmarks, mastered pulse/rhythm in music, and created tile prints in art.

  • Reception: Explored 5-frames, subitising, and mass comparison in maths; learned digraphs (ck) and phonemes (h, b, f, l, e, u, r) in phonics; and investigated woodland wildlife during "Woodland Wednesday" outdoor walks.

 

Classroom Requests: Recyclables Needed

  • Year 5: Please send in 2 empty toilet roll tubes per child for an Egyptian jewellery art project.

  • Year 3: Please send in clean, empty 2-litre plastic milk bottles (with lids) for building woolly mammoth models in English.

 

Community Support & Half-Term Clubs

  • Young Voices Choir: Pupils in choir can practice their songs at home using the digital music room: yvmusicroom.com.

  • Attendance & Welfare Support (SASP): Confidential peer support sessions for parents navigating attendance difficulties are taking place at local Family Hubs (including Derby Street, Sandbrook, and Moorhouse Hubs throughout November).

 

October Half-Term Activities:

    • Heywood Sports Village: Multi-activity club running Oct 26–30 (£27/day; includes swimming, gymnastics, arts/crafts). Book via the Your Trust Rochdale website.

    • Hopwood Primary School & Newhouse Academy: Offering half-term holiday clubs, dodgeball, and girls' football coaching.