School News - 19th September 2025

sarnold932
Sep 19
6 min read

Updated: Sep 22

Autumn Term 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,

We know that at this time of year, children often have sniffs and snuffles and parents are unsure whether or not to send them into school. Regular attendance is really important for your child's academic and social progress and we are aiming for children to have over 96% attendance. The NHS have published information for parents which you may find helpful if you are wondering whether or not your child is well enough to come to school - Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk )

Please can I stress to all visitors to the school about road safety - this includes safe parking, safe crossing and safe driving. We are writing to the Council again this week asking for support with traffic management in the roads around school as we are still seeing cars mounting pavements near children, performing up to 7-point turns in the road and parking on the yellow zigzags.

We have painted yellow ‘zig-zags’ road markings outside our entrances for a very good reason: the safety of pupils. You must not park or stop even for a short moment on these markings.

Any cars stopped or parked in this restricted area can hide small children who are about to cross the road. The children may not see approaching cars, and approaching motorists may not see the children.

We all want to keep your children safe. You can help – keep the zig-zags clear.

Thank you for support in the matter and have a safe and happy weekend with your children.

Mrs Arnold

School Admissions

Admission to Reception - September 2026

If your child was born between 1 September 2021 & 31 August 2022, they are due to commence reception in September 2026. This means that you must apply for a reception place for your child by 15 January 2026. To do this, you must submit an on-line application through the Primary Admissions - Apply for a primary school place | Walsall Council

You can list up to three schools in your application, in your order of preference. List all the schools that you are interested in, including those that may be located in other local authority areas.

The deadline for submission of applications is 15 January 2026. Any applications, or changes to your preferred schools, made after this date means that your application will be processed as late, and you will not receive your offer until after the national primary offer date of 16 April 2026.

Admission to Secondary School

If your child was born between 1 September 2014 and 31 August 2015, they are due to transfer to secondary school in September 2026.This means that you must apply for a secondary school place for your child by 31 October 2025. To do this, you must submit an on-line application through the Secondary Admissions web page of Walsall Council website: Apply for a secondary school place | Walsall Council

You can list up to five schools on your application, in your order of preference. List all of the schools that you are interested in, including those that may be located in other local authority areas.

We strongly urge Walsall parents and carers to list 5 different preferences in their application, the maximum allowed, and include at least one local school you feel confident your child would have met the criteria for in previous years.

It is however extremely important that your application is submitted by the closing deadline of 31 October 2025. Any applications, or changes to your preferred schools, made after this date means that your application will be processed as late and you will not receive your offer until after national secondary offer day of 2 March 2026. Late applicants will receive their offer after 2 March 2026.

Making a late secondary school application will reduce the chance of your child being offered a place at one of your preferred schools.

Before and After School

Please note that we do not allow Secondary age children on site before or after school. This is due to the high volumes of people who are trying to make their way out of exits - often with much younger children.

Homework

As a school we have been reviewing the way we set homework at Pheasey Park Farm and the impact this has on children's learning. Up until this point, we have historically set maths and English homework weekly - this has been online - as well as spelling, multiplication tasks and reading books.

A number of parents have fed back to us that children are struggling to find the time to complete homework as well as finding quiet places to concentrate. We have also had parents tell us that we do not set enough homework!

The most important aspects of home learning for us are reading books 3 times per week, learning age- appropriate spellings and learning times tables (or simple number bonds for younger pupils).

For the next half term - other than in Year 6 where we are preparing children for Secondary School - we are having a focus solely on these 3 areas.

Reading - please hear your child read 3 times per week; their reading book initially then any other books they may enjoy - recording this on BoomReader. This should be a positive activity and will develop fluency, confidence and vocabulary.

Multiplication - please encourage your child to complete TTRockstars - or Numbots for younger children - so that they learn their times tables.

Spellings - please help your child learn their weekly spellings which will be uploaded to Dojo. These will be age-appropriate spellings or topic-related spellings.

We welcome parents' views on homework and you can share these by emailing our postbox. We will review your comments, as well as those from Staff and pupils, to determine how best to move forward with our Homework Policy after October half term.

Visit from The Animal Man

Last week, the Animal Man company visited our school and introduced the children to a number of different animals including a leopard gecko, an owl, a honey bear, a skunk, a snake and a VERY large cockroach! The children - and staff - had a very enjoyable day!

Staff News

We are delighted to announce that Mrs Eveson and her family welcomed their new baby daughter into the world in August!

Congratulations from everyone at Pheasey!

School Meals

Please use this link to see the school meal menus for the Autumn Term School Meals/Tuck | Pheasey Park Farm

For parents who pay for school meals, please could payments be made the week before meals are taken to prevent debts accruing. Please be aware that, should your child's debt reach £30, then school will no longer provide school dinners until the debt is cleared.

E-scooters and e-bikes

While we recognise that these forms of transport are becoming increasingly popular, they present significant risks when used in busy areas where children, parents, and staff are moving around. To ensure the safety of everyone on site, we kindly ask that e-scooters and e-bikes are not brought onto or used anywhere within the school premises.

Year 6 History Workshop - The Tudors

Today, Year 6 had a special visitor: King Henry VIII. The children learned about his life and life in the Tudor times. They learned about Tudor games and played 'Fox and Geese' and 'The Soldiers Game.' The children loved the Tudor dancing section of the day and they even had a go at archery.

Mrs Baynham - Y6 teacher and History Leader