We were delighted to welcome Neil O’Brien MP to officially open our new classroom and extension. The completion of this project has seen our year six class move into a wonderful new learning environment and the wider school has also benefited with the creation of our new nurture space and a new toilet block.

The ceremony was started with pupils from years three, four, five and six performing on the Japanese Taiko Drums led by Mr Kirkland. The audience made up of parents, governors and Learn-AT Trust Leader Stef Edwards, then saw the building blessed by Rev Jonathan Dowman. John Day, Chair of Governors, thanked all who had been involved in the project over the past eighteen months.

Friends of Church Langton School presented a cheque to the school of £10,000 which had made a significant contribution to the new building.

Mr O’Brien, who had visited the school when the initial plans were being created, was delighted to be able to open the extension and pleased to speak with the year six pupils again having recently welcomed them to the Houses of Parliament as part of their trip to London.

Mr Roddy, headteacher, captured the feeling of all involved, “We are delighted with the new extension and are grateful to all who have been involved in the project. At Church Langton we are always striving to provide the best facilities for our pupils and following the creation of the art room and the all weather sports pitch, the new extension will provide a wonderful learning environment for pupils for many years to come.”

We have had a brilliant month inspiring pupils to be as active as possible. The launch involved a visit from Spike and the encouragement that we would be contributing to the wider Harborough Hawks team in the challenge.

Each week Mrs Jones has calculated all of the points earnt by each class and staff members.

After preparing for the last few months we were very proud of all the pupils involved at the The Big Dance event at the Core in Corby Cube this weekend. A reception and key stage one group performed first followed by a key stage two group while other pupils from our school were also part of the main Core Dance performances. All involved had a brilliant time performing on the stage. A big thank you to all involved in the Core Dance company who organise our dance classes.

Thank you to all who contributed to our most recent parent forum meeting where we discussed the development of our Anti-Racism Pledge, school uniform and the recent reports. It was good to have parents from a range of year groups taking part along with Mr Roddy and our chair of Governors, Mr Day. These sessions are open to all parents and carers in our school community with the next one scheduled for Friday 10th June.

The whole school enjoyed Francophonie day which is a great chance to celebrate the value of learning languages. Our assembly featured facts about the French language and asked the children to think of times when they might use their French learning in the future. We then enjoyed a great trial to find all of the countries that have French as an official language around our grounds.

The year four class had a brilliant trip to Rock UK in Northamptonshire taking on many new challenges and adventures. The three day trip is often a first experience away from home for pupils and they have returned with plenty of stories to share. Their activities included rock climbing, raft building, abseiling and archery as you can see from the gallery below. A big thank you to Mrs Martin, Miss Knights and Mr Knowles for all the hard work in preparing for and organising the trip.

We had plenty of fun in school celebrating World Book Day with pupils and staff enjoying dressing up in celebration of 25th year. The shoe boxes create to show events in a book were very imaginative while the school enjoyed hearing stories from different members of staff around the school.

Thank you to Rev Jonathan for leading our service at St Peter’s Church this week. It was a pleasure to be able to have the whole school together for worship in Church and to learn about the period of Lent.

Well done to all pupils who took part in the Headteacher Challenge about the Rutland Ichthyosaur challenge. We had some brilliant diagrams, presentations and art work all about the amazing discovery.

We marked Safer Internet with the pupils being reminded of the importance of the choices they make when online. Here are the top tips recommended for the different age groups when using the internet:

Top Tips for use with 3-7s

These top tips have been written for you (parents and carers) to share, and talk about, with your children. It’s never too early to talk about life online!

#PlayYourPart by…Enjoying all the amazing things there are to do online! 

Talk with your child about the games they enjoy playing and the videos they love to watch. Doing these things together is a great way to explore how amazing the internet can be.

Always being kind and respectful to others online.

Explain to your child that being kind and respectful helps make the internet fun and safe for everyone. Yes, even their little brother if he’s beating them on their favourite game! This is something you can show  them in your own words and actions online too.

Making safe choices.

Your child will have to make lots of choices when they’re using technology and the internet, so talk regularly about what they can do to keep themselves safe. This might be keeping personal information like their name or school private and never agreeing to meet up with someone they only know online. The earlier you start these conversations the better equipped your child will be as they grow older.

Remembering that it’s okay to say no to people online.

Online friendships can be difficult to manage, but a simple step to help keep your child safe is making sure they know that they are in control. Discuss how they might respond if someone says or does something that makes them feel uncomfortable. Remind them that they never have to do something just because an online friend has told them to and that they can come to you for help and advice.

Always telling an adult if anyone or anything online makes you worried, upset or uncomfortable.

The most important thing you can do to support your child online is let them know you’re there to support them. Talk regularly about all the points above, and more! Make sure they know that if anything online makes them worried, upset or uncomfortable, then they can come to you for help – and a hug!

Top Tips for use with 7-11s

The internet can be a great place to learn new things, keep in touch with friends, and to have fun. We have some tips to help you to stay safe and positive online, as well as how you can #PlayYourPart in creating a better internet by…

Being a kind and respectful friend online.

Think about how your actions and words online can make others laugh and smile, instead of feeling hurt or angry.

Staying alert to possible dangers.

When posting, gaming, or talking to others, keep your personal information safe and do not click on unexpected links. Most importantly, always tell an adult if an online friend asks to meet up.

Respecting other people’s boundaries.

No means no – do not push other people to do something that they’re not comfortable with. If someone is pressuring you online, remember that you can always say no and tell an adult you trust.

Supporting others to use safety tools.

Lots of games and apps have handy tools like the block or report button that can help you keep yourself and your friends safe. Chat with your friends to make sure everyone knows where these are and how to use them on the games you play together.

Speaking up!

There are lots of adults in your life who want to support you in having a safe and enjoyable time when you’re online. Always speak to one of them if anyone or anything online makes you or a friend worried, upset or uncomfortable.