Start of Spring Term 2026 

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Happy New Year, and a warm welcome to the start of the 2026 Spring Term. We hope you and your families enjoyed a restful and joyful break. As we begin this new year together, we are excited for the learning, growth and opportunities the coming months will bring for our pupils. 

The Spring Term always brings a lovely sense of renewal, and everyone feels re-energised. Children and staff return full of stories and positivity; we are looking forward to guiding them through another term of progress and achievement. 

This term we will focus on: 

• Strengthening relationships and connections within the school and local community to ensure everyone feels a sense of belonging 
• Strengthening positive learning habits and routines to improve progress and attainment 
• Planning more opportunities for pupils to apply their knowledge independently 
• Planning more opportunities for pupils to apply their skills independently 
• Strengthen the way we use assessment criteria with pupils to ensure all pupils are challenged to achieve their personal best 
• Improve attendance to ensure pupils are not falling behind in their learning and personal development

We are excited to see what each pupil will achieve. 

LORIC Projects 

Last term, all pupils in Year 7-10 took part in an Oracy Project. A sample of the presentations were performed in front of the whole school in the last week of term. We were amazed at the quality of the presentations, the courage and confidence the pupils displayed, whether presenting their 3-minute speech in front of their class or the whole school. Congratulations to everyone who presented. 

Teaching oracy skills (the ability to speak, listen, and communicate effectively) is incredibly important, not just for academic success, but for pupils' confidence, critical thinking skills, reasoning skills, relationship building and employability skills. These skills will continue to be exercised and strengthened across the curriculum going forward. 

This term we return to our LORIC Projects on Friday afternoons. Pupils in Years 7-10 were emailed a link last term to a Microsoft form. They were asked to make their top 3 choices for this term. We will endeavour to give all pupils one of their top 3 choices. 

The choices of projects this term include: 

• Sports Leaders Award
• STEM- Engineering project
• NxtGen Researcher (Southampton University Project)
• Enterprise Project
• Community Fundraising Project
• Music Technology
• Journalism project
• Catering project
• Danebury Community Choir project
• Animal/Environment project
• GIS project (using technology to monitor the environment – Industry-led)
• British Sign Language course
• Japanese project
• Dance project
• First Aid course

These LORIC projects are designed to exercise pupils' skills, including employability skills. These skills include: Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative and Communication skills. It is our vision for all Danebury pupils to leave us having achieved their personal best academically and socially. Strong LORIC skills will give them the edge over other pupils as they move into further education, work placements and apprenticeships. Please check that your child has completed the form which was emailed to them in December. 

Wellbeing and Support 

Children’s wellbeing remains at the heart of everything we do. As routines settle back in, please encourage your child to: 

• Get plenty of rest and return to a healthy sleep pattern.
• Reduce the amount of screen time, especially an hour before bed.
• Eat a balanced diet, stay hydrated and exercise.
• Read regularly at home 
• Talk to them about their school day – as a Mum of two teenage boys, I recognise how challenging this is, but I continue to ask every day! 

If you have any worries or concerns about your child’s wellbeing or learning, please reach out—our staff are always here to support. 

Key Dates for Spring 2026 

Please see our school calendar on our website for all key dates. A polite reminder that all pupils will return to school on Monday 5th January 2026 – First day of Spring Term, normal school day.

Celebrating Achievements 

We will continue to recognise pupils’ fantastic efforts through: 

• Star of the Week awards 
• Shout out Fridays 
• Positive points and certificates 
• Celebration Assemblies 
• Showcasing work on corridor displays, socials and blogs 

We love celebrating kindness, excellence, resilience and empowerment just as much as academic success. Please share any achievements your child has outside of school with us and we will celebrate these within our school community. 

Uniform expectations 

Please do ensure your child is in full uniform on Monday. Here is a link to our uniform policy as a polite reminder (link). The weather is set to remain cold, all pupils will need to wear their Danebury School coat; no other coats are permitted. We have spare coats if your child has not got one. Our main battle with uniform after any break is pupils returning with acrylic nails, false eyelashes and nose studs. These are choices pupils are making despite understanding that they are not permitted for a host of reasons. Please ensure your child does not arrive with any of the above. We will be in contact with you if they do. Equity is a value we do our best to uphold. Please do help us treat pupils fairly when applying the uniform policy. 

Your partnership means so much, whether its ensuring children attend well, arrive ready to learn, supporting homework and reading at home, attending events, or simply sharing encouragement. Together, we can make 2026 a year of growth in confidence, joy, learning, kindness and discovery for every child at Danebury School. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those parents and carers who sent in cards and gifts at the end of last term. We are truly grateful for your kindness.

Warm Wishes
Nicky Goodridge