Newsletter Friday 27th March
message from the head
Happy Easter Break Queen's Park Families.
All terms are incredibly busy in school but none more so than the short spring term! We still like to pack it all in.
There have been too many highlights to mention them all but here are a few:
Our wonderful Ladybirds and Butterflies have been to see the Enormous Crocodile at the theatre today. What a fantastic experience for them all and they behaved like theatre pros! We were incredibly proud of them walking down and then watching the show with awe. I am looking forward to seeing them on their outdoor stage reenacting the play next term.
In year 1, we have welcomed teachers from across the city to learn about how to implement a learning through play approach in their own year 1 classrooms. We have spoken to so many of our year 1 children about how much they enjoy being able to follow their own interests in their learning and the progress they have made so far is phenomenal. We definitely have a few future engineers judging by their impressive Kapla structures. I particularly enjoyed the year 1 body percussion session recently - all of the children contributed to one piece of music - it was amazing.
Our Dragonflies and Fireflies have continued to fly in their learning. They were particularly proud of growing cress and making their own salads. They were very adventurous with trying new foods and were quite righly proud of their home-grown produce. This week they have written narratives with such adventurous vocabulary that, when visiting teachers came to see their writing, they were convinced we were showing them year 3 books!
Glow Worms and Crickets have been getting ready for the children's parade. They have chosen a wonderful theme and are now busy prepping the 'big make' structure for the parade. Put the 2nd May 2026 in your diaries - it's an event not to be missed.
In year 4, our children danced their socks of on stage at the Dome. What a showstopper they put on! Impressive rhythm, great teamwork on stage and most importantly their big grins showed how much they enjoyed the show. We had an amazing turn out of families to support and think we made our pride clear with a standing ovation at the end!
Hornets and Beetles have been reading the Boy who Biked the world part 2 - the Americas. What better reason to get out own local celebrity, Bike-it-Ben in to work with the children on the inner workings of a bike. Year 5 have recreated their own adventure narratives which Ben cannot wait to get his hands on to read.
Praying Mantis and Scorpions class continue to impress me in setting a wonderful example to our younger children. They are woking incredibly hard as they prepare for their end of primary school tests and we are all so proud of their efforts. I am particularly proud of our house captains who have led with great integrity and confidence. They run their house meetings every week, provide ideas for upcoming meetings and lots of feedback on how things are going. I love meeting with them weekly, their enthusiasm is infectious. There is a bit of healthy competition between the house captains - particularly for the winning house for attendance - they really want to wear their own clothes on the first day back after the Easter Break!
Music Mondays have been a big hit on the gate - lots of the children have been sharing ideas of Tuneful Tuesdays, Wiggle Wednesdays and so on. I don't need much persuading to have a little singalong so we'll see what we can do next term.
Thank you to those of you who have already connected with Sandra (our family champion) through coffee mornings, 1:1 meetings or by providing us with feedback on what topics might be helpful for future coffee mornings. We look forward to seeing more of you for some of the coffee mornings/afternoons next term.
We have lots more next term - sports days, the much anticipated year 5 play at the Brighton College theatre, The Children's Parade, World Culture Day, the Silverbox film making project, more trips and visitors and LOTS of leavers fun for year 6. Please see the handy dates for your diary page later in the newsletter to ensure you don't miss out!
We have an exciting reading competition for the holiday (we really want children to keep reading!). Please encourage your children to take part and contribute to their house competition.
As always, our whole team are grateful for the continued support from all of you - thank you. Your engagement, feedback and participation continue to support our school on our journey of improvement.
A big shout out to our amazing team of governors, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure our school continues to go from strength to strength. Their dedication and support are invaluable. We are very fortunate to have such a committed group, who volunteer many hours to ensure our children receive the very best. Thank you all.
I would like to take a moment to thank our incredible team. Every day, they show unwavering dedication, care and professionalism in everything they do. It is a privilege to work alongside colleagues who are so deeply committed to our children and community—they really do go above and beyond.
I really hope that you all have a wonderful break and wish our community a happy Easter.
I look forward to seeing you all, bright and early, on Tuesday 14th April 2026.
Mrs. Gale
Summer Term - First Day of school
The first day of the Summer term is Tuesday 14th of April, it is a regular school day with registration at 8.50am and school pick-up at 3.20pm.
Attendance of the week
Stars of the week
Hot Choc
pe & sports roundup
It has been a very busy term of sport and physical activity this Spring!
Indoor Athletics Tournament
In February, we sent a team of Year 6 children to the Brighton Schools Indoor Athletics tournament at BACA. They took part in different sprint and obstacle races as well as speed bounce and jumping for distance. The whole team participated with huge energy and spirit, encouraging each other throughout – they were a credit to Queen’s Park School.
Football News
Both the boys and girls teams have been doing really well in the Brighton and Hove cup competitions. In the second round, the boys celebrated a narrow victory against local rivals, St John’s School and will face Elm Grove in the quarter-finals in a few weeks time. As for the girls team, they have also played brilliantly since Christmas, beating other local rivals, Elm Grove and will now face Peter Gladwin school, also in the quarter-finals. We wish them both good luck!
Girls Football has had another boost this term – one of our Brighton & Hove Albion Foundation Coaches has been taking a group of Year 4 and 5 enthusiastic footballers for extra session every Friday morning as part of a national FA programme called ‘PlayHers’. In another boost for our children, Galaxy Girls Football club invited us to take a team of year 3 and 4 girls to a festival at Varndean School, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Basketball News
Last week, QPS sent a year 5 team to play in a schools basketball tournament at BHASVIC, hosted by local basketball club, BTC. They played superbly as a team and with excellent sporting spirit, winning their final game against a very competitive team from Hove Juniors. We hope to get an after-school basketball club up and running in September.
A Special Visit
A few weeks ago, Sulayman in Year 6 enjoyed a surprise visit to the BHA training ground to meet one of his heroes and Albion first team player, Yankuba Minteh. They swapped stories about their home country, Gambia and Yankuba offered Sulayman some top advice on how to be a the best footballer you can be. He also gave Sulayman three of his shirts, signed and a pair of his personalised boots. We also asked Yankuba if he’d like to come and support QPS football team at their next match – we can but hope!
Dance News
After the success of our year 4 children at ‘Dance at the Dome’, we have managed to secure another half term of after-school dance sessions at ‘The Dance Space’ studios with a qualified dance instructor. The children, who have been attending this half term, have loved the creative and modern sessions. If you would like to sign your child up (KS2 only), then please go to Arbor for more information.
Swimming News
This term, Year 5 have been excelling at their swimming lessons at the Brighton Swimming Centre, with everyone showing increased confidence in the water and higher levels of skill with different strokes. Next up is Year 4’s turn: Grasshoppers will swim on Tuesdays in the first half of the summer term and Spiders will swim in the second half.
We're looking forward to another fun & sports filled Summer Term!
Supporting Children's Emotions
emotion coaching offer
💛 Helping Children with Big Emotions
Do you ever feel unsure how to help your child when they experience big emotions like worry, frustration, sadness or anger?
💬 About Emotion Coaching
Emotion coaching helps children understand their feelings, feel calmer, learn coping strategies and build stronger relationships at home and school.
📞 What Happens When You Sign Up
You will receive a ten-minute phone call with Sandra, our Family Support Champion, to discuss your child's emotional needs. Phone calls will take place after the Easter break and will explore whether Emotion Coaching sessions with our Educational Psychologist next term could be helpful.
🧑🤝🧑 Who It Is For
Parents and carers of children in any year group who would like practical strategies and support with emotions at home.
📝 How to Register Your Interest
Parents and carers who would like to register their interest can do so in the following ways:
• Email the school directly at admin@queenspark.brighton-hove.sch.uk. The admin team will forward your interest.
• Speak to Sandra directly at the school gate during morning drop-off (available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 08:40 to 08:50).
Please register your interest by Monday 13th of April
We look forward to supporting you and your family 🌈
Distraction techniques for self harm
Please click the link below for a document from the National Self Harm Network. The document details lots of useful tips and strategies.
Distractions that can help from the NSHN
Safe in sussex pogramme for women
Safe in Sussex is a domestic abuse charity that is open to women. Please see below information about their 10 week rolling programme running in multiple locations across Sussex from Monday the 20th of April.
Spanish for everyone
Easter Holiday Clubs
