Dear families,
I hope you and your families had a restful and joyful start to the new year. It has been an absolute pleasure welcoming the children back to school, and it has warmed my heart to see just how quickly and confidently they have settled back into routines. The children have returned with smiles, enthusiasm and a real sense of purpose, and the positive atmosphere around the school has been lovely to see.
As we approach the halfway point of the academic year, it is a good moment to pause and reflect on how far the children have already come. We are incredibly proud of them and look forward to the months ahead, continuing to support every child to flourish academically, socially and emotionally. As always, we are grateful for your ongoing support and partnership.
While the children were enjoying their break, staff at Roding were also very busy with their own learning and development. At the start of the year, before the children returned, all members of staff across all teams took part in professional development delivered by Hemisphere. Hemisphere is an anti-bias and racial literacy training programme, with the main aim of disrupting bias, improving racial literacy and fostering a strong sense of belonging within schools.
Sadly, our children are growing up in a society where racism is prevalent. As educators, we cannot ignore this reality. It is sometimes thought that racism does not exist in primary schools. However, research shows that early experiences of bias and racism can begin at age 5. It is our duty to ensure we are preparing children for the world they live in, equipping them with the tools to recognise bias, challenge it appropriately, and treat everyone with dignity, kindness and respect.
A key part of our training focused on an initiative called It Starts With a Name. This initiative highlights how respecting, correctly pronouncing and valuing people’s names plays a powerful role in fostering inclusion and belonging. Mispronouncing or avoiding names can create an unintended barrier, whereas getting a name right sends a clear and immediate message: you belong here.
With my own African background, I know firsthand that my surname can sometimes be difficult to pronounce, often leading to some rather creative attempts. Many of our children at Roding have names that others may be unfamiliar with or unsure how to say. Getting names right truly matters. It helps children feel seen, respected and valued for who they are.
Please do let us know if any member of staff is not pronouncing your child’s name correctly. Children will not always feel confident to tell us themselves. Our staff are very keen to get this right and will never be offended — quite the opposite. We genuinely want to know and to work with you on this.
#ItStartsWithAName
As we move through February, we also enter important periods of reflection and faith for many in our community. The season of Lent will begin soon, and we hope this can be an opportunity for reflection, kindness, generosity and positive choices, values we encourage throughout our school community.
Ramadan is also due to begin in February, and we would like to wish all those who will be observing and fasting a peaceful and blessed Ramadan. We kindly remind families that, for health and safety reasons, we advise that younger pupils (Reception to Year 4) do not fast on school days, as fasting is not obligatory at this age. If your child is fasting, please do inform the school office so that we can support them appropriately during the school day.
Finally, there is some very important information included in the newsletter this month, so please do keep scrolling and take the time to read it carefully.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support and for being such an important part of the Roding community.
Warmest wishes,
Ms M Nwankiti
Headteacher
