Week commencing 9th February, 5/6D earned the title of our Attendance Champions, achieving a remarkable 99.7% attendance. They now proudly have the Attendance Champions Trophy. Their well‑deserved reward is an extra five‑minute break to celebrate their achievement.
We’re so proud of their commitment and can’t wait to see who will take the trophy next week. Keep up the fantastic effort, everyone!
With an exciting half term of Spring celebrations ahead, our Reception children have been busy exploring the meaning and traditions of Lunar New Year. They have learned how and why members of our local community celebrate this special festival and discovered what it represents.
Marking the Year of the Horse, the children took part in their own zodiac race, found out which animal represents their birth year, and explored the story behind the Chinese zodiac. Creativity flourished as they designed vibrant lanterns and dragon masks in lucky colours, and practised lion dance moves in preparation for a joyful parade around the school to wish everyone a happy new year.
新年快乐 – Xīn Nián Kuài Lè!
Last week, 2G earned the title of our Attendance Champions, achieving a remarkable 99% attendance. They now proudly have the Attendance Champions Trophy. Their well‑deserved reward is an extra five‑minute break to celebrate their achievement.
We’re so proud of their commitment and can’t wait to see who will take the trophy next week. Keep up the fantastic effort, everyone!
Over the last two weeks, pupils from Years 3 and 4 as well as Years 5 and 6 proudly represented our school at the West Midlands Maths Championships 2026 at Woodside Primary School this week. Throughout the event, the children demonstrated outstanding perseverance, teamwork and excellent speaking and listening skills as they tackled a range of challenging mathematical activities.
The competition required pupils to use creative thinking in maths with games and tasks including Target 24, a selection of logic puzzles and problem‑solving challenges that tested their reasoning and collaboration.
We are especially proud of our Year 5 and 6 team, who came second in their heat and have secured a place in the finals in June. This is a fantastic achievement and reflects their hard work, determination and passion for maths.
Well done to all pupils involved—they were great ambassadors for our school!
February 2026
We’re inviting children to take part in our five-day Kindness Challenge to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week, which takes place from Feb 16th-20th (but you can do it anytime during the month)! Each day, they will be tasked with doing a specific kind activity and writing about how they felt when they did it. Not only will they be helping other people, they will also be helping themselves…because when we’re kind it improves our own physical and mental health.
The competition is open to children in the UK in Key Stage 1 and 2.
Please read the full Competition Terms & Conditions before entering.
Deadline for entries: 1st March 2026.
Please share photos of your acts of kindness to the school email: school@lapal.dudley.sch.uk so that we can share and promote the kindness of our amazing pupils.
The children in EYFS and KS1 were absolutely delighted to welcome children’s author Donna David into school yesterday afternoon. She spoke with great warmth about what it means to be an author, sharing stories from her own childhood and the experiences that inspired her love of writing. The children were fascinated to hear about her passion for reading. Donna also read her book to us, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Later on, she met with some of our parents to chat about the importance of reading at home, sparking a lively and heartwarming discussion about our favourite childhood authors and the joy that books bring to family life.
Our Pupil Leaders have worked incredibly hard this week to create a special presentation for pupils and families, introducing the charities we will be supporting this year. They have shown great teamwork, maturity and enthusiasm in creating this video to spread the word.
We are now beginning to plan three exciting events, each one linked to one of our chosen charities, to help raise awareness and make a positive difference. We look forward to sharing the details with you very soon.
Thank you for your continued support. Together, we can make a real impact.
This term, we are excited to launch Friday Feel‑Good Singing!
Every Friday afternoon, our whole school comes together to end the week with music, positivity, and community. We explore how music can lift our mood, bring us together, and help us celebrate another fantastic week at Lapal.
Throughout February, we’ll be focusing on how music can boost our confidence. The Ordinary and Happy Company have shared some brilliant song suggestions to help us think about how singing can make us feel bold and empowered. Why not give them a try at home?
Let’s get Lapal singing… and let’s get confident!
Last week, RH earned the title of our Attendance Champions, achieving a remarkable 100% attendance. They now proudly have the Attendance Champions Trophy. Their well‑deserved reward is an extra five‑minute break to celebrate their achievement.
We’re so proud of their commitment and can’t wait to see who will take the trophy next week. Keep up the fantastic effort, everyone!
Year 2 have been embracing their Forest School adventures in all weathers, showing brilliant enthusiasm come rain or shine. They were especially excited to plant our free Woodland Trust saplings, beginning a beautiful new border for the Forest School area. Along the way, the children were delighted to spot two robins and listen to their cheerful song. Next week promises even more excitement as we make our own bird feeders and cook up all sorts of imaginative dishes in the mud kitchen.
Yesterday, a group of KS1 children proudly represented Lapal at a Multi‑Skills Festival hosted by Windsor High School. They demonstrated fantastic teamwork as they competed against other local schools, taking part in a range of activities including target throwing, throwing and catching, jumping challenges, and running obstacle courses. Throughout the event, the children encouraged one another, showed great determination, and gave their absolute best in every activity. Their hard work truly paid off—Lapal finished 4th overall with an impressive score of 1,471 points.
We are incredibly proud of each and every one of them. What superstars!
Are you a graduate/undergraduate, or do you know a graduate/undergraduate, who might be interested in training to teach alongside experienced, supportive teachers? Applications are now open for our Hales Valley school-based post graduate teacher training programme starting September 2026.
To find out more, join us at our teacher training event at Woodside Primary School on Tuesday 10th February from 4.30pm. To book a place or for further details about our course, please email awootton@halesvalleytrust.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!
