Thursday 19th July 2023
Another school year is over and what a year it has been! Today we said goodbye to our amazing Year 6 class. We wish you lots of luck in your future and we know you'll shine bright! Don't be strangers and come back and celebrate all of your wonderful achievements with us!
A huge well done to our whole GV family for everything that you have achieved this year. It has been amazing to see how you all have progressed both academically and personally. We are so proud of you all. Thank you to parents and carers for your continued support throughout this year.
Have a wonderful summer, everyone. Stay safe and we will see you in September!
Monday 18th July 2023
Our magazine team are very proud of their summer edition of our school magazine GV Voice. They have worked so hard in magazine club all year and are ready to pass the baton to our new Year 6 class next year! All children across school were sent home with a copy of the magazine to read. If you'd like a copy, head to our main office!
Wednesday 12th July 2023
Our summer fair has been a success this evening! Lots of laughs & luckily, the weather was on our side! Thank you to all parents & carers for your support. We raised a HUGE £1600! This will certainly be spent wisely, with all proceeds going directly to our children. Thank you, again!
Thursday 6th July 2023
Today, we had a visit from Kate from the Library Service to tell us all about this year's Summer Reading Challenge. It begins on Friday and ends on 8th September and is free to sign up!
To join, you can go to the library and ask to take part in the challenge. The librarian will give you a collector folder, stickers, and other special rewards, and help you find books to read.
Lots of children were excited to join the challenge and read 6 books over summer - we hope to see you with your certificates in September!
For more information, go to https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/ or pop in to your local library!
Monday 3rd July 2023
To celebrate today's start of Wimbledon, we had our own centre court in the school hall. On Friday, each year group had two players that took part in our Wimbledon tournament! All other classes watched via Teams and loved supporting everyone! Children learned lots about the rules of tennis and were inspired to continue playing in the future!
Tuesday 20th June 2023
Our Whole School Sports Day was a huge success!Thank you for all of your support! Well done to blue team for winning and all of the other teams for their hard work and sportsmanship.
Wednesday 14th June 2023
What a wonderful start we had to our school day! We completed our local walk (with only one wrong turn!) and promoted the importance of road safety whilst getting our steps in!
Thank you to all parents for their supportive messages at home time today! It is so lovely to hear how grateful you are of the actions we are taking to make our school area safer!
Our Y3 and Y5 children did a fabulous job in reminding some parents where they could not park. A huge thank you to those parents who have observed the 'zero tolerance' parking without needing the extra reminders!
Wednesday 14th June 2023
Our Year 6 children have come back from their residential filled with wonderful memories to last them a lifetime! Their behaviour was exceptional and was commented on by many of the instructors and also other schools! They faced some of their fears, challenged themselves and all in all, had an amazing time! Well done to everyone!
Tuesday 13th June 2023
During our assembly today, our Community Police Officers taught us about the dangers of swimming in open waters. Thank you to Nat and Emma for helping us to teach our children this important safety issue.
Monday 12th June 2023
This morning, as part of Healthy Eating and Wellbeing Week, the whole school enjoyed taking part in scoot fit. The children practiced their balance and agility by going around an obstacle course and then we played scoot ball. They also discussed the importance of enjoying any exercise that we do and discussed the positive impacts that healthy living can have on our minds and bodies. It was so much fun, even the teachers had a go!
Thursday 8th June 2023
Today, 60 of our children celebrated a very special event. They were able to go to Liverpool Hope Univeristy to graduate from Children's University. A graduation is determined by how many learning hours children achieve by attending our extra-curricular clubs. We are so proud of our enrichment offer at Grange Valley and this was a lovely way to celebrate the children's hard work. A huge congratulations to all of our graduates! Well done everyone!
Tuesday 23rd May 2023
Today, our Early Years classes took part in a session with St.Helens Wellbeing Team.
They met Captain Tuck and Crocosmile and discussed the importance of exercise, healthy eating and brushing our teeth twice a day.
After taking part in exercises, the children helped Captain Tuck to make healthy choices between food items for his packed lunch.
Tuesday 23rd May 2023
Our PTFA Summer disco was a huge success! The children danced the day and night away and enjoyed a range of sweet treats!
Altogether, we raised £780! A huge success! All money goes directly towards the children and their resources. Thank you, as always, for your support.
Monday 22nd May 2023
What a lovely assembly to begin our final week of term!
Later this week, the children will continue to explore our key question, 'Should all families be the same?' during our Learning Councils.
If you would like to explore this more at home, take a look at some of the lovely storybooks which you could read together below!
Thursday 17th May 2023
Mrs Barker led a lovely assembly today for our children and parents. For those unable to attend, please visit our Safeguarding section on the website for all information which has been shared today.
https://www.grangevalley.st-helens.sch.uk/safeguarding/safeguarding-3
Please see the Dojo post on the school story to sign up to The National College and participate in training with us!
Monday 15th May 2023
During our assembly, we launched our 'Walk to School Week'.
We spoke about the importance walking, cycling or scooting to school can have on our physical and mental health whilst also improving our environment by reducing pollution.
Our Eco Warriors will be conducting a whole class survey today, to find out how children get to school. Hopefully by Friday, we will have increased our percentage of children who have found a healthier alternative to get to school!
Friday 5th May 2023 - The Coronation Celebrations of King Charles III
We had a wonderful day today! During assembly, each class performed a song that they had prepared by a British artist. We were so impressed with everyone's singing and dance moves and it filled us with so much joy!
Each class made their own crowns and celebrated in their own ways and a royal picnic lunch was enjoyed by all! What a fantastic way to celebrate such a special moment in history.
Enjoy your bank holiday weekend!
Thursday 20th April 2023
Year 4 Residential
Year 4 have loved every minute of the last two days on Grange Valley School Field!
Day 1 started with the children assembling their own tents. The children then made their beds and had some fun games after a chippy tea. As darkness fell, the children sat around a cozy campfire and ate s’mores and drank hot chocolate. The children then returned to their tents for a much-needed rest!
On Day 2, the children woke up with excitement nice and early and took part in some morning mindfulness and calming activities. They then took down their tents and returned all the equipment. This led us to a delicious breakfast which arrived at our door! The children then had one of ‘the best afternoons ever’. They rotated around a series of activities starting with Bumper Zorb balls and continuing onto Archery. The children then had some lunch and scaled the rock climbing wall. It was huge we have some very brave children in Year 4! After the climbing wall it was time to say goodbye and the children backs packed back up return home for the weekend. Wonderful memories were made and lots of fun was had!
Wednesday 29th March 2023
Tonight, every child will come home with an Easter edition of our school magazine, GV Voice! A big well done to our writers and also a big well done to Phoebe who designed the front cover! We are very proud of what you have achieved!
Wednesday 29th March 2023
Our Crafty Easter was a great success! It was wonderful to see parents and carers in both Nursery & Reception enjoying Easter activities with their child. From bonnet making, creating salt dough ornaments to pin the tail on the bunny, they had a fabulous time! We look forward to welcoming you to our next parent event!
Tuesday 28th March 2023
Our PTFA Race night was a huge success! Thank you to everyone who came to support & helped us raise funds for school. Thank you, also, to everyone who bought a raffle ticket! We will update you with how much money was raised in due course.
Monday 27th March 2023
Our journey as a Reading School continues... We were thrilled when author Mark Sanders and his dog Bandit came to visit us! Children heard all about Bandit's adventures in Mark's books and were given the opportunity to buy a book and for Bandit sign it with his 'pawtograph!' It was wonderful to meet yet another author in school!
Thursday 24th March 2023
Our amazing Pop Choir wowed at the Lost In Music Concert at the Town Hall tonight. They, along with other local primary schools and an incredible live orchestra, wowed the audience with soundtracks from many much-loved musicals including Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, The Lion King and Oklahoma! It was such a wonderful experience and the children were fantastic ambassadors for our school! Well done everyone!
Wednesday 23rd March 2023
Today, we had a visit from Plummer Drummer! The whole school enjoyed an amazing assembly where he showed us how to make music from pipes and using just his flip flops. It was so much fun and we got to ask lots of questions to learn more about different ways to play music.
Monday 20th March 2023
Today, we celebrated #InternationalDayOfHappiness in assembly, we made pledges stating what we will do this week make ourselves and others happy!
Wednesday 8th March 2023
Our Governor Open Day was a great success. The day allowed us to showcase our curriculum and celebrate all of the wonderful successes that our teachers and children have achieved! Every subject in our POWERS curriculum each subject was highlighted and the work was proudly displayed for all to see. Our Mini Leaders loved seeing what was being celebrated in their subjects. They articulated our curriculum so well and could recall prior knowledge from their previous years at Grange Valley!
Tuesday 28th February 2023
Mrs Dolman, Mrs Lyon & Mrs McGarvey are now qualified as Smoke Free and Oral Health Champions! They are able to teach our children about hte implications of smoking and can answer any questions that our parents and carers may have. They were able to lead our Year 5 and Year 6 classes in smoke-free awareness training. They learnt about the effects that smoking can have on the body and also improved their knowledge of e-cigarettes. Children created posters to warn others of the damage that smoking can cause.
Week Beginning 27th February 2023
It's World Book Week! We have had an amazing time celebrating World Book Week! On Wednesday, we had a special whole school visit from Fay Evans. We thoroughly enjoyed hearing her story Dave the Whale. We loved our interactive assembly and Year 1-4 even got to experience an author's workshop with her!
On Thursday, lots of mini book characters invaded our school! Wow-your costumes were amazing! Our teachers delivered a superb assembly where we had to guess the book and they even got their singing voices out for us!
Finally, on Friday, our parents and carers joined us for our Booky Breakfast. This was an opportunity to enjoy a drink, snack and share our love of reading together. The whole school was a hive of activity and it really was lovely to see. Thank you, as always, parents and carers for joining us!
Thursday 23rd February 2023
We had lots of familiar faces in our classrooms this morning! Parents and Carers enjoyed a Maths lesson and were able to see how we teach Maths at Grange Valley.
Thank you so much to all parents and carers who came to see us in action. Your feedback has put huge smiles on the faces of all our hardworking staff! We appreciate your support, as always!
Keep a look out for the next parent event!
Wednesday 22nd February 2023
This week saw the start of Lent celebrations in Grange Valley. On Tuesday, we celebrated Shrove Tuesday.
We shared a very funny story called 'The Runaway Pancake' which our wonderful teachers acted out. We ended our whole school assembly with a staff competition and Mr Kearney was crowned ' Grange Valley's Big Pancake Flipper of the Year!'
On Wednesday, Fr Michael delivered a whole school assembly to tell us all about the Christian beliefs during Lent and how they mark the importance of Ash Wednesday as a religious community.
Wednesday 10th February 2023
This week, we have celebrated Children's Mental Health Week. To celebrate, we took part in the following activities:
Move it Monday - a range of fitness circuits and a whole school Wake Up Shake Up start to our morning
Technology Tuesday - Safer Internet Day
Wow Wednesday - We looked around our school grounds and we wowed by what was around us. We practised gratitude for the small things.
Thoughtful Thursday - We put others before ourselves, doing kind gestures and offering words of encouragement and love.
Feel Good Friday - We finished our week with a whole school wellbeing carousel. Activities included peer massage, yoga, making worry monsters, karaoke and mindful activities!
Tuesday 7th February 2023
Today, we celebrated Safer Internet Day. Our local PCSOs joined us in our assembly to speak to all children about stranger danger. We reinforced the importance that people can be strangers online too, even if they appear familiar and trustworthy. They then spoke to our Year 5 and Year 6 children about knife crime.
Catch 22 also visited school to discuss the importance of staying safe online. They delivered workshops to our Year 5 classes as well as leading a whole school assembly.
Throughout the week, each class have studied a chosen text linked to Internet Safety.
Monday 6th February 2023
Today our Receptions parents and carers joined us in the hall for a Maths Explorers Workshop! We had superb attendance from parents and it was wonderful to get together to learn more about how we teach Maths and Grange Valley and reinforce the importance of early maths in our our EYFS. Thank you, as always, for your continued support!
Friday 3rd February 2023
This week was National Storytelling Week! We celebrated the week in a whole host of ways! On Tuesday, everyone came into school in their pyjamas and enjoyed a Bedtime Reading Event after school where they listened to a range of much-loved stories and enjoyed a yummy hot chocolate together! During the week, each class enjoyed a virtual storytelling session with our partner classes over at Wargrave. It was great to hear what novels and texts each class were enjoying! The highlight of everyone's week was certainly our 'Secret Storytelling Sessions!' This is where each class was visited by a special secret visitor at 3pm each night to share a story. We loved seeing the smiles on children's faces when they realised that their Mum/Dad/Grandparents were the Secret Storytellers! Overall, it was a great week filled with lots of wonderful stories.
Tuesday 24th January 2023
Today, we celebrated National Compliments Day! Whilst we do Person of the Day every day at Grange Valley, we wanted to make everyone feel extra special and loved by encouraging children and staff to spread joy and kindness through sharing extra compliments throughout the day! The day was filled with positivity - I think we may make this a more regular occurrence!
Monday 23rd January 2023
Today we celebrated National Handwriting Day! We looked at the development of handwriting over time from pictures and symbols, hieroglyphics, runes and modern calligraphy. Our aim was to find out what handwriting looks like across history and the world.
Friday 20th January 2023
Today, our children in STRIDE visited our neighbours, the residents at Heyeswood! They made cards to give to the residents and loved discussing old and new sweets. The children served tea to everyone and brought so much joy to the residents' day. They even invited the children back to play bingo! They'll certainly be taking them up on that offer!
Monday 9th January 2023
What a wonderful start to our week! Wacky Jackie has been to visit and led a very exciting assembly all about Science!
Friday 6th January 2023
Today, we held our first Curriculum Mini Leader meeting of the year. We shared examples of workbooks from across the curriculum to monitor presentation, sticky knowledge and self challenge. It was so lovely to hear the children articulate how teaching and learning looks in their class. Their retrieval of knowledge from previous year groups blew me away! Keep up the great work!
Wednesday 4th January 2023
Happy New Year!
During this morning's assembly, we discussed different ways the beginning of a new year is celebrated around the world and shared how we marked the occasion with our own families.
Together, we made promises to make 2023 not only a success but most importantly a happy year here at Grange Valley.
Each class has been given a 'Jar of Happiness' to collect all of their happy moments for the year ahead. Acts of kindness are already surrounding Grange Valley to make others feel happy on the inside!
Friday 16th December 2022
We can't believe that this term is over already! It's been an amazing term full of learning, laughter and fun! Wishing you all a safe break and a very Merry Christmas. See you in 2023!
Friday 16th December 2022
This year, we asked that instead of giving a gift of appreciation to our staff this Christmas, you donate an item to Teardrops, our school charity of the year.
I'm sure that you will agree that giving to the homeless and vulnerable of St Helens seems more fitting than ever, this year.
We are overwhelmed with the generosity of our school community. From all of us, thank you for helping make a difference and show the true meaning of giving at Christmas.
Thursday 15th December 2022
Our magazine club are SO PROUD of themselves! They have worked so hard to write the Christmas edition of GV Voice. A copy will be sent home tonight, make sure to read it! A big well done to our super writers!
Tuesday 13th December 2022
Our Key Stage 2 children performed amazingly in their Christmas Performances! They sang their hearts out and their dances were wonderful! It was so lovely to see so many parents supporting. Thank you, everyone!
Tuesday 13th December 2022
Some of our children sang Christmas songs for the residents of Heyeswood today. They brightened up the room and shared lots of Christmas cheer. We love maintaining our relationships with those at Heyeswood and our wider community. It really was a special morning!
Friday 9th December 2022
It has been a very festive day at Grange Valley today! The children have all come to school wearing Christmas Jumpers and to top it off we had Christmas dinner! Yum Yum!
Thursday 8th December 2022
This afternoon, KS1 performed their Nativity 'Born in a Barn'. It was lovely to see so many parents back in the hall to watch a 'live' performance. The children were amazing! Fantastic singing, dancing and acting.
Tuesday 6th December 2022
This afternoon, we had our Christmas Wish Tree Lighting. The children across the school wrapped up warm and sang lots of Christmas Songs around our magnificent Wish Tree. Year 6 read a poem and we all counted down for the big event... the switch on! Thank you to all of the parents that join us (despite the cold). We are certainly starting to feel more festive now!
Monday 5th December 2022
Today the Pantomime came to school. the children from Reception to Year 6 enjoyed watching 'Aladdin'....oh yes they did! There was lots of joy and laughter spreading across the school.
Tuesday 30th November 2022
Our PTFA Christmas Bingo event was a huge success! A massive thank you to all that attended! It was a lovely to see so many families.
We raised a grand total of £925.00!
All money raised through our events goes back towards resources/equipment for our children. We can't wait for our next PTFA event - I'm sure it will just as much of a success!
Thursday 24th November 2022
Year 1 had a very exciting TEAMS call form our Spanish school link. The children in Year 1 shared the story 'The Gruffalo' by Julia Donaldson with the Year 1 class in Spain. The children are looking forward to developing this link further.
Tuesday 22nd November 2022
A huge well done to our Year 5 and Year 6 children who took part in a Football competition this week. The children represented the school demonstrating excellent sportsmanship and team work. The team played against 10 different schools. Grange Valley got to the final which was was a very close match. The match went to penalties and ....... we won!
Monday 21st November 2022
Well the World cup has started and it is England's first match today against Iran. This afternoon the came together to watch the match. They children cheered on England who won 6-2.
Each class across our partnership has been given a country to campion. They will find out about the countries landmarks, language, currency, culture and present this to their year group partner at Wargrave. We are looking forward to sharing our learning together.
Friday 18th November 2022
Children in Need
Today the children supported Children in Need. The children doodled on a T-Shirt inspired by the official design by the illustrator and author Liz Pichon. We talked about some of the benefits of 'doodling' such as it helps to improve our memory, helps us to be creative, helps us to process emotions and be more mindful.
Monday 14th November 2022 - Friday 18th November 2022
This week is anti-bullying week. We started the week with an assembly to raise the awareness by spreading this year's important message ‘Reach Out’. The children were invited to come to school wearing odd socks for the week. This was an opportunity for children and staff to express themselves and celebrate differences / individuality. 
Mrs Mavers talked to the children about friendship. We discussed ways to spread kindness across the school as 'Acts of kindness makes us Bloom'. Together we have thought of ways we can show kindness across the school and displayed these ideas on our Grange Valley Tree.
'In a world where you can be anything, be kind'.
Friday 11th November 2022
Year 5 led our Remembrance assembly this morning reminding everyone of the importance of remembering those who have lost 
their lives in battle and service to our country.
Children across the school used recycled plastic bottles to create vibrant poppies. We have talked about the significance of the Poppy and used these to produce a whole school outdoor Poppy display providing a space for our school community to stop and reflect.
Thursday 10th November 2022
It was lovely to see our parents this week for Parents evening. We always enjoy celebrating this children's achievements and discussing next steps to ensure all our children reach their full potential.
Parental feedback is always important to us as we continue to strive for the best for our pupils. It was lovely to read all the things to 'shout out about' from our parents.
Wednesday 9th November 2022
Today, we had the Young Carers assembly. During the assembly, children were told what being a Young Carer entails and were given details of the Young Carers Services in St Helens.
Mrs Barker is our Young Carers Champion - if anyone would like any more details, please use the contacts attached or speak to Mrs Barker.
Thursday 3rd November 2022
NSPCC's Speak out, Stay Safe
Today the children participated in the NSPCC's assembly - Speak out Stay safe. This is to support the children to feel empowe
red- knowing they can speak out and stay safe.
With the help of the NSPCC mascot, Buddy the speech bubble, children know they have the right to:
- speak out and be heard
- be safe
- get help when they need it.
Talking Pants
The acoustic PANTS was shared with the children which stands for:
Privates are private
Always remember your body belongs to you
No means no
Talk about secrets that upset you
Speak up, someone can help
This is a simple but valuable rule to help keep our children safe.
More information about the Underwear Rule, including a short film and a parent guide
can be found at nspcc.org.uk/underwearrule.
Thursday 20th October 2022
Black History Month is celebrated every October as an annual commemoration of the history, achievements and contributions of Black people in the UK.
Grange Valley recognises Black History Month 2023 as a positive opportunity in our ongoing work to celebrate the achievements and contributions of Black people to the UK and around the world, both during the month itself, but also throughout the year. The month also provided a chance to focus on and/or improve awareness of issues affecting different communities, and an opportunity to explore experiences and histories not currently included within the core educational curriculums and/or resources.
During Black History month, each class found out about a famous black person including Paul Stephenson, Nicola Adams, Raheen Sterling, Malorie Blackman & Marcus Rashford.. The children presented this information to the rest of the school trying to persuade them to vote for their most influential significant person. The children voted for who they thought had made the biggest impact on society.
Wednesday 19th October 2022
Our Year 5 classes are now trained in Essential First Aid. They learned about CPR, chest pain, choking and bleeding and will each receive a certificate for their training! Children absolutely loved learning about how they can make a positive impact on others and their behaviour throughout was fantastic. They have acquired lots of valuable skills for life.
Tuesday 18th October 2022
Our first PTFA event of the year was a great success! Our Barn Dance involved lots of music, sweet treats and of course, LOTS of dancing! It was fantastic to see the children having a great time! We raised an amazing £450 for school funds. Thank you, everyone, for your ongoing support!
Tuesday 18th October 2022
Our Reception and Nursery classes had an amazing time at their Crafty Harvest parent and carer sessions. Children enjoyed pumpin decorating, scarecrow making and more! It was so lovely to welcome you into school and see you enjoying the crafts with your children. We can't wait to have you back again soon!
Thursday 13th October 2022
Thank you to our Year 4 children for sharing their Harvest Assembly with the school, parents and carers. They reminded us the importance of harvest and also the importance of giving to others in need. As a school community, we donated food bank items to the Teardrops Foundation in St Helens. We are certain that all of the items will go to people in need. Thank you, everyone, for your generous contributions.
Friday 7th October 2022
This half term, our whole school learning council debate was 'does the colour of your skin matter?'
Taking part in whole school debates allows our children to express their opinions and views and improve critical thinking skills. Well done to Year 6 who led the debate for the younger children.
Friday 30th September 2022
Thank you to all the parents and carers that came along to our Macmillan coffee morning. It was lovely to see you all!
Thursday 29th September 2022
Our fantastic Year 3 class prepared an assembly for their parents and carers to celebrate European Languages Day. In just a few short weeks in Key Stage 2, they have acquired lots of language skills in their Spanish study and their assembly was fantastic! Thank you to parents and carers for coming along to show your support!
Tuesday 20th September 2022
Today we had a very special visit from...... 'Thomas the Gorilla'. The children were treated to a thought-provoking assembly on deforestation and the effect it is having on our planet, before embarking on a range of workshops and class activities. During the assembly the children came face to face with Thomas and were immersed in the story of Thomas’s life. Through story-telling by the TeachRex team, the pupils developed an emotional attachment with Thomas and his home, exploring the positive and negative impacts of human behaviours on our world. The story outlined the importance of sustainability and raised awareness of our human footprint on the world around us. In class, the children worked in small groups to plan and then act out their own movies using iPads and green screen technology and, in the process, learnt how to edit their videos.
What a fantastic day had by all!
Monday 12th September 2022
This week the children and our families wrote beautiful messages in our condolence book. Children across the school came to write their message and share memories of Queen Elizabeth 11.
Friday 9th September 2022
We are saddened by the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11. This morning, our school community came together to take time to reflect and give thanks for her service and dedication to her people over the last 70 Years.
During the Queen's Jubilee, our children sent letters of good wished to mark her 70 years on the throne. During the Summer holidays, we received a letter from the Queen thanking the children for their messages. The children were all amazed at her response. This is something we will all cherish!
Monday 5th September 2022
Welcome back to you all, especially our new families whose children are joining the school. What an exciting first day back we had. Today, we had the circus visit school. Each class enjoyed a circus session learning lots of different circus skills. It has 
2022-2023
Friday 8th July 2022
Today, we enjoyed our Summer Fair! Wow- what a success it was! It was so lovely to see all members of our school community come together to have a great time and raise money for our school funds. We had a range of stalls such as hook a duck, splash the teacher (this was a very popular one - I have no idea why!), water to wine, tombola and many many more! We raised a huge £1380! Thank you, everyone! PTFA funds always go to the children of Grange Valley.
Thursday 7th July 2022
Today, our Key Stage 2 classes took part in a ‘play in a day’ where they each prepared and performed a section of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Wow! We were blown away by the confidence of our children and to see them reciting Shakespeare on the stage was a joy to see! We saw children shine like never before- what a fantastic opportunity! A huge well done to everyone! ⭐️✨
Thursday 30th June 2022
Our Sponsored PTFA Colour Run was a great success! See your child’s class page for more photographs. Everyone had such fun! We raised an extremely impressive £1795! Thank you for your donations. PTFA funds always go to the children of Grange Valley.
Friday 24th June 2022
Today, we had an event that everyone had been waiting a number of years for.. Sports Day! All classes engaged in a range of races including obstacle, tug of war, sprints and relay... Not forgetting the parents race! Thank you to all for supporting our Sports Day. I think you’ll agree that it was a fantastic success. A big thank you to all our staff for organising especially Mr Ashton and Mrs Bacon.
Tuesday 21st June 2022
Today, 50 of our children celebrated a very special event. They were able to go to Liverpool Hope Univeristy to graduate from Children's University. A graduation is determined by how many learning hours children achieve by attending our extra-curricular clubs. We are so proud of our enrichment offer at Grange Valley and this was a lovely way to celebrate the children's hard work. A huge congratulations to all of our graduates! Well done everyone!
Week Beginning 13th June 2022
This week was the week that Year 6 have all been waiting for.. PGL week! On Wednesday, they went to Boreatton Park, Shropshire. When they got there, they were taken to our rooms. They were staying in the mansion house and they were thrilled with their new home for the next few days! They engaged in a range of activities such as the giant swing, abseiling, climbing and raft building. They also engaged in lots of team building activities such as the puzzle maze, capture the flag and the evening campfire. All of Year 6 demonstrated fantastic team work, resilience and problem solving skills whilst we were away. Their behaviour was fantastic, they were respectful and each child had a smile on their face for the whole 3 days! They had a fantastic time and we are sure that the memories made will stay with them for a lifetime!
Week Beginning 6th June 2022
The highlight of our first week back was definitely our Party on the Playground Platinum Jubilee Celebration! We played garden games (including archery and javelin), we enjoyed creating our own scarecrows as part of the scarecrow competition and we thoroughly enjoyed our dance workshops where each class explored a decade of dance!
We had a royal party lunch all together in the hall and we had some fantastic entries on our bake off and crown making competitions!
During this week, we were able to set our butterflies free from their habitats. This was a special moment for all classes, representing hope for our future.
Each class also wrote letters to the Queen. We are hoping for a response soon!
Overall, it was a super day and definitely one that we will remember forever!
Week Beginning 16th May 2022
This his week saw the success of our Art Exhibition in the hall. To celebrate our Cultural Diversity Week, each class was given a style of art or artist to base their work upon. Children explored ming vases, dreamcatchers, aboriginal printing and more! Our whole Grange Valley community loved viewing everyone's work in the art gallery! All children are so proud of their finished pieces!
During Cultural Diversity Week, classes engaged in African drumming workshops and each class hosted a workshop on their chosen culture for parents! These workshops were very well attended and everyone had lots of fun!
Friday 1st April 2022
This week we have been celebrating Easter. The children were invited to enter our Egg competition. We had lots of egg-cellent entries. It was extremely hard for Mrs Bailey to pick our winners! Thank you for all who entered and well done to our lucky winners!
The Y5 children organised an Easter raffle with our PTFA. We raised and egg-ceptional £352. Thank you for all your support!
Excitment was in the air on Friday as the big bunny himself was on the school gate greeting the children as they arrived for school. he even brought the children some Easter treat! Yum Yum!
To finish the week, Year 1 led our Easter assembly. They told us all about how Easter is celebrated around the world. It was a wonderful assembly and even better with parents in the audience.
Friday 1st April 2022
Today we wore purple with our school uniform to raise awareness for Autism. We listened to a poem written by a boy called Eli and his mum. Eli is Autistic and his poem helped the children to understand Autism.
Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th March 2022
What a wonderful two days we have had at Grange Valley. Our Nursery and Reception children enjoyed our Crafty Easter Church with their parents. It has been lovely to have so many Nursery and Reception parents in school celebrating Easter. Partnership with parents is so important and although the past two years have shown us how we can achieve great things when working together, nothing beats face to face work.
Thank you to Mr Swann for organising; we can't wait for the next one!
Monday 28th March 2022
A huge well done to our Y5 children who represented Grange Valley at the Outwood Academy Quiz tonight. They all worked fantastically together and had lots of fun! They even made GV history and became the first team from Grange Valley to win! Well done, everyone!
Friday 18th March 2022
Today, we all came to school dressed in blue and yellow to show support for Ukraine.
During assembly, we had time to reflect and think about all the families in Ukraine. The children planted sunflowers and took some sunflower seeds home. Sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine. Let’s plants some sunflowers together to bring a little bit of sunshine and show our support.
Thank you for your kind donations today. We have raised £291 for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
Week beginning 7th March
World of Work week
Linked to our PHSE and Maths curriculum, this week was all about money. The children talked about where money comes from, what we use money for including the concepts of spending and saving. At Grange Valley we want our children to understand the importance of education and aim high by having something to 'aspire' to. e.g going to college or university.
Across the week we had a variety of parents, carers and visitors to talk to the children about their occupation. We had Nurses, Police officers, a construction worker, a paramedic, a sales manager, a Rugby player, public health and a probation officer to name a few.
To finish the week, the children came to school dressed as what they would like to be when they are older.
Thank you to all involved!
Thursday 3rd March 2022
World Book Day
We have had a fantastic day celebrating World Book Day! During assembly, the teachers shared the story 'The Day the Crayons Quit' The children listened brilliantly as the crayons (teachers) told them how they felt. Fantastic effort as always with the children's costumes. We all paraded around the hall looking at all of the different book characters.
We talked about why reading is important and all the reading opportunities we have at Grange Valley. The children always love visiting our school Library and sharing books with each other. We had lots of book stations out on our playground and virtual story sharing sessions with Wargrave.
The children also had the opportunity to enter our 'Book in a Box' competition. It was so tricky to pick the winners but as always, someone had to win! Well done to our winners from across school. Thank you
Reading is a passport to countless adventures!
Monday 7th February 2022
Children's Mental Health Week
This years theme is 'Growing Together'. During assembly, we talked about how we grow all the time but we also grow emotionally. We talked about how trying something new, stepping out of our comfort zone, as scary as it is, helps us to grow.
We talked about people in our lives that support our growth and created a Grange Valley support balloon. Our support network can help lift us up when we face challenges.
Each day throughout the week had a different focus. On Monday, it was is 'Move it Monday'. The children exercised outside and talked about how exercise helps us to keep physically healthy and how regular physical activity helps our sense of well-being.
On Tuesday. it was 'Technology Tuesday' as this was also Safer Internet day. The children talked about how they can keep themselves safe online. The theme this year is 'All fun and Games' #playyourpart. Children have access to lots of online games and it is important to talk to them both at school and at home about how to stay safe online.
On Wednesday, it was 'WOW Wednesday'. The children (and staff) were encouraged to pause for a moment and reflect on what makes them go WOW! In a busy world, the skill of being still and present in the moment is so vital in supporting our mental well-being.
On Thursday, kindess rippled all over Grange Valley for our 'Thoughtful Thursday'
Friday 4th February 2022
Today we had a brilliant day celebrating NSPCC Number Day. The children were set a Grange Valley Number Challenge. Each teacher set the children a mathematical challenge to complete. Can you beat the teachers?
Our teachers were feeling a little bit dotty today and enjoyed 
Tuesday 8th February 2022
Safer Internet Day
Today is Internet safety Day and the theme is ‘All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online’.
This year, the day celebrates young people’s role in creating a safer internet and the ways they are shaping the interactive entertainment spaces they are a part of. The platforms our children are accessing, should be used as spaces for connection, community and collaboration. At Grange Valley, we support them to foster supportive relationships and respectful communities, whilst equipping them with the skills they need to keep themselves and others safe in these spaces.
Speaking with your children is key to exploring their experiences of online gaming and streaming. These platforms play such an important and positive role, providing children with the means to interact with friends and as a great pastime (particularly during isolations!) We just need to make sure that our children are doing so safely and respectfully with the support of parents. Look out for our new, weekly advice leaflets to support you with this at home.
The online world is posing an ever-increasing risk to children, and it is important that schools, parents and carers work together to take an active role in teaching children about online dangers. Learning how to act safely when using the internet is an incredibly important part of safeguarding our children.
At Grange Valley, we are committed to protecting our pupils online by working with National Online Safety- providing resources for all parents and carers. Keep checking DOJO as we will be posting weekly links and advice to provide continuous support to keep children safe at home. Watch out for our #WakeUpWednesdays!
Monday 31st January 2022
National Storytelling week
This week we have celebrated National Storytelling week. On the way to school families enjoyed looking out for book characters hiding in our school environment. We spotted the Gruffalo in our flower bed, The Hungry Caterpillar on the gate, Mr Bump on the playground to name a few.
Each class enjoyed sharing a virtual story with are partner school - Wargrave and we finished the week coming to school in our pyjamas for our Bedtime reading session after school. Bedtime stories are the best! What is your favourite story to listen to?
Wednesday 5th January 2022
Welcome back everyone!
To kick start the year we have launched our POWERS curriculum- A curriculum to give our children the power to achieve amazing things. Each of our subject areas now have three Grange Valley superheroes assigned ( 1 staff member and two children) who help to make sure the teaching and learning in these areas is outstanding.
Each term, you will receive a curriculum newsletter which will update all parents on our curriculum developments and give you a flavour of the teaching and learning that takes place at our school.
Friday 17th December 2021
As we finish for Christmas, we have looked back on some of the events we have shared together. The children enjoyed their Christmas parties where they took part in party games, dancing, and finished with a 'Cosy Christmas' afternoon with hot chocolate and marshmallows! We even had a special visit from the one and only Santa who came to deliver a special gift to all our children. There was certainly lots of smiley faces and rooms filled with laughter.
We have raised £228 for Save the Children on our Christmas Jumper Day- Thank you everyone for your support!
Have a wonderful Christmas everyone! We hope that all your Christmas wishes come true!
Enjoy our Grange Valley Christmas message from all the Grange Valley staff below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCuazNHWktM
Wednesday 15th December 2021
Our wonderful Year 6 children spread the Christmas cheer today as they sang Christmas songs for the residents at Heyeswood. The residents were delighted to see the children and listened to their beautiful singing from their balconies. We could even hear the children singing from school!
Thursday 9th December 2021
The children have enjoyed a puppet show this morning reminding them all about the true meaning of Christmas. What a wonderful way to learn about the Christmas story.
Friday 3rd December 2021
Today, we had a surprise visit from Santa. Santa was delighted to hear the children sing Christmas songs and that they had all written him a letter. The children posted their letters in Santa's post box which he was looking forward to reading when he got back to the North Pole. He asked us how the elf was behaving and if we were helping the elf to be kind. The children were excited when Santa used his magic to make it snow and he relieved that the Elf's name was........McJingles
Wednesday 1st December 2021
Mr Swann from Wargrave led our Virtual Advent assembly today. He helped us to think about how we can prepare our hearts for Christmas and have peace with everyone!
Following our assembly, the children were intrigued to find out that we had received a special delivery. I wonder what it could be?After lots of guessing we decided to see what was inside the mystery box. The children were excited to find that Santa had sent us an Elf. A letter from Santa was inside informing us that we need to help the elf learn all about kindness and he will be reporting back to Santa each night.
Our first job, is to come up with a name. That way, he can make Grange Valley his December home. Santa did warn us however, that the elf sometimes goes missing and can be a bit silly. We need to help him make the right choices. I wonder what he means?
Tuesday 30th November 2021
We raised a massive £570.52 for the Royal British Legion. All the money raised will help support the armed forces community past and present. Thank you to all our families!! A special thank you to Katie and Ruby in Year 6 who helped sell the poppies.
Thursday 11th November 2021
The year 5 children led our remembrance assembly today. The children explained why we commemorate Remembrance Day. We learnt all about the sacrifices made in the past and today so that we may live in peace.
Across the school we held a 2 minute silence. A representative from each class came to lay a wreath at our Grange Valley Tree.
A beautiful assembly, thank you Year 5!
Tuesday 9th October 2021
Today we were very lucky to have our Saints sports coaches bring in all of the trophies that the St Helens men’s and women’s rugby team have won this year. It is very rare that all of these trophies have been won by the same team. The children found out different facts about the trophies from this year and from the past. It was lovely for the children to hear all about the successes of effective teamwork and determination.
Monday 8th October 2021
Road Safety
This week we are celebrating the heroic work of road safety professionals and finding out about how we can all play a part in making journeys safer for everyone. The focus this year is 'Be a Road Safety Hero'
The children had a visit from our community police officers who spoke to the children about how they can keep safe on the roads. Emma and Nat reminded the children about how to cross the roads safely and how to be a safe passenger in a car.
Thursday 21st October 2021
The Year 2 children were excited to take part in their first football tournament today. A group of children went to Sutton Academy to represent our school. The children demonstrated respect, resilience and great team work as they played against other local schools. We are very proud of you all!
Tuesday 19th October 2021
Harvest
Following on from our Harvest celebrations the children across the school thoroughly enjoyed our Grange Valley Barn Dance. In Nursery the children enjoyed their Pumpkin party and even went pumpkin picking in our school forest! Reception went on a lovely Autumn walk around the school grounds looking for different signs of Autumn.
Friday 15th October 2021
Today, the Year 4 children led our Harvest assembly. The children sang beautifully and reminded us what harvest is all about.
Thank you for all your kind donations. These were donated to St Helens Foodbank.
Monday 11th October 2021
Black History Month
During assembly today, we found out about the life of Rosa Parks. She didn’t know that on that day- 1st December 1955 it was going to be any different, but she decided the time had come to take a stand against the unfairness that she saw around her.
We talked about how sometimes it can be difficult to speak out but sometimes all it takes is a single courageous voice to begin to put things right again. During reflection we thought about how together we can work for a better world.
In classes, the children found out about a famous black person including Marcus Rashford, Barack Obama, Mae Jemison, Walter Tull, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. The children presented this information to the rest of the school trying to persuade them to vote for their significant person. The children voted for who they thought had made the biggest impact on society. The winner was…..Marcus Rashford. Well done Reception!
Friday 8th October 2021
Today, the children had their first Learning Council Debate. The children across the school have been organised into several groups representing a significant British person who they will learn about throughout the year. The children will have opportunities throughout the year to debate different topical issues.
By doing this, the children are learning more about the world they live in and their place in it as local, national and global citizens. While the language, techniques and rigour of debating is woven throughout our teachers' classroom practice, we also offer a number of extra-curricular and enrichment opportunities to supplement this.
This week, the children from across the school worked with each other to discuss if the UK is welcoming.
Friday 8th October 2021
The children in KS2 were set a TT Rockstars battle. They worked hard to see who would be crowned the winner Grange Valley or Wargrave. It was a very close competition but the winners were........Grange Valley.
Thursday 7th October 2021
Today, Year 4 took part in a football tournament at Sutton Academy. This was the first school tournament for over 2 years due to COVID! The children were excited to compete and represent the school. Overall, the children won 2 games, drew 2 games and lost 1. They had a fantastic time and showed great sportsmanship throughout the day.
Friday 1st October 2021
Today, the School Council held their first joint partnership meeting with Wargrave. During the meeting, the children discussed possible partnership events. The children enjoyed their virtual meeting sharing their ideas confidently. We can't wait to meet each other again!
Thursday 30th September 2021
This morning, Year 3 put on a wonderful class assembly celebrating European Day of Languages. The children performed confidently informing us of the different languages and why it is important to learn another language. A fantastic assembly Year 3, you have certainly set the standard for the rest of the school.
Friday 17th September 2021
Democarcy
Children across the school have been democratically voting for who they like to represent their class. Pupil voice is important to us. The children will be given meaningful opportunities to share their experiences, views and hopes for Grange Valley!
Meet our Mini Leaders......
Friday 10th September 2021
We have been finding out about the British Values. At Grange Valley, we develop and promote British Values throughout our school and within our curriculum. We want to ensure children become valuable and fully rounded members of society who treat others with respect and leave school fully prepared for life in modern Britain.
This week the children have been writing stories based on our British Values. Take a look at our wonderful work!
Monday 6th September 2021
It was wonderful to see all the children back to school this morning. Mrs Holcroft led our first assembly in 18 months. It was lovely to see all the children together in the hall. During assembly, we read the story 'Have you filled a Bucket Today?' by Carol McCloud. This year, we are going to fill as many buckets as we can, making our school the happiest place to be!
We fill buckets....no dipping!
