Our News items
Sunshine Room, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 8th May 2026 @ 4:05pm
This week in the sunshine room we had lots of fun! Practicing our fine motor skills by doing a lava lamp activity, doing articulation drills in speech and language using play doh frog food, and getting mindful and grounded producing a beautiful piece of art. Super job all round! ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Newsletter 8.5.26, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 8th May 2026 @ 2:13pm
Good luck to our Year 6 pupils, who will complete their SATs next week. They have worked incredibly hard all year, and we couldn’t be prouder of them. They are quite rightly looking forward to a well-earned celebratory meal at Brewers Fayre on Friday!
Firstly—yes, it really was as fun as it looked, and definitely worth the 30-minute shower afterwards to get the paint out of my hair, ears and toes!
As you will have seen in the earlier ParentMail, Healthy Living Week is packed full of exciting activities. Please keep an eye on SeeSaw for updates on what children are doing throughout the week.
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Please can children wear trainers, shorts or trackies, and a school or PE T-shirt all week.
- Graduation photos for Year 6 and Reception will take place on the morning of Monday 18th May. These children should come to school in full uniform and bring a change of clothes to get changed into afterwards.
- Please remember to complete the online consent form for the climbing wall via ParentMail.
Please see the timetable below. Spectators can enter via the external school field gate at the corner of the field. If the weather prevents us from going ahead, we will inform you as soon as possible and rearrange.
- 9:30–11:00am: Reception
- 1:30–3:00pm: Key Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)
- 9:30–11:00am: Lower KS2 (Years 3 & 4)
- 1:30–3:00pm: Upper KS2 (Years 5 & 6)
Well done to last week’s attendance champions—both Year 1 classes achieved an incredible 100% and have earned some extra playtime!
We are incredibly proud of two of our fantastic Year 6 pupils, Ellie and Emily, who recently competed in the All Star World Championships in Florida 🇺🇸✨
🏅 The second-highest English team—an outstanding achievement!
It was a pleasure to watch such a complete performance from our football team this week. A brilliant 5–2 win against St James’, featuring towering headers, superb saves and top-corner finishes. Even better was the teamwork, respect and sportsmanship shown throughout—football played the right way!
A fantastic first match against a strong Newfold team, full of energy, teamwork and determination. The players supported each other brilliantly and demonstrated excellent sportsmanship throughout. Plenty to be proud of—if this is game one, it promises to be an exciting season ahead!
Interested in a career in teaching through a local training route? Please visit the Wigan Institute of Education website for more information, or speak to Mrs Atkinson or Miss Johnstone in school.
Celebrating 100 years of David Attenborough, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 8th May 2026 @ 11:53am
Today we marked 100 years of David Attenborough. We spoke about the amazing work he's done for the environment and wished him a very happy birthday the Marus Bridge Way. Watch our video :-)
Football League, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 7th May 2026 @ 10:37am
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Netball, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 5th May 2026 @ 9:20am
A fantastic first game against a strong Newfold team, full of energy, teamwork and determination. The players supported each other brilliantly and showed excellent sportsmanship throughout. Plenty to be proud of—if this is game one, the rest of the season should be very exciting!
Pom DANCE STUDENTS 7TH IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 3rd May 2026 @ 1:00pm
We are incredibly proud of our two amazing Year 6 pupils, Ellie and Emily, who have just competed in the All Star World Championships in Florida 🇺🇸✨
🏅 The second-highest English team – phenomenal!
Newsletter 24.4.26, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 24th Apr 2026 @ 2:32pm
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome to the Summer Term! The sun is shining and the Marus Bridge blossom trees are in full flower, marking the start of a busy but exciting term ahead.
Year 4 have already been out on their visit to Tatton Park as part of their new history topic. They were praised throughout the day for their brilliant behaviour and engagement – a fantastic start to the term. Well done, Y4!
School Football
Firstly, a quick nod to our school football team, who played their first league game on Wednesday. Although they were narrowly beaten on a windy afternoon on a big St Aidan’s pitch, they can be proud of both their performance and attitudes. Well done team!
Mrs West
We would all like to wish Mrs West all the best as she begins her maternity leave today. We will be in touch with any news over the coming weeks.
Colour Run / FOMBA
Please refer to the details sent via ParentMail on Wednesday. A reminder to indicate, using the link in that message, whether your child will be taking part or not by Monday at the latest. All children can wear non-uniform for the day.
Children do not have to purchase anything to take part – they will get covered in paint no matter what! The aim is to have fun whilst raising funds for school, which we hope to use to further develop the school grounds for our children to enjoy.
Please could all money collected be brought into class on Tuesday 28th April . Thank you so much for your help fund raising - you are super kind!
Forest Fridays
Mrs Bower and Mrs Jones began their Forest School sessions today, which were enjoyed by the Year 5 classes.
Our intention is that all classes will have a Forest School session before the end of the Summer Term, so please look out for communication from your class teacher with details of when your child’s session will take place.
Amazing Authors (and illustrators!)
“Oh my gosh! Those pieces of work you sent are BRILLIANT! The writing is so much fun, and the pictures are so good – better than I could do! Please congratulate the kids from me and tell them how impressed I am. Keep up the amazing work!”
Not my words, but those of one of Year 3’s favourite authors, Sam Copeland, who was full of praise for the writing and illustrations sent to him by our Y3 pupils. We are incredibly proud of you all – well done!
Attendance
Attendance was strong for most of the week, and I hope we can keep this momentum going over the coming term so that children don’t miss vital lessons and learning.
Term‑time holidays continue to be a key factor in our attendance being below our DfE target, for which schools are held accountable. Please ensure you are aware of the law regarding Education Penalty Notices (EPNs) before making decisions about holidays during term time.
Best Start in Life – Screen Time
How much screen time should my child have?
What content is better content?
These are questions you may have considered recently – I know we certainly have in our household. Digital screens are a part of modern life, but finding the right balance between screen time and other activities for young children can be tricky.
The government has created evidence‑informed guidance to support parents and carers in shaping healthy screen‑time habits for little brains:
Have a great weekend,
Mr Aldridge
Newsletter 2.4.26, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 2nd Apr 2026 @ 2:28pm
- Chef visits and cooking sessions
- The return of the climbing wall
- Yoga sessions
- And a few other exciting surprises!
- 9:30 – 11:00am: Reception
- 1:30 – 3:00pm: Key Stage 1 (Years 1 & 2)
- 9:30 – 11:00am: Lower KS2 (Years 3 & 4)
- 1:30 – 3:00pm: Upper KS2 (Years 5 & 6)
Aldridge R
Headteacher
Sunshine Room Spring Term, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 1st Apr 2026 @ 1:57pm
This half term we have been incredibly busy in the sunshine room. We have exercised our fine motor skills by making play doh, splatting paint, mixing frobscottle and designing T-shirts. We have worked hard on our phonics, playing board games, hunting for sounds hidden in cereal and using story dice to build our own narrative! We practiced our maths by making pictures from shapes and cutting pizza plates into halves and quarters or giving spiders the right amount of legs! Our speech and language sessions looked like building descriptive language by creating coral reefs, sequencing steps then baking bread or completing Lego challenges! What a Spring term!!! 🤩🌟🤩
Spring Term House Champions, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 27th Mar 2026 @ 10:41am
Well done to Dahl the BLUE team for winning house team of the term - they are welcome to come in non-uniform next Thursday.
Newsletter 20.3.26, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 20th Mar 2026 @ 2:15pm
Dear Parents/Carers
Thank you for your attendance at parents' evening this week; it is always great to welcome you into school. We appreciate your responses to our parent survey and along side pupil voice, use this feedback to build on the things you think we are doing well, and act on any areas you think we can do better.
FOMBA Chocolate Factory
You will no doubt have seen the recent PM about the FOMBA Chocolate Factory, exciting stuff. I have asked the children to come up with some ideas for the golden tickets...within reason! 🙂 They can let me or their teachers know their ideas when they see us next week!
(Please note that the payment deadline is 10am on Wednesday 25th March.)
Sports Days 2026
Sports days will be incorporated into healthy living week, for which full details will be published before Easter. Here are the dates and times for each phase sports day (I'm studying the long-range weather forecasts already!):
Tuesday 19th May:
- 9.30- 11.00am - Reception
- 1.30 - 3.00pm - Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2)
Wednesday 20th May:
- 9.30 -11.00am - Lower Key Stage 2 (Years 3 and 4)
- 1.30 - 3.00pm - Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 and 6)
School Holiday Patterns
Please follow the link to our school holiday pattern for next year. The 2027-28 holiday pattern has now been verified by governors; therefore we will publish ASAP once formatted.
Marus Bridge Primary School: Term Dates
School Attendance
A regular message to ask that you help support with school attendance by avoiding term time holidays and informing us of absences. We are required to communicate the law behind attendance and unauthorised absences regularly. As you know, it is a high priority locally and nationally. Please visit the 'Attendance' section on our website for the details.
Marus Bridge Primary School: Attendance
Community Action
Great work from our planet protectors this afternoon who headed out into the local area to complete a community litter pick! We are proud of them and how seriously they take their responsibilities.
Primary Engineer Y2 - If you were an engineer, what would you do?
Finally, we welcomed our primary engineer (Allan Stevenson from Network Rail) into school this week to launch our primary engineer competition. Our Y2 children have created their own inventions for the competition, from robots that tidy up the playground, to energy saving kitchen appliances!! Well done!
Have a great weekend,
Mr Aldridge
Newsletter 6.3.26, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 6th Mar 2026 @ 3:17pm
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I have contacted Wigan Council (transport unit) regarding the inconsistency of crossing patrols on Highfield Grange. In the meantime, please take extra care on the crossings; I have reiterated this to the children in assembly.
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Similarly, please encourage children to wear helmets when cycling to school, no matter the age. I am really impressed with the Y6s, who are great role models in doing this.
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13/3/26 Reception Mothers' Day celebration afternoon
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16/3/26 Book Fair all week after school
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16/3/26 Parents' Evening
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18/3/26 Parents' Evening
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27/3/26 Y5 Formby Trip (both classes)
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31/3/26 Wigan Institute of Education open day
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1/4/26 Y2 Farm Visit
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2/4/26 End of Spring Term
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20/4/26 Summer Term Begins
School Values bespoke art piece, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 6th Mar 2026 @ 2:21pm
The Big Plastic Count!, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 6th Mar 2026 @ 1:05pm
From the 9th to the 15th March the children will be counting every piece of plastic that is recycled or goes in the bin.
They will be bringing home a recording sheet on Monday 9th. Please pop this on your fridge and help your child count and record the plastic. Forms need to be back for 16th March.
Thank you for your support.
The Planet Protectors.
Online safety parent session, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 12th Feb 2026 @ 8:36am
Last night we held our parent session regarding online safety for our children. Thankyou to those parents wh attended the session. I am sure you found it very informative.
Below are the slides from the session for you to look at if you were unable to attend.
Structures, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 3rd Feb 2026 @ 9:20am
Year 6H enjoyed a fun DT afternoon measuring, cutting and assembling their own truss bridges using triangles to make their structure stable. We then tested them by adding weight to see which one was the strongest and didn’t collapse. A great job!
Newsletter 30.1.26, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 2nd Feb 2026 @ 12:04pm
Dear Parents/Carers,
We've had visits from dragons, dinosaurs and directors this week, the latter being directors of the Rowan Learning Trust. They visited classes with me and again pointed out the kind, enthusiastic and inquisitive nature of our children. We are looking forward to showing school off to our new school governors next week too!
Lovely seeing you on the gates each morning (I try to alternate between them). If you ever have a message or want to ask something, please just grab me, or Mrs Bish, who is also outside most mornings.
On the same theme, staff aim to be on the door primarily to greet children and take any quick/urgent messages each morning. It is a busy time, so for anything else, please message via SeeSaw or go via the office to arrange a phone call, so that proper time and consideration can be given.
Thank yous!
Thank you so much for your commitment to pupil attendance, we have seen an uptick this term even with some sickness, so hopefully we can continue with this upward trend. Thankyou also for the Lego and Brio track donations, already greatly appreciated by our lovely EYFS pupils! Thank you finally to Barbara, our school crossing patrol officer, for her wonderful service over the years. She finishes in her role today - goodbye and good luck for the future!
Great Books Guide from The Book Trust - take a look!
Our priority is to get children excited about books, stories and rhymes. That’s why we’ve put together this guide full of books we think are absolutely brilliant, carefully chosen to engage and excite children from 4 to 11.
Bookfinder: Search thousands of hand-picked book recommendations to find a child’s next favourite read – from astonishing adventures to fantastic facts, the Bookfinder tool will help you discover the very best kids’ books https://www.booktrust.org.uk/book-recommendations/bookfinder/
Free School Meal Application
How to apply for free school meals if you think you may be entitled:
Parents you can access the application via this link FSM Application Website or go to our school’s website and complete the form online.
- One of the first steps is selecting the school your child attends. To help avoid incorrect selections, they have included each school’s full name and address.
- Parents can include multiple children on the same application, provided all listed children have the same parental responsibility arrangements.
- They ask for a few details about each child (year group, date of birth, and home postcode).
- At the end of the application, parents are informed of the expected timescales.
- Once the check is complete, they we will notify school. School will inform parents of the result.
- If you have difficulties using the online form please contact Mrs Bish, Pastoral Manager, who can assist you or submit the details on your behalf
Upcoming dates:
- 03/02/26 Y5 Greek Day
- 06/02/26 Reception Spa Day
- 09/02/26 Online Safety Workshops/Assemblies Y1-4
- 10/02/26 Safer Internet Day
- 11/02/26 The Breakery (KS2) - see specific PM for details
- 11/02/26 Online Safety Workshops/Assemblies Y5-6
- 11/02/26 Online Safety for parents/carers 6.30pm - Zoom link to follow
- 12/02/26 Y4 Brass Concert
- 13/02/26 End of Spring 1
- 23/02/26 Start of Spring 2
- 16/03/26 Book Fair all week after school
- 16/03/26 Parents' Evening
- 18/03/26 Parents' Evening
- 27/03/26 Y5 Formby Trip (class tbc)
- 31/03/26 Careers Day
- 31/03/26 Wigan Institute of Education open day
- 01/04/26 Y5 Formby Trip (class tbc)
- 02/04/26 End of Term
PS An exciting date is incoming from our wonderful FOMBA team - so watch this space!
Many thanks,
Mr Aldridge
Have you seen the dragons?, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 27th Jan 2026 @ 9:28am
Y2 are on the hunt for these mischievous dragons...if you spot one please let us know!
NSPCC Stay Safe - Speak Out, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 19th Dec 2025 @ 11:41am
We have received this certificate to show we are supporting the sfae safe prograame in schools.
Home Reading Certificates, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 19th Dec 2025 @ 11:28am
- Bronze Award – achievable during the Autumn Term
- Silver Award – achievable during the Spring Term
- Gold Award – achievable by the end of the Summer Term
WOW! Your kindness blows us away! The Brick collection 2025, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 5th Dec 2025 @ 2:43pm
Fabulous Y2, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 5th Dec 2025 @ 12:36pm
This morning, we celebrated two of our very determined Y2s who have achieved their white and red bands!
This week, our Y2s have enjoyed an online 'Festive Farming Workshop'. They learnt all about how Christmas Trees are farmed and where our festive sprouts come from!
World Kindness Week, by Mrs Atkinson
Date: 17th Nov 2025 @ 10:49am
Our PSHE ambassadors have done a fantastic job of handing out kindness tokens to pupils & staff for the whole of this week! Well done to everyone who received an Outstanding Kindness certificate today 🥰
