Headteacher: Mrs Carol Taylor
Phone: 02380 843162
A huge thank you to our school community for the generous donations you have made to Baby Necessities - the charity selected by our School Council to support this Christmas.
Four of the Year 6 School Council enjoyed meeting Lindsay Hawkins, a volunteer for the charity, and handing over a wonderful collection of donated items. These will make such a difference to families who need a helping hand at the moment.
Thank you!If you have not yet donated, it is not too late! We will continue collecting items up until Friday 12th December. Thank you for showing true Orchard generosity and spirit.
Join Our Governing Board – Become a Parent Governor!
We have an exciting vacancy for a Parent Governor at Orchard Junior School. This is your chance to make a real difference in shaping the future of our school!
Why Join?
• Provide strategic leadership and help improve outcomes for all pupils. • Bring a parental perspective to decision-making.
• Access comprehensive training and support.
What’s Involved? • Attend 6 evening meetings per year.
• Join one committee and contribute to school improvement.
• Complete induction and safeguarding training.
• Carry out termly monitoring visits during the school day.
How to Apply: Complete the candidate form and return it to the school office by: Wednesday, 10th December 2025 – 3pm Or email: hayley.bach@orchardjunior.com
For more information see the attached letter.
Questions? Contact Hayley Bach, Clerk to Governors for more details.
Your voice matters – help us shape the future of Orchard Junior School!
Year 3
Year 3 have been practicing key sewing skills to help them sew a glasses case.
As announced at the PFTA AGM in October, thanks to the generosity of the OJS school community and the hard work put in by the PFTA team and helpers at various events throughout 2024/25, we were able to raise an amazing £16,000 to support the school in providing a wonderful environment to learn and have fun.
The monies raised were agreed at the AGM to be used to support various parts of the curriculum with some new equipment or materials along with over £10,000 going to support the much needed renovations in the school playground including Victoria’s Garden which was built in 1996 so next year will be 30 years old.
It was agreed at the AGM that the renovations in Victoria’s Garden, which are expected to cost over £30,000, would be the key focus of fundraising for 2025/26.Victoria’s Garden, which is a memorial space dedicated to a OJS student, is an important part of the playground for the children and needs a major renovation after serving the OJS community for nearly 30 years.
The PTFA are looking forward to our next fundraising events this term with the Christmas Wrap Rooms and Christmas Discos but to reach our goal as soon as possible we have posted QR codes in the playground which can be scanned to make one-off donations of any value via the PTFA Sum Up platform.
All donations, big or small, can help us reach our goal faster!
Many thanks,
PTFA Committee
Celebration Assembly
21st November 2025
We have just celebrated our Stars of the week, Well done to all!
Year 5
Please click the link to read about the wonderful work the Kisoboka Trust are doing with the money raised from Year 5's Water Walk
Year 4
We had lots of fun exploring K'nex as part of our DT work on mechanisms.
Year 5
A huge well done to our wonderful year 5's on their fundraising achievements for the Kisoboka Trust. They undertook a water walk before half term and raised an amazing £860.60 which is just brilliant and we are very proud of them.
Thanks to volunteers from the Kisoboka Trust for joining us and chatting to the children as they walked.
Year 4
We have been learning about the Anglo Saxons in Year 4. We enjoyed making Anglo Saxon settlements to show off all our learning.
5DW CET River Trip
Despite the weather, 5DW had a brilliant river trip last Friday. We enjoyed taking river measurements, pond dipping and finding out more about ant hills and fungi!
5IU CET River Trip
5IU had a fabulous day following a tributary of the Beaulieu River. They completed 2 different river surveys and also found lots of different creatures while pond dipping.
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Year 3 Trips to Dibden Purlieu
Year 3 used their geographical skills on their trips to Dibden Purlieu using maps, data, field sketches and seeing the changes over time within our local area.
Year 3
Year 3 have been learning about Mondrian and have begun creating our own versions. We have started with paper and did a silent gallery today and then will be moving on to painting in the upcoming weeks!
Sports Leaders
This morning, our first wave of new Sports Leaders took part in their Leadership Training with Mr. Drake from The New Forest School Sports Partnership and Testwood School.
During the session, they joined in with a variety of PE activities while developing key leadership skills. They learned how to take on different roles, select fair teams and adapt games and activities to make them more or less challenging. To guide their decisions, they used the acronym PACES:
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People/Participation
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Area
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Communication
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Equipment
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Safety
A huge thank you to Mr. Drake and NFSSP for delivering such excellent training, and congratulations to our new Sports Leaders, who all passed with flying colours!
The Magic of Yet!
Each year, when our soon-to-be Year 3 pupils visit at the end of Year 2, they take part in a magical activity based on the story character Beegu.
Each child designs their own "Beegu" ready to land on the alien land of Junior School. Three lucky designs are chosen at random and transformed into cuddly toys that live in Reception alongside creations from previous years.
Mrs Taylor reads them a special story on the fist assembly of September about the magic of "yet", and each Beegu design turns into "Yet" creature — the idea that even if you can't do something now, you will be able to in the future!
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These adorable Yets serve as a daily reminder to our pupils: You might not know it YET, but you will soon!
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A huge well done to this year’s brilliant creators — your Yets are amazing!
During the year 6 Show last term you raised £311 for SCARF, a local charity. once children are back at school they’ll be re-starting all our term time clubs which include a Saturday morning Multi Sports Club, a Youth Club, a Drama Club and an art club.
We’re proud to announce that Orchard Junior School has achieved the Gold School Games Mark for the second year in a row! A huge well done to all our pupils and staff for their outstanding commitment to sport and physical activity.
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This year, we’ve further expanded sporting opportunities across the school - boosting the number of intra-school events and setting a new participation record in inter-school competitions!
#TeamOrchard #SchoolGames #GoldMark2025
Seatbelt Safety
Click here to see some information about Seatbelt Safety from the Road Safety Team
Year 6 Multiplication Support
If your child would like some support with Multiplication or would like to do some more multiplication work. Please use the QR Codes Provided.
PTFA Update
Thank you so much to the hard work fundraising by our PTFA, We have now taken delivery of our new minibus! Our first outing will be a cross country race next week.
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Thanks again to the PTFA.
School Notices
The Road Safety Team are responsible for educating young people and their families on the importance of keeping safe when travelling in a vehicle. Part of this education includes ensuring young people are travelling with correct restraints. Are you aware that 37% of children are in the wrong type of seat for their age and/or height? The Road Safety Team would like to share this car restraint leaflet with you to ensure you know how to always keep your child(ren) safe – in the correct restraint. There are also hints and tips about choosing the right seat, transporting other people’s children and how to fit different types of car seat. To read this informative leaflet, please visit – In car safety parent guide.
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New 15 Session Course - Final Spots Available! Athletic Youth Club is a weekly, long-term athletic development programme designed to help young people build speed, strength, agility, coordination and confidence in a fun, supportive environment. Sessions are suitable for all abilities and are ideal for children who play sport or simply want to move better and feel stronger. Who: Ages 7+ Where: Noadswood School Sports Hall When: Thursdays 5–6pm Next Programme: 15-week block starting Thursday 20th November Booking Options: Full Course or Weekly Bookings Available Save 10% on all bookings with code: FC10 Training is delivered by Mr Ramsey and his Football Clinic team of qualified youth development coaches with backgrounds in sports science, biomechanics and multi-sport coaching. ✅ Age-appropriate athletic training ✅ Focus on fundamental movement skills ✅ Confidence-building, inclusive sessions ✅ Fun, game-based learning to keep children motivated Register: www.thefootballclinicuk.com/athletic-youth-club
