Parent Needs Childcare Survey 2026

4th September 2026Stuart Longley

Parents and carers – we want to hear from you

We are planning childcare needs across Doncaster to ensure we have enough provision for our families in the future.

We are interested in your childcare situation and what your future needs may be.

Please complete this survey and help us plan and support the childcare provision in Doncaster.

CHILDCARE NEEDS 2026

The survey closes on Monday 14th September 2026 at 09:00 a.m.

We would also very much appreciate your support in sharing the survey more widely through your communication methods/websites/social media etc

The survey will help us to understand the childcare needs across Doncaster moving forward and support the production of our Annual Childcare Sufficiency Assessment.

Thank you in advance

Why and How do we need this information and why is it so important?

  • So we can better understand opinions and perspectives of parents.
  • To make improvements in Learning Environments.
  • To spark discussions with parents
  • To improve family retention and lower vacancy rates.
  • To highlight areas requiring improvement
  • To provide opportunities for recognition, motivation and empowerment

Thanks for your continued support as always.

Regards

Childcare Sufficiency Team
Children, Young People and Families
City of Doncaster Council

Gingerbread Man

4th September 2026Tracy Haddock

In writing, the children have been learning all about The Gingerbread Man. Throughout the week, they have been busy making their own gingerbread men, creating a large gingerbread man and even making the fox!

Take a peep at what they have been up to this week and see all the wonderful learning they have been enjoying!

Crew White – are they nice…or nasty?

4th September 2026Thomas White

This week, Crew White put their place value knowledge to the test by playing the NRICH game Nasty or Nice.

Using dice, the children had to decide carefully where to place each digit to create the best possible number. Every roll brought a new decision: should they play nicely and help their partner, or be nasty and make their challenge much harder?

The competitive element brought plenty of excitement and motivation, but the real challenge was thinking strategically about the value of each digit. We then adapted the game by setting our own rules, exploring how small changes could make it fairer, trickier or even more tactical.

A brilliant session filled with mathematical thinking, discussion and just the right amount of friendly competition!

Our first week back…

4th September 2026Geoff Hewitt

At XP, our first week back looks a little bit different. Across our Trust, students and staff have been working hard to build and reestablish the most important part of our culture – Crew.

Sharing our Stories: 04/09/2026

4th September 2026Geoff Hewitt

Beautiful work this week

Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust!

To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.

Top of the Blogs

Class 12 | WW2 Crafts @ Green Top

Appreciating Kindness @ Plover

Crew McGlone – Tough Runner @ Carcroft School

Focus and Deep Thinking in Year 8 this week @ XP

Hook week day two @ Norton Infants

Crew week = complete! @ Norton Juniors

G29 first week back! @ XP Gateshead

Crew DCU @ XP East

Share your stories with us!

We now have a new dedicated news email so that you can send your stories, updates or ideas about potential news articles directly to us in Comms.

It might be something you or your students have achieved, a charity you’re supporting or anything at all that deserves a wider audience.

Write to us at [email protected] –  we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!

Year 4- Change makers

3rd September 2026Shannon Colclough

A huge congratulations to Louie and Nandi, our newly appointed Change Makers in Crew Colclough! Every pupil did a fantastic job preparing and delivering their speeches, articulating with confidence why they would excel in the role. We are so proud of everyone’s hard work, and we can’t wait to see the positive impact Louie and Nandi will make. Well done!

Year 3 Step Back in Time for Our WW2 Hook Day!

3rd September 2026Hannah McLoughlin

Year 3 had an exciting day stepping back in time as we began our new World War Two topic!

Some of us got into the spirit of the day by dressing up, helping us imagine what life might have been like during the 1940s. We certainly looked the part!

We started our morning by watching the opening of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This helped us to understand what it might have felt like for children who were evacuated from their homes during the war. We then put ourselves in the shoes of an evacuee and wrote our own WW2 diary entries, imagining what it would have been like to leave our families and travel somewhere unfamiliar.

But our day wasn’t finished there! Suddenly, an air raid siren sounded, alerting us to danger. We had to think about how people would have felt hearing this sound during the war. We also had the chance to listen carefully to Morse code and work out the hidden messages being sent.

Then it was our turn to become secret codebreakers! We learned how messages could be communicated secretly and created our own secret messages for others to unpick.

It was a fantastic day of learning, imagining and investigating,and we can’t wait to find out more about World War Two as our expedition continues!

Bikes and scooters on school grounds

3rd September 2026Stuart Longley

Please can children not ride bicycles and scooters on the playgrounds when entering and leaving school.

Please can they walk with their bicycle or scooter when on the school grounds.

This is a health and safety issue as children are riding and scooting fast around the playground when parents and children are waiting to enter classrooms.

We have had a few near misses with children nearly being knocked over.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Toy Afternoon

2nd September 2026Nicola Robson

To conclude our day of play we enjoyed a toy afternoon.

I was so proud to see children sharing their toys, using manners and engaging in purposeful play.

Hook Day- Year 4

2nd September 2026Shannon Colclough

Yesterday, pupils fully immersed themselves in our new expedition, “Lest We Forget: How Does War Change Lives?”, during an engaging Hook Day. Step back in time, the children dressed as World War II evacuees and tackled a series of hands-on challenges: deciphering secret messages in Morse code, crafting authentic diary entries, and taking on a 20-minute STEM challenge to engineer paper bridges strong enough to hold a toy tank. It was an inspiring start to a powerful unit of learning.