Whole School Newsletter 13 February 2026

Keeping it EP this week…

On Wednesday we hosted Camden’s Maths Team Challenge - an inter-school maths competition with 12 schools competing in a whole day of maths puzzles and games at an extremely high level. It was the perfect encapsulation of our values - achieve excellence and love learning! This was a chance for children to work collaboratively- developing strategies, thinking quickly and risk-taking in mathematical challenges. Maths is best experienced through curiosity and enjoyment, and it was fantastic to see children’s joyful excitement, energy and determination as they raced to solve problems… quite literally in the last relay round! We are proud that our Year 6 Team EP mathletes took second place, with St Eugene’s overall winners.

Excellence in maths teaching starts early at EP, and we are delighted to have been chosen by the Department of Education as one of only 100 schools to support their RISE programme. This scheme supports educators in developing excellent practice, with schools selected based on their record of improving outcomes. We will be welcoming visiting teachers to share how EP teaches high-quality early maths in Reception, building deep number sense and fluency to give children the best start!

Nursery and Reception went on their first outings this year, heading to the wonderful Kentish Town City Farm to meet all the characters from our stories - The Little Red Hen and The 3 Billy Goats Gruff. Thank you to all the parent helpers who joined us.

Save the date for EP Quiz Fundraiser - Thursday 23rd April. We love how our school community keeps innovating to Keep it EP. On Thursday 23rd April we will be holding a Quiz Fundraiser evening for adults from families past and present and our wider community. More details to follow but the theme will be… Raise the Tower!

This week is National Safer Internet week and the children have been learning about ‘Smart tech, safe choices – Exploring the safe and responsible use of AI’. We have reviewed and updated our Online Safety and Acceptable Use Policies to make sure that they reflect new technologies and keep our children safe and these changes are detailed later in this newsletter.

After Half Term:

Monday

INSET day - school closed for children

Tuesday

Y1 & 2 Multi-Sports Club
Deadline for Royal Academy Young Artist submissions - see below

Wednesday

8-8:45am Dawn Chorus choir
9-10 - Parent Talk in the Lab - Winter Wellness workshop
Y2 visit The Ragged School
Y6 to RAF Hendon

Thursday

8-8:45am Y3/4 Dodgeball & Multisports Club
Chinese New Year celebration lunch - menu change to chicken with rice or vegetable noodles

Friday

8-8:45am Junior Girls’ Fitness Fun
3:30- 4:30pm Y2-Y6 Gym Club
Y1 host the Snack Sale

Overview of key dates

Spring Term

Monday 16 - Friday 20 February - Half term
Monday 23 February INSET Day - school closed for children
Thursday 5 March - World Book Day Dress up as your favourite book character (optional)
Wed 18 and Thurs 19 March - Parent Progress Meetings
Friday 20 March - Stay & Play
w/c Monday 23 March - Year 3 start a one week swimming block
Friday 27 March - The Great Egg Race and last day of term ending at 3:30pm

Summer Term

Thursday 23rd May - Quiz Fundraiser - Raise the Tower!
Monday 4 May - Bank Holiday
Year 6 SATs tests Monday 11- Thursday 14 May
Sunday 17 May - Run Kids Run tbc (awaiting confirmation from RKR)
Thursday 21 May - CBC Night
Half term Monday 25 - Friday 29 May
Monday 1st June - INSET day
Saturday 4th July - Summer Fair!
Friday 10th July am - Nursery Sports Day
Monday 13th July am - Sports Day Rec-Y6
Friday 17th July - Last day of term ending 1:30pm

Information and Diary Dates

Online Safety and Acceptable Use of Technologies Policy and Agreement

As artificial intelligence grows and becomes part of everyday life, we have reviewed and updated our Online Safety and Acceptable Use Policies to make sure that they reflect new technologies and keep our children safe. We have also incorporated new guidance from the Department of Education on phones and smart devices in school. We ask that parents discuss the Acceptable Use of Technologies Policy at home as appropriate, including the risks associated with mobile phones and internet enabled devices.

When children joined EP we asked parents to sign the Acceptable Use Agreement. As this agreement has been updated to reflect emerging technologies, after half-term we will ask children and parents in Year 3-6 to sign and return the updated version of this agreement.

We currently allow children to bring mobile phones into school if required for their journey, and these must be handed into the school office immediately on arrival. We are extending the same rule to smartwatches and wearables, many of which have similar functionalities as phones. After half-term children may only wear analogue or digital watches in school.

We are increasingly concerned about the impact of smartphones and social media on children and support the campaign Smartphone Free Childhood

From September 2026, children will not be allowed to bring smart phones onto school premises. ‘Brick’ phones will be allowed if a necessity and must be handed in.

There are many useful resources for parents and carers in supporting their children with safe internet use. A few of these are linked below:

Information and Diary Dates

Young Engineers Competition

It’s almost time for entries into this year’s Young Engineers Competition This is a national competition that poses the question ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do? To enter, the children are asked to write a pitch letter and sketch out a design for something that they think will solve a problem, big or small. We are always blown-away by how inventive and ingenious our children are, and have a long history of both finalists and winners in this competition!

Look out for more details coming home soon on how to enter, but half-term is a great time to start thinking and talking about about problem-solving inventions!

Winter Wellness Workshop - Wednesday 25th February

We’re pleased to welcome Danielle Smale, Camden Health Advisor, who will be joining us for a Winter Wellness Workshop for parents and carers. The session will share practical information and guidance as well as providing an opportunity to discuss support available around mental health, healthy eating, physical activity, cost of living and immunisations. All welcome - no booking required, simply join us in the lab after drop-off.

World Book Day - Thursday 5th March

Keep donating any unwanted or outgrown costumes and props to the costume swap box inside the gate. The swap table will be set up when we get back for families to swap and reuse after half-term.

Royal Academy Young Artists’ Competition

We have registered EP for the RA Young Artists' Exhibition. Competition winners show their work in the online gallery and previous EP artists have been chosen to exhibit at the The Royal Academy itself. The artwork can be made using any medium. It can be a painting, sculpture, photograph, installation, video, drawing or a combination. Open to ages 4 – 19 years, contact Sophie in Reception, sophie@eleanorpalmer.camden.sch.uk by Tuesday 24th February to submit. Send with a short description including title, size, and a little about the artwork and why you made it. A great half-term project?! https://youngartists.royalacademy.org.uk/

Camden Music

Our friends at Camden Music run many different music courses; vocal and instrumental, individual and group sessions. On Saturday 21st February (the second weekend in half-term) they are running a ‘Try and Instrument Day’ for children in Years 3-6 at the Crowndale Centre in Camden. More information linked.