Friday 30th January 2026

Dear parents and carers of Stepney Park,

Music at Stepney Park. We have had a very musical week at Stepney Park this week, with professional harpist Diego Laverde Rojas visiting Y4-6 in assembly, and the whole school taking part in a special Music around the World event on Friday. This is part of a wide musical offer at Stepney Park, which includes instrumental lessons for older children in guitar, flute and violin as well as a school choir and, new this year, a school band. If you think your child might enjoy any of this, please encourage them to speak to Stuart, our music teacher, in the first instance.

Phones and other devices. As you may have seen in the media, government guidance is now clear that schools should be phone-free for children. This is due to the abundant research demonstrating the negative impact on education of the distractions they present. As in many primary schools, we do not allow children to have phones in school at Stepney Park. However, on some occasions recently, children have brought smart watches into school. We believe these can have similar adverse effects on education to phones and I am therefore asking for your support to ensure, if your child is lucky enough to have such a device, that it does not come into school. I have asked staff in school to confiscate smart watches and return them to parents if they see them.

All the best for the week ahead.

Richard.

Headteacher, Stepney Park Primary School.