newsletters1011

November 2011

Can you believe it’s only four weeks to Christmas!

There’s lots going on in school before we break up for the Christmas holidays on Wednesday 21^st December (then only 4 sleeps left before Father Christmas arrives). I‘m sure you are hearing the Christmas songs and lines being rehearsed. The children are performing these on:

F/S and INFANTS - Songs from around the World on –

Tuesday 13^th at 1.30 pm and

Wednesday 14^th at 9.30 am.

JUNIORS - Production of Robin Hood Saves the Day - Monday 12^thDecember at 1.45 pm and

Tuesday 13^th at 9.30 am.

The letters for tickets for these are coming out tomorrow. Please come along and enjoy these times with us as it is lovely to see you all and everyone has worked very hard.

CHRISTMAS PARTIES

F/S – Mrs Beck, Mrs Blanchenot and Mrs Merchant on Friday 16^th.

Yr1/Yr2 – Miss Small and Miss Wood on Monday 19^th.

Yr3/Yr4 – Mrs Horton and Mrs Kay on Tuesday 20^th.

Yr5/ Yr6 – Miss Mills, Mrs Hallam and Mr Moore on Thursday 15^th.

Thank you for your donations for these which really do help to make them such a success.

CHRISTMAS DINNER

This is Wednesday 7^thDecember. Please can you indicate if you want your child to have a dinner by Friday this week (that’s if they normally have sandwiches). School dinners have gone up from approximately 80 per day to 115 per day and we are expecting 200 for Christmas dinner so please let us know so we can accommodate everyone. I’ve already had a try of what is on offer – I want Miss Moores to be cooking my dinner for me on the 25^th!

Children in Need

Your kind generosity enabled us to collect over £100. Thank you.

Unwanted Clothes collection

It’s amazing what a good clear out can do. PTA were given over £350 by the company who collected the bags from us. Again a big thank you.

SAT’s results

An excellent year. The value added score this year puts us in the top 13% of schools Nationally for English and the top 4% in Maths. Value added measures where the children have started from and where the children have got to whilst being at our school (regardless of their ability). Our score was over 101% for English and over 102% for Numeracy and shows that all of our children really can achieve their very best because they all have excellent staff who work tirelessly for them. Well done to everyone.

Building work

The builders seemed to make a slow start, and the start of the ICT suite was delayed, but they are getting back on track now. Luckily the weather has remained fairly dry and it’s not too cold so, fingers crossed things will continue at a pace. All we can do is remain patient – so thank you for yours too.

Christmas post box

This will be in the entrance (inside) from Thursday 1^st December. Please ensure the full name of the child and the class they are in goes on the envelope. Please let your child put them in the post box as they love the delivery each afternoon and the classes love being the sorting office too. (Not sure about Mr Grey’s thoughts on this though!)

Christmas Fayre

Friday 9^th December – straight after school in the hall. Thank you.

	February 2012 Dates for your diary We break up for half term this Friday (10^th) and return to school on Monday 20^th February. We break up for the Easter holidays on Friday 30^th March and return to school on Monday 16^th April. There is a bank holiday on Monday 7^th May and then the half term is slightly later this year because of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. We break up for the half term on Thursday 31^st May and return to school on Monday 11^th June. The Thursday is our last INSET day of the year. We are sorry for the short notice of the last INSET day after Christmas, as we always try and give you at least 6 weeks. Unfortunately there was some asbestos found right at the end of term and it had to be removed safely, when the children were not around. We thought it was preferable to have an INSET day rather than an extra days holiday, which we would have been allowed to do. Thank you for your understanding. Contacting parents/carers We have looked at buying the system where texting is used to notify parents/carers of sudden closures, as we had problems last year with one of the notified radio stations giving us out as a totally different school when we had the snow (only two families arrived at school though so thank you for your networking). Unfortunately, at the present time it isn’t feasible as too many people are changing their mobile phone numbers without informing us and we are having difficulty contacting you directly. We will monitor this situation and if the contactable numbers go up to at least 90% we will be able to look at it again. Please can you let us know if you are going to be late collecting your child from school, as it is upsetting for them having to wait, especially when we can’t get hold of you. Thank you. Building work The Reception class will be moving back into their own room by the end of the week and then the work starts on the shared area. The spare classroom, which will now become a meeting room, will be completed at the same time. The ICT suite is well on its way and we are in the process of buying the equipment for it. We are also going to have trolleys for lap tops so we can have computers in classes. Roll on Easter, when it should all be completed. PTA There are discos coming up directly after the half term. The PTA is looking to spend some of the money raised by you at fundraising events. The children will be discussing this at class and school council. Please chat with your children about the ideas you and they have. We will be looking to have things in place by the summer half term. Thank you again.
	December 2011 Concerts Thank you to everyone for your support with these. All of the children were brilliant. Remembering all of the songs from around the world and the juniors (particularly Year 5) doing an excellent job with the difficult script of Robin Hood were a credit to themselves, you as parents and the school. A big well done to everyone. Thank you for your generosity during our collections at the end of each performance. We raised a magnificent £272.96 which we will be splitting between the charities associated with Autism, Parder Willie Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. Royal British Legion We have received a lovely letter from the above thanking us for the £103.51 donation, which was collected from the sale of poppies. Again, thank you for your generosity. Holidays We all break up from school this Wednesday (21^st) and the children return to school on Friday 7^th January. We have got an INSET day on the Thursday. Building Work The Nursery are in the process of moving into their new area. Mrs Merchant’s class are moving into the old Nursery today and Wednesday, as the work is starting in their classroom on Thursday morning. Hopefully this will be completed early in the New Year although there is a new outside area, with a shelter to be completed in addition to the above. The ICT suite should hopefully be finished by the end of January too. This will leave the shared area and the new store room to be completed by Easter. Parties These have been a great success and Father Christmas has made an appearance at each of the FS and Infant parties. Thank you for your donations towards the food for these. Christmas Fayre This raised approximately £500. The PTA are looking for suggestions for spending some of the well-earned profits. They will send out a list with ideas on in the New Year and the children will discuss these in class council too. Thank you for returning the smarties packets too – this raised nearly £400. Not a lot of news but lots of thank yous on this newsletter. We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
	November 2011 Can you believe it’s only four weeks to Christmas! There’s lots going on in school before we break up for the Christmas holidays on Wednesday 21^st December (then only 4 sleeps left before Father Christmas arrives). I‘m sure you are hearing the Christmas songs and lines being rehearsed. The children are performing these on: F/S and INFANTS - Songs from around the World on – Tuesday 13^th at 1.30 pm and Wednesday 14^th at 9.30 am. JUNIORS - Production of Robin Hood Saves the Day - Monday 12^thDecember at 1.45 pm and Tuesday 13^th at 9.30 am. The letters for tickets for these are coming out tomorrow. Please come along and enjoy these times with us as it is lovely to see you all and everyone has worked very hard. CHRISTMAS PARTIES F/S – Mrs Beck, Mrs Blanchenot and Mrs Merchant on Friday 16^th. Yr1/Yr2 – Miss Small and Miss Wood on Monday 19^th. Yr3/Yr4 – Mrs Horton and Mrs Kay on Tuesday 20^th. Yr5/ Yr6 – Miss Mills, Mrs Hallam and Mr Moore on Thursday 15^th. Thank you for your donations for these which really do help to make them such a success. CHRISTMAS DINNER This is Wednesday 7^thDecember. Please can you indicate if you want your child to have a dinner by Friday this week (that’s if they normally have sandwiches). School dinners have gone up from approximately 80 per day to 115 per day and we are expecting 200 for Christmas dinner so please let us know so we can accommodate everyone. I’ve already had a try of what is on offer – I want Miss Moores to be cooking my dinner for me on the 25^th! Children in Need Your kind generosity enabled us to collect over £100. Thank you. Unwanted Clothes collection It’s amazing what a good clear out can do. PTA were given over £350 by the company who collected the bags from us. Again a big thank you. SAT’s results An excellent year. The value added score this year puts us in the top 13% of schools Nationally for English and the top 4% in Maths. Value added measures where the children have started from and where the children have got to whilst being at our school (regardless of their ability). Our score was over 101% for English and over 102% for Numeracy and shows that all of our children really can achieve their very best because they all have excellent staff who work tirelessly for them. Well done to everyone. Building work The builders seemed to make a slow start, and the start of the ICT suite was delayed, but they are getting back on track now. Luckily the weather has remained fairly dry and it’s not too cold so, fingers crossed things will continue at a pace. All we can do is remain patient – so thank you for yours too. Christmas post box This will be in the entrance (inside) from Thursday 1^st December. Please ensure the full name of the child and the class they are in goes on the envelope. Please let your child put them in the post box as they love the delivery each afternoon and the classes love being the sorting office too. (Not sure about Mr Grey’s thoughts on this though!) Christmas Fayre Friday 9^th December – straight after school in the hall. Thank you.
	October 2011 Building work This is starting during October half term and continuing for twenty two weeks, finishing at the end of March. We are having an ICT suite built and a new Foundation Stage developed where the current Nursery and Reception classes are. There are a few bits and pieces being undertaken as well to bring school the school up to date in relation to fire regulations. The final thing is to build a new ‘terrace’ on the playground, as the current one is crumbling away after the heavy winter we had last year. Our biggest problem during this period will be access and managing with a much smaller playground. Access for the builders will be through the Children’s Centre, so we will be able to use the Albert Road and Foyle Avenue entrances as usual. There will however be a large compound cordoned off on the playground and this will have a space in the fencing, which will be open first thing in the morning and at the end of the school day for people to pass through. Your patience during this challenging time will be very much appreciated. Thank you. Injuries Following feedback from a small proportion of parents/carers before the summer holidays we said that we would look at changes that we could make to our system of reporting accidents that your child may have whilst they are at school. This applies particularly to head and facial injuries. Currently when a child bumps their head during the school day a cold compress is applied, it is written in the accident book and if no further attention is required, because the child is fit and well, a bumped head sticker is given to them so that parents/carers are aware of what has happened. This is what happened to a child earlier in the term but because a sticker wasn’t evident when they later vomited the parent wasn’t informed that their child had bumped their head earlier when they were phoned to collect them. Therefore we have added to our reporting as stickers can obviously be lost, covered with a jumper when the sticker has been put on a shirt or, when put on a jumper not seen because the jumper has been taken off. All head injuries are now reported to the office as well, so that if a child falls ill and a parent has to be telephoned we can report that a head injury has taken place earlier. Regarding ‘boxer’ bumps on eyes and around the mouth we will ring and inform the parent/carer, as although these are often nothing to worry about they look unsightly for you when you pick your child up and it is better to know beforehand. We will do the same with grazes to the face too as although they look insignificant at the time, when they begin to scab over they look unsightly. We have very few accidents here and when the children do have accidents they are very well cared for, but hopefully this will go some way to improve communication. Please ensure your child informs us if they have a bump or a bang as often nothing has been done because we don’t know anything about it. There isn’t a requirement to have everyone trained in first aid but we take this matter seriously and therefore everyone here is a named first aider (renewal during INSET this half term). In addition to this we have three fully trained paediatric first aiders. Thank you. Half term We break up for half term on Friday 21st October and the children return Tuesday 1st November. It is INSET day for teachers on the Monday.

	September 2011 Welcome back The children have come back to school looking really smart and ready to learn. Well done everyone. A busy year ahead and there’s lots to tell you about already. Harvest Festival Saint Mary’s church are coming into school on Monday (26^th Sept.) to do an assembly for us in school. The produce bought from home will be given to the elderly in the area and any surplus goods will be given to the Padley Centre to feed the homeless. If you know of any elderly people in the area who would appreciate a gift of food then please write their name and address on a piece of paper and hand it into the office. Thank you. Individual School Photographs The photographer will be coming to school next Tuesday (27^th). This is the opportunity to have photographs of siblings taken too. The photographer will be in school at 8.30 am to take family photographs. School kitchen Our new kitchen is now up and running and the kitchen staff are producing wonderful meals. Last term’s menu is still being used until all of the equipment has been tried and tested and you can look on the website to see what is being offered each day. New menus are being created and will be available shortly. The new combi oven and dishwasher are causing a great deal of excitement! Paying for dinners Please pay for dinners each Monday in order that we don’t have to keep money in school. Place the money in a sealed envelope with your child’s name on and the days they wish to have a lunch. This then needs to be given by your child to their class teacher. Thank you. INSET day and holiday Our next INSET day is the Monday after October half term. Therefore the children break up for half term on Friday 21^st October and return to school on Tuesday 1^st November. Bikes and helmets The children are more than welcome to cycle to school, but they must wear a helmet. As I’m sure you know wearing a helmet saves many lives a year. Sadly, a few children have been unkind enough to say you look stupid if you wear one and this obviously isn’t the image we want to portray. Please discuss with your child why helmets should be worn. Thank you. Clothes collection This was a great success last time. If you are having a sort out then please donate the clothes to school. Bags will be sent out soon. The rag man is coming on 8^th November to collect them. Again thank you. Breakfast club Please ensure the children are only attending if they are purchasing breakfast from us. PTA AGM This will take place on Tuesday 18^th October at 2.30pm. All parents welcome!