Dear
Parents/Carers,
Surely
it’s not Friday again, already?
Choir
Top
billing this week goes to our wonderful intergenerational choir who sang their socks
off at last Friday’s OPAL event at Tinshill Community Hub. It is wonderful that
our pupils are sharing the joy that the sound of music brings with many ears –
we are becoming a popular booking round these parts! Keep up the fantastic
work, guys!
Sport Relief
Today
was a fun day in school with one very sporty Friday! All children completed
their 'sport relief mile', school dinners had gone RED and there were some big
lunchtime queues waiting to enjoy a session on the Wiis at lunchtime. All
proceeds raised will be passed straight to Sports Relief – thank you once again
for your support.
Book
Fair
Children
have been very proud to show me the books they have bought in the past week and
I would be the first to share their excitement in having a brand new, shiny
book in my hands (AND the time to read it!) My thanks to parents who visited
the book fair this week and continue to encourage their child to love a good
book!
Parent Consults
Parents
of pupils from Reception to Year 6 should have received a letter regarding
parent consultation appointments during the final week of this half term.
Please assist us in arranging appointments by returning your preferences as
soon as possible – but certainly no later than Thursday 27th March. Thank
you.
Upcoming Friends events
Don’t
forget – the Easter disco is less than a fortnight away and is booked for 3rd
April. Pupils should buy their £1.50 tickets for this event in advance by
returning the slip below by Friday 28th March. Reception and KS1
pupils will dance from 3-4pm, and KS2 pupils from 4-5pm. Get your disco clothes
ready – it’s nearly here!
Next
week, we will also be manning a Mother’s Day Gift Stall each playtime. If
children would like to buy mum a little gift, they should bring their change
(no more than £1.00) to the shop during playtimes next week.
The
next Friends meeting is on Thursday 27th March at 6.30pm so please
come along and help us plan for a family friendly ‘Challenge Night’ that we can
all enjoy..
School
Photos
Next Tuesday, Tempest photographers will be
in school to take class and sports team photos. We hope to capture some memories
of group endeavours on film – including our intergenerational choir! Please
ensure your child has their PE kit in school so that their sporting team work
can also be captured on film.
Strike
Action
We informed parents on Wednesday this week of
planned national strike action next Wednesday 26th March.
Unfortunately on this occasion we will be affected by the strike and have taken
the decision to operate a partial closure to pupils in Classes 6, 7 and 8 next
Wednesday. This decision has been taken with pupil safety in mind and I am
genuinely sorry for the inevitable inconvenience that this creates. Can I
please appeal for parents of pupils in all other classes to attend school as
normal on Wednesday. Thank you.
Easter Egg Competition
We
will be welcoming your decorated Easter eggs into school from Monday 31st
March. If you need some inspiration for your design – have a look at the blog
for previous years brilliant entries!
Attendance
Oh my goodness: we’ve only gone and done it!
For several weeks, we have been watching our year to date attendance figure
very closely indeed as we have been a tantalising 0.1% off our target 96% for
weeks. This week, following yet another EXCELLENT week of attendance, we have
tipped the scales in our favour and 96% is in the bag. We have never achieved
such an outstanding level of attendance so late in the school year and I
heartily thank you for your efforts! I had better get on the phone and book
some Bouncy Castles, as I promised! Then
we have the simple job of maintaining our 96% for 14 more weeks. Nothing is
impossible! Class 3 have gone and done the business this week by notching up
100% attendance: a second week with Bourbon for you little people! Well done to
everybody for achieving a first.
|
National Minimum ‘Good’ Expectation
|
Target
2013-2014
|
Attendance this week
13/03/2014 -19/03/2014
|
Year to date
04/09/2013 - 19/03/2014
|
||||||||||
|
95%
|
96%
|
96.4%
|
96.0%
|
||||||||||
|
Class attendance figures for the W/E 19/03/2014
|
|||||||||||||
|
Rec A
|
Rec B
|
Class 1
|
Class 2
|
Class 3
|
Class 4
|
Class 5
|
Class 6
|
Class 7
|
Class 8
|
Class 9
|
|||
|
92.4%
|
96.8%
|
95.7%
|
98.3%
|
100%
|
97.7%
|
98.0%
|
95.0 %
|
96.2%
|
97.2 %
|
96.0%
|
|||
Staffing
News
Last
week I informed you about our new ‘Family & Support Team’ which will be
fully established after the Easter holiday. Mrs Susan Brosnan will be joining
us in her role as Attendance & Family Support Worker, and our very own Mrs
Sarah Barnes will be taking on the role of Inclusion Manager in school. Mrs
Brosnan and Mrs Barnes will work very closely with Mr Green – Learning Mentor
in school – and Mrs Turner – Deputy Head teacher and SENCO in school.
Particular congratulations to Mrs Barnes who was successful at interview from a
pool of around 60 applicants. She rose to the challenge at interview and I am
certain that she will continue to do a fantastic job on your behalf in the
coming years. I am sure you can appreciate the priority that we are giving to
this very important area of our school – getting provision in school right for
our children and increasing our capacity to support our families is of the
utmost priority to me personally and I am delighted that we are now in a
position to begin our development in this area.
Sports
News
On
Monday, 30 children from Year 5&6 walked to Yarnbury to participate in
a rugby festival against other local schools. The morning was dedicated
to coaching, where pupils learned the skills needed for the afternoon's
competition. After a quick lunch break, teams competed in a series of groups
and eliminators. There were some very good individual and team performances,
especially from Team A who came 3rd overall out of 20 teams! Mackenzie Tuner,
Liam Jones, Ben Moxon, Cameron Barron, Darcy Bucknell and Oliver Thomas all
deserve special mention for scoring tries, super tackling or just great team
work throughout the day. Well done to all those involved and a BIG thank you to
Mr Harrison (Josh's dad) who gave up his time to come and help out!
Last month, Years 3-6 participated in a sponsored Ultimate Dodgeball Day to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. The sponsorship money has now all been collected in and counted and the final figure raised is a staggering £1300!!! This is a fantastic amount and a BIG thank you to all the pupils, parents, grandparents and wider family and friends who supported this great cause.
Have
a wonderful weekend,
Mrs
Bailey
