18 Jan 2008 - Newsletter No 17
Horfield CEVC Primary School
Newsletter No.17 - Friday 18th January 2008
Grounds tidying I’d like to start this week’s newsletter by saying a very big thank you to all the children, parents and staff who helped out at last Saturday’s grounds tidy-up session. It was a beautiful morning wedged between some fairly dreadful weather and the large group of volunteers certainly made quite an impact in the few hours that they were here. As a result of their labours we now have a fully prepared garden area which has been completely dug over with new compost and is ready for planting. The play area has about half of the old bark removed to the conservation area and "wild" section to form the base for some new paths, and there was a range of other tasks completed including pruning, litter picking, repair work plus sundry other jobs. Thank you. It was a thoroughly successful morning and the spirit of goodwill, teamwork and support was very evident indeed. We are currently arranging for the Grounds contractors to complete the clearance of the play area and install new bark. Now that the City Council arranges street collections of Christmas trees it does feel that it’s unnecessary for us to hire the tree shredder on another occasion though. However, this will mean that we’re no longer tied to the Saturday after Twelfth Night to have these outdoor sessions in the future! New Year Discos Tonight is Disco Night! Tickets are £2 each and can be purchased on the door. There are two discos. 5.30 – 6.45 Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3, 7.00 – 8.15 Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6. The children do not need to bring any extra money as refreshments will be provided as part of the admission price. Ice Skating Day Saturday February 9th 12 noon – 4.00pm A new event for our school is Ice Skating in the hall. Details were sent out earlier this week. The cost will be £4.00 for a one hour session and tickets, which must be bought in advance, are available from the school office. Children must be accompanied by an adult at this event. Questionnaire for Parents Please remember to return the extended school parent questionnaire which was included in last week’s newsletter as soon as you can and before the end of January. Mrs Caporn Baby News I am very happy to inform you that Mrs Caporn’s baby, Jonathan Andrew, was born on Wednesday 9th January. The new babe weighed in at 10lb and I gather the Caporn family are well and adjusting to the change rapidly! Arts newsletter Please read the Arts insert with today’s newsletter as it gives information about most of the exciting arts initiatives that are planned for the next few months at school. Henry Many parents and children will remember our knitted mascot, Henry, who used to spend time each week in classes where children had been particularly well behaved. Unfortunately, old Henry became rather frail and it was decided that he needed to retire from school for a more restful location. However, I’m delighted to announce that we have a brand new Henry mascot who will be presented to the school on Monday morning. Like his predecessor, the new Henry enjoys the company of polite and friendly children and each Monday he will be go to the Key Stage 1 class that has been selected as the class where Henry will be most likely to be well looked after. Which class will he go to on Monday? We also have a miniature version of Henry, (to be known as Harry) complete with rucksack and teddy bear, who will visit children who are ill for a while or who are hospitalised. The idea is that he stays with the child for a few days before being sent back to school ready to visit any other child who has the misfortune to be away through illness. Harry is currently with a Year 1 boy who recently had surgery in hospital. Our thanks to Mrs Dowse for creating both mascots! Lateness The dark, cold and wet mornings have certainly impacted adversely on all those resolutions to be punctual this term as we are experiencing more lateness than usual at the moment. Lateness is affecting the beginnings of lessons and many teachers are finding their efforts are frustrated by too many children coming in after the official registration time. Moreover, those children who are persistently late are missing out on valuable teaching and feel very uncomfortable about arriving once lessons have begun. Consequently, we have decided to pay particular attention to lateness from Monday onwards. Our morning expectations are: 8.30am The playground gates are opened for children to begin arriving and gathering for school. On wet days children are expected to wait in the hall. 8.45am The external doors to the school are opened and children should then make their way to corridors and cloakrooms to remove coats, organise bags, packed lunch boxes, books etc. 8.55am We expect children to be inside classrooms by this time and ready for the day to start. Teachers expect to start calling attendance and dinner registers at 8.55am. If a child is not in the room at this time they are marked as late in the register. 9.00am Teachers will send registers to the office. Children arriving after 8.55am must inform the office staff that they are present so that their late attendance can be recorded and dinner arrangements confirmed. 9.30am Any child arriving after 9.30am (without prior notification) is officially regarded as being an "unauthorised absence". This information appears on the child’s annual report. 9.30am onwards - The office staff will telephone parents when they are concerned that there is an unexplained absence.
Can I also remind parents that we do expect notification by note / phone / email before 9.30am on the first day of any absence. We also require notes explaining absence when a child returns to school. If we are in any doubt about the legitimacy of any absence we are obliged to record it as unauthorised.
Behaviour
We all know that children fall in and out of friendships on occasions and there are well used systems and processes for dealing with these difficulties when they occur in school. Unfortunately, there have been a couple of occasions recently when parents / relations have intervened directly with children in the playground at the beginning or the end of the day with the result that children have felt intimidated, and their parents angered. Talking to a child in the playground about children’s disputes is not an acceptable course of action as the school must take responsibility for behavioural matters whilst children are in school and we cannot condone other adults taking such direct action. If parents are concerned about a behavioural issue they must follow the correct procedure for dealing with this by informing class teachers, Ms Lewis or myself, and then allowing these staff to resolve any problems that may be occurring. If parents feel that their concerns are not addressed appropriately than they should make an appointment to see me, and if we are still unable to satisfy ongoing concerns, then the complaints procedure should be followed.
Contact information
If you had a new mobile phone for Christmas and / or your number has changed can you make sure the office is updated please.
After school Sports activities this term
Your child, if they have expressed an interest, will have been given information about new clubs starting this term. These are Fun & Football on a Thursday and Rugby on a Friday – both clubs will cater for Reception to Year 6 inclusive
Year 5/6 tennis is on a Monday and Year 1/2 tennis is on a Friday.
Students of the Week: Students of the Week in Year 6 are Charlie Mackenzie for his good progress in maths this week and Carys Patterson for her all-round maturity and helpfulness throughout the school. Well done both!
Assembly Theme: Our assembly theme for next week is Dreams. This will be launched on Monday, which just happens to be Martin Luther King Day, when we shall also be telling the children about a writing challenge which is related to the theme for the week.
Horfield Welly Playgroup Vacancies Wanted: Two Playgroup Assistants for Horfield Welly Playgroup
Applicants must have some experience of working with groups of children in
a play environment. A relevant NVQ2 or similar is desirable but not
essential.
4 x sessions per week Tuesday-Friday 9.00am-12.30pm
14 hours per week, including 1 hour admin time
Term time only. £22 per session (with NVQ 2) or £19.50 (unqualified)
For more information please contact Joanne Marsh, Chair of Horfield Welly
Playgroup on 07932 121232 or email jo.mike@virgin.net
A Sutton