Newsletter 22: 23rd February 2018

‘The best that I can be’

We have had another week full of exciting learning opportunities. It really is a pleasure seeing the children so engaged and the way that the teachers think of such creative ways to engage them.

Year 5 Quick Sticks Hockey

Thank you to Mrs Potts for taking the children to yesterday’s hockey tournament. Here is what the children said :
‘Yesterday was an amazing day of hockey at Coopers. Some of us scored but we all played well as a team and we had lots of fun.’
‘Yesterday was amazing and so much fun. We played 5 games ; unfortunately, we didn’t win any, but we drew one. We all had a lot of fun. It was cold but we warmed up in the end and played the best that we could.’

Thanks for Crazy Hair Day Donations

Gabriel’s father sent me a lovely email to thank us all for our fundraising efforts. He works for a TV company and would like to put a picture of our children on the regional website. If your child is in the picture I send, I will contact you to make sure you agree to their image being used (no names will be published).

World Book Day – Thursday 1st March

World Book Day celebrates the enjoyment and importance of reading. On Thursday 1st March we will be marking the occasion with book related activities at school and in assembly and children are invited to dress up as a character from a book for the day. All children will be issued with a book token which can be used against the value of a book of their choosing at participating book retailers, at our school book fair, or exchanged for one of the free books that are published specifically for World Book Day.
We also have a competition with book voucher prizes for the Infants and Juniors.
Infants are asked to design a character mask. They will be bringing home a template to decorate in any way they like – they may like to back it onto a piece of thicker card then colour or stick pieces on.
Juniors have a picture quiz to complete. They need to identify the characters, the book from which they come (sometimes the character’s name is also the title of the book) and also the author.
All competition entries should be handed to Mrs. McCormack with names clearly marked before the end of February in order to establish the prize-winners for the assembly on March 1st.
In order to boost our Lenten appeal, please send your child in with £1 for dressing up. Thank you.

Lent Games

Our annual ‘Lent Games’ began today, organised by the Fundraising Committee. Each year during Lent, we raise money for the 2 girls in The Gambia whom we are sponsoring through school. The games will be happening every Friday during Lent and the children will be told what they are beforehand (today’s were ‘Guess the Name of the Teddy’ and a drawing competition). The games cost 50p – £1. Please send your child in with their money in a named purse if you wish them to take part.

School Buildings

As many of you probably saw during the Termly Learning Conferences, the school building is very near to completion and the children and staff have been enjoying the space and facilities. My plan is to have our official opening on 5th March in the afternoon. This is dependent on all the remaining equipment/refuse being cleared, which I hope will all be sorted very soon. Please keep the afternoon free, if possible. There will also be an opportunity to try some of the new school lunch menu.

Parking Considerately

Please can you ensure that you park considerately and with respect to our neighbours and their property. It damages the school’s relationship within the community when parents park on or across neighbours’ driveways or on the pavement so that people cannot walk past. Now that staff cars are no longer parked in the village, there should be more parking spaces for parents. If possible, please park at the green and walk down. Please note that you should not park on the blind bend before the school or on the zig-zag lines. I have been talking to the council about possible future solutions for parking, but unfortunately, nothing will happen quickly in regards to this. There will be no parking for parents at the back of the school due to the health and safety risks that are presented by children walking around moving vehicles.

PE Kit

Please ensure that your children have suitable PE kit for outdoors and for indoors (in the event of poor weather). Outdoor PE kit is a dark, plain tracksuit (or tracksuit trousers with a school sweatshirt) and trainers and indoor PE kit is black shorts, a school PE t-shirt and black plimsoles (the shorts and t-shirt can be worn outside in the summer). If you are ordering PE kit from Red Oak Roller, it would also be a good idea to order a school cap in preparation for the summer and a red/gold tie if your child does not have one.

School Lunches and Family Service

I have been so proud of the older children this week during lunchtimes: they have been helping the younger pupils with their lunch- serving them, helping them cut up their food and helping them on the playground too. The new hot meals are delicious and I strongly urge you to encourage your child to try them. We have 74 children having school lunches today, which is the most we have had in a long time. It is my aim that all children will have a school dinner if at all possible. If your child is in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2, there is no charge for the meals. If your child in Years 3- 6,a meal costs just £2.20.
Next Week’s menu will be week 1.

Healthy Packed Lunch

If your child does have packed lunch, please ensure that they do not include sweets or crisps. Children should have a main element to their lunch (sandwich/wrap) and fruit/vegetables. Extras could include a cereal bar and/or yoghurt. Children may also bring fruit/veg to eat at break time (this is provided for Years R, 1 and 2). Drinking water is provided for all children at lunchtime.

Year 2 SATs Meeting

Ms. Holmes would like to invite Year 2 parents to a meeting to inform you about the Year 2 end of Key Stage assessments. You will be given the opportunity to look at some sample materials and ask questions. Ms. Holmes will explain what the children need to do in order to meet the end of KS1 expectations and how you can support your children in this.
The meeting will take place on Thursday 22nd March at 8.45 in the hall. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.

Snow Joke!

Snow is forecast for next week. It looks like it should be fairly light in this area, but please look out for messages on the school website and Primary Contact. We will only close the school if it is unsafe for us to open. If we do open and there is some snow on the premises, we will clear a safe path for the children to come in and take due precautions during the school day.

Work of the Week

Reception- Harlee Hammond-Johnson for making so much effort in his reading and reading some really tricky words.
Class 1&2- Ella Murch for writing a fantastic non-chronological report.
Class 3&4- Kai Boorman for writing an imaginative school report for a fictional character.
Class 5&6- Michelle Onifade for her excellent factual writing.

Commendations

Reception- Arthur Parrish for trying so hard and writing his name independently and the whole class for their excellent manners and behaviour and for always showing respect around the school.
Class 1&2- Michelle Nehmara for being an excellent role model and always trying hard in everything she does.
Class 3&4- Sapphire Hagon for her excellent effort in swimming and for listening very well to the teacher.
Class 5&6- Faye Newman, for achieving 100% and Oliver Mahoney for achieving his personal best in their arithmetic tests.

Achievements

Sapphire Hagon for earning her 100m stripe for swimming.

Headteacher’s Award

The Headteacher’s award went to Abigail Lee for living out our Christian values and our school motto : ‘the best that I can be’.

Well done, everyone!

Attendance

Reception- 100% ; Class 1&2- 93% ; Class 3&4- 97.86% ; Class 5&6- 95.20%
Great job again, Reception!

Dates for the Diary

Thursday 1st March- World Book Day (Dressing up as a book character)
Thursday 15th March- Class 1 and 2 trip to Bedfords Park
Thursday 22nd March- Year 2 SATs meeting- 8.45am in the hall
Thursday 22nd March-Wednesday 27th March- Book Fair (after school in the hall)

Mrs. Kathryn Waters