Newsletter No:4 - 3rd February 2010

Playground Development
I would like to begin this week’s letter with some good news!
New equipment has been ordered for the children’s use at playtimes, including balls, skipping ropes, bean bags etc. We are also having a football and netball court marked out on the playground to help with games at playtimes, as well for PE lessons and clubs. How exciting is that?!

PTA Sponsored Silence Event
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the next event will take place on 12th February. We have invited all children to participate in a sponsored silence event to help raise further funds for our library. Sponsor forms that were sent out last week should be returned by next Wednesday, as we will need them on 12th February to record the outcomes.

There will also be a ‘Bake and Take’ sale after school.
The PTA committee has requested donations of foods such as cakes, biscuits, cookies, samosas, bhajis etc. to help raise further funds. The sale will take place in the small hall and it would be lovely to meet some more parents. Please send the food in on the morning of Friday 12th February, so that we can organise the stalls.

Parents Evening
Please see the accompanying letter and return by Monday 8th February with your time requests, so that we can confirm appointment times by the end of next week.

Midday Relief Vacancy
The closing date is Friday 5th February. Therefore, any applications received after this date cannot be considered.

School Library
As a new school, we are striving to provide the very best for our pupils with very limited funds as we do not have a resource to start with, like other established schools. We have already spent a significant amount of money to stock up the library with good quality books, but require additional books for the children’s use. If you are able to help, your support will be most appreciated. Therefore, I would ask you to reconsider and send in 1 book only – see below for ideas.

Nursery Books, DVDs or CDs on Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales
Reception Traditional Stories from Around the World or Dual Text Books
Year 1 Atlases, Information Books about Countries, Homes, Toys, World History,
Religions or Festivals
Year 2 Poetry for different age groups & from across the world
Year 3 Short Chaptered Books or Anthologies of Short Stories
Year 4 Stories set in school, forests and outer space for across the age range
Year 5 Information Books about the Body, Plants, Animals, Landscapes and Habitats
Year 6 Language dictionaries, particularly Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Portugese, and
other languages represented within the school

If you are not able to get what has been suggested, we will be grateful for any suitable new books for the specified age group.

Feedback from Parents
As indicated in last week’s letter, as the incoming head teacher I am keen to gather your feedback on what the school does well and where it needs to improve. Therefore, I would ask that you all check the website on Friday for a link to the on-line questionnaire, where you are asked to comment on a number of areas confidentially. I believe that feedback from parents is crucial in moving any school towards further improvement, and I would ask that you give time to respond to the questionnaire. If you do not have access to the internet, please let the school office know, so that we can provide a paper copy for you to complete.

Uniform
We have a huge amount of good quality uniform donated by parents, whose children have outgrown the size. I would therefore invite you to come along to the school office to collect good quality school jumpers etc. at no cost to you. Equally, I would invite parents, who have school uniform that you no longer need, to hand it into the school office for families who could make good use of it.

Year 6 Parents Meeting Monday 8th February 2pm
I would like to meet with all Yr 6 parents, who are able to attend the meeting next Monday. I realise that this may be short notice for some, but am keen to share some information regarding Year 6 SATs and other arrangements for the Year group. Please make every effort to attend. If, however, you are not able to be there, we will be sending out information via the office.

Meetings/Workshops/ Coffee Mornings
We are planning to hold these regularly. More to follow…..

Support with Translations and Interpretation
As we have some families who do not yet speak much English, I am looking for a team of parents to help us with communication. If you are able to help with this, please let the school office know. The greatest need is with Eastern European languages as well as Somali and Bengali.