Western Primary School Newsletter No 02
10th October 2008
Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope the children are now feeling settled in their new year groups and are enjoying the topics and learning tasks that have been planned for them.
Home-School Partnerships
I hope you have found the Topic letters from the classteacher informative and helpful, giving you an insight into expectations for the year ahead. The Parent-Teacher Consultations planned for Tuesday 21st October and Thursday 23rd October will provide an opportunity for you to discuss your child’s learning in more detail.
We want to work in partnership with you to ensure that Western is a place where the children are happy and have positive attitudes to life and learning. We want to create an ethos that encourages pupils to be polite, considerate and thoughtful. We have high but realistic expectations of all children in terms of their work and behaviour. A copy of our Behaviour Management Policy is on the school’s website,
www.western.hants.sch.uk or, alternatively, please ask at the front office and we will supply you with a paper copy.
We know that children make better progress, academically and socially, when there is good communication between home and school and when aspirations and educational goals are shared.
Janet Mitchell, a Family Support Worker, based in Winchester, has offered to come and talk to parents about the Top Ten Tips for Successful Parenting at a coffee morning in November, if there is sufficient interest. It will be an informal session over a coffee and will cover some principles of successful parenting. This is also an opportunity to speak to Janet about the Triple P parenting programme in more detail. If you are interested in attending an informal discussion, please complete the pro-forma at the end of the newsletter and return it to school by Thursday 23rd October so that I can arrange a date with Janet.
Imagine …Create …Achieve
There are lots of systems and structures in school to promote children’s self-esteem and we like to celebrate both effort and achievement.
We always enjoy hearing about children’s successes outside school. If your child has done something special that has been marked in some way eg. by a certificate, photograph or article in the newspaper - they are welcome to bring it to the front office and I will arrange to have it displayed on the boards near the ICT suite (next to the Citizens of the Week photographs).
We look forward to hearing your news …
Staff Appointment
We welcome Mr Paul Budd to the team at Western. He will be joining us in half-term as Site Manager. He is currently working as part of the Site Team at The Westgate so is very familiar with our site.
We wish Mr Yaldren a long and happy retirement when he leaves on 24th October 2008.
Lunchtimes
Most children enjoy their lunchbreaks - some like to be active, some like skipping or ball games, some children like to chat, some mooch, some are bored and a few may get up to mischief. With plenty of adult supervision, the fitness trail can be open, the children on the Friendship Bench can be encouraged to join in, staff can chat, play and interact with the children. If you are able to spare 75 mins per week to help 421 children have a happy and constructive lunch hour - please contact us. We would love to hear form you.
After School - Use of the Field
With the exception of a couple of days, we have been lucky with the weather over the past couple of weeks. It is lovely to see the children enjoying the autumn sunshine.
On Wednesdays, we have two extra curricular clubs taking place on the field - Running Club takes place on the ‘bottom field’ and Team Elite’s Tri-Golf takes place on ‘top field’. This means that the field cannot be used on Wednesday afternoons when these two clubs are taking place.
Please find a list of extra-curricular clubs being run this term. Thanks to everyone for their time and energy to organise this wide range of activities.
Please remember that children should be supervised if they stay at the end of the school day and codes of conduct and out of bounds should be adhered to. This is not always the case and can cause upset and lead to disputes and accidents.
Beginning of the School Day
A staff member is on duty on the playground from 8.45am. Some children are arriving at school unaccompanied very early in the morning - sometimes before 8.00am. Before school, staff are preparing for the day ahead and are unable to supervise children who are dropped off early.
We are investigating the viability of running a breakfast club and will be sending out a questionnaire in the near future.
As you know, space is at a premium at Western and, therefore, we ask that parents do not enter the school via the cloakrooms in the morning. If you need to come into school, please use the main front door.
Following an incident where a toddler was nearly hit by a car driving away after dropping off a child at school in the morning, please could anyone driving be extra vigilant in the vicinity of the school.
Now we have the funding for the Travel Plan, improvements to the entrance areas around the school can be tendered and we hope work will begin in the near future.
Buildings
I am very sorry that the wall by the path into the main entrance remains unrepaired. HCC have been in a long running dispute (of over a year) with the company who originally built the extension. There appears to be a problem with the render. After much cajoling, Hampshire have now agreed to repaint the wall, as its current state gives the wrong impression to parents, children staff and visitors. Unfortunately, it is only a temporary measure as the dispute to find a longer term solution has not yet been resolved.
Lost Property
We already have several bags of unnamed lost property from this term. This will be on display during the Parent-Teacher Consultations. Unclaimed items will be taken to a charity shop. Please can we ask that you label all items of clothing so, if they do get lost, we can return them. Labels are available at a reasonable cost from our uniform supplier at www.Direct4schools.com .
Parent Telephone Numbers
Please can we ask that parents do not request the telephone numbers of other parents in order that social arrangements can be made. We cannot disclose this information and it is inappropriate to then request that the office staff call the other parent on their behalf. Thank you.
Celebration assemblies
We are planning Celebration Assemblies over the coming year so that parents have the opportunity to see examples of the range of work the children are undertaking. We look forward to welcoming you in the next few weeks to see Years 1, 2 and 6.
Yours sincerely
Lorraine Smith
Headteacher
There is plenty to keep us busy over the next few weeks!
Friday 17th October : Mr Paul Evelyn, Barnardos, to collect and count
sponsor money.
Last day to return ballot papers for Parent Governor
election
Tuesday 21st October : 4.30–7.30 pm Parent-Teacher Consultations
Thursday 23rd October : 9.10am Year 1 Celebration Assembly to parents
4.30–7.30 pm Parent-Teacher Consultations
Friday 24th October : In Service Training Day Closure
12.00noon Closing date for secondary school
applications.
Mr Yaldren’s last day
Monday 27th – Friday 31st October : Half Term
Monday 3rd November : 9.00am School reopens
Year 6 to Little Canada
Friday 7th November : Year 6 return from Little Canada
Monday 10th November : 3.30pm Big Fish Club for Year 6 starts (4 sessions)
Wednesday 12th November : 3.00pm Year 6 Celebration Assembly to parents
Friday 14th November : 3.45pm PTA Film Night
Saturday 15th November : 10.00am-12.00noon Rehearsal for Mayor’s Carol
Service at Western
Tuesday 18th November : 7.30pm PTA Shopping Evening
Wednesday 19th November : 9.15am Year 2 Celebration Assembly to parents
Friday 28th November : Years 2 and 5 to Wessex Book Festival
3.30pm Year 6 Cake Sale
Sunday 7th December : 3.00pm Mayor’s Carol Service at Guildhall (Ticket only)
Wednesday 10th December : Evening Performance KS2 Christmas presentation
(time to be confirmed)
Thursday 11th December : Evening Performance KS2 Christmas presentation
(time to be confirmed)
Tuesday 16th December : 6.30pm Year R and KS1 Carol Service at St Paul’s
Wednesday 17th December : PTA Secret Santa
School Christmas Lunch
Thursday 18th December : Year R and KS1 Christmas Party
Friday 19th December : KS2 Christmas Party
3.30pm School closes for Christmas holidays
Monday 5th January 2009 : In Service Training Day Closure
Tuesday 6th January : 9.00am School opens for Spring term
Friday 6th March : In Service Training Day Closure
During March : Parent-Teacher Consultations (dates to be confirmed)
Western C of E Primary School - Top Ten Parenting Tips Coffee Morning
I am interested in the Top Ten Parenting Tips Coffee Morning.
Child’s Name: ………………………………………………………… Class: ……………
Parent’s signature: …………………………………………………………………………...