Thank you for another wonderful term. The children have been great and have  enjoyed lots of new learning. We enjoyed seeing our reception children become more independent and seeing them enjoy their daily outdoor learning sessions.  

It has been wonderful to see our year 1 & 2 children in Parks taking different responsibilities on board and supporting each other.  

Angelou class have really taken on the school value of working as a team and this has had a huge impact on their confidence and abilities to have a go at new challenges.  

The Rashford class continue to come up with lots of different ideas on how to improve our school by offering a range of challenges for all children. We hope that this advocacy will continue into the new year.  

Our leadership team have shown lots of prospective parents around, and we have had some amazing comments about their confidence and attention to detail from visitors. It was lovely to receive such positive feedback from a parent who commented on how the older children have helped to care for their younger children in school. This reinforces our school ethos. 

Thank you to all those parents and grandparents who have taken the time to support children’s learning by making sure children are on time, in the correct uniform, completed reading records and have all the things needed for learning each day.  

Attendance 

Whole school attendance this year 96.3%. 

Parks 95.4%

Angelou 96.3%

Rashford 97.2%

We still have parents sending emails to the wrong place.

All attendance information regarding absence, lateness or medical appointments should be sent to the school office.

Please do not send to class emails or to the headteacher as these are not monitored first thing each morning.

Thank you 

Thank you to Tom Richards who provided the school with a real Christmas tree this year. The children really appreciated such a kind gesture. 

https://tomrichardstreeservices.co.uk/

First Aid 

Staff have completed their refresher training, which means that as a school we are 100% paediatric first aid trained. This is really important to us as a small school as staff members do lots of different roles, and it is reassuring to know that they are all trained in first aid.  

We are planning first aid training for all children in school for the new year. Again, this is important to us as we know that many of our children have regular contact with the elderly and vulnerable young people. Therefore, it is essential that they know what to do in the event of an emergency.  

To help support us in this vital piece of work, it is essential that children know how to make an emergency call and know their address. In addition, to support this work being done in school, all children should know how to use what3words. If you are not familiar with What3words, this is a brilliant app that can be used to identify precise locations. Again, we would appreciate you looking at this app with your child so that they are all familiar with it before first aid training next term.  

A reminder: if your child needs Calpol within the school day, it should be supplied in a labelled bottle for school to administer. Calpol held in school is for emergency purposes only and should not be relied on as a regular supply.  

Where possible, if your child needs antibiotics, please try to spread their dosage so that it can be done at home. School will not administer any medication if the child has not had it before due to unknown side effects which must be closely monitored by a parent at home. 

We are hoping that if all children have a good rest over the holiday. Please can you remember to supply your child with a box of tissues at the start of next term.  

Communicating with parents 

We have worked really hard to try to communicate on a regular basis with parents through the introduction of what’s coming up next week. 

Classes are doing a review of what they have completed each week and sending this out each Friday to help parents have a better understanding of what children have been doing.  

The school website is being maintained to give you updates on what each class has been up to, sharing photos where we can. We have tried to put the whole year calendar up to help you plan your household diaries alongside events happening in school. Where possible, we have scheduled events to come out on Parenthub in a timely manner so that everyone has the chance to ask a question if needed and to ensure that children have what they need in school.  

Christmas Fair  

This year we tried a slightly different approach to the Christmas fair, knowing that many families like to leave on time on Friday to start their weekends. So having the fair earlier gives children more ownership of running this event and keeps up with the changing landscape that many schools are finding with parents attending. We were overwhelmed by the turnout. The children loved singing carols to an audience and also enjoyed including the adults in the event.  

We are delighted to announce that we made £1502.55 from this event, along with the reindeer dash, Christmas creations, raffle and movie night. A huge thank you to Elise for planning the fair and making sure all children were included. 

Christingle service 

A huge thank you to our Collective Worship team and Head Boy who led our Christingle service alongside Rev’d Ailsa. It was a lovely event which brought us together, especially with the focus on acts of kindness. Thank you to everyone who came to support our Christingle service and thank you to the parents who volunteered to help with the refreshments. We raised £21.75, which was donated to the Church.  

Lastly, thank you for donating to The Children's Society. We raised £75.90. We also had the privilege to hear our guitar children’s showcase, which was great. Well done to the Guitar children.  

Online safety over Christmas 

Remember to check that your internet is safe this Christmas period and that children have limited access. 

 Please click on this link for information on how to set up parental controls on your broadband at home, especially if children have new devices.

Broadband Parental Controls & Mobile Network Settings | Internet Matters

Keeping children safe online | NSPCC

If you have any concerns that a child is suffering or at risk, then please call Starting Point on 01629 533190/01629 535353