March 2017 Newsletter
March 2017
Annwyl Rhieni,
Dear Parents,
The year is flying by and we can hardly believe we are half way through March and heading towards the summer term. The children have continued to work hard and have had a variety of experiences and opportunities to develop their skills within a creative learning environment. Here is an update of recent events in school.
Eisteddfod
On Wednesday 1st March we held our St. David’s Day Eisteddfod. The children came to school in a variety of Welsh costumes and we celebrated with music, drama, poetry recitals and songs. We had a super afternoon. The children sparkled in their performances and the hall looked stunning, decorated with the children’s competition entries. Well done children!
World Book Day
On the 2nd March we celebrated World Book Day in school. The children who dressed up as their favourite characters from a book looked absolutely fantastic. We had some amazing characters in school and the South Wales Argus came and published some super photographs in their newspaper the following day. The books the children made were absolutely brilliant. Prizes were given out in a special celebration assembly. Well done to everyone who took part!
Daily Mile
For the past few weeks we have been trialling the Daily Mile in Foundation Phase. Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have been out on the yard with staff, running or walking around the yard for the first 10 minutes of each day. The aim of the Daily Mile is to improve the physical, emotional and social health and wellbeing of our children – regardless of age or personal circumstance. This is proving to be a great success with both the staff and children feeling invigorated and ready for learning when they come back into school. The trial will continue for the rest of this term.
Sport
The school football team played a match against Charles Williams Primary School just before half term. They played really well and won 4:1. Well done everyone!
Also before half term, Year 6 children took part in a hockey tournament to mark the opening of the 3G pitch at Cwmbran Stadium. Representatives of the gold winning GB women’s hockey team were also at the tournament and had photographs taken with our children for the press. It was a super event with Glasllwch winning all four of their matches. Fabulous!
Last week Foundation Phase took part in taster tennis sessions in school, run by Newport Tennis Centre. The sessions were very well run and the children thoroughly enjoyed them.
The school netball team played in the Newport Live Tournament earlier this week at the Newport Centre. They played really well and were a credit to school. Fantastic!
Trips
Before half term Year 3 spent a morning at an archaeological dig in Newport as part of their Roman project. They had a super time cleaning and identifying the bones that have been found and learning about how people used to live in Roman times. They followed this up with a trip to Caerleon to the amphitheatre and museum last week. The children are doing some fantastic follow up work as a result of their visits.
Earlier on this week Year 1 had a super time visiting Mountain View Ranch. They followed the Gruffalo Trail and found all the characters, toasted marshmallows and searched for fairies in the fairy forest. Well done Year 1!
Year 5 have also been on a trip this week. They went to Big Pit as part of their project ‘Children of the Revolution’. They had a great time experiencing going down the mine and learning about what life was like for the children who worked in the mines. Well done Year 5.
Accident – Road Safety
Sadly, earlier on this week, one of our children in Year 6 was involved in an accident whilst riding his bike in the local area. Thankfully, although badly injured, he is now out of hospital and recovering at home. Our thoughts and best wishes for a speedy recovery are with him.
We regularly speak to all children about road safety, not running out onto the road and safe cycling. We will be running safe cycling sessions for Year 6 in the summer term when we will be talking to the children about making sure their bikes are fit for purpose, wearing appropriate safety helmets and clothing as well as the rules for riding bikes on the road. We are sure that you will echo these messages at home with all children.
PTA – A BIG THANK YOU to the PTA for all their hard work again this term. Their next big event is the forthcoming ‘Family Bingo’ scheduled for Friday 17th March at 5.30pm. Tickets are available from the school office or members of the PTA Committee: £3.50 per adult, £2.50 per child, £10 for a family = 2 adults and 2 children. Ticket prices include Papa John’s pizza. The PTA will also be running a bar and selling raffle tickets for a raffle to be drawn on the night. This looks to be a really super evening so please come along and support us!
National Tests – The National tests for Years 2 – 6 will take place in school as follows; Wednesday 3rd May – Reading Test, Thursday 4th May – Numeracy Procedural Test, Friday 5th May – Numeracy Reasoning Test. The tests are constructed so that our younger learners will be able to sit them in ‘chunks’. They will be delivered on a whole class or group basis. The reading test will consist of a number of passages followed by short, closed response and multiple choice type questions. There are two numeracy tests; a procedural test for knowledge and understanding and a reasoning test for application of skills and problem solving. The tests will be marked in school and learners’ raw scores will be converted to standardised score. The standardised score will show how your child’s performance in the test compares to other children of the same age who have sat the test in Wales. Test results and comparative data will be sent out at the end of the year. It is vital that all children are in school on the above dates to sit these tests.
Attendance
We are becoming increasingly concerned that a number of children are coming to school late and therefore missing vital learning opportunities at the beginning of the day. It is vital that children are in school and ready to learn by 9am. Attendance figures for last term and this term so far are as follows.
| Year Group | Autumn Term 2016 | Spring Term 2017 – so far! |
| Reception | 96.79% | 96.63% |
| Year 1 | 97.03% | 97.29% |
| Year 2 | 97.15% | 97.06% |
| Year 3 | 97.75% | 98.02% |
| Year 4 | 96.64% | 96.47% |
| Year 5 | 96.95% | 97.18% |
| Year 6 | 95.84% | 95.93% |
| Whole School Average | 96.87% | 96.94% |
A HUGE well done to Year 3 for achieving over 98% attendance so far this year. Years 1, 2 and 5 are also doing really well with over 97%. Our attendance target, as set by the Local Authority, is 96.5%.
Good attendance at school is vital if your child is to achieve his / her full potential. We monitor individual pupil attendance on a regular basis and if your child’s attendance dips below 96% we will contact you to discuss ways in which we can support you to improve it.
Mrs Parker
As you know, Mrs Parker will be running the London Marathon on Sunday 23rd April! Not long to go! Following the success of the Year 5 / 6 sleepover, she is holding a ‘late night lock in’ for Years 3 and 4 and a Pyjama day for Foundation Phase. More information will be out soon!
Parental Consultations – Parental consultations will take place week beginning Monday 3rd April. From now on all appointments will be made through an online appointment system linked to Teachers2Parents. The system and how to book is explained in more detail in an accompanying letter.
SuperStars – SuperStars are in school over the Easter holidays running their Easter holiday camp. Their camps will run from Monday 10th April –Thursday 13th April week 1 and Tuesday 18th April – Friday 21st April week 2. Bookings can be made through their website www.super-stars.org.uk.
Nursery Closure
The nursery will be closed on Thursday May 4th 2017 as the building is being used for election purposes.
Mrs Goldsworthy Mrs Goldsworthy is leaving us today to begin her maternity leave. Her baby is due in a couple of weeks and we are all so excited! We send Mrs and Mr Goldsworthy our very best wishes and look forward to sharing news of their baby with you in due course.
Easter Fun Day
On Friday 7th April we will be having an Easter Fun day! We are asking the children for a £1 donation in exchange for wearing their own clothes for the day and having an Easter disco in the afternoon. The children can also design and make a ‘Funky Easter Hat’ and we will be having a Funky Hat Parade!
Website – Don’t forget to keep up to date with the latest news and developments on the school website! You can follow us at @GlasllwchP or by subscribing to our latest news through our school website.
Yours sincerely,
C. M. Jackson (Headteacher)
Latest Class News
P.T.A
Have a look at the P.T.A. page, under ‘School Community’ to find out how to participate in the ‘Easyfundraising’ scheme when you are doing your online shopping!
Our Welsh word of the week
Pwy sy'n gwybod?
Who knows?