September 2015 Newsletter

Annwyl Rhieni,

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to school after the summer holidays. The children have settled quickly back into the routines of school life and we are all looking forward to a busy and exciting autumn term. A special welcome to our new parents and to all the new children who have joined us this year. The reception children are really coping well with their new school and we look forward to working in partnership with you.

New Staff Our new staff, Miss Edwards in Year 1, Mr McGuckian in Year 3 and Miss Jenkins in Year 4 have also settled well into school life and are looking forward to the year ahead.

Congratulations Huge congratulations to Mrs Goldsworthy, formerly Miss Morse, on her marriage during the summer holidays. She surprised us all by getting married in the holidays in secret! How exciting!

Curriculum Letters Curriculum letters will soon be posted on the school website. These will inform you of the topics your children will be studying in each subject this term. They will involve the children in their own learning and give them an opportunity to have a say in what they will be studying, how they will be studying and how they will be recording their findings. We hope you will find them useful in supporting your children in their studies at home. If any parents would like a paper copy please ask your child’s teacher.

Preparation, Planning and Assessment (P.P.A.)  All teaching staff are legally required to have time during the school week for preparation, planning and assessment. During this time our exceptional HLTA’s (Higher Level Teaching Assistants) will be working with the children.

Health and Safety During the school holidays, as part of the nursery development, electric gates were installed at the bottom of the school drive. The gates will be in operation by the end of next week. They will be closed throughout the school day to ensure the safety of pedestrians accessing the nursery. Only emergency vehicles and deliveries will be permitted access through the gates.

Please! Please! Do not double park or park too close to the school gates when dropping children off or picking them up. This really does cause us great concern as the safety of the children is at risk.

One of our school rules is that, for health and safety reasons, the children are NOT ALLOWED on the field, the timber trail, in the outdoor classroom or up the bank at the end of the yard near the Year 2 classroom, at the beginning or the end of the school day. We appreciate your support in enforcing this. Thank you! 

Nursery Access The nursery building is finished and we are in the process of furnishing and resourcing it. The nursery children will be starting week beginning 14^th September. Access to the nursery will be through the schools existing pedestrian gate, up the path and across the car park. We are waiting for a designated pedestrian walk way to be marked out across the car park.

Jewellery Reminder Can I remind you that for safety reasons the policy of the school is that children are allowed a watch and stud earrings only. Also, children are responsible for their own jewellery and for taking it on and off for P.E. and games. All jewellery must be removed for these sessions.

Uniform We are very proud of our school uniform and all the children look very smart in it. Please can you make sure that items are clearly labelled with your child’s name so that we can avoid confusion and help the children not to lose anything. Please can you ensure that the children wear sensible school shoes so that they are able to run around and play safely at break – times. No trainers are to be worn to school; the children can bring them to school to change into for sporting activities and football days. As autumn is upon us and no doubt it will soon start to get colder, please make sure your child wears a coat to school.

PE and Games Please can you ensure that your child has his / her PE kit in school on the designated days. If your child does not have their kit with them, for health and safety reasons, they will be unable to participate in the physical activity part of the session. On these occasions your child will be bringing a letter home as a reminder for next time. Thank you for your support in this.

Healthy Eating We continue to be a Healthy School and are delighted with the positive effect this is having on the children. Don’t forget to send your child in with water in a clear bottle with a sports cap, clearly labelled with their name, so they can drink regularly throughout the day.  We have a water cooler located in the upper junior area so the children can refill their bottles throughout the day. Thank you once again for your continued support.

P.T.A. Glasllwch has an excellent Parent Teacher Association who work very hard to organise events to raise money for our children. All parents are automatically members of the P.T.A. Our first event of the year is our annual family disco and BBQ. A provisional date for this is 2.10.15, but this will be confirmed next week. This is usually a super evening so please come along and support us. More information will be sent out by the P.T.A. and posted on our website. The Annual General Meeting will be held in October (date to follow) at 7pm in the school hall. New members are always very welcome, so come along and join us

Music Tuition We are delighted that we have so many children receiving peripatetic music lessons in school. We have received a significant number of expressions of interest from children wanting to start lessons this year. These will be sorted out next week with the peripatetic teachers. Once this has been done letters will be sent out. For those children who were having lessons last year and are continuing to do so this year, lessons will also be sorted out next week to start the following week.

Parents in school The partnership between home and school is vital if children are to flourish and reach their full potential. We value the support we receive from parents and encourage your active participation in the full life of the school. If any parents are willing to come into school to assist in the classrooms please let the teachers know. For safety reasons we will need to carry out police checks on any parents helping out in school.

The beginning of each day is a vital time for both staff and children. It is vital that children are in school and ready to start lessons by 9am. Children who are late will be missing valuable learning time.  Please can we ask you to assist us by encouraging the children to come into school independently. If you need to see a teacher, and it is not urgent, please can you arrange a convenient time.

Thank you in anticipation of your continued support and co-operation. We look forward to a productive term ahead in which we will continue to strive towards our vision of being a ‘Centre of Excellence’ and to encourage everyone to reach for the stars.

C. M. Jackson

Headteacher.

Diary Dates

7.9.15                            Year 1 ‘Meet the Teacher’ meeting for parents – 3pm in Year 1 class

8.9.15                            Reception reading meeting 6pm

9.9.15                            Year 4 ‘Meet the Teacher’ meeting for parents – 3.15pm in Year 4 class

9.9.15                            Year 3 ‘Meet the Teacher and Transition’ meeting for parents – 6pm in Year 3 class

10.9.15                           PTA meeting in school 7pm

14.9.15                           Nursery children start

16.9.15                           Eco week. Years 3 and 4 to Tredegar House

18.9.15                           Head Over Heels begins for Reception – every Friday pm

22.9.15                          5pm Finance, 6pm Governors

30.9.15                          am Colorfoto – individual and sibling photographs

14.10.15                          Harvest Festivals am Infants, pm KS2 – parents invited

19.10.15 – 21.10.15            Parental Consultations

22.10.15                         School closed INSET

23.10.15                         School closed INSET

26.10.15 – 30.10.15 – HALF TERM

2.11.15                           Return to school after half term

18.11.15                          5pm Finance, 6pm Governors

2.12.15                           am Foundation Phase Christmas Concert dress rehearsal

3.12.15                           am Foundation Phase concert

4.12.15                           am Foundation Phase concert

8.12.15                           KS2 dress rehearsal

8.12.15                           6.30pm KS2 evening concert

9.12.15                           am KS2 concert

9.12.15                           6.30pm KS2 evening concert

11.12.15                          2.30pm PTA Christmas Fayre

14.12.15                          Pantomime in school (to be confirmed)

15.12.15                          pm FP Christmas party

16.12.15                          pm KS2 Christmas party

18.12.15                          Break up for Christmas

4.1.16                             Spring Term begins