April 2016 Newletter
Dear Parents, Annwyl Rhieni,
Welcome back to school after the Easter holidays. The children have settled quickly back into the routines of school life and we are all looking forward to a busy and exciting summer term and hopefully some warmer weather!
Curriculum Letters Your child’s teacher has already published (or soon will) this term’s curriculum update on our website. If you would like a hard copy from school please ask, otherwise no paper copies will be given out. These updates are designed to inform you of the areas of the curriculum to be covered each term and to enable you to support your child in their learning. We place enormous value on the partnership between home and school and hope that you will work with us to enable your child to achieve their full potential. Any parents, who are willing to help in school in any way, or who have expertise in particular areas and are willing to share this with us, please contact your child’s class teacher.
It’s not rocket science! Yes it is! Year Two have been the lucky recipients of some very special seeds. They have enjoyed following Tim Peake’s adventures in space so far and are now taking part in a nationwide experiment run by the Royal Horticultural Society with Tim Peake, to contribute to research about growing plants in space! Two kilograms of rocket seeds have been held on the International Space Station for the past six months. These seeds were returned to Earth in March and – along with seeds that have remained on earth – distributed to lucky schools who had signed up for the project. Year Two received their ‘space seeds’ and ‘earth seeds’ on Tuesday! These arrived in colour coded packaging to keep the identities of the seeds secret. They will not know which seeds are which until after the experiment! Year Two will be planting and looking after the seeds, collecting data and observing growth over the next half term. We are all excited to see if there are any differences between how the two packs grow! Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with how the seeds are growing!
We’re Eggspecting! The Reception children have put six chickens’ eggs in the incubator and are eagerly awaiting Wednesday 4th May when they are due to hatch. How eggciting!
Syria Shoe Box Appeal 2016 Reminder There is still time for you to help us in supporting the Syria Shoe Box Appeal. Please send your filled and wrapped shoe boxes or items to go in shoe boxes into school by Friday 29th April 2016. Thank you!
Multicultural Week Once again this year we will be celebrating the multicultural nature of our society. We have designated the week beginning 27th June as multicultural week in school. Each class will look at a different country and will be given first hand experiences to develop their awareness of the different cultures and religions in society. We are all looking forward to what should be a stimulating and exciting time! Once again, if any parents, with specific expertise in any aspect of multiculturalism, would like to come in during the week to work with the children please let your child’s teacher know.
Warmer Weather! During the warmer weather we encourage the children to wear hats on the yard and to have sun cream on when they come to school. A number of products which only need applying once a day are now available. We discourage the children from bringing sun cream to school to apply themselves, for obvious reasons! If anyone has any specific concerns about this please don’t hesitate to speak to me. Also please make sure the children bring a drink of water to school in a refillable plastic water bottle.
New Appointment We are delighted that we have appointed a new School Support Officer. Lynne Pohl is currently working at Marlborough Road Primary School in Cardiff and already has a wealth of experience about school systems. She will be joining us on Monday 25th April. How exciting! A HUGE thank you to Mrs Bunn for all her hard work in the office over the past few months. We are delighted that Mrs Bunn will be staying with us, initially to hand over to Mrs Pohl and subsequently to provide support in classes.
Nursery Closure Day The nursery will be closed on Thursday 23rd June as the building will be used for the EU referendum. The rest of the school will be open as usual.
Reception New Intake Meeting A meeting for reception parents for the September 2016 intake has been arranged for Wednesday June 15th at 6pm in the school hall. At the meeting the school handbooks will be distributed and dates and times for the new reception pupils to spend an hour in the reception class during the summer term will be given out. Information will also be given about what to expect when the children start school in September.
PTA A HUGE THANK YOU to the PTA for organising and running the Ladies Night last week. Thank you to everyone who came to support us; it really was a super evening. Up and coming events – car boot sales on Sunday 24th April and Sunday 15th May at 10am, family barn dance / line dance and BBQ to be held on Friday May 20th. The date for the summer fete has been confirmed as Friday 1st July. On this day school will close at 3pm and reopen at 3.10pm.
Sport Earlier this week our school rugby team took part in the Newport Schools Tournament. They played really well and demonstrated excellent teamwork! Glasllwch lost in the final to Charles Williams Primary School. Well done everyone!
Sport Relief A HUGE THANK YOU for your support with our Sport Relief Danceathon. We have collected a HUGE £2,187.41! A fantastic result. Thank you to Mrs Parker for organising the event.
Holidays A number of parents are taking children out of school during term time for family holidays resulting in children losing out on valuable learning opportunities. All absences other than illness must be requested. Requests for holidays will be dealt with on an individual basis according to attendance rates. If you take your child out of school for a holiday and you do not notify us in advance, your child will incur an unauthorised absence. All requests for holidays must be in before holidays take place.
Attendance As you are aware, we regularly monitor whole school, year group and individual pupil’s attendance. It is vital that children are in school every day and are on time so that they can achieve their full potential. We are concerned that we still have a number of children who 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. Well done to Year 2 and Year 4 for having excellent attendance last term and to Year 4 on 100% attendance so far this term.
| Year Group | Spring Term 2016 | Summer Term 2016 – so far! |
| Reception | 95.15% | 99.17% |
| Year 1 | 95.64% | 97.08% |
| Year 2 | 97.05% | 96.67% |
| Year 3 | 96.05% | 93.75% |
| Year 4 | 96.98% | 100% |
| Year 5 | 95.75% | 99.19% |
| Year 6 | 95.68% | 96.46% |
| Whole School Average | 96.04% | 97.47% |
Parking Please, please can I remind parents of the importance of not double parking, parking on double yellow lines or parking dangerously to drop children off or pick them up. I continue to have a significant number of complaints from parents who are HUGELY concerned about the health and safety of the children whilst crossing the roads. This really is a very serious issue. Vehicles parked dangerously will be reported to the police.
Diary Dates
Friday 22nd April Tennis taster sessions at Stow Park Tennis Club – Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3
Sunday 24th April PTA Car Boot Sale – 10am – 12pm
Friday 29th April PC Thomas in school – Years 1,4 and 6
Monday 2nd May School closed Bank Holiday Monday
Wednesday 4th May National Reading Tests – Years 2 – 6
Thursday 5th May School closed to all pupils – elections (Staff INSET)
Friday 6th May National Numeracy (Procedural) Tests – Years 2 – 6
Monday 9th May National Numeracy (Reasoning) Tests – Years 2 – 6
Monday 9th May Finance (5.15pm) and Full Governors Meetings (6pm)
Wednesday 11th May Rugby Sevens Tournament
Thursday 12th May Mini Green Tennis Tournament – Stow Park
Friday 13th May Class and group photographs in school
Sunday 15th May PTA Car Boot Sale – 10am – 12pm
Wednesday 18th May Kinetic Theatre production for whole school
Friday 20th May PTA Barn / Line dance and BBQ – 6pm – 9pm
Friday 27th May School closed to all pupils – INSET (Staff and Governors INSET)
Monday 30th May – Friday 3rd June – School closed for Half Term
Monday 6th June – Thursday 9th June Year 6 to Hilston Park
Wednesday 8th June Boys cricket tournament Year 5
Tuesday 14th June Sports Day am Juniors, pm Foundation Phase
Wednesday 15th June Girls cricket tournament Years 5 and 6
New Reception Intake Meeting 6pm in school hall
Thursday 16th June Year 5 to Duffryn High – PE day
Friday 17th June Newport athletics tournament – Selection of Year 5 and 6 pupils
Thursday 23rd June Nursery closed EU referendum (rest of school open)
Monday 27th June Multicultural Week
Wednesday 29th June Year 5 to Duffryn High – Transition concert practice and performance
Friday 1st July PTA Summer Fete – school closes at 3pm and reopens at 3.10pm
Monday 4th July Year 6 children moving on to Duffryn High transition day
Wednesday 6th July Parents meeting at Duffryn High for parents of Year 6 children moving on to Duffryn – 6.30pm
Friday 15th July Year 6 leavers concert 10am followed by bowling
Tuesday 19th July Last day of summer term
Class trip dates to follow.
Yours sincerely
C. M. Jackson
Head Teacher
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Pwy sy'n gwybod?
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