Dear All,
Thank you very much for your tremendous support for the Summer Fayre on Friday! The gross amount raised was £1058.41 ?
Thank you also to parents who helped with sorting out tombola items and other tasks beforehand, who sent in cakes and other food such as samosas and to everyone who helped to run a stall! We are also very grateful to sponsors who supported us! A list will come out separately to you.
This week is Healthy Week and we have started with a Tracksuit Day. Children have brought home a Healthy Lunchbox competition which has to be returned by Wednesday to be included in judging. Prizes are vouchers from Sports Direct.
We were also visited today by staff from SightCymru who are carrying out a Welsh Government project to encourage more parents to take children for eye tests. Although general vison tests are done in school they do not identify more serious eye issues and children should have their eyesight tested regularly. Children have brought home a voucher for you to take them for free eye test and if forms are returned by Friday 15th July, SightCymru will give children a small mascot as a reward. They would also like to speak to a small sample group of eight parents on Friday 8th July at 3.00pm so if you are able to help with that, please let either Mrs Kidd or Mrs Martin know.
Don’t forget that we are collecting old glasses to be taken to Mongolia in the summer by local optician Mr Richard Young (Coles Opticians).
Dental Nurses visited children in Year 3. Reception parents also attended meeting telling them about a new app that we are trialling in classes called SeeSaw.
Tomorrow Year 1/2 classes are visiting Bristol Zoo which should be a great day!
Craft Club, Story Club, Music Club and Playground Games Clubs are cancelled for this week.
The GEMS Reading Cafe was a tremendous success last week and it continues this Wednesday afternoon at 2.45pm in the Library. I hope that you can join us for this. Your child will join you at 3.00pm and you are welcome to stay with your child until 3.45pm if you wish. Free refreshments will be available and you will be able to borrow a book for you to read with your child.
Sports Day will be held on Thursday so please ensure that your child has their kit in school every day now so that they can wear it for practices. (Times are: 9.30am – Juniors/ 1.30pm – Infants)
On Sports Day children can wear their house colours which are:
Usk -Yellow
Wye – Red
Ebbw – Green
Severn – Blue
If the weather is bad, we will make a decision in the morning. Please check Twitter or the website.
Please send any photo money owing by Friday.
Parent Governor
I hope to receive the ballot forms for the election for Parent Governor this week. A letter will accompany them.
School Dinners
As you are aware, I have had several concerns about the delivery and quality of the meals we have received from Chartwell’s Catering, and we have had many meetings at school to resolve these. Mrs Lyn Johnston, the Regional Manager, also visited the school last week. I’m pleased to say that all of our concerns have now been dealt with and Chartwell’s have agreed to change the way in which school meals for our school are prepared. They will now be prepared daily, to order, in a kitchen at The Gaer Primary School and will be delivered to us from there, rather than being delivered from a kitchen in England.
From today, a new menu is being trialled which more closely reflects the foods that children like to eat and the menu for the rest of the term accompanies this newsletter.
All of the meals have to comply with Appetite for Life guidelines from the Welsh Government but some combinations are more popular than others so older pupils will also be carrying out a pupil survey to find out which food s are the most popular ready for the September menu.
Mrs Amanda Davies, the Assistant Head of Education ,and Mrs Ceri Gibbons, the Schools’ Catering Contract Manager for Newport Council are visiting on Tuesday to see the new catering service in operation. If you have any comments about school meals which you would like me to pass on to either of these, please feel free to contact me.
Parking
I’m very pleased that North Street at the back of the school has been designated a 20mph zone. Please ensure that you respect this and also that you do not double park and block other parents’ cars or cause an obstruction for crossing the road.
I know that the vast majority of you are very sensible but recently we have had a few examples of dangerous parking and parents have been asked to move. Thank you also to parents who have alerted us to other examples of dangerous parking. If we all play our part, the roads around the school will be safer for everyone. Thank you for respecting this.
Bonus Ball
There is a rollover this week!
Yours faithfully,
H Vaughan
Headteacher