Dear All,
I hope that you have all had a very good Christmas break and that 2015 is a happy and healthy year for you!
In our Early Bird attendance draw this morning, the winners were Bess Lale and Minhaaj Uddin.
Congratulations to them! They both win a £5.00 WH Smiths gift card.
Well done also to all the children who have had an Early Bird fridge magnet for full attendance for the last half term! These fridge magnets have been sponsored again by Advanced Elastomer Systems Ltd (ExxonMobil Group) and the new set of designs for 2014-15 are proving very popular! Thank you also to TSB who have provided us with some extra prizes for our prize box.
Attendance for the last term currently stands at 93.2%. This is slightly lower than in November because we have had a lot of illness during December. It is still good though, and will improve over the next month. Thank you for your continued support with attendance.
This week is World Week. Children are finding out about the following countries:
Nursery- South Africa
RS and RD – India
Class 1/2DL- Peru
Class 1/2E- USA
Class 1/2S- Mexico
Class 3/4G- Spain
Class 3/4C- Egypt
Class 4/5B- France
Class 5/6P- Morocco
Class 5/6BR- Kenya
If you would like to help in any way with your child’s class or another class, or have items from one of these countries that we could borrow, please let your child’s class teacher know.
Thank you to those parents who have already offered to help.
Clubs
All clubs will start next week, apart from Playground Games Club and Ipad Club (paying) which start this week. However, there will be no Netball or Drama on Thursday 15th January because of a special additional staff meeting. Sports Xtra (the paying club on a Wednesday) will no longer be running because numbers wanting to attend became too few.
Where clubs are over-subscribed a waiting list is in operation. Gardening and Cookery Clubs will change every half term to give everyone a chance. Thank you to all staff who run these clubs on a voluntary basis.
All after-school clubs finish at 4.30pm and your support is appreciated in ensuring that your child is collected promptly.
Diary Dates
A Diary Dates sheet and Class Topic Letter will be sent out next Monday (12th January).
Eco School Christmas Card Recycling Competition
Please send in your old Christmas cards for a recycling competition. Each school taking part is judged on the average number of cards brought in by each pupil so this is a fair competition across Newport. Please encourage your child to count the cards that are sent in so that we can keep a running total. We will collect them until Friday 16th January.
School Dinners
Good news! The special three week menu for our school now has a cooked dinner every Wednesday and fish every Friday.
Inspection
As you are aware, the Estyn school inspection will take place from Monday 19th January until Thursday 22nd January. The school will be inspected on such things as the work the pupils and teachers do, the activities that we provide, the level of support and involvement with parents, our links with the community, the work of the Governors and how well the school is run. You have already helped the school if you completed the special questionnaire that was sent out before Christmas- thank you.
There is a very special meeting on Monday 19th January at 4.00pm which is being held by the Chief Inspector who is Mr Nicholas Evans. This confidential meeting will give you the chance to comment of any aspect of school life and will not be attended by any staff. It should last no more than an hour.
It is really important that as many parents as possible are able to attend this meeting so, to help you, we will run a DVD in the Nursery to look after any children if you have no-one to leave them with. (If you are able to leave your child with a family member, please do so, because we only have limited space in the Nursery and can’t accommodate every pupil.) You are welcome to wait in school from 3.30pm onwards. Refreshments will be available. Some parents have agreed to act as interpretors if necessary. (Please let me know if you are also willing to help.)
If you would like to ask me any questions about the inspection process, you are welcome to do so. If you would like to look at our previous inspection report, you can view it at
http://www.estyn.gov.uk/english/provider/6802027
INSET Day
This is a reminder that the school and nursery will be closed on Monday 12th January for South East Wales Education Achievement Service training on mathematical reasoning.
Bonus Ball
There is a rollover this week.
Yours faithfully,
H Vaughan
Headteacher