Parkside School
Parents/Guardians Newsletter No. 186
December 2014
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All the staff from Parkside School would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and peaceful new year.
IMPORTANT DATES
19 December 10.30am Christmas Festival at St Thomas’ Church
Break up for Christmas holiday
5 January 2015 Staff training day
6 January 2015 Pupils return to school
13 January 2015 6pm PFA meeting in the Dining Room
CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL SERVICE
This will take place at St Thomas’ church on Earlham Road at 10.30am on Friday 19th. Everyone is welcome to attend.
COMMUNITY ACTION GROUP
We are pleased to say that we have managed to collect 30 bags of Parkside donations for Sue Ryder Care. Each bag is the equivalent of 3 hours nursing care which means we have collected enough donations to pay for 90 hours of care. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has sent in donations, please keep them coming. Many thanks.
Community Action Group (teacher – Mrs Lee)
HOLT HALL
At the beginning of December, the Year 7’s were whisked back in time to experience life as a child during a Victorian Christmas. During the three days at Holt Hall the children learnt all about the Victorian Christmas traditions such as the Yule log and the Holly King. We made and decorated cookies, worked together to build dens where poor Victorians might have to sleep and helped decorate Holt Hall ready for Christmas. The children tested their map reading skills to complete a treasure hunt and made wonderful pieces of art using sticks, leaves and pinecones all found in the woodland environment. After all of this, and the excitement of a very special guest (Father Christmas!!), the children, and staff, were exhausted and all got excellent night’s sleep!
Miss Mutty
TOWER OF LONDON TRIP
The World War One History group enjoyed a last minute visit to the Tower of London to see the display of poppies set up to remember the 888,246 British men who died in the First World War. Most of the pupils had not been to London before and enjoyed the experience of the underground and seeing some of the famous sights, London Bridge and the Shard. Although a lot of the poppies had already been removed there were still plenty to see and we managed to take some lovely photos to remember the event . Thanks to all the staff who helped us to have such a successful day.
HOLT HALL
The Victorian History Option group enjoyed a day at Holt Hall exploring the grounds and buildings for evidence from the Victorian era. The group made the most of the opportunities by building a den using items found in the woods. They followed a trail around the grounds to discover such things as trees planted during the Victorian times, the walled garden and green houses and the hall with so many chimneys. A great day was had by both staff and pupils and thanks go to the PFA member who supported us on the day.
FRANCE AND BELGIUM WW1 BATTLEFIELDS
It was exciting to be able to go and visit the battlefields even though it was far away from our parents. Some of the pupils from the other schools were really friendly to us.
We learnt a lot about World War One by visiting lots of cemeteries and museums.
The weather was warm and sunny. The coach ride was long but we listened to music, looked out the window and watched a DVD about the Battle of the Somme.
We were glad to share the experience with our teachers. We felt lucky to have been able to go on the trip, which was organised and paid for by the government as part of the World War One remembering.
Written by 2 pupils from Upper School
NEWS FROM THE PFA
Firstly a huge thank you to everyone who helped and attended our Christmas Fair this year which was held on the 6th December. We made an excellent sum of £2102.39 which is absolutely brilliant. Thank you to everyone who donated items and who worked so hard to help make it such a success. We really are very grateful. It was a lovely day with fine weather which helped. Everyone enjoyed seeing Father Christmas, having a go on all the games and the BBQ was delicious. We had a very successful auction and raffle and the Grand Draw had some superb prizes!!!
On Friday 12th December we held our Christmas Disco which was well attended. We raised £524 from refreshments, bbq and a raffle and a good evening was had by all. We also drew the winning ticket for the Christmas Hamper which was full of goodies very kindly donated by the Staff at Parkside School. A big thank you to Miss Kett for doing the BBQ with her helpers (we hope the smell of onions has worn off!!) and a big, huge thank you to our DJs for making the evening such fun and so enjoyable and getting us all in the festive spirit!!
We are a small group of parents of pupils both past and present and staff raising money to purchase extra equipment and helping towards funding of activities for the children to make their time at Parkside School extra special. If you think you can help in any way please feel free to join us at our next meeting which is to be held on Tuesday 13th January 2015 in the dining room at school commencing at 6.00pm. Alternatively, if you know of any businesses or individuals who might be able to help us fundraise in any way please contact the school office and they will get a member of the PFA to contact you.
The PFA would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We look forward to your continuing support in 2015.
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