MellisChurch Of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School
Yaxley Road, Mellis, Nr Eye, Suffolk,IP23 8DY
Telephone: 01379 783376 Suffolk County Council
FAX: 01379783382
Headteacher – Paul Ryle M.A.Chairman of Governors – Mr Ben Makowiecki
Senior Administrative Assistant – Mrs Sarah McLean
Clerical Assistants – Mrs Gail Clay and Mrs Jane Armstrong
Friday, 12th September, 2014
Dear Parents and Governors,
Well, a very warm welcome back after the summer hols! A whole new year; how exciting! From a personal perspective, it has so far been great fun if a little challenging on occasion;dealing with a suspected gas leak first thing on Monday morning springs immediately to mind! I am thrilled to get the opportunity to take on this very special challenge of being Head of Mellis. I cannot promise perfection; but I can promise that I will do my absolute level best to maintain and extend the special nature of the school in which I have worked in for nigh on a decade.
Still, less about me. There are, apparently, other people in the universe, as my wife constantly reminds me! As a school, we are therefore delighted to welcome many new people into the fold; all our new Reception children and parents, new children arriving in Year 1,2, 3, 4 and 5, and of course Mrs Wyncol (Teacher, Class2), Mrs Andra Williamson (TA Class 5) and Mrs Rebeccah Garrard (LSA Class 2). All of these new additions to the Mellis camp will bring their own skills, talents, passions and personalities to the mix, and we look forward to seeing how this will continue to move the school onward.
As this is the first letter of the year, there are a few ‘house-keeping’ items to bear in mind, which does rather make this letter a long one. Future letters will be shorter I promise! All as follows…
Class Welcome Meetings
By this evening all class teachers will have sent out a Welcome Letter, and this will include an invitation to an evening meeting to give you an opportunity to meet the class teacher and go through the expectations, subject themes and usual practices within each class. We have set the time at 6.30pm in the hope we will catch Mums and Dads after usual working hours. Details as follows;
Year 5 and 6 - Monday 15th September 6.30pm
Reception and Year 1 – Wednesday 17th September 6.30pm
Year 2/3/4 – Thursday 18thSeptember 6.30pm
School Diary
Please look on our website and go to the Diary Dates tab. You will be able to access the school diary on the sub-menu. This will be updated every week with all aspects of school life.
Start and End of the School Day.
Children can be dropped off at school at 8.45, and the bell will go just before nine. Please can we try to be as a punctual as possible to get the day off a swift start. Mornings are always jolly busy for teachers prepping up for the day’s lessons, so if you do need to see your child’s teacher the afternoon is always preferred. If you do need to communicate in the morning, a note or message at the office would be great; if it is particularly urgent, then we will of course accommodate that. Peace of mind is priceless for a parent, and we do appreciate that very much! As regards the end of the day, teachers will always be out on the playground (as indeed will I) so this is an ideal time to catch us. Finally, we know that some Year 5 and 6 children walk home independently; please can you let us know in writing, so that we are aware of exactly who this applies to.
Communications – Emails, Blogs and Texting
We primarily communicate by email, but it is appreciated that not everyone will necessarily pick up time critical emails (e.g. cancellation of club through staff illness) in time. We are therefore going to add texting to our methods of communicating with parents, and hope to be in a position to roll this out shortly. If you haven’t given the school your mobile number, or have recently changed your email address, please could you let the office know. You can also keep tabs on what is happening in school via the School Blog on the homepage of the website, and on the ‘Recent Events’ tab.
School Meals Service
Thanks to everybody who has filled in the order forms on Monday – this really does help with planning and food ordering, and if we could carry on ordering on a Monday that would be greatly appreciated. This week has been jolly interesting what with the new free school meals for Key Stage One children; our take-up of school meals this Monday was 110 compared to an average of 60, and today’s total was 129! We have managed to adapt our procedures to cope with this substantial increase, but it does help to have orders secured at the start of the week as far as possible. Many people have placed orders for the half-term and even full term, which makes things even easier. Perhaps the only note of caution I would make is to check the school menu; I am all for children eating what they are given, but if your child really doesn’t like pasta (for example) they will refuse to eat it. Consider giving them a packed lunch on that day so that they get a full meal.
I would further note that we will be shortly offering the facility of ordering and paying online. More anon.
Parent Help in School
We as a school cannot do what we do (from transporting and assisting in trips, working in school etc) without the assistance so many generous parents give us. We must also ensure our duty to Safeguarding is carried through, so if you are willing to help out, we need you to get a ‘CRB’ certificate.
The process is quite painless.
- Request a form from Jane Armstrong, our Safeguarding Administrator in the office;
- Complete it and bring it into school with the relevant required documentation showing proof of identity. (All documentation will then be returned to you that day);
- Checks are then undertaken by CRB and a certificate issued within about two to three weeks;
- Attend a Safeguarding session with me after school at an agreed time.
It won’t cost you anything and it would help us out a great deal in supporting your child’s wider education. Currently about one third of parents at MellisSchool have a SuffolkSchool based CRB, which is a testament to the level of involvement of parents in our school.
MellisSchool Parent Association.
I cannot emphasise enough how much the MSPA does for the school, in raising funds, providing people to run school events, supporting sports fixtures etc and generally adding all the extras that the children benefit from. We are always on the look-out for willing hands to join the committee, volunteer and offer support: it is very satisfying and rewarding. So if you can help by joining the MSPA it would be very much appreciated. There will be MSPA members talking about their role at each of the Welcome Meetings; please feel very welcome to pitch in! Their efforts really do make Mellis that extra bit special.
Clubs
Extra-Curricular Activities are a very important aspect of life at Mellis school and are run on a voluntary basis by staff. We will continue to have the widest range of clubs to be found in the area. Teachers all run at least one extra-curricular activity, but in recent years we have been fortunate to have parents run clubs reflecting their talents and skills. If you should like to do this, please let us know, and we’d be very glad to support you. We always encourage children to try different clubs, and once committed, we do expect children to consistently attend. Teachers take a register, so that child security is ensured; however, time spent ringing around if a child is absent is time denied to the other club members. If there is a need for a child to miss a session, it would be greatly appreciated if the teacher concerned could be informed in reasonable time either by a phone-call or note – thanks. The club timetable was emailed earlier this week, but you can get hard copies at the office and it will be on the website shortly.
Talking of clubs, Miss Corke (Year 4 teacher) will be running Gardening club; if you have any spare top soil/fertiliser/bulbs/seeds etc then she would be very grateful!
Nut Allergies
As noted last year, we do have several children in school who have a severe nut allergy and must not come into contact with even a trace of nuts on desks, other people’s hands etc. If this does occur, not only is the reaction highly dangerous, but each reaction is likely to lower theiralready low nut tolerance threshold. Please can we ask you to be very careful to avoid bringing any nuts into school. My colleagues and I will be taking refresher training in the use of ‘Epipens’ in case of allergic reaction, but it would be a relief not to have to put it to the test!
Independent Schools Common Entrance Exams
If your child is a Year 6 pupil and you are considering independent education from Year 7 onwards, please come and have a chat with me so we can look at entrance exams provision. For many years we have offeredclubs before school so we can help prepare children for the specific style of entrance exam they will need to sit before being offered a place.
Annual Subscriptions
We do have a voluntary contribution of £5.00 per year per child to boost school funds. Potentially we could raise over £800.00 if we all participate. We generally have some ideas as to how this can be spent, but since you would be raising the funds we wouldlike you to add any ideas you may have. Please complete the slip at the foot of this letter.
Aylmerton Camp – Year 6
A quick reminder that the final balance payment will be due later this month. An email will be sent out nearer the time.
Data Collection
The standard Data Sheet will be sent home shortly. Please check thoroughly and return with or without changes by 27th September.
Cups
Please could any children who took anattendance cup home at the end of last term please bring it back by 13th September so we can have them all engraved over that weekend. If you are unable to bring the cup in we would request you take responsibility for the engraving before the end of the year or when it is due to be passed over to the other child who may have shared first place.
Holidays During Term Time
This continues to be a subject of media attention. Our current policy (available on the website) is in line with current government guidelines that holidays in term-time cannot be authorised unless in serious circumstances e.g. death or serious illness of a close relative. This is to ensure continuity of your child’s education.
Illness
On occasions children will be ill and at times so unwell that they cannot attend school. However, none of us want children to miss any aspect of their education if we can avoid it. A general guidance would be that if the child is vomiting, has diarrhoea, has an infectious or notifiable illness, is, or is running a temperature at over 100degrees Fahrenheit then they should be at home. If the child has a sore throat or cold, they should be in school. When a child has been ill and absent from school, consider an early return – we will always phone you if he/she is unfit to stay or maybe consider the morning only and see how it goes. If your child is ill, it would be appreciated if you could call the office before 9.05 to let us know.
Swimming – Commenced Monday, 8th September
Please ensure your child is equipped with a suitable costume conforming to Stradbroke Pool regulations: Girls – one piece. Boys – shorts/trunks, non-Bermuda style. Don’t forget a towel and, critically, a hat! KS1 teachers will request help from parents, so if you can help, please ensure you have obtained a CRB. Class 6 will be first to go for the first six weeks. Time-table will be available shortly.
Return of Reading Books and other Textbooks
Please search for any school books or general school equipment that have been borrowed and bring them in as soon as possible. Inevitably, some go missing every year, so if you were able to check that would be appreciated.
Registering Your Child’s Younger Sibling.
There continues to be strong interest in places at the school. If you have younger children nearing the start of their education, please register your interest in the office.
There it is! I hope the above keeps you informed, but as ever, if there is anything that is unclear, please do not hesitate to contact the school to clarify. In the meantime, I wish you a very pleasant Autumn term; we are, as a school, very much looking forward to making sure that we live up to our motto; ‘To be our best’.
Yours, with kind regards,
Paul Ryle and the Staff of Mellis CEVC Primary,
Voluntary Annual Subscription Return Slip – please return by Friday 19thSeptember
I enclose £………………………………. For:
Name of: child/children……………………………………………………………………………………………..
Class ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
(Please complete below if you are a UK tax payer – this enables the school to claim 28% back from the tax man and does not affect you at all)
Name ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Address …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
I confirm I am a UK tax payer (please sign again)
………………………………………………………………..
My ideas on how to spend £800.00…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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