The Children Have Come Back After Half Term Raring to Go. This Is Another Short Half Term

23 February 2018

Dear Parents

The children have come back after half term raring to go. This is another short half term and we will be squeezing as much into it as possible.

I have been given the opportunity to work in China, observe teaching in different schools and bring back their methodology and ideas to Front Street. Shanghai is seen as leading in maths teaching so it will be interesting to see what they do to make them world class. I go off to Shanghai next Friday for 1 week where I will be immersed in their culture, life and education. I will be with other Gateshead Headteachers and despite being a little nervous I know it will be an experience and will provide Front Street with fantastic future opportunities.

Defibrillator

We now have a defibrillator in school and staff have all been shown how to use it. The Rotary Club kindly funded the training, so a big thank you to them.

Packed Lunches

This week I have found uneaten sandwiches deliberately left underneath benches. On Monday it was jam sandwiches in white bread wrapped in cling film and on Tuesday ham in a white bun. I have closely monitored the children this week but would hate for them to be coming home hungry because they have thrown their packed lunch away.

CD Orders

Today is the final day for making payment for the Cd’s you wish to order. Please make payment on-line using the Agora system.

Art Competition

A huge well done to Anna in Y5 who won the Animal Art Competition! She has won a voucher from The Thought Foundation as well as some paints from school. Her work will be on The Thought Foundation’s Facebook page. The runners up were Aidan (Y6), Theo (N) and Erica (Y1) who also received prizes. Two other children, Frazer and Mila, were highly commended for their artwork. The standard was very high, well done to everyone who entered!

The next art competition has been the idea of the School Council and our new Arts Ambassadors. Entries will be displayed at Whickham Library and the public are going to vote for the winner! The title of the competition is ‘My North East’. Children can use any medium. Work can be no bigger than A3. Entries must be in no later than 8thMarch. Name and class must be on the back. Good luck!

World Book Day

AtFront Street we will be celebrating World Book Day on Friday 2ndMarch. The children can come to school dressed as a favourite character from a book but there is no obligation to do this. They will also come home with a £1 book token which can be used in many local book shops, either towards the cost of a full price book or for one of the £1 special edition World Book Day books.If your child(ren) would like to take part in this year’s schoolcompetition please read the attached document it can also be found on the school website.

Car Park/Parking

Please can I remind you not to drive into the car park to drop off/collect your children, it is for staff and visitors only. With approximately 460 children if every parent did this we would have absolute chaos. If you have a disabled badge, please contact the office to make necessary arrangements if you have not already done so. Thank you for your co-operation. Please can you pass this on to whoever picks up your child.

Seesaw

As you are aware we have been having some issues with this app for some time now.

We are no longer using seesaw and would kindly ask if you would delete the app from your devices. We understand the value and significance of seesaw and are looking for a suitable replacement.As soon as we have further information on this we will inform you all.

Role of the Eco Team

Many of our children were moved by the images shown on the BBC documentary Blue Planet showing the impact of humans on the environment. As a result, an Eco Team has been established with children from KS1 and KS2, along with adult representatives, who will take the lead in helping to educate our school and local community about environmental issues and sustainability. The team will participate in a number of campaigns and projects and aim to get everyone involved and ensure that everyone understands the importance of their actions.

Our first project this half term is recycling paper.

Education for sustainability is essential, as the Government has set a target for all schools to be sustainable by 2020. Front Street Primary is a Rights RespectingSchool and the Eco-Team links very closely withthis, encouraging children to be pro-active in improving our environment. Article 29

Parking

PLEASE DO NOT PARK ON THE YELLOW ZIG ZAG LINES IN FRONT OF SCHOOL.

Nursery

Could all children send in a pair of named wellies to be kept at Nursery. Thank you.

As it is World Book Day next week we would love to share the children’s favourite books in school. Please send in their favourite books (named) on Monday (or Wednesday if that is their first day) for us to keep in the Nursery book area for the week. Thank you.

YEAR 2

SATs Meeting - your child should have brought home a letter inviting you to a SATs information session. The sessions are Thursday 15thMarch at 8:40am or 3:20pm. Please try to attend as we will be sharing some useful information. If you cannot get childcare for the after school session we will be ableto occupy them in the other Year 2 classroom.

Match Attax - By popular demand I will be running a lunchtime Match Attax swap session. This will happen on Wednesday lunchtimes at 12:30. Children can only bring in theirMatch Attax on this day and will not be ableto take them outside on the yard. This will start from next week Wednesday 28thFebruary.

Year 6

Parents are invited to come and complete a SPaG paper at 9am on Friday 9thMarch. Prizes will again be available!
Also, Reading Plus,Times Tables Rockstars, SPaG.com, Spelling Frame, Maths Frame can all be used outside of school time to help in the final run up to SATs. Just afew minutes per day will see progress! Please encourage your child to keep this going at home. Thank you.

Friends of Front Street

Book Sale -On World Book Day we will be holding a book sale, this will take place during the school day. If you have any unwanted books at home please send them into school and we will sell them for a small donation, we suggest you send your child in with £1.

Save the Date- On Tuesday 27thMarch we will be hosting one of our excellent film nights. A letter will be sent home with more details soon.

Win Your Height in Eggs - How would your child like to win their height in Easter eggs? On Thursday 29th March we will be selling raffle tickets - cost will be £1 per ticket. Then each year group will have a winner who will win their height in delicious eggs! Send in some money with your child andhopefully they will come home with the prize.

Yours sincerely

HJ Gladstone

Headteacher