September Newsletter 2017
Welcome Back
I hope that all of our children and families have had a wonderful summer. I am delighted to welcome you back to school at the start of a new and exciting chapter where we are now officially a primary school. As always we have an exciting school year ahead and we look forward to working closely with you to help your children flourish.
Don’t We Look Smart!
The children have started the term with real enthusiasm and it is lovely to see them looking so smart in their uniform. Please remember to ensure that their uniform is named as unfortunately we have already got some un-named items in our lost property after only 1 day!
New Year 5
Our new Year 5 classes are now located on the first floor of the building and have their own entrance at the left hand side of the building. This entrance leads the children straight upstairs to their classrooms. We ask that children in years 1 to 4 continue to access their classrooms by entering the main yard by walking past the kitchen and boiler house and entering via the main yard gates.
Some of our Year 5 children will be walking to and from school unaccompanied. We ask that parents complete a consent form before the children start doing this to ensure that the arrangements for each child are clear.
Start and End of the School Day
Thank you for your help in making the start and end of the school day run smoothly. The school gate and doors open each morning at 8.45am for children to come into school and start their morning activities whilst the register is being taken. If the gate and doors are closed (ie after 8.55am) please would you bring your child to the main school Office to be signed into school. The external gate on the school yard, Reception gates and gate to Year 5 are all locked at 8.55am so the site is secure through the day. To help us with safety can I please remind you at the start of the year:
· Dogs are not allowed on the school grounds.
· We have no parking for parents on site.
· Parking restrictions are in place on Thornhill Road. Please park and walk wherever possible.
· The whole site, including the school gates, are non-smoking areas.
· Mobile phones should not be used to photograph or record in the school grounds
· Children should dismount from scooters and bicycles before coming into the school grounds.
Thank you for all of your help in ensuring the children are safe at the start and end of the school day.
Author Visit
We have been delighted to welcome back to school the author and story teller Adam Bushnell to launch our new term. Adam makes an annual visit to school at this time and is one of our most popular visitors both with children and staff alike. We love to hear his magnificent stories and he always inspires us to write some imaginative stories of our own.
School Games Mark
At the end of the summer term we were delighted to receive the Gold School Games Mark for our commitment, engagement and delivery of competitive sport in 2016/17. We will continue to offer a wide range of sporting opportunities in this new school year and strive for a gold accreditation again.
Newcastle United Foundation
I am pleased to welcome the NUFC Foundation into school in this half term to deliver the Primary Stars programme and to offer some extra-curricular opportunities at lunchtime.
From Monday the NUFC Foundation will be delivering PE to years 2, 4 and 5 in curriculum time and offering extra-curricular lunch time opportunities to years 1 and 3.
Year 5 Afternoon of Leadership Development.
Our Year 5 children from the new primary schools across the partnership will be completing an afternoon of leadership development here on Friday 8th September. We are looking forward to welcoming all of the year 5 children from other schools and completing an afternoon of collaborative activities which are being organised by the NUFC Foundation and the Schools Sports Partnership.
School Lunches
All children from reception to year 2 will continue to receive a free school meal each day. For children in years 3, 4 and 5 the cost of a school meal is now £2.20 per day - £11 per week. This continues to represent very good value.
If your child is bringing a packed lunch to school we ask that the packed lunch bag/box is clearly named to avoid confusion. We have a number of children who have nut allergies and we therefore ask that there are no nuts or products with nuts included in packed lunches.
Plans For The New School Site
During the summer holidays the plans to develop our new school site have continued to be developed by the appointed construction firm, Wilmott Dixon. The plans and images are on display in the entrance to our main entrance.
A Public Consultation on the Northumberland County Council Planning Application tobuild a new Ponteland Primary and Ponteland High School together with a new build Leisure and Community Centre on the current Ponteland Leisure Centre siteis to take place onThursday, 7 September.
The consultation event will take place atPonteland Leisure Centre between 2pm and 7pm. The appointed construction firm,Willmott Dixon, invites local residents and key stakeholders to attend to view the detailed plans of the proposed schools and Leisure Centre. The architect and project team will be on hand to answer any questions and to receive your comments and views.
All being well we plan to move to the new shared site in September 2019.
Dates for your diary in Autumn Term 2017
Wednesday 6 September Autumn Term begins
Adam Bushnell (author) in school
Thursday 7 September Adam Bushnell in school
Friday 8 September Y5 leadership afternoon hosted here for all Ponteland Primary Schools
Monday 11 September NUFC Foundation PE delivery begins
Thursday 21 September 2.30 – Robinwood Meeting for Y4 parents
Monday 25 September Y5 Dukeshouse Wood Residential departs
Wednesday 27 September Y5 Dukeshouse Wood Residential returns
Friday 29 September 9am Phonics meeting for new Reception parents (this will last no longer than 1 hour)
Friday 13 October 9.15am Harvest Festival – we invite all new Reception parents and any parents new to school to join us
Week beginning 16 October Foundation Stage Open Week
Monday 16 October Parents’ Evening Y1 – 5
Tuesday 17 October Parents’ Evening Y1 – 5
Friday 20 October End of Half Term
Monday 30 October Back to school
Thursday 9 November Shakespeare School Festival – Y5 perform Twelfth Night at Northern Stage
Friday 17 November Children In Need – instructions to follow
Week beg 11 December Christmas performances
Week beg 18 December Christmas parties
Friday 22 December End of term – school closes at 1.30pm
Monday 8 January 2018 Teacher Training Day
Tuesday 9 January Spring term begins
The above dates are those envisaged by the school and may be subject to change
L Blain
Head Teacher
6 September 2017