FRONT STREET COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL
Whickham
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE16 4AD
01914335677/Nursery 01914335673
HJ Gladstone
Headteacher
29thJanuary 2016
Dear Parents
New Build
This morning I met with Galliford Try regarding progress towards our new school. Despite the rain and the flooding, everything is still on track and we will open after the Easter break. Dates are being arranged for children to visit before we break up for Easter and staff are visiting on a rota basis at the moment. It is very real and very exciting but there is still lots to do and the move date is hurtling towards us. Any parent who can come in at any time and pack anything would be welcomed with tea and biscuits and chocolate!!! (Can you tell I am panicking and I need your help). Over the half term holiday any help would be appreciated too, even if that meant bringing older children to be helping hands.
Parents Evening
All parents have been allocated a time slot for next Monday or Tuesday. Please check your child’s bag.
Sign2Sing
On Thursday 4th February school will be taking part in this fundraising event. Sign2sing is an annual event, organised by the Deaf Health Charity SignHealth, which raises essential funds to help vulnerable deaf children and adults. I hope you will be able send in a small donation to help this charity. Thank you.
Parental Opinion
Two year groups have recently taken part in workshops which taught the children ways in which to deal with the issue of Bullying and Cyber bullying. The comments from all parent/carers were positive:
“A very effective way to communicate to the children about a very serious issue”.
“I think the children will remember the messages because they were acting it out”.
“The children certainly seemed to have grasped the message“.
“We will always use the saying from the play - Stop, think and tell someone”.
As this approach appeared to be very successful this is something we will continue to develop in all year groups.
Uniform Gift
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we are giving a new sweatshirt/cardigan for every child for September. We must have the completed size requirements by Monday. If a form is not completed for your child, we will order the size we think is suitable (not returnable).
Dance Festival
We now have sufficient volunteers to help at the festival. Please can you confirm how many tickets you require and send in full payment by Tuesday 2ndFebruary. Thank you.
Sainsbury Active Kids
We are collecting vouchers again so please ask friends and family if they shop at Sainsbury’s to pass them on to us. Thank you.
Nursery
All parent meetings will be held in the Nursery building except for appointments after 3.50pm on Tuesday 2nd. These meetings will be held in Class 2 in the main school building.
Sound of the week is’s’ next week.
Reception
Reception had a fantastic afternoon on Wednesday; we all enjoyed taking part in a bear hunt at the Hermitage Garden. A huge thanks once again to all the adults who came along to support this visit.
We are extremely impressed with how hard the children are working with their pencil case words. We will focus on the pencil case words once a fortnight, alternating with tricky words. Check your child's home-school diary for updates on their words in school.
Library books and mathematics packs are optionalactivitiesto complete at home, they are not compulsory homework. We have set up additional literacy and maths activities to support learning at home through games and stories.
Library books -Whenyour child has finished with their library book they can return it to school. Library books are nowdiscussed and changed on a Wednesday morning for both Class 1 and Class 2.Please note that a library book reminder will be sent out after four weeks if a book has not been returned. If the book is lost then we do suggest a donation is given so we can replace this book.
Mathematics packs - These packs are available to sign out ofthe maths box on a Friday evening and on its return we will sign it back into the box. If you would like to share any comments to add to your child's profile books i.e. WOW moment please do so.
Parents evening - Please make sure you have your parents evening time slot. All allocated times were put into book bags last week, however some are still inside of bags. Parents evening is on Monday and Tuesday next week.
We would like to remind you to make sure your child's name is inside all of their uniform as we have had a few jumpers and cardigans mixed up over the last few weeks.
We have looked at the questionnaire feedback and are overwhelmed with your comments. We have taken on board your suggestions and theactions are outlined and a copy will besent home in your child's bag. Thank you for taking the time to complete these questionnaires, we believe it is very important for you to have an input on your child's education.
Year 1
On the 9th February we will be busy builders creating our parks which we have designed. On 'Builder Day' we would like the children to come to school dressed as builders, this could be jeans and a shirt with a hard hat(please do not go out and buy anything). Let's get building!
Mrs Burdon's phonics class have been practising their alphabet and will be bringing home extra work to help. This work does not have to be returned. Use the sheets to help practice alphabetical order.
Year 2
Head Lice - It has been brought to our attention that there are a number of cases of head lice in Year 2. Can you please carefully check your child's head and treat as needed. Thank you.
SATs Meeting - As mentioned last week we will be holding a SATs meeting on Thursday 25th February at 8.30am and 4pm. There will be someone to look after any children that need to be brought along too. Please fill in the slip to indicate which meeting you will attend and return to school. The purpose of the meeting is to go through the assessments that your child is and will be doing and go through the changes that have happened this year. There will be an opportunity for you to see some sample test too.
Year 5
Reminder – Kingswood deposit of £50 is due by Monday 1st February. Please ensure this is paid so we can confirm the booking. Thank you.
Year 6
As you have been trialling ‘paperless’ newsletters for the past few weeks we would like to establish your opinion on this. At the forthcoming parents evening, there will be a simple yes/no ballot slip to complete. Please take a moment to fill in a slip, as we will be using your responses to help us determine whether this is the way forward.
Reminders
Absences – If your child is absent from school, or is going to be late, please try to contact school by telephone before 9.15 am. A text will be sent to parents of an absent child if we have not been informed by 9.30am. Please do not send your child to school if they are feeling unwell. If they have been sick or had diarrhoea, they cannot return to school for 48 hours after the last episode.
Please ensure we have all up to date contact details.
Just to remind you this is a Safeguarding School and we have a duty to pass on any concerns to Children’s Services.
Yours sincerely
HJ Gladstone
Headteacher
______
Childs Name ______Class ______
Please indicate size and style below and return by MONDAY 1st FEBRUARY.
Size / Sweatshirt / CardiganAge 3-4
Age 5-6
Age 7-8
Age 9-10
Age 11-12
Age 13
Signed ______Parent/Carer
______
Year 2 SATs Meeting
I am able to attend the SATs meeting on Thursday 25th February at (please indicate time)
8.30am 4pm
Signed______Parent/Carer
SAINSBURY’S ACTIVE KIDS VOUCHERS! / P.E.It is back - right now - and after last year’s success we want to collect as many active kids vouchers as we can!
We have until the 3rd of May to collect them and get them into school.
With your efforts last year we bought new sports equipment, nets, balls, bean bags, athletics equipment, targets, bibs, team kit and much more…..
Get your families, neighbours, relatives and friends all involved and help us earn as much as we can for the new school!
Our collection box is situated at the school office. / As well as the complement of coaches we have in school at present, children follow a regular curriculum of P.E. across the year at school.
You can find photographs from P.E. on our website at;
CLUB UPDATES!
After Easter there will a reduced sport club offer temporarily to help us with transition into the new school. At the moment there will only be sports clubs after school rather than in the mornings. There will be an update as to what clubs and when nearer the end of term.
Friends of Front Street: 29th January 2016.
Facebook: Search Friends of Front Street
Email:
Parents Evening - 1st and 2nd February we will raffle
A Weeks Pass for the Health Club at the Metro Centre Marriott with
bottles as runner up prizes!
Tickets will be £1 and sold over both evenings.
FOFS Meeting –Monday 8th February 7pmBridle Path.
FOFS really appreciate all the help with events throughout the year. We will be losing 3 key committee members at the end of this school year. We urgently need more members to join with the organising of fundraising events for your school. Opportunities such as discos, fayres, raffles and tuck shops for the children will be limited from the academic year 2016/17 without new members. So parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents please come along to find out how you can help
Tuck Shop– Thursday 11th February – children will need money to purchase sweets.
Wednesday 10th February– Farewell Front Street Disco(this will be in the school hall).
Cost of the tickets:£1.50 each (includes unlimited drinks).
Times of the Disco: Reception * Years 1 and 25.00 – 6.00pm
Years 3, 4, 5 and 66.15 – 7.15pm
Please Note:*Due to Ofsted regulations, children in Reception must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult who is at least 16 years of age.
To request tickets please complete the tear-off slip below and return it to school together with correct payment (either cash or cheque made payable to Friends of Front Street) in an envelope addressed to “FOFS – School Disco”; by Friday 5thFebruary. Tickets will be sent home with your child.
Children will also be able to purchase crisps, sweets and lucky bags on the night.
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Ticket Application(£1.50 per ticket)
Number of tickets required ______
Child’s Name ______Class ______
Time: 5.00– 6.00 or 6.15 – 7.15pm (please circle)
Child’s Name ______Class ______
Time: 5.00 – 6.00 or 6.15 – 7.15pm (please circle)
Child’s Name ______Class ______
Time: 5.00 – 6.00 or 6.15 – 7.15pm (please circle)
Helper Support
We need at least 18 helpers for the disco to go ahead. Please provide your name, email address and contact telephone number below if you can help at either one or more of the discos (tick as appropriate):
First Disco Second Disco Both
Name:______Contact number:______
Email address: ______
I am a reception parent/guardian, and will be accompanying ______(Child’s name)
Signed:______Date:______