Gosditch, Ashton Keynes, Nr Swindon, Wiltshire SN6 6NZ

Head Teacher : Mrs K Nicholas | Tel/Fax : 01285 861436

Email : |

19th July 2012

Dear Parents

We have had an even busier year than usual and we appreciate the support you continue to give the school and look forward to September and seeing you all back here ready for a new year.

We will be welcoming 26 new Reception children and sadly have to say goodbye to Katie Breeds,Megan Rohlfing, Tallulah Brassington, James Bishop, Chloe Johnson, Layna Cleaver, Imogen Ponting, Mackenzie Huntingford, Abbie Ellison, Oliver Wootley, Max Rastelli, David Fry, William Wood, Georgina Watkins, Ben Cousins, Ewan Gimmler, Molly Gorman, Emily Jo Ray and Ella Sims. We wish our leavers well and look forward to hearing about their successes. We were very impressed with their attitude towards and the outcome of their SATs results – they should be very proud.

We say goodbye to Mrs Mann and Miss Lay and wish them well for the future and we welcome Mr Dawson and Mrs Mee who is back from maternity leave.

Our Sport Day winners were Mars in KS2 and Saturn in KS1. It was a lovely day which the children enjoyed and it was good to have Julie Carter back with us helping to organise it. Hopefully next summer will not be so wet and we will be able to have our picnic lunch.

A big thank you to our governors who stood in as lollipop people while the upper road was closed and continued until the end of term but there will no longer be any crossing patrol in September.

Please note that the Horse and Jockey is no longer a pub and parents should no longer park there. Please continue to park in the village hall car park and walk up Gosditch. Thank you for your co-operation.

Trips - on all our school trips the public have made comments about the children’s behaviour and politeness – something we really appreciate as a school. Once again on the extended school journey for our Years 5 and 6 the children were an absolute credit to the school and their families.

Parentmail – please make sure you have signed up to our text and e-mail communication service and make sure you keep all your contact details up to date.

School uniform can be ordered through the website

Swimming – Year 5 will be swimming in the Autumn term starting Thursday 20th September.

Foodbank – thank you to all the parents who have contributed to the Swindon Foodbank this year – we will be continuing to collect items next year.

As a reminder – all pupils should be in class ready for registration at 8.55am. Teachers are happy to welcome pupils into class from 8.45am. Thank you for your co-operation.

Packed Lunches – please be aware that we do have children in school with severe nut allergies so please avoid putting items containing nuts in your child’s lunchbox. Thank you for your co-operation.

Parent helpers – we are always happy to welcome parent (or other adult) helpers into the classroom to help support reading. Please let your child’s classteacher or myself know if you would like to help.

Hot Lunches will continue to be provided by Cygnet Catering – it is now too late to order for the first week back and please remember orders need to be in the office by 9am on a Wednesday morning for the following week.

Summer Reading Challenge at a library near you!

This year the national Summer Reading Challenge for 4 to 11 year olds will run in Wiltshire libraries from 18th July to 8th September, and the theme will be ‘Story Lab’. The challenge is simple, for children to read six books over the summer, talk to library staff about the books and collect ‘rewards’ to mark their progress. Incentives this year include a red, white and blue wristband, scratch and sniff stickers, a medal and certificate on completion. Story Lab is not a competition, but a fun personal challenge to encourage children to read more and use libraries more. Last year 8152 Wiltshire children joined the challenge, with 4517 reading all 6 books and 32,558 books being read in total. Families love the challenge and last year 90% of the participants said that by taking part in the challenge their reading had improved a little or a lot. For further information contact your local library. It’s free, it’s fun and it really can make a difference to a child’s love of reading.

Dates for your diary

September

Tuesday 4th8.55am Start of Autumn Term

Thursday 20thpmSwimming starts for Year 5

October

Wednesday 10th and

Thursday 11thLife Van in school

Thursday 18thamSchool photos

Thursday 25th – 2nd November Half Term Holiday – school closed

November

Monday 5th8.55amReturn to school

Saturday 10thEveningBonfire Night

December

Friday 14thPocket money day

Friday 21stTD Day – school closed

Monday 24th – 4th January 2013 – Christmas Holiday

January 2013

Monday 7th8.55amStart of Spring Term.

The other TD Day arranged so far for 2012/13 is Wednesday 24th July.

We wish you all a happy and safe summer holiday.

K. Nicholas, Headteacher