Ponteland Primary School – New Building Development
Last week I was involved in the first of 12 development meetings with the three prospective contractor/architect groups selected by Northumberland County Council to submit a competitive tender for the new school build. It was exciting to finally start the design process and look ahead to what will undoubtedly be superb facilities for our whole community. The final plans will not be on display to parents until the process is finished at the beginning of next year.
Foundation Stage Open Weeks
Thank you to the parents who made time to join their children for a session last week in our Open Week. I hope that this gave you an insight into your child’s daily routine, their classroom and the outdoor environment and the opportunity to see them interacting as part of a class. Feedback from parents has been very positive.
Parents’ Evenings
Parents in years 1 to 4 should have an appointment to meet with class teachers this week. Anyone who has not yet made an appointment please contact class teachers to see if there are any appointments remaining.This is a great opportunity to find out how your child has settled into their new class and also what their key learning will be for this academic year. You can also clarify homework routines, especially for reading spelling and maths.
Year 4 Football
This term Mr Drane and Mr Tailford have been training our Y4 footballers. We plan to play all of the schools within the Ponteland Partnership over the term.
Last Monday we sent 2 teamsto play their first away fixture at Heddon First School.There was great excitement and anticipation as the children were eager to put their skills into practice. I am delighted to report that both teams won their match 4-1 and 6-2 respectively. A special mention must go to the talented Phoebe Edwards from Y3 who also played. Thank you to the staff at Heddon for hosting the matches and to Mr Drane and Mr Tailford for preparing the teams so well. Their talk of formations in the staffroom has clearly had an impact on the pitch as well.
We look forward to more matches next half term and the Partnership Football Festival in November which leads to the Northumberland School Games.
Year 2 Multi-skills
All of our Y2 pupils enjoyed the Multi-skills Festival which was held at Ponteland Leisure Centre on Friday 7th October. Having positive attitudes to sport and activity are really important to us and giving children such positive experiences at a young age will hopefully encourage participation in their older years.
Opportunities To Train To Teach
If you know anyone who is interested in a career in Primary School Teaching recruitment is beginning now for September 2017.
At Ponteland First School we are the Lead School for our partnerships primary teacher training. We offer a route into teaching through the School Direct programme in partnership with Northumbria University, other schools in our partnership and some Cramlington schools. We have successfully run this programme for the last 4 years and pride ourselves on having a 100% employment record for previous trainees. Prospective trainees must have a degree, preferably at 2:1 or above. They will incur tuition fees from the university and will not receive a salary whilst training.
Applications are now open through UCAS and we are known as The Wider Ponteland Partnership. If anyone would like to discuss the opportunity further please ask to speak to Mrs Fowler or myself.
Richard Coates Admissions
I have been made aware that inaccurate admissions information was given to parents at the Richard Coates Admissions Events. Places are not allocated on a first come, first served basis. All parents who have submitted an application should have had a letter from Richard Coates school to clarify this and to explain how places are
allocated. Please contact me if you would like to discuss this further.
Live Kitchen
For many of our younger children it would be very helpful if lunch orders could be made at home. This can be done easily by logging into Live Kitchen at the start of the week and ordering in advance.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
TheMacmillan Coffee Morningheld two weeks agoraised a fantastic£249 – an amazing amount for a very worthy cause, thank you to the staff who donated cakes and thank you to all of the parents and carers who came along and ate some.
Team Point Challenge Winners
We have made some changes to our team point system for this year. All children across school still earn team points on a daily basis which go towards their team’s total for the week. Each week the winning team moves along the race track 5 places, 2nd team 4 places etc. At the end of this half term the winning team will have a non-uniform day on Friday 21 October. Each half term the teams will work towards a different prize for the winning team.
The colour team who will wear non uniform this Friday (21 October) will be announced on Thursday.
In addition the child who earns the most individual team points each week will get to choose a book to keep. The individual team point winners so far this term have been Ibrahim Fida, Uswah Raj and Finley Durham. Well done to them.
Mrs Phipps Retires
Although Mrs Phipps has not been in school over the last year due to illness, she is known and loved by many families throughout school and throughout Ponteland. She has been responsible for giving many children a “phenomenal” start to their education over many years and has been the most inspiring teacher I have ever worked with. As you will no doubt imagine she fully intended to return to school, however her treatment plan has been extended and so she has taken the very difficult decision to retire at the end of this month. I know that you will join all of the staff and governors in wishing her the very best in her retirement.
Dates for your diary inAutumn Term2016
Monday 17 OctoberParents’ Evening (Y1-4)
Tuesday 18 OctoberParents’ Evening (Y1-4)
Wednesday 19 OctoberHarvest Festival 9.15am – parents of Reception children and of all children new to the school are invited to attend.
Thursday 20 OctoberPTA Halloween Disco (3.15-4.45pm)
Friday 21 October Non-uniform Day for the winning team (to be announced Thursday)
End of half term for children
Half Term
Monday 31 October Back to school
Theatre group perform “Ugly” to address issues around cyber bullying and bullying for years 1 to 4
W/C 14 NovemberAnti-bullying week: This year the theme is “Power for Good”
Friday 18 NovemberChildren In Need – “The Big Spotacular” – wear something spotty
W/C 5DecemberChristmas performances
W/C 12 DecemberChristmas parties
Friday 16 December 11am Christmas Service at St Mary’s Church – all welcome
End of term
The above dates are those envisaged by the school and may be subject to change
L Blain
Head Teacher
16 October 2016