Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to this week’s bumper issue! As ever, there’s a huge amount going on and a lot to look forward to! Next week Audrey and Sammy (two of our younger school council members) are running ‘Friendship week’ which is aimed at encouraging children to extend their social group and maybe make a new friend. Our school council will be teaching children how to make friendship bracelets at playtime and we’re hoping that everyone at least talks to somebody they don’t already know. As you are aware, the school council is a great place to learn how to plan and lead a project, make decisions and evaluate successes. This week for instance we evaluated last week’s red nose project and despite its popularity, the school council unanimously voted to change the format next year. This was in response to concerns about the environment (plastics and packaging) as well as discussion around the upset it caused when noses were swapped, damaged or hidden. Instead, children will be allowed to wear red (all profits to comic relief) but we won’t actually sell red noses. I was really impressed with the children’s discussion prior to their decision making and we talked a lot about weighing up the positives and the negatives in a situation, an essential skill for later life.
Next week we look forward to welcoming you to Parents evenings. 92% of parents have booked parents evening appointments via Parentmail and 70% of parents have already completed the parent survey. This allows class teachers a chance to gather any necessary information prior to individual meetings and you will, of course, have an opportunity to see your child’s exercise books prior to your appointment. If you would like an appointment with Mrs Cahill or Mrs Cotton (our pastoral co-ordinators) please contact a member of our admin team.
Promoting a love of reading is high on our agenda as you know and we will be trialling a new Usborne Book fair alongside the evening. Every class will have a chance to meet the organiser and chat about recommended authors and the books on offer during the day. If you would like to browse or buy, the book fair will be in KS1 hall from 3:15pm on Tuesday and there are many exciting new titles available. Alternatively, we have a small number of our ‘100 Books’ left for sponsorship. These are the age appropriate recommended titles we have shared with you previously as mentioned on our school website. As you will see from this week’s letter, Luke has already worked his way through an astonishing 99 of the 100 recommended titles and we hope that many more children are enjoying the books too! If you would like to sponsor one of the remaining 100 books, they will be available in the school Reception on both days, at a cost of £3 per book. Thank you for your support.
Finally, now that the weather is a little bit better, it is great to see so many people walking, cycling and scooting to school. Please can I remind everyone that they should dismount from their bikes or scooters before they come onto the school site? We have had a number of near misses with our younger children as children cycle and skate past them on the playground and we need to ensure that the playground is a safe place for everyone.
Have a lovely weekend and don't forget it's Wilberforce house day on Monday - Wilberforce please wear your house t-shirts!
Rachel Colbourn