Aspiring and achieving together
Newsletter 8
17 April 2015
Dear all
Four days in and I already feel at home! Everyone has been so welcoming –
parents, children, staff. Thank you. Following on from the parent meeting last term,
we set up an email account for parents who might like to work with the school as a
Parent Group, helping us improve our communication with you (whilst at the same
time not bombarding you with meetings and letters home!). To that end we have had
5 parents come forward and I will be contacting them next week to set our first
meeting before the end of April. James Bird (the Eynsham Partnership Academy School
Improvement Officer) and I have started work on the Raising Achievement Plan (RAP), which we
will be sending out for parents in draft form in the next two weeks. The RAP will clearly identify
which areas of the school need to be improved, what the rationale is behind that area being given
priority and what we are planning to do to improve and by when. I would welcome any feedback
from parents on what you think, which you can do via email ([email protected]) or
I’m on the playground most mornings or after school (I apologise for the rather ‘old’ photo of me – I
got fed up with the long hair!).
In Tuesday’s assembly I talked to the children about my favourite subject (me!)
and told them about my love of sport, my two cats, my collection of shoe lasts
and love of cycling.
I also made it clear that in order for everyone to be safe under no
circumstances must they ride their scooters/bikes on the school grounds. I am
really pleased that they have taken this on board. Children are also aware of areas where they
must not run; these are the quiet area outside Mars Class and the footpath along the playground.
I hope that you will see some positive changes and I look forward to working with you all in the
coming months.
AWARDS
WELL DONE TO THE YELLOWS who were awarded the most house points last term. The
children have earned them for kindness, good work, effort, team work etc. As a reward the
Yellows are allowed to come to school on Friday (17 April) in non-school uniform. Also
‘congratulations’ to Lola Creed (Y6) on achieving her pre-black belt just before Easter. She is now
officially invited to take her black belt later in the summer. Lola has demonstrated great skill and
determination and has worked extremely hard to get so far – well done Lola.
SCHOOL DAY
I would just like to clarify that school starts at 8:50am. This is when the register is
taken. The children can enter the school grounds at 8:45 but must be ready for
registration at 8:50 - children are late to school if they arrive after the register has
been sent to the office. It’s never a good idea to be late: it is unsettling for them
and everyone else (we all know how it feels to be rushing around and be late). If on the rare
occasion you are late to school, please remember to advise your child to apologise to their class
teacher and report to the school office where they can be marked in the register. Many thanks for
your support.
FIRE DRILL
We had our practice fire drill today and I must say that the children’s response was impeccable.
All the children and staff were out of the building within 2 ½ minutes and they all did so quietly and
without fuss.
SICKNESS
The attendance at Freeland School is above the national average (97%) so we
clearly have some fit and healthy children! We always appreciate it when
parents phone us to clarify how long their child needs to be away from school if
they have been sick etc. This prevents the spread of infection, helping us to
maintain good attendance for all. However, so that parents can check this information
themselves, we have put the Health Protection Agency/OCC guidance about communicable
diseases and the period that children should be off school, on the school website under the
‘Documents and Links’ section. Please feel free to contact the school office if you have any
questions though.
Sarah Kerswell
Dates for the Diary 2015
May
th
4
Bank Holiday Monday
th
8
Venus Class EPA sports festival at
Bartholomew School 9-11am
11-15 SATs week
nd
22
Jupiter Class EPA sports festival at
Bartholomew School 9-11am
nd
22
End of Term 5
June
st
1
Term 6
th
11
Class photos
th
16
Festival of Voices
th
17
Sports day 1.30pm
th
19
Mars Class EPA sports festival at
Bartholomew School 9-11am
nd
22
Yr6 IMPs visit
June
th
24
th
25
th
29
July
st
1
rd
3
th
4
th
7
th
8
th
16
th
17
20th
Sports day (reserve date)
Y6 Transition visit to Bartholomew & rest of
school transition morning
Arts Week
EPA Concert Y5
Neptune Class EPA sports festival at
Bartholomew School 9-11am
School Fair – time TBC
Saturn & Neptune Concert 2.15pm &
6.30pm
Saturn & Neptune Concert 6.30pm
Service at St Mary’s Church 10.00am.
End of Term 6. School closes 1.30pm
INSET School closed for training
MESSAGE FROM YEAR 6:
The Year 6 children are now responsible for two new initiatives:
1. Putting out a green/red flag depending on whether the field can be used or not (Mrs Gorman
will make the decision)
2. Taking outside a playtime book so that it can be recorded if children have to be sent in for
poor behaviour. Miss Kerswell will then talk to the parents if a child has been sent in 3 times.
REPORT FROM ROSIE AND BALAZS
I am looking forward to going to Bartholomew
because I will meet lots of new friends and see
some friends from my old school. I am excited
about having different teachers for every lesson.
Rosie
I can’t wait to go to Bartholomew because there is
a massive field, therefore I will be able to play games
like: capture the flag and football. I am looking
forward to learning Spanish because over 16 countries
worldwide speak it.
Balazs