Awliscombe C of E “Reflecting Christian
Values in all we do”
Primary School Newsletter 1st May 2015
Dear Parents, The 1st May already… where is the time going? This week Year 5 children joined Payhembury, Feniton and Tipton St. John Primary school pupils on a prayer space day held at Ottery St. Mary Church. The day is planned and delivered by Revd. Cate Edmonds along with a large group of volunteers from each of her parishes. It’s a really fun and exciting day but the learning opportunities are also really important. It is a great opportunity for our children to meet other children of similar age and to work within the church building. I know they returned to school full of positive feedback, and I have been inundated with compliments about their behaviour. I am so proud of them this week. On the same day the rest of Kingfishers had a special day with Mrs Dickson. Teaming up with a reception pupil the children work together to produce some outstanding pieces of work. Keep an eye out because Mrs Dickson will be making a display of their work. I heard a year 6 pupil say ‘best day ever in school’ … just what I want to hear happy, enthusiastic children loving school. We hope to continue to develop our creative ways to enhance the children’s learning experiences, especially working with different age’s groups. Unfortunately we have had a few issues while appointing a new Early Years practitioner for Nursery. Unfortunately Mrs Frost wasn’t able to stay with us and so for a few weeks we have to cover the position with the support of Mrs Beer. All the children know Mrs Beer very well and feel so pleased to have her in the class. Mrs Beer has been covered by Mrs Chambers in Magpies so hopefully everything is pretty stable for the children. Mrs Dickson is leading both Nursery and Reception at present. We hope to confirm the new appointment by the end of next week, with a start date around 18th May. I would like to apologise for a delay in sharing this information but like a lot of things in life there are unforeseen complications. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to come and see me or Mrs Dickson. I have had some useful feedback from parents regarding the awards assembly on Friday afternoons. It seems that some parents aren’t always receiving the information and we often have to change the time if there is a funeral booked in the afternoon. I have therefore made the decision to alter the format of the awards assembly in a hope to be able to enable more parents to attend and to give more time to book release from work if necessary. Instead of parents being invited every week, we are going to offer 6 half termly achievement assemblies for parents to attend at the end of each half term. If your child is awarded the special “Star of the Week” within that half term they will receive a headteacher’s certificate at the assembly. We will plan and share the 6 dates at the beginning of the year and we will keep to them. It will still be very important for the children to receive their weekly certificate celebrating their success as normal but we won’t be asking parents to attend. This allows the school great flexibility of when we can carry out the service on a Friday. We will also still include them in the weekly newsletter. Celebrating the children’s success is essential to build and raise their self-‐esteem and to be able to receive a certificate in front t of their parents in very important to the children we hope this new structure will support more parents to come along to see the children’s achievements. Our first achievement assembly will be on Friday 22nd May and next half term’s assembly will be on Friday 17th July 3pm. We have some dates to share: •
1st June is a non-‐pupil day so children won’t return after half term till Tuesday 2nd June. •
10th June – Clothes for Causes collection run by our PTFA. •
Sports day will take place on Wednesday 17th June. Due to unreliable weather conditions we always book a second date just in case. Friday 19th June will be our rainy day option. It will take place all day starting around 10am. In the morning it will be house events followed by a picnic lunch on the field, finishing off with formal races in the afternoon. •
I wondered if any parents have noticed that the school reports haven’t been sent out yet. Normally you receive them in March. However I prefer parents to receive a report that covers the whole year in school rather than missing the whole summer term. For that reason I have made changes to the format and date in which they come home to parents. The reports will be sent home on the 8th July. There will be an optional parents evening on Monday 13th July should you wish to discuss the report. •
The leavers’ service will take place at 9.15am in the church on Wednesday 22nd July. This is a very special service when we wish our Year 6 leavers the very best in their next stage of education. Next week I am going to be in school on Wednesday and Friday and the following week I will be back and forth between both schools as I administrating the SATs on both Sites. If I have a rally helmet on, don’t be surprised. Have a great extra-‐long weekend, With regards, Mrs Hammett My diary for next week looks like the following: AM PM Monday 20th BANK HOLIDAY Tuesday 21st Payhembury Wednesday 22nd Awliscombe rd
Thursday 23 Payhembury Friday 24th Awliscombe If you need me please speak to an administrator on either site to book an appointment with me. Special Awards Congratulations to the following children who have earned Special Awards this week: Kingfishers: Zara & Alfie Magpies: Louise & Freya Swans: Grace Awliscombe PTFA The next meeting for the PTFA is at The Honiton Inn, 7pm, Thursday 14th May. I have just spoken to the new managers of The Inn and they were very welcoming and keen for us to still hold our meetings there. Everyone is welcome to come and join us, it is very informal and a great way of meeting other parents. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: Thursday 14th May – 7pm PTFA meeting -‐ Honiton Inn Wednesday 20th May – May Day Friday 22nd May – last day before half term Monday 1st June – non-‐pupil day Tuesday 2nd June – first day back after half term Saturday 6th June – 1pm onwards village Duck Race and Fete Wednesday 10th June – Last day for collecting Clothes for a Cause donations. Wednesday 17th June – Sports Day Friday 5th June – provisionally being kept as 2nd choice for Sports Day if 1st choice is rained off Wednesday 19th July – 9.15am Leavers Service Thursday 23rd July -‐ Last day of term Monday 7th September – First day back after summer holidays Breakfast Club Just a reminder to parents that we run breakfast club here in school each morning from 8am. The cost is £3.00 or £3.50 per child depending on whether your child has breakfast or not. Some days are busier than others, so to book a place please contact the school office. For those parents who already use the breakfast club please remember that the club starts at 8.00am. Children should not be in school before this time. A Message from the Governors The governing bodies at Awliscombe and Payhembury will be sending out a letter next week which will start the formal six week consultation period for the proposed federation between the two schools. The letter will give details of two meetings to be held at each school to give parents the opportunity to ask questions and make comments. In the meantime, please feel free to approach any governor, in addition to Mrs Hammett, if you have particular concerns, whether about the federation or anything else. If you can't find a governor in the playground at the beginning or end of the day, you can email the school (admin@awliscombe-‐primary.devon.sch.uk) with your questions or to request a meeting. A Message from Rev. Jane A warm welcome awaits you at our short School Church Services, all are welcome on a Monday at 9.15 am, why not come along and enjoy lovely singing and often a lovely comment from the children to lift spirits at the beginning of the week! Tennis Balls Do any parents or family members belong to a tennis club or have access to large quantities of tennis balls? Small tennis balls disappear very quickly in school and are very costly to constantly replace, but we have heard that tennis clubs dispose of large quantities of balls which they deem to be unplayable, but are perfectly adequate for use in school. Enjoy the long weekend, See you on Tuesday!