Tollgate Primary School Tollgate Lane, Bury St Edmunds, IP32 6DG Telephone: 01284 752742 Email: [email protected] Website http://burytrust.org/tollgate/ April 2015 Newsletter Dear Parents and Carers, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support. As I reflect back over the last term it has been good to have a secure and stable school with lots of successes. I am very proud of the achievements and milestones we have reached as a school. The children have been fabulous and are a real credit to you all as parents and carers. They are super children and I am ever so proud to be their Headteacher. This newsletter includes events and activities that the children have taken part in; they have represented us superbly. I had the privilege of watching and listening to the Year 4s in the All-Through Trust concert at The Apex and then the Year 3 Pupils in the Dance Festival. They were amazing and demonstrated the benefits of being part of The Trust. They were a real credit to us all. We were sad to say farewell to Mrs Flack but wish her every success in her new role as Deputy Headteacher at Glemsford School. I am very pleased that Mr Lloyd will continue to teach the Year 4 children to the end of the school year. Staffing for the next academic year will be confirmed during the summer before the children’s transition day. We are looking forward to all the opportunities of the Summer Term as we continue to Inspire, Discover and Celebrate Together. Mrs Earl Year 4 Maths morning with Barrow, Westley and Horringer Court Rugby Festival at County Campus with Barrow pupils SAFEGUARDING OUR CHILDREN We take our Safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. This means that we ensure that everyone working in our school has successfully completed the necessary clearances to enable them to work with children. It also means that we have specifically trained and designated staff within school. These staff are the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and SENCO. Mrs Earl and Mrs Bateman have recently attended the 3 year review training programme. We follow the Suffolk Child Protection Procedures and the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board local guidance and have systems in place to share concerns regarding children’s welfare with our designated staff, with parents and with relevant external agencies. Part of our legal duty to safeguard our children, may also include us needing to consult specifically with and take advice from the Police or Children's Social Care, should the need arise. By working closely together as staff, with you and with our partner agencies, we firmly believe that we will continue to offer a safe learning environment for all our children. Please take the time to read our policies on the website and do not hesitate to contact the school should you have any questions. Report of Governors’ Visits—Spring 2015 Last term the visit objective was to monitor progress towards our School Development Plan Priority —Raising standards of attainment in mathematics. Governors observed mathematics lessons in class and talked with children about their learning. After the lesson governors met with the class teacher to discuss the lesson. The individual reports included evidence of technical vocabulary being used, a range of creative and imaginative teaching methods employed, and opportunities for the children to be actively engaged and enthusiastic. Most children said that they loved maths and enjoyed hard challenges as it helped them learn more. The children knew how to improve and which equipment and resources can help them if they are stuck. The children‘s comments are indicating how Building Learning Power is having a big impact on their attitudes to learning. Governor vacancy - We are looking to appoint a parent governor with an ability to work in a professional manner as part of a team and take collective responsibility for decisions. We would be particularly interested in hearing from you if you can offer skills in marketing, project management or premises. Please be aware that collecting your child early for an appointment disrupts the learning of your child and others in the class. Result of parent vote on core values We value your involvement and will continue to use your responses to guide our assembly values in the future. Value Number of votes % Responsibility Trust Tolerance & Respect Caring & Nurturing Perseverance Hope Forgiveness Serving Others 79 79 53 32 27 25 13 11 27 27 18 11 9 9 4 4 Other suggestions: Understanding At the end of the school day children are collected on the playground. If you are late after school the children are taken to the office until 3.30pm. After this time they will be taken to the after school club ‘Time Out’ in the dining room. A charge for child care may be required. This term our Building Learning Power focus will be on Reflectiveness, through this the children will be more self aware and developing the habits of successful learners. A special launch day will take place on Friday 17th April with a leaflet for parents. Last term we focused on Trust, following your responses our assembly value this term will be Responsibility. The Year 4 children performed ‘Once Upon a Time’ at The Apex There are a range of photos on display outside the music room, if you would like a print, please ask in the office. Thank you to all the helpers who have helped us to transform our Wildlife Area into a new outdoor learning space that has been renamed by the Eco-Council as ‘The Nature Garden’. Thank you for the bird boxes, we are looking for further donations of branches for den building, wood chip for paths, suitable plants eg Buddleia and a digger for spreading some old leaves. There is still work to be done on the fencing so please ensure that your children do not enter unsupervised. Is your child eligible for pupil premium? We have the opportunity to send children on special days, such as trips to the pantomime. This is dependent on identifying more children eligible for pupil premium. The government offers schools additional money for pupils whose families receive:  Income Support; Income-based Jobseekers Allowance; Income-related Employment and Support Allowance; Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit;  Or has been ‘looked after’ for 1 day or more, was adopted from care, or left care under: a special guardianship order or a residence order Chat to Maryanne if you are unsure whether your child is eligible. The form is available at the school office; if you need any further support with this, Maryanne is happy to help you. School Council Update - The school council met this half term with the task to gather ideas for some new play equipment for the field. The meeting involved lots of discussions and sharing ideas. Estimates for costs are being gathered as we hope to receive Locality Funds through Councillor Nettleton. We will also need to partly fund this project ourselves so lots of fundraising ideas are needed, see PTA section. Early Years Pupil Premium From April 2015 3 and 4 year-olds will attract funding if their family gets 1 of the following:  Income Support  income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance  income-related Employment and Support Allowance  support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999  the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit  Child Tax Credit (provided they’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)  Working Tax Credit run-on, which is paid for 4 weeks after they stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit  Universal Credit  the child has been ‘looked after’ for 1 day or more  they have been adopted from care  they have left care under a special guardianship order or residence order. Please talk to the office staff if this may apply to you as there are individual benefits through the school’s additional funding. Dates for this term Tollgate is a very busy school and there is always so much going on. Please note these dates in your calendar. April 21st 9-10 ERIC, Parents welcome 30th 9-10 MICE, Parents welcome May 1st Class photos 4th Bank Holiday car boot sale 8th May day picnic and dancing 11th Parent maths course starts, then 18th, June 8th, 15th 11th Yr 3/4 trip to Sutton Hoo 14th Open Day 20th Yr R to Lackford lakes 21st Tollgate’s Got Talent 22nd No school - Teacher PD day 25th Car boot sale half term June 11th Yr 4 transfer at middles 9-12 18th New Yr R parents induction meeting 6.00pm 19th Yr 3 brass at The Apex 23rd 12-3 Yr 4 transfer day at middle 25th Picnic with parents and sports afternoon July 4th Summer fete 10th Whole school transition day to new classes 18th Summer disco 22nd Last day in school Aug 31st Car boot sale Sept 2nd PD day 3rd Children start school Year 3s in the All-Through Trust Dance Festival PTA Recent events were a fun Bingo evening, enjoyable Easter hunt and busy carboot sale. The Bingo and Easter hunt were events to encourage people to get together and socialise. The carboot was very busy so from all these events we are delighted to have raised £2413.21. Special thanks go to Mrs Moss, staff, governors, parents and community members who made the events possible. We are spending some money on upgrading the Reception outdoor learning area and raising funds for our new playground climbing and activity areas. Please give your name to the office if you can spare a few hours at the next carboot.