Newsletter

Newsletter Number 6 - Spring Term 2012

February 23 2012

Dear Parents,

Welcome back after the half-term break. We hope that you and your children had an enjoyable time.

Diary Dates

As usual we have a busy half-term ahead. I have posted the various events on the calendar on the school website, but for your information the dates up until the June half-term are listed below. It is likely that more events will be added over the coming weeks, so do please keep checking the website.

• Thursday 23^rd  February – pm Year 5/6 Netball Tournament at Langley Grammar School
• Friday 24^th  February – Visit from Buttercup the cow to Key Stage 1
• Friday 24^th February Year 5/6 Signing and Singing project at Arbourvale School
• Monday 27^th   February – Visit to Key Stage 2 from My Newt Explorers
• Wednesday 29^th February – Leap Day! Fun events based around the theme of Leap Year
• Wednesday 29^th  February – Parent Consultations 3.30pm – 5.30pm
• Thursday 1^st March – World Book Day – Children can come dressed as a Book Character
• Thursday 1^st March Parent Consultations 3.30pm to 6.10pm
• Tuesday March 6^th – Start of Book Fair
• Wednesday March 7^th – Bisham School Writing Project children visit Year 4
• Thursday March 8^th – Parent Consultations 3.30pm to 6.10pm
• Friday March 9^th – Year 5/6 Signing and Singing project at Arbourvale School
• Monday March 12^th – ECO Week
• Tuesday March 13^th – Group of KS2 children take part in the Potato Challenge
• Wednesday March 14^th – Guitar Festival at The Centre ( 40 KS2 children participating)
• Monday March 19^th – Parents Count Maths Morning in School
• Wednesday March 21^st – Evening Concert for Year 5 and 6 children who have taken part in the Arbourvale Signing and Singing project.
• Thursday March 22^nd – Red Class Trip to Iver Environmental Centre
• Friday March 23^rd – DHL Road Safety Road Show for Key Stage 2
• Friday March 23^rd – Sports Relief – Smile for Mile in Pippins Park
• Tuesday March 27^th-  J4 Production to parents 2.00pm, followed by refreshments
• Thursday March 29^th – School Discos FS and KS1 3.30pm – 4.30pm and KS2 5.00pm – 6.15pm
• Friday March 30^th – End of Term 3.10pm
• Monday April 16^th – Staff Training Day
• Tuesday April 17^th – Summer Term begins
• Friday April 20th –   Visit from the Owls
• Wednesday April 25^th to Thursday April 26^th – J4 Trip to Sayers Croft
• Thursday May 3^rd – School Closed for day due to use as polling station for local elections
• Monday May 14^th to Thursday May 17^th – Year 6 SATS tests
• Monday May 28^th – Red Class Trip to Windsor
• Tuesday May 29^th to Friday June 1^st – Year 6 Residential to Longridge
• Friday June 1^st – End of Half-Term 3.10pm

We hope that you will agree that the children are in for a great term ahead!

Parents Count Morning

You will have noticed on the list of diary dates that on Monday March 19^th we will be holding a Parents Count Morning. This is designed to show you the various calculation methods that are widely used across the school. Maths methods have changed greatly since many of us were at school and we thought that you may like to see how your child is being taught.

The day will start at 9.00am, when Mrs Davis will give a demonstration of Key Stage 1 methods ( KS2 parents are of course welcome to come to this.) At 9.30am the Key Stage 1 parents can then join their children in class to take part in a Maths lesson with them. This session will finish at 10.15am.

At 9.30am Mrs Davis will run a session for parents on calculation methods used in Key Stage 2.  At 10.00am parents can then join their child in class to take part in a Maths lesson.

The KS2 session will finish at 10.45am.

Parent Consultations

The appointment slots are up and times are filling up fast. Each slot is 15 minutes rather than the usual 10. After the meetings, we would welcome your feedback on how useful you found this extra time.

Nursery Consultation

Thank you very much for those of you who have returned your Nursery consultation forms. If  you have not yet already done so but wish to take part, please return your slip as soon as possible. Thank you.

Sports Relief

As usual, we will be taking part in Sports Relief this year. We are planning to hold a Smile for a Mile event on Friday March 23^rd. We have a number of Sports Relief headbands available for purchase from the office priced at £1.50. The children can either take part through raising money from sponsorship ( forms available from the office) or through a donation on the day.

Parents and carers are very welcome to come and join in the fun on 23^rd. Times to be confirmed.

Leap Day

Next week we are having a day of activities based around Leap Year. The PTFA have bought a Bouncy Castle for the school and we are going to set it up for the children to have a leap about. If there is anyone who would be able to offer assistance for part of the day, we would love to hear from you. Thank you.

Auction

As we have not had many auction lot offers, we will be postponing the auction until the Summer Term. However there will be one lot available for sealed bids. We are going to make a space available in the car park for the Summer Term. If you would like the convenience of a parking space, send in an envelope with the amount you would donate to school funds, together with your name and child’s name/class. The highest bid will secure the space for the Summer Term – April 17^th to July 19^th. Bids need to be in by Friday March 9^th.

Yours sincerely,

Lucy Barnes

Headteacher