Dear Parent,
Well done to class 5/6P whose Macmillan Coffee Afternoon last Friday was so successful! Thank you also to parents who attended and those who helped the children. The total raised so far is £190.56 but since we are selling some spare cakes at breaktime in the staffroom, this total will rise!
On Friday evening we were presented with a Bronze Leaf award from Newport in Bloom for the lovely planting in the Nursery last term. Thank you to all parents and staff who helped with this.
The Reading Meeting for Reception parents takes place tomorrow afternoon at 2.45pm in the Reception classrooms. This will be a very helpful meeting because it will explain how we teach reading at school. If you have a child in Year 1 and were not able to attend this meeting last year, then you are welcome to join us.
Class 1/2S have their Farm to Fork visit to Tesco on Thursday and Class 3/4C are vising on Friday. (Class 1/2S and 1/DJ have swapped dates because of other events.)
On Thursday afternoon at 2.45pm, Galia Idrosova from the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) will be visiting the school for an informal coffee afternoon with any parents who have Tier 1 or Tier 2 visas (Professional qualifications/jobs). Any husbands or wives of these visa holders are also eligible to attend. Miss Idrosova will let you know about classes and activities that you may wish to take part in. On Thursday the MEND Healthy Eating Project starts at 3.30pm in the Nursery.
Friday is ‘Jeans for Genes’ Day and children and adults can wear jeans to school for a minimum donation of 50p per child. Money raised goes to support research into genetic illnesses.
On Friday afternoon at 2.45pm I am holding an informal meeting for any parents who are interested in joining a Parent Focus Group. The purpose of this group is for me to gain a better understanding of how some of our school activities impact on you. It is also an opportunity for you to identify any classes or activities that you would like to become involved in. I plan to hold this group once a term and any parents or grandparents are welcome to pop along. If you can’t come this week because of work or other commitments, but would like to, please let me know. You are welcome to pop along to the next one.
Clubs
Clubs have started and all of them finish at 4.30pm. Only children in Years 5 and 6 whose parents have signed for their child to walk home alone from clubs will be permitted to do so. (When the nights get darker, this will be reviewed.) Thank you to all staff who have volunteered to run a club this year.
Attendance
Attendance for last year was 93.6% which was a fantastic total! It’s great that we are on an upward trend with attendance. Thank you for continuing to support this!
All schools are required by the Welsh Government to report regularly on attendance and there are some changes coming into place shortly that you need to know about. Newport City Council have adopted a Code of conduct for Fixed Penalty Notices linked to unauthorised absence and persistent lateness which comes into place from 1st October. A separate note about this from Newport will come out shortly. For the vast majority of parents, this will cause no concern but where there is persistent lateness, it is important that you know about this. This morning, 18 children arrived at school late (after 9.00am when the side door closes) and will have a late letter tonight.
Please make every effort to ensure that your child is in school on time in the morning. Mrs Couch, who manages attendance, liaises regularly with Mrs Haigh, who is our Educational Welfare Officer, and if there is continued lateness, schools across Newport have no option but to refer parents. I understand that there may well be the occasional time when you have a problem with arriving on time first thing in the morning, but please make every effort to ensure that your child is not bringing home a pink note for lateness more than once at the most.
Parent Governors
The Parent Governor roles filled by Mrs Rachel Lydford and Mr Mike Lockey are now vacant and letter will be coming to you tomorrow about this. The role requires no special experience, just a desire to represent all parents’ points of view at meetings. The most important qualification is an understanding of our school and our families. If you would like to talk to our two current Parent Governors, (Mrs Bashir and Ms Bradfield) then please do so. I’d like to thank Ms Lydford and Mr Lockey for their commitment to the school during their time in office and their genuine desire to help all the children in our school and nursery!
Bonus Ball
Congratulations to our winner – Mrs Briggs
Yours sincerely,
H Vaughan
Headteacher