29 Feb 2008 - Newsletter 22

 

Newsletter No. 22
Friday 29th February 2008

 

Dear Parents, Carers and Governors,

 

Parents and Governors Consultation on the future plans for the school
7.30pm – Thursday 6th March in the school hall
The next School Development Plan will be written by the governors over the coming weeks. This is the strategic vision for the school for the next three years, so it’s a very important document. We would like to consult with parents to find out your opinions about what you think works well and how we could improve. Next Thursday evening, the governors invite you to attend a meeting where we can share ideas about the future plans for the school. The meeting should last about an hour. Please return the reply slip (attached at the bottom of the page as a pdf) to say if you are able to attend, so we have a rough idea of numbers. Do however feel free to turn up if you are able to come and you haven’t let us know!

If you are not able to attend, we would still appreciate your views and ideas. Please either use the slip attached below or email us any time before next Thursday. We will be doing our usual end of Foundation Stage and Year 2 questionnaires towards the end of the summer term, so there will always be further opportunities to have your say. In fact, we have a lot of information from last year’s questionnaires which we will refer to as well. Thank you.

 

Socks for Sports Relief
These are now on sale! They cost £2 for each pair and will look great when the children are running.

 

PTA Disco
Thanks to the PTA team for organising another successful disco just before the holidays.

 

Non-uniform Day
Thanks for all your £1s today – we are now saving this money to go towards our Arts Week in the summer term when we have booked an artist and a dancer to come and work with the children. 

 

Mother’s Day Assembly
I hope all the mums who were able to attend today enjoyed our little gift to you! This should be covered in next week’s Advertiser so do keep a look out.
Thanks to the staff for getting this assembly together so quickly after half term!

 

Good Friday – March 21st at St Mary’s Church, Twyford
You are invited to a special Family Service at 10.30am followed by hot cross buns and Chattabox fun ending with an Egg Race at 12.30pm. For under-fives and their parents/carers, there are Noah’s Ark activities from 11.30am – 12.30pm in the United Reform Church.  If you require any further information ring:- 9344792

 

Distribution of School Newsletter
It has been suggested that for parents/carers with more than one child at our school, that our weekly newsletter be distributed to the elder sibling only, unless of course you are receiving this by email. If you have any problems/queries regarding the way in which you are receiving your newsletter please come into the office and see Mrs Dobson.

 

PTA News

Firstly, apologies that the date is incorrect on the letter about the Quiz night that you received this week. It should read Friday 14th March (not 15th March). We do hope to see you there – the challenge is always to beat the teachers team!

 

Next week is the next cake sale and this time it is the turn of year 2 again. A reminder slip will come out to parents soon, but mark your calendars and bring your money on Thursday 6th March.

 

Thanks for your ongoing support through online purchases linking through our buy.at web shop. We have just received a cheque for £34.50 from buy.at, mainly through support from Amazon.co.uk, Marks and Spencers, HMV and John Lewis. Please continue to use this easy way to raise funds by first clicking on www.buy.at/polehampton and then linking to your favourite shops from there. We have also just heard that Next has been added to their supporting shops. They will give a percentage of any online shopping done but also donate £8 for each Next directory ordered through the website.

 

We have so far raised a phenomenal  £861 from the Sponsored Pancake Toss; thank you so much for your support! If there are outstanding contributions could you please give them in at the school office as soon as possible – its never too late!

 

Thanks to all the PTA team who came to the meeting last night; it is great to have such an active and involved group of parents. Please ask anyone on the photo board if you would like to know what happens at the meeting or get involved with the next one.

One of our parents is having difficulty in finding a babysitter for our quiz night, if you are able to help please can you ring Jennifer on:- 07825557588

 

Yellow class – puppets
Yellow class need some help with sewing their puppets.  If anyone is able to offer some time it would be much appreciated.

 

Playground feedback from the children
As you know, we are fundraising to refurbish our playground equipment. In assembly this week, I told the children about the changes we’re making. I asked them what they love to play on and why. Also, what improvements we could make if we get similar equipment and any other thoughts. Here’s a summary of what they said.

- The pyramid was very popular - to jump off, to climb on, to play inside
- The monkey bars were very popular – good to make your arms stronger, too high, can we make them lower?
- The house and the boat were also popular – we like pretend games
- The single bar – I like to go up-side down
- The balance logs – few children liked these, though one boy said he loved them and was nearly able to do it!!
- We had other suggestions, a pirate ship instead of a boat, a wooden train, a rocket – all which seem to indicate that they love role-play/pretend opportunities
- Can we have the helicopter back? Unfortunately, those who loved the helicopter might also recall we had to remove it as it no longer complied with safety regulation, so I had to say no to this one!

 

We have rough plans which outline possible options – I will consult with the children further and let you know what we decide upon.

 

Local Weather Forecast
Sunny on Saturday, light rain on Sunday !

 

Have a good weekend!

Helen Ball
Headteacher