Newsletter 14

December 18th, 2009 Dear Parents, NEWSLETTER 14 This week has been a whirl of excitement in the run up to the end of term and the Christmas holidays. Thank you to everyone who has made this term such a great success – we are all blessed with amazing teachers and support staff as well as our wonderful children. At school, we are also so very grateful to our parents, carers and school community who support us so well all year round – we couldn’t do it without you! We Are Investors in People! If it wasn’t enough that we are an Outstanding school, we have now achieved the coverted award of Investors in People! We had our assessment on Wednesday and not only reached the Threshold but smashed it! Miss Hanlon is responsible for preparing and the materials and making excellent arrangements which mean that we should receive our blue plaque in early January. The Investors in People award is given to all sorts of organisations and is a mark of the care and attention that is given to employees for training and well-being. Our assessor thought that we made a significant difference to our staff and that the children were amazing!! The award is now given in two parts. You have to meet the Threshold to be given this award but you can now go for bronze, silver and gold status as well (guess which one we want?!). Our assessor was so impressed with us that he thought were not too far away from gold already and that with a few more tweaks, we will be there. We are so proud! Only down side is that this costs more money – if there is anyone who knows of an organisation that sponsors the Investors in People scheme, can they let me know? Bearing in mind that very few schools or businesses are awarded gold it would be worth having a go! Charity Successes A big thank you to Mr. Naghdi (Constance in Reception’s Dad) who kindly directed us towards the Heathcote Fund charity which is managed by the St. John’s Wood PCC. We were thrilled to find out that our application for funds towards our Nursery playground re-furbishment had been successful to the tune of £1500. This is the highest award they have given this year so we are really pleased! Applications Needed for Nursery Places From Existing Siblings If you have a child that was born between 1st September 2006 and 31st August 2007, he or she could be eligible for a place in the Nursery class which will start in September next year. Names and birth dates should be given to Mrs. Otero as soon as possible as application packs will be sent out as soon as we come back to school in January! Staff Changes for 2010 We were delighted (as well as saddened to hear that Miss Herbert had been accepted for a Psychology and Special Needs degree which starts in February. This will, unfortunately, mean that her last day will be today! We have loved working with her over the last two years and wish her much happiness in her studies. This means that we have needed to make some changes to our staffing group for next term. From January, Mrs. Pearman will be climbing the stairs each day as the New Year Four Teaching Assistant and Miss Eastman will be joining Year One as their TA. We have also been very lucky to employ Mrs. Deutrom as our new Teaching Assistant in KS1 and Mid-Day Supervisor in the Nursery. Great news! Brand New Grand-Parents Congratulations to Mrs. and Mr. Pearman for becoming the newest Grand-Parents in the world this morning. Their daughter, Sara, gave birth to a healthy baby girl this morning – what a wonderful Christmas present! Buster and The Teacher Angel Buster is going home with Matthew Worth in the Nursery for Christmas! Matthew has made such great progress this year and will be a real role model for the new children starting in January. A well deserved award Matthew – we are all proud of you! The Teacher Angel for Christmas is, appropriately enough, Miss Herbert as the children wanted her to know how much she has meant to them and how much they appreciate all her hard work and great displays. Geographer of the Week Selma Fitwi is the Geographer of the week and she will choose her country of the week when we come back in January. Be aware though that she is already thinking of choosing a cold country! Stars of the Week – Being Excited and Being Good Friends Nursery : Romily Hunt for being very enthusiastic and playing nicely with her friends. Reception : Grace Martin for being a good friend to everyone in the class and having such a cheerful manner, Year One: Arianna Dragusha for being such a sensible member of our class during such an exciting week! Year Two : Gabriel Tobin for being a fantastic member of Year Two. He has worked so hard this term and been a great friend to everyone! Year Three : Lucy Cusack for being such a lovely member of our class and working so hard this term. Year Four: Dahlia Giulivi for being really helpful and kind to everyone, Year Five : Elena Jalali for working so hard this whole term and making such good progress, Year Six: Jovanna Portic for being such a good friend to everyone in the class – including Miss Fiske! Class ChitChat Nursery: Have a magical Christmas! Reception : Please bring any junk modelling materials (egg boxes, tubes, cardboard boxes) into school in January. Have a great Christmas! Year One: A big thank you from Mrs. Pearman and me for all our cards and present. We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas! Year Two: Thank you so much for all your cards and presents. We wish you all a fantastic Christmas! Year Three : Thank you so much for all our lovely presents. Have a fantastic holiday! Year Four : There will be no swimming on the first day back at school. Year Five: Thank you for all our lovely Christmas cards and presents. Merry Christmas! Year Six: Thank you for all the wonderful Christmas presents. Remember to go through your SATs papers over the holiday! Echoing the teachers’ comments, thank you for all my very generous and thoughtful presents (Ripley really likes his too!). We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Keep safe and warm until Tuesday 5th January 2010 when school will re-open! With all best wishes, Ms. L. J. Woodford