Newsletter 20

12th, February 2010 Dear Parents, NEWSLETTER 20 Maths week has been a HUGE success and the children have now accounted for the profits that they made and this made for a very happy assembly today as everyone made a profit! Here are the results in reverse order: Year One: £14.69, Year Three: £14.70, Year Five: 34.97, Year Two: £37.00, Year Four: £40.37, Reception: £53.70, Nursery: £65.50 and, the winners ……… Year Six with £85.80. Year Six had a master plan (care of their Financial Advisor, Aslan Hiedary) right from the beginning and were confident that they only needed to spend £5 of their £20 loan. In fact, they only spent £4.50 for the sugar needed for candyfloss and then had half left over. This was then sold to Miss Hanlon for Cookery Club at a profit of £1.50. So they only spent £3!! I foolishly said that “I would eat my words” if they won the competition so had to do this in the shape of three biscuits with those words written on them!! Well done, Year Six (and, indeed, everyone – especially the Nursery!) for such a great effort – what a great experience. Holidays During Term Time I need to remind parents that it is very important that you make an appointment to speak to me before you make any arrangements for holidays during term time. We are doing our best to improve the attendance record even further (vital for OFSTED inspections) but are being hampered by parents requesting “odd” days to attach to existing school holidays. Please be aware that in the future these will have to be for a very good reason as with the 15 or so weeks holiday already available, there should be no need for additional time away from school. The oft quoted reason that tickets or accommodation are cheaper if you leave earlier than the end of term will no longer be acceptable. Any absences that are not authorised will be reported to the Educational Welfare Officer. The Team Manager Is Always Right! Well done to our marvellous football team who performed so well this week. Our A Team will now be representing Westminster in the whole of London competition – well done indeed! Both teams faced stiff opposition and the final came down to the last penalty but we finally beat St. Peter’s with a save from Joseph Carroll and a Samuel Nwosu special goal! The team were: A: Joseph Carroll, Maya Giulivi, Maisy Ritchie, Ashantee Mykoo, Samuel Chering, Aslan Hiedary, Christian Kerton-Johnson, Alfie Cooper, Monty Martin-Zakheim, B: Matilda Hindler-Lowe, Aaron Eastman, Jack Gibbs, Billy Bishop-Hodgkins, James Pilcher and Theo Kennedy-Fletcher. I am delighted that our Team Coach, Roy Coleman, has confirmed that he will continue to work for us indefinitely and as he is ably assisted by Lee Higgins – this is very good news indeed! However, it is very disappointing to hear that a parent had telephoned Roy to complain that their child had not been picked for the team when another child who, in their opinion, was not as good was. This sort of communication must not happen again. If anyone is concerned with the teams we send to competitions, then parents should speak to me. Roy has my complete confidence and he knows that I want only the best team to be picked. We are no longer in the position that we have to send a team to participate – we are in it to compete. I wonder what Sir Alex Ferguson would say to Wayne Rooney’s mum is she complained ……… Parent Workshops – What a Success!! We have been thrilled with the response given to us from the parents who came to the first of our Parent Workshops run by our wonderful Teaching Assistants. We knew that they would be a success but have been overwhelmed with how positive you have found them. So much so, that we are going to offer more after half term. These are the workshops that will be offered on the Friday after half term: Key Stage One: Numeracy Strategies you can use at home Key Stage Two: English: The use of “Wow” words – how to improve your child’s vocabulary Key Stage Two: Numeracy: Using the four operations - +, -, x and division. We are planning to continue and expand these workshops so please let us know if there is anything else you would like to learn about. All sessions start at 9:00 a.m. Also, don’t forget our new Internet Café in the ICT room. It is free to everyone and Mrs. MacKay is waiting to welcome you – she’s a bit lonely at the moment! Parent Questionnaires Thank you to everyone who sent back their questionnaires so quickly –you can still send them back after half term if you would like to. We are busily collating all the answers and will respond to you all after half term. If you have raised a particular point, we will be contacting you directly. Scooters and Bicycles We find ourselves caught between a rock and a hard place. We are a Healthy School and a Silver standard Eco-School but we are unable to accommodate children who wish to bring their scooters or bicycles to school. At the moment. We are busy being very creative and Mr. Higgins and I are working on a cunning ploy to make something creative to help. Please bear with us for a short time and we will keep you informed. In the meantime, please do not attach bikes or scooters to the railings in front or around the school. Important Message About Late Arrival or Early Collection From School Can you please make sure that if your child arrives late in school for any reason that you come to the School Office to let us know they have arrived? Similarly, if you are collecting your child before the end of school, you must report to the Office and we will call your child down to you. Under no circumstances, must you go to the classrooms or call your child from the pavement to come up to meet you. This is essential so that we know exactly where everyone is at all times. Parish Lent Course This year’s Lent course will be an Old Fashioned one based on the study of St. John’s Gospel and what it means to us nowadays. However, you all know Father Bradley and his expert crew of helpers and I am sure this will in not mean in any way that the course will be boring. Far from it! If you would like to attend, please be at the Vicarage on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. starting on March 3rd. Buster and The Teacher Angel Buster is going home with Leila Ingram-Smith for half term as she is a very sensitive and responsible member of the School Council and represents her class so thoughtfully. Teacher Angel this week is Mrs. Vasiliou who was not nominated by the children but nominated by a parent. The School Council were unanimous that she was the right choice for this reason: “My son, Oliver, was very tired and tearful when I dropped him off to school one day. When I picked him up he had been crying for most of the afternoon. I really appreciated being told by Mrs. Vasiliou that she had looked after him and given him lots of cuddles. It really means a lot to me that he feels so safe and happy. She is fabulous and I feel very lucky that he has her as a teacher. From Mrs.Ager. Geographer of the Week This week, Elizabeth Biggs became our Geographer of the Week as she maintained her composure when being interrogated by a Chinese representative during the Climate Change Summit on Monday. Elizabeth chose France for us to study after half term – a very popular choice! Stars of the Week – Celebrating success and building confidence Nursery: Dylan Ireland for trying his best joining in with Big Writing, Reception: Riley Cade for being eager and enthusiastic with everything – a fantastic attitude, well done! Year One: Lacey O’Brien for being so supportive and kind when celebrating her friend’s achievements so enthusiastically! Year Two: Julia Davidson for working really hard and making good progress especially in Big Writing! Year Three: Ben Buffery for writing a whole side of A4 in Big Writing today. It was an outstanding, thoughtful piece! Year Four: David Caro for being enthusiastic and working especially hard during Maths Week, Year Five: Anastasia Cooke for being such a successful star and a wonderful person, Year Six: Aslan Hiedary for learning the Year Six Enterprise team so successfully during Maths Week! Class ChitChat Nursery: Well done for an excellent start to half term. You are all super stars! Reception: Thank you to Zoe’s mum for helping out on the Maths stall when things got hectic. Our topic next week is Space. Year One: We are collecting egg boxes and jam jars for our growing topic next term. Year Two: Thank you to all parents who helped on our stall last Friday. We couldn’t have done it without you! Year Three: Well done for a fantastic Mass on Monday and thank you to all parents who came to church to show their support. Year Four: Thank you to all parents for your support during Maths Week. I didn’t expect so many parents to come! It was a great success and the children loved it! Year Five: Well done to the Climate Change Eight – you made me so proud! Remember there is a Sayer’s Croft meeting at3:40 p.m. on Wednesday 24th February. Year Six: Well done for you latest SATs paper results – you are all fantastic! Science Week: This is fast approaching (15th-19th March). This year’s theme is the Earth. If you would like to come in and talk to us about this fascinating subject, please let me know. With all best wishes, Ms. L. J. Woodford