Newsletter 22

March 5th, 2010 Dear Parents, NEWSLETTER 22 Book week has been very successful and we have really enjoyed talking about our favourite Julie Donaldson books. Well done everyone who came to school dressed as one of her characters – Harley and Pippin’s snails were very memorable as was Miss O’Brien’s Gruffalo. How wonderful that we have so many imaginative people! Please see the flyer attached about the Bedtime Story session later today. Please turn up promptly for a 5:30 p.m. start in your pyjamas – your teachers will be waiting for you. Parents are very welcome to stay for a cup of tea/coffee in the hall rather than slip away quietly! Kingswood and Some Cancelled Clubs Year Six are off to Kingswood on Monday and you can literally feel the excitement in their classroom at the moment! As Miss Fiske, Miss Hanlon and Miss Forbes will be going with the children, their clubs will be cancelled for next week: Cookery, Computer and Geography. Mother’s Day Service – St. Saviour’s Church – Sunday 14th March at 11:00 a.m. Once again, the children will be very much involved in the Mother’s Day service at St. Saviour’s this year – please make every effort to come along to this very special occasion. Miss Hodgson writes: The school choir have been asked to sing during the service and have been practising a special song. Please could the children arrive at the church [not in uniform, but looking presentable!] at 10.45am ready for the 11am service start. The children can sit with their families during the service – after all it is Mothering Sunday! – and can wriggle out of the pews when it’s their time to sing. Looking forward to seeing you there! PTA Grand Auction – Friday 23rd April at 7:00 p.m. Please look out for an e-mail coming your way about the PTA auction and what you can do to help us raise lots of money! This year, we are looking to cover the costs of our wonderful PE, Art and Music teachers which cost in excess of £30,000 per year. If you want to discuss any potential ideas, please speak to Mrs. MacKay or myself. We are also beginning to collect items for the Children’s Auction which will take place on the same day. Every donation will mean that one point is given to the class total for each child in the family. The class with the most points will be given an official day out of school!! Generous Donation – Thank You Thank you to Luka Ivanovic for donating an entire set of The Beast Quest books – over 30 of them to Year Two’s class library! Buster and the Teacher Angel Buster is going home with Ivy and Essie Webb this week as every member of staff is so proud of how cheerful, enthusiastic and positive they both are. They are a credit to their family – well done indeed! The Teacher Angel award has been given to Mr. Michael as he makes sure that everyone is kept healthy. The children love his lessons as they are so exciting and they “get active”! Geographer of the Week Caitlin Sanderson was Geographer of the Week for showing such enthusiasm about Cuba. She chose Mexico for us to study next week! PE Stars this Term Mr. Michael has asked me to mention a number of children/classes for their efforts since January. Here we go: “Well done to the football team who will now be representing Westminster in the all London competition sponsored by QPR…..special mention to Joseph Carroll for not only his football skills and energy but also his maturity in consoling his team member on missing a penalty…..wonderful performance by the Cricket Team for doing so well against much older children at Lords cricket ground……special mention to Katherine Biggs for game place and general special behaviour, Theo Kennedy-Fletcher for good leadership skills alongside Aaron Eastman and Elena Jalali….well done to Year Five for much improved behaviour and skills……Best class for learning new skills is Nursery and I have already seen several potential Gifted and Talented candidates from this class!!” Home Corner Cooking Next week, Year One will be cooking in the Home Corner and shall be creating French bread Pizzas. If they would like to bring along up to two vegetable toppings they can use these. We have the bread and cheese! Can all children find a large Tupperware type container, put their name on it and bring it into school whenever they have a cooking session? This means that precious food can be brought home safely. Our New Parent Support Advisors – The Wonderful Mrs. Otero and Mrs. MacKay Mrs. Otero and Mrs. MacKay are currently training to become Parent Support Advisors. I personally think they know it all already but they are very excited about their new role in school. The plan is that they will have a whole bank of information that will be useful to parents as well as acting as the official Fonts of All Knowledge. Mrs. Otero wanted to remind you that Patrick Green, the Westminster Family Information Services is coming to talk to you on Monday 15th March at 9:00 a.m. He will have information about Working Tax Credits. Another useful piece of information is that, if you do not have a computer at home or access to a computer you may be eligible for a Government grant. If you earn less than £16,000 per year or are on benefits, please speak to Mrs. Otero who will give you a booklet to explain more. Parent Workshops – A HUGE success! Thank you to all the parents who have let us have such positive feedback about the Parent Workshops that our fabulous Teaching Assistants are running. It is always wonderful to hear about projects that are a success but those that we have received have brought many a tear to our eyes! Keep coming on Friday mornings and let us know if there is anything else you would like to learn! Don’t forget the Internet Café in the ICT suite with Mrs. MacKay – look out for more news about developments in this area coming your way soon! Stars of the Week – Managing My Emotions Nursery: Aiden Giulivi for being a great helper and a good friend, Reception: Andreas Boesen for working hard at writing his name, Year One: Hamid Abdel Salam for your fantastic hard work and writing this term, well done! Year Two: Lilyann Richardson for being consistently hard-working, enthusiastic and cheerful! Year Three: Poppy Ritchie for lots of hard work especially with her creative writing, Year Four : Hope Morgan for being a great friend this week and trying her best as usual, Year Five: Everyone for being such great ambassadors for the school on their trip to Sayers Croft, Year Six : Ciaron Dunning for excellent progress in Literacy, Music: Chikezie Nwosu for being such an enthusiastic member of the school choir – well done! Class ChitChat Reception : Miss Forbes is going to Kingswood next week so Mrs. Vasiliou and Miss Smith will be with Reception. Year Five Buddies will be looking after the children all week. Year One: Please don’t forget your PE kits. So many children are forgetting them that Ms. Woodford has said they will have to start missing their playtime! PE is on Wednesday and Thursday. Year Two : Please send back your permissions slips for our trips to The Science Museum and The Royal Albert Hall. Year Three and Four: Please bring in your PE kit on Wednesday for cricket training. Year Six : Kingswood is finally here – woo hoo! See you with stamps, money, suitcases and any medicines in the school hall at 8:30 a.m. Get some good sleep this weekend – if you can! And Finally ….. Look out a postcard advertisement for the new nail lounge in Formosa Street called Tillie’s. There is 30% discount for appointments between now and Sunday and we are working on the possibility of more offers for school parents in the future. With all best wishes, Ms. L. J. Woodford