Welcome back to all our families – and a warm welcome
to those joining us for the first time.
At the time of writing, the children have been in school four days –
and so far, so good! We have given out lots of awards earned by children last
year and we hope you will encourage them to wear their badges on their uniform
with great pride.
Awards given were for:
¨100% attendance
¨Reading progress in excess of 18 months within a 12
month period
¨Sport and PE
¨Music
¨Attainment
¨Achievement
¨Head teacher’s award
These awards are not easily come by – if your child has earned one,
feel free to offer massive praise.
New staff We
have two new teachers in school. Miss Tingle is teaching in year 4 and Mr
Hanson is teaching in year 5. We welcome them to our school and hope they enjoy
working in Thorpe Hesley.
Dates
Monday 28th September – this is the launch date for us to become a
Champion School For Enterprise and there will be many
visitors as a result, who want to look at how we develop such enterprising
pupils.
7th October – Mrs Napier from Winterhill will visit school
to talk to year 6 children and put up a display in school about
8th October – we have a musical concert (guitars) in the
afternoon
15th October – at 2.00pm we have the Harvest Festival for
years 3 and 4, so hope you can come to that
16th October – this afternoon at 2.00 we have year 5 and 6
Harvest Festival, to which you are invited
20th October – This evening is reserved for parents’ evening
23rd October – school closes at normal time for half term
break
TUESDAY 3rd November – school reopens to children at normal
time
Letters Please
look in your child’s bag regularly to see if there are any letters there.
We also post all letters to parents on our website and copies are
available in the office.
Lost property You would not believe how much lost property we collected at
the end of last term! That was despite getting every child to go to the cloakroom
to collect their belongings and take them back to class. I cannot stress how
vital it is that clothes likely to be removed are named very clearly. All the
left over property from last term will be put out next week at the start and
end of the day to give you a chance to retrieve your child’s property. At the
end of next week all unclaimed clothing will either be recycled within school
or at a collection point.
School Brochure As you will
remember, a copy of the school brochure is given to you when you start this
school, but things change and the brochure is updated each year. To keep you up
to date and aware of changes within school, a further copy of the brochure will
be sent to you when your child is in year 5.
Talk Homework We
really need your support in this if it is to work to the advantage of all the
children. There was a marked difference in development as writers in those
children who do talk homework and those who do not. To give your child every
possible advantage, I ask that you support your child’s talk homework.
Water Bottles Please make sure that your child has
a school water bottle. If the free one has been lost, please see Mrs Firth in
the office to buy another. Only school bottles are allowed. Research has shown
conclusively that all brains perform better when hydrated. Water breaks are a
part of school life and children without a bottle miss out on that. Please
remember that ONLY water is allowed.
Packed Lunches Please
accept that there are clear regulations about meals in school, whether school
provides them or you send a packed lunch.
The letter that you all received in July set out clearly what is allowed
in lunch boxes in school. Some parents are still putting crisps in lunches.
These will be given back to your child to bring home. Do not send things that
are not allowed – it puts your child, the dinner staff and me in an awkward
position and leads to upset.
Please note that school meals are
strictly NOT allowed to be taken unless paid for in advance. If you want your child to have a school lunch, please
send the money either on Monday of that week, or on the day.
Money to school All money
goes to the classroom via your child. It must be in a marked envelope, stating
your child’s name, the amount and the purpose. This avoids confusion in the
office, where the staff are dealing with large
quantities for a range of things. Please
do not take money directly to the office.
Curriculum plans for autumn
These are enclosed with this letter for your information and to help
you to support your child’s work this term.
Cushions We
offer the children the opportunity to bring a cushion to school to sit on.
These need to be no larger than 30cm squares, so that they fit comfortably on
the school chairs. It would be most helpful if the cushion you send for your
child is instantly recognisable!
PE kit Please
note that PE kit needs to be in school Monday to Friday, then taken home to
wash at the weekend. This makes sure all children are taking part in PE
lessons, rather than having to miss lessons and sit at the side on their own
because they have forgotten kit.
Uniform Please refer to the school guidance for details of acceptable school
wear. You can find this on the web site or in the brochure. Sweatshirts and
polo shirts are available from school, via Mrs Firth in the office.
Please do not allow your child to wear things that will certainly
attract comment from staff as they do not conform with
our uniform policy. Please also note that we cannot allow shoes with heels in
school.
Our year three children are largely settled in school now and we look
forward to seeing their development over this year.
If you have any concerns, please voice them to either your child’s
teacher or to me, but please come at the end of the day when the teacher has
time to spend with you. It is impossible to give attention to parents and
manage a class of eager children at the start of the day.
Finally, may I remind you that it is harmful to your child’s education
to take them out of school for weeks at a time during term time.
They miss a vital step in the journey, which can often not be repeated. It is
not a matter of course that holidays are authorised and no holidays are authorised for Y6 children from mid-April to
mid-May.
Please consider this carefully before making term time bookings.