October 2007 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

The children have settled into their new year groups well and everyone is working very hard. Thank you for all your help and support in making this as easy as possible for the children and the staff.

We shall be saying good bye to Mrs. Bassi at the end of this half term when she will be starting her maternity leave. We wish her well while she is away and look forward to meeting the new member of the Bassi family. Mrs. Wannenburg will be returning to our school to take her class until her return during the Summer term.

We are very pleased to be able to report that the school achieved all the standards required as a result of the “Investors in People” revalidation process at the end of September. This is an award which recognises that we value and support all our staff through training opportunities and good communications. This ensures that the children have a well trained staff to work with them.

Parents send in money to school for a wide variety of things and this has to be processed in the school office. When queries arise it is usually because these procedures have not been followed. If you follow these reminders it will help us to help you.

• Any money coming into school should arrive on Monday via the classroom. The exact amount should be put into separately named envelopes so that there are no misunderstandings about what it is for or who should deal with it when it arrives in the office.
•Please do not come to the office to ask for change as we do not keep cash readily available for security reasons.
•The only items which can be bought and paid for from the office are: book bags - £4, P.E. bags - £3, Hats - £3, Lunch/ milk money envelopes - £2.

The Book Fair will be returning to school on 5th October. Reading is a major focus for us in school this year so we hope to see you there. It’s a good place to start picking up stocking fillers in preparation for Christmas.

Open evening is at the end of this month and in addition to being able to talk to the teachers we will have representatives from the Governing Body and a local Parent support group ready to deal with any questions you may have.

School dinners
Parents should decide whether their child is having packed lunches or school dinners at the beginning of the week and not change in the middle. The kitchen staff has to order food in advance and cannot cater for changes on a daily basis. If your child is going to be late in the morning can you let the office staff know so that they can order a school dinner if necessary before the final number is sent to the cook.

Ms Paula Brown from the “Safer Journeys to School” team is coming to school on 15th October to talk to parents and children about the benefits of setting up a walking bus. This would be run by parents but supported by Local Authority. There is a letter going out to parents with further details shortly.

Evening Parenting Workshops
Mrs James and Mrs. Bailey, our school nurse, are going to be running a series of Parent Workshops this term and next term. They will be taking place in the evening in our school hall from 7.30 -9.00. We hope mums and /or dads will be able to attend. This term they will be covering the following topics:-
*What can I do if my child misbehaves?
*First Aid & Accident Prevention
*Healthy Eating
*Play
These workshops will be free and we hope working parents who cannot usually attend our daytime sessions will be able to come along. A full programme of events will be sent home in the near future.

One last reminder – please name all your childrens’ clothing, particularly hat, scarves and gloves. Our lost property box in the entrance hall is filling up fast and the contents will be sent to the local charity shop at the end of this half term if they have not been claimed.

Finally, we would really like to have more parents helping in school now. We are particularly interested in parents who would like to develop their artistic skills in the afternoons with Mrs. Hutchings, run a chess club or help Mrs. Huckett by opening the library at lunchtime. Please see your class teacher or come to the office if you have time you can offer.

With best wishes to you all
Mrs. Mooney and all the staff

Diary dates

Please note that Gold Award assembly dates have been provisionally booked and may be subject to change. You will receive an invitation confirming these dates nearer the time.

October
1st - Walk to school week, Mrs. Silver's parents invited in for lunch
4th - Year 1 - Young town planners day - Lego workshop 5th - Gold Award assembly – Mrs. Silver's class, Book fair opens
8th - Mrs. McVie's parents invited in for lunch
10th - p.m. Harvest Festival at Waltham Abbey Church–children & staff only, Book Fair ends
12th - Gold Award assembly – Mrs. McVie's class
15th - Mrs. Bassi's parents invited in for lunch, Walking bus assembly - Parents invited
18th - Open evening – 3.20-5.00 & 6.00-8.00
19th - Gold Award assembly – Mrs. Bassi’s class


School closes Friday 19th October for half term
Monday 29th October INSET day
School reopens Tuesday 30th October

November
2nd - Gold Award assembly – Mrs. Collin’s class
5th - Mrs. Kemp’s class parents invited in to lunch all week, Reception Open Mornings all week
8th - Year 2 - Florence Nightingale workshops
9th - Gold Award assembly – Mrs. Kemp’s class
12th - Miss Gillespie’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
16th - Gold Award assembly – Miss Gillespie’s class
20th - Rev. Martin Webster in to take school assembly
23rd - Gold Award assembly – Nursery
29th - Reception trip to The Gunpowder Mills

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