February 2009 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

The snowy weather has made the start of February very difficult for us all. We apologise for any inconvenience we caused you by closing the school but travelling conditions were treacherous for those members of staff who have to travel to school from outside of Waltham Abbey. It is a very difficult decision to make and not one that is taken lightly. We hope that we have seen the last of the bad weather and that spring is just around the corner.

Sadly, we had to cancel the Chinese workshop. We hope to rearrange it for another day in the near future.

Thank you to everyone who took the trouble to respond to the parental questionnaires we sent out earlier this term. If you have not returned yours yet please drop it into the school office as soon as possible. There were some very good ideas which we will be including in our plans for next year. One of these was to have a box in the entrance hall for you to post your views and ideas for staff and governors. We hope to have this in place very shortly and look forward to receiving your suggestions. If you put your name and contact details on any correspondence we will answer you personally.

There was a query as to why we allow the ice – cream van onto the school premises at the end of the school day. This is a result of a joint decision taken many years ago by the governing bodies of the infant and junior school. It was decided that it was more sensible for the ice-cream van to be parked safely in the school grounds than to have it parked randomly out on Monkswood Avenue. The van was adding to the traffic congestion, which was not as great as it is now. The governors were concerned that children might be tempted to run across the road to the van and the queue of customers congested the pavements which forced parents & children out onto the road in order to get round them. We cannot stop the ice cream man parking outside the school so this was felt to be a safe compromise and fortunately the ice cream man was prepared to co-operate with us. However it is another reason why we ask parents to not bring their cars onto school premises after school and create unnecessary additional hazards.

Mrs Kemp was very pleased at the response to her request for plants for the classrooms and would like to thank you all for those that were sent in. She would be happy to receive more if you have any available.

The ICT & Literacy workshops have been well attended and if there is a demand we would be happy to organise more next term. If you have any ideas for other workshops please contact Mrs James and let her know.

The PTA is fund raising for the school again this term. They have bought a lovely Valentine Bear for each class and these will be raffled on Thursday 12th February in a school assembly. There is still time to buy a ticket. They cost a £1 and can be obtained from Mrs Bailey at the school office.

The PTA are also hoping to organise a ladies evening on March 26th. They have lots of interesting stalls planned. We hope that you will support them and have a great evening. They will be sending you out a letter shortly with further details.

We have an open evening on 12th February. On this occasion you are invited to go to your child’s classroom and look at their books and other work. The class teacher will be available to speak to you but there will be no timed appointments and if you wish to speak confidentially to the class teacher please make arrangements to see her at another time.

There will be a meeting for Year 2 parents in the school hall at 6.00 on 12th February to discuss the SATs and how you can support your child at home. There will also be Keystage 1 literacy & numeracy work books for sale.

We would like to remind you that money should not be paid in at the office window. All money should be put in clearly named envelopes and handed into the class teacher. Please make sure that money for different things is put in separate envelopes. This is because different members of staff deal with milk money, dinner money & trip money.

It was good to see so many parents at the Year R & Nursery open mornings. The feedback from these sessions was very positive and you seemed pleased to be able to participate in the class lessons. The children love to see you in school and are always very proud to share their achievements with you. A big thank you to everyone who attended.

With best wishes
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.

February
2nd - Mrs Mc Vie’s class parents invited in to lunch all week Chinese Lion day workshop – whole school
6th - Mrs McVie’s Gold Award assembly
12th - SATs Year 2 meeting with parents 6.00-6.30 – school hall Open Evening 3.10-5.00 6.30-8.00 - classrooms – all year groups
13th - Blunderbus Theatre company in all day Break up for half term
23rd - School Inset day
24th - School reopens after half term Mrs Huckett’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
27th - Festival Of Gym & Dance - 12 KS 1 children to attend Mrs Huckett’s Gold Award assembly

March
2nd - Year 2 - History off the Page – The Great Fire of London
3rd - Year 2 - History off the Page – The Great Fire of London
9th - Science & DT week, Years R & 1 Food tasting with Jacqui Bailey – School hall, Miss Wannenburg’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
12th - Scholastic Book Fair opens – 8.45-9.00, 3.00-3.45 – School Hall, Year 2 Food tasting with Jacqui Bailey – School hall
13th - Miss Wannenburg Gold Award assembly, Red Nose Day
16th - Mrs Penketh’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
17th - Scholastic Book Fair closes 3.45
19th - Year 1 - History off the Page – The Magical Toy Museum
20th - Mrs Penketh Gold Award assembly
23rd - Circus Skills Workshop – Years R, 1 & 2, Mrs Kemp class parents invited in to lunch all week
26th - Year 1 Grandparents’ afternoon, PTA – Ladies Evening
27th - Mrs Kemp Gold Award assembly

School closes for Easter break – 2.00 p.m. Friday 3rd April 2009
School reopens Monday 20th April 2009

Back