June 2009 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

A busy half term comes to an end, especially for Year 2 who have been working very hard on their SATs.

Ahead of us there is another hectic half term with lots going on and we hope to see you at some of these activities.

The PTA ran a very successful cake stall this half term and raised about £200 but their main events will be taking place this coming half term. We have the sponsored bouncy castle event – Mr. Bounce, which all the children take part in and parents are invited to attend. Then in the last week of term we have the PTA Fun Day. Both of these events are enjoyed by everyone but they can only be successful if Mrs Bailey and her team of parents get plenty of help. However much or little time you think you can offer it will be much appreciated. If you have never been involved in a PTA event but would like to offer your help please see Mrs Bailey who works in our school office on Tuesday, Thursdays & Fridays.

It is the money raised by the PTA that has allowed us to purchase the new wall games that have been put up in Year 1 & Year 2 playgrounds. Board games are great fun for the children to play & an excellent way to develop social skills The children will get a great deal of pleasure using them so thank you for all your fundraising.

We are very pleased to announce the revalidation of our Gold Artsmark status and we are very grateful to Mrs Hutchings & Mrs Kemp for leading us through the process. This award recognises the very high standard of art & design, music & drama that the children enjoy at our school. The children will be taking part in our school artsweek in June when there will be a wide selection of creative events planned. This will include the Year 2 children taking part in a mosaic workshop.

We are very pleased to welcome Mrs. Susan Bailey to our office team. Mrs Bailey is working at the reception desk. From 1st June Mrs Wehrli will be joining us in order to help cover Mrs Horncastle’s maternity leave in June.

Help with school trips
We take all the children out on a regular basis. Their safety is paramount and a risk assessment is written for every trip we make, even if it is just walking down to Waltham Abbey. We take helpers with us on every occasion and we do have a procedure for deciding who we will ask. These helpers have to be confident and ready to work & look after groups of children rather than individual pupils. Initial places will be taken by staff, governors, teacher trainees or work experience placement trainees. If there are still places available they are offered to parents of children who come into school to help on a regular basis and who have been fully CRB checked. Occasionally we may have to ask parents who have been List 99 checked, which at the moment is acceptable. However, in the future we are going to be asking CRB checked parents only, even if their children are not in that class or year group. There is a cost to the school to undertake CRB check for parents and therefore we can only afford to do this if there is a regular commitment from a parent to come into school to help. We hope this clarifies the procedure.

We still have some spaces in September on Mondays & Fridays at our after school club. Please contact Mrs Twaites or Mrs Harding if you are interested.

Please can we remind you not to leave messages on Mrs James phone with regard to who will be picking your child up after school. Mrs James may not pick up the message during the day, which can lead to serious confusion at the classroom door. You must contact the school office and speak to a member of staff directly if you are making any changes to the usual pick-up arrangements for your child.

We look forward to seeing you in school over the summer. Please check the diary dates on the back of this newsletter.

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.

June

1st - INSET day
2nd - School opens, Mrs Kemp’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
4th - p.m. Year 2 to visit Waltham Abbey Church
5th - Mrs Kemp’s class Gold Award Assembly
8th - Mrs Bassi’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
9th - Year 2 trip to Hatfield Forest
10th - Class School Photos, School Nurse – Sun protection assembly for the children
11th - Performance 4 Schools Drama workshops – all day
12th - Cricket coach in all day, Mrs Bassi’s class Gold Award Assembly
15th - Miss Hurry’s & Mrs Evan’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
17th - Year 1 trip to Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood
18th - PTA Mr Bounce day, 10.00 Miss Hurry’s & Mrs Evan’s class parents Gold Award Assembly
19th - Dance festival at Debden Park – 10 children to attend
22nd - Miss Sullivan’s parents invited in to lunch all week, Arts week, year 2 mosaic workshops
25th - Eco meeting
26th - Miss Sullivan’s class Gold Award Assembly
29th - Keystage 1 Football festival – St John’s Epping

July

1st – Book Fair in School Hall – one day only
3rd – Morning Nursery Gold Award assembly
6th – Music festival at Alderton Infant School (30 children to attend)
7th – Year 2 show
8th – p.m. Year R Grandparents afternoon
9th – Moving on Day
10th – Reports to go out, 2.30 p.m. Nursery children Gold Award assembly
15th – 9.15 Volunteers assembly, Open evening – 3.15-5.00, 6.00-8.00 Parents & Children welcome
16th – a.m. Sports Day, p.m. PTA Fun afternoon
17th – School closes at 2.00p.m.
20th – INSET Day

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