September 2009 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to everyone after the summer holiday. We hope that you all had a lovely break. If you and your children are new to our school we hope that it is the beginning of a very long and happy association with us. Our new reception children have settled into school very quickly and we look forward to welcoming the new nursery children on Monday.

We have some staff changes this year. Last term, sadly, we had to say goodbye to Miss Sullivan, Miss Silver, Miss Daltrey & Mrs Chalkley.

However, we are very pleased to welcome Miss Lavin, who has joined us to teach in Year 2 and Miss Topliss who will be teaching in Year R. We are also very pleased to have Mrs Struffolino back with us at the start of the new school year.

A big thank you to everyone who stayed and enjoyed the PTA Funday after Sports Day, at the end of last term. It was a lovely occasion and everyone had a very enjoyable time. The whole afternoon raised about £1300 which was a fantastic achievement and we are very grateful to all the parents and staff who worked so hard to organise such a successful day. Earlier in the term the PTA raised £900 on our Mr. Bounce Day. The ladies hope that some of our new parents will join the PTA in order to help with this year’s events. If you are able to offer some time, however little you think it may be, please do contact Mrs. Lorraine Bailey, through the school office. The next PTA meeting will be at 9.15 on 10th September in the meeting room. The next fund raising event will be the Barn Dance in the school hall on Friday 25th September.

We were sorry to hear at the end of last summer term that our school nurse, Mrs Jacqui Bailey, has been reassigned to several new schools in another part of Essex. We are very sad to see her go as she has been so supportive to school staff and many parents over the past 6 years. We do have a new school nurse, Ms. Claire Sainsbury, who can be contacted through the school office or by Mrs James, whose direct line is 01992 718297.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the governors’ questionnaire that was sent home in the school reports. We have received some very good ideas that we will be looking to develop. The governors will be keeping you up to date in their newsletter on their impact.

Some general information which you may find helpful:-

• Can dinner money & milk money be sent into school, on Monday, in separate named envelopes. Dinner money is £ 8.75 per week and milk money is £1.15 per week. If you would like to pay for milk money until half term the total cost is £8.51. The cost until half term for dinner money is £64.75.

• Do make sure that all clothing is clearly named. At the end of last term we sent 3 huge black bin bags of lost property to the local charity shop. These items could not be returned to their owners because they were not named.

• Do check book bags for letters. Staff are very careful to make sure that all children receive letters which need to be taken home at the end of the day. However, we find that some of these letters are not taken out of the book bags and then important messages are not passed on.

• The school website is an excellent source of information. The address is www.whxis.co.uk. The blackboards outside the classroom doors are another place to find important messages. We will also text messages on some occasions using our Group call system. We do need to keep an up to date record of your mobile phone numbers & land line numbers if this is method of contact is to be successful.

• Do let the school know if someone other than mum or dad is picking up a pupil. They will not be allowed to go with anyone who is not named on the admission form unless staff have been informed in advance by a phone call, a letter or in person, beforehand.

The beginning of a new school year is always very exciting but if you have any concerns or worries please see your child’s class teacher who will be only too happy to help. Mrs James, our Home/School Liaison TA is also very happy to help and she can be easily contacted on 01992 718297. We look forward to working with you and your children this year.

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.

September
2nd - INSET day
3rd - School starts
7th - Mrs Bassi’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
10th - PTA meeting
11th - Gold Award assembly –Mrs Bassi’s class
14th - Miss Lavin’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
17th - PTA Coffee morning for parents in aid of McMillans & Breast cancer campaign
19th - Gold Award assembly – Miss Lavin’s class
22nd - Miss Hurry’s & Mrs Evans’ class parents invited in to lunch all week, All school clubs start this week
24th - Gold Award assembly – Miss Hurry’s & Mrs Evans’ class
25th - Gold Artsmark Award ceremony – Mrs Hutchings to attend, PTA barn dance
28th - Mrs Cuncarr’s class parents invited in to lunch all week

October
2nd - Gold Award assembly - Mrs Cuncarr’s class, Jeans for Genes day – children bring in 20p if they wear jeans to school
5th - Mrs McVie’s class parents invited in to lunch all week, Individual pupil photos
7th - 1.45 p.m. Harvest Festival service in Waltham Abbey church
8th - Book fair arrives
9th - Gold Award assembly – Mrs McVie’s class
12th - Mrs. Huckett’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
14th - National Fire Safety Day
16th - Gold Award assembly – Mrs. Huckett’s class
19th - Mrs Calitz’s class parents invited in to lunch all week
22nd - Open evening – 3.20-5.00 & 6.00-8.00 – school hall
23th - Gold Award assembly – Mrs Calitz’s class

School closes Friday 23rd October for half term
Monday 2nd November INSET day
School reopens Tuesday 3rd November


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