Grange Moor Primary School
Liley Lane,
Grange Moor,
W akefield W F4 4EW
Telephone / Fax (01924) 326804
www.grangemoorps.co.uk
[email protected]
[email protected]
A good school with:
outstanding behaviour
and Safety of Pupils
and outstanding Early
Years Provision
Ofsted April 2015
Headteacher: Mr. M. Rodgers
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Friday 9th September 2016
NEWSLETTER ONE
Dear Parents,
Welcome back to a new school year at Grange Moor. The children have settled back into life in school really well and are
working hard in their classes. Our new children in Reception seem to be very confident and chatty around school and even
introduced themselves to the other children during a whole school assembly. We’ve got a busy term ahead of us with lots of
exciting things to look forward to. At the end of the newsletter I have included a calendar of events such as assemblies,
parent workshops and dare I say it, Christmas performances! I am quite conscious of the amount of letters that have already
gone home this week, some asking for money for clubs, visits and residentials. My apologies if you do feel a little overrun
with requests for money, often there are more at the beginning of each school year.
How we communicate information
A newsletter is generally sent home once every half-term with information such as dates and upcoming events. On a day to
day basis, a lot of information is shared and collected by text – some sent to the whole school, some specific to classes and
some to individual parents. We endeavour to reply to any texts sent but can’t promise that this will be immediate. Sometimes
the quickest way to find something out is to ring Mrs. Long in the school office. If you think that you are not getting text
updates, please call into the school office and we will check your details on our system. Generally you will find information is
added to our Facebook page on a daily basis and I think you can add an alert to your settings when something is added.
Often these are photographs of the children partaking in activities in school or out on visits, but we are looking at adding
more content over the term. There is also information on our website including a ‘virtual office’ where you should be able to
view letters that have been sent home. This is in the process of being updated and should have all current information added
by the end of the week.
Sometimes we email parents as a group or individually – if you would like your email address added to our system, please let
us know. We always reply to emails from parents sent to the addresses at the top of the page, but do ask that if you have a
complaint that you try and address it in person first, either with the class teacher or myself.
If you wish to speak to your child’s teacher, please feel free to approach them at the start or end of the school day or
telephone the school office to arrange an appointment or a call back. I am generally in the playground at the start and end of
the day and willing to answer any general questions or queries or point you in the right direction.
Attendance
Attendance data is reviewed at the end of each year by Kirklees, with last year’s attendance (95.7%) being quite poor
compared to previous years which are generally around 97%. The major contributing factors to our lower attendance figures
were children with attendance of below 90% (classed as persistent absentees) and children being taken out of school for
holidays. We have always adopted what I consider a sensible approach to term-time holidays as we do understand that
parents are not all able to take breaks during the school holidays. However, the review noted that there were some children
taking more than one holiday during the school year. As you know, all term-time holidays are unauthorised except in special
circumstances and the likelihood is that we will now have to issue fixed penalty notices for term time holidays in an attempt to
improve attendance. This currently stands at £60 per child per parent. A family of four would therefore be subject to a £240
fine for taking a holiday in term-time. Just to add, the fines are issued by Kirklees and there is no financial benefit to school in
doing this. The issue is due to be discussed at our Governing Body meeting later this month and I will update you further
after this.
School uniform and PE Kit
Many thanks to you all for ensuring the children look so smart on their return to school. Just to clear up a couple of queries
I’ve had – all children need to wear black shoes, but these can be plain black trainers. Also, PE kit should be a plain, white tshirt, black socks and pumps as well as a pair of trainers for outdoor sport. At the moment C2 and C3 are having their PE
lessons on the ball court and as it gets colder they will need jogging bottoms and a warm top as well.
Maternity arrangements for Mrs. Tomlinson affecting Class One and Class Three
As you will be aware, Mrs. Tomlinson is expecting her second child in December and accordingly we are putting plans in
place to cover her maternity leave starting at the end of November. Once Mrs. Tomlinson goes on maternity leave, her
absence will be covered for the equivalent of four days by Mrs. Fenton and for one day by myself. Mrs. Rowclawski will then
be the full time teacher in Class One until Mrs. Tomlinson returns. Hope that all makes sense!
Reading Friends
We are looking to recruit some volunteer Reading Friends to assist with reading across school. If you are able to spare an
hour in an afternoon each week, please see Mrs. Long in the school office.
Pupil Premium
If you qualify or think you qualify for free school meals (Pupil Premium) please be aware that you qualify for reduced rates for
school visits and residentials. Any after-school activities run by the school (not external eg Sequence Gymnastics) are also
provided free of charge. If you are unsure if you qualify or not, please see Mrs. Long in the school office.
Dates for your diary
Wednesday 21st September / Friday 23rd September – Year Six Bikeability training
Monday 26th September - Class Three to Bosworth Heritage Centre
Tuesday 27th September / Friday 30th September – Y5 Bikeability
Wednesday 28th September – School Photo Day – more details to follow
Thursday 29th September – Class Three to National Coalmining Museum for the day
Tuesday 11th October – Class Two visit to Merton Park
Wednesday 12th October – Parent consultations (2.30) – more details to follow
Monday 17th October – Roald Dahl Arts Week begins
Tuesday 18th October – additional parent consultations for Class Three due to class size
Thursday 20th October – Parents’ Art Week ‘drop in’ session (1.30) – more details to follow
School closes, opening again on Monday 31st November
Friday 21st October – INSET Day – school closed to children
Monday 7th November – Class Two Parent Assembly (2.45)
Tuesday 8th November - Class Three Parent Assembly (2.45)
Wednesday 9th November – Class One Parent Assembly (2.45)
Thursday 10th November – Class R/1 Parent Assembly (2.45)
Monday 5th December – whole school to Wakefield Theatre Royal to see Sleeping Beauty – details to follow
Wednesday 7th December – R and KS1 Christmas Performances (1.30, 5.30)
Thursday 8th December – KS2 Christmas Performances (1.30, 5.30)
Friday 9th December – KS2 Community Christmas Performance (9.30)
Friday 16th December – School closes for Christmas holiday.
If you have any questions or queries regarding this newsletter, please feel free to contact us in school.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. M. Rodgers