SHARPNESS PRIMARY SCHOOL
Newsletter No: 16
28th April 2016
Class Photographs
You will soon receive proofs of the class photographs taken yesterday.
Framed, full-sized versions will be available to view in the school office shortly.
Punctuality
We have noticed that the number of children arriving at school after registration is
increasing. It is much harder for a child to settle into class if they arrive after the other
children are already settled. It can also prove quite disruptive for the rest of the class. If
your child arrives after the children have gone into school, please report to the office and
ensure you sign the late book.
The Ofsted inspection framework considers attendance and punctuality as part of the
school’s behaviour and safety judgement, and they are becoming increasingly intolerant of
school’s that treat this area anything but robustly. Please support us as we try to minimise
absences and lateness to emergencies only.
SATs Week
SATs week for Year 6 children begins on Monday 9th May. It is one of the most important weeks for all
Primary schools in the country. Our Year 6 children will be undergoing a number of tests. They have prepared
well, and now need a calm and supportive atmosphere so they are able to do their best. We will also be
carrying out a range of tests and assessments with the other children during the next few weeks. It is
essential that your child is in school and that they are here on time. Any genuine sickness will be treated
sympathetically but the child will have to complete the assessment when he/she returns. Obviously this is not
the case for Y6s, where the tests and assessments have to be completed in accordance with the nationally set
timetable. I’m sure you share my good wishes to all our Year 6 pupils, in hoping the tests go well and they do
their very best.
Medicine
If your child has to take medication of any kind in school, including cough or throat sweets, for health and
safety reasons they must not be given to your child to bring in. The medicine must be brought in to and
collected from the office by a parent or carer. You must also complete a permission form to enable a staff
member, usually Mrs Palmer, to administer the medicine. Thank you for your support.
We have signed up to Save the Children’s Den Day on Friday 17th June 2016 in order to
raise money to help transform the lives of other children around the world. Building dens
from scratch will give the children a great sense of achievement, teaching them
teamwork and problem solving skills and fits in well with our focus on outdoor play and
learning as part of the OPAL project. The children will also learn about the challenges
children in some of the world’s poorest countries face, as well as raising vital funds to help. We will send
further details closer to the date.
OPAL Update
Our welly shed is now officially up and running with its newly installed 18m welly racks. If your child wants to
bring in some wellies in case of wet/muddy lawn – there is an extra space reserved just for your child’s boots,
too! With the onset of dryer weather (hopefully) the children can access more and more of the school’s new
outdoor play and learning programme by doing what they love: after finishing their lunch, rush outdoors and
let their mind and body run free.
The children have been building the coolest dens in the valley, using cardboard, tyres
and blankets, creating their own spaces. In one corner some children have been
preparing mud pancakes while in another we have our snail hotel with its inclusive bug
beach. Others play football or have fun on the ride-on-toys. We always find a few
adventurers up in a tree – some need weeks to find out how to get up there on their own
- but when they do you see the proudest faces ever! Before climbing, we are
successfully teaching the children the “3-points-of-contact” rule, which means only one
hand or foot is moving at a time.
Let’s collect – Things we need for the children’s next play activities:
Storage boxes, crates - rugs/carpets - pop-up tents - metal/plastic pots, pans, tins bins - skipping ropes - waterproof fabrics (shower curtains) - old blankets - ropes - balls - pegs - big plastic
milk jugs (cleaned) - waterproof suitcases (unlockable) - barrels – tyres. Please use the blue donation bin in
front of the school. Your old stuff is our new treasure!
Lunch time helper
Mrs Savage has informed us that Friday 27th May will be her last day with us as a lunchtime helper, although
you will all be pleased to hear that she is staying on in her role as School Crossing Patrol. As a result of her
decision we are looking for someone who is free at lunchtimes to take on the role of serving lunches. If you
are interested in the position please complete the form by following the link below
http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/schoolsnet/article/112826/Advertise-a-job or speak with Mrs Palmer in
the school office.
New Parents Meeting
We will be holding a meeting for all parents of children starting school in September on Thursday 16th June.
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that this is a change to the date published in previous
newsletters. Further information about the meeting will be issued nearer the time.
Reading at Home
Our recent assessments of children’s reading ages and habits suggest that a number
of children in school would benefit from increasing the amount of reading they do at
home. We do appreciate the demands on children’s (and parents) time and the lure of
other exciting evening activities but we would ask that you try to spend 20 - 30
minutes each evening reading to and with your child.
New sports kit
We are thrilled with the new sports kits that we have bought using our P.E. and
sport premium and some additional funds very kindly provided by Berkeley Heath
Auto Centre. The children are very proud of their kit which they have worn at
recent events.
That sense of pride was reinforced by a comment
made by a Deputy Headteacher at another local
school at last week’s rugby event who said “Many
thanks for bringing your rugby players to Dursley today, I hope they enjoyed it.
I just wanted to say how polite your children were. It was a real pleasure to
meet them and they were a real credit to you. If there was an award for this,
they would win! Please pass on my thanks to them!”