WEST PENNARD CHURCH OF ENGLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL
HEADTEACHER
Mrs H Burchell
Church Lane
West Pennard
Glastonbury
Somerset
BA6 8NT
Tel: 01458 832866
Fax: 01458 834662
Website: http://www.westpennardprimary.co.uk
E-mail: [email protected]
Parent e-mail: [email protected]
13 July 2017
Newsletter: Summer No 7
Dear Parents and Carers,
The end of the year is in sight and what a busy term it has been! The KS2 production of ‘Hoodwinked’ was amazing
and I am quite certain that those of you who have seen the performances will have been very impressed with the array
of talent our children possess. I was so proud of our year 6 who were so ably supported by years 3, 4 and 5. Many
congratulations to all the performers and also to Mr Ian Gouge and Miss Naomi Hammerton for their hard work in
putting together this production. Indeed year 6 also dazzled us with their talents in their brass concert on Wednesday.
They are a real credit to the school and we will be sad to see them leave us on Friday.
We have enjoyed a wonderful summer weather wise and our sports day was, once again, a resounding, if sweltering,
success. The ‘football frenzy’ summer fair also took place in glorious weather and was enjoyed by all. My grateful
thanks go to the fair committee who put an enormous amount of hard work into organising the event for the enjoyment
of all, with the added benefit of raising funds for your children. The Glastonbury Festival was the driest and hottest for
many years and once again, provided the means by which the school benefits financially through organising
stewarding. I wish to thank parent and governor Andy Townend for the many hours of hard work he puts into this area
and to the parents and friends of the school who undertake stewarding duties.
NACE (National Association for Able Children in Education) Challenge Award
On Wednesday 7th July we were visited by two inspectors from NACE to see whether we would gain their coveted
Challenge award. The inspection followed three years of preparation during which we had to gather evidence against
each of the standards of the award. We then had to submit a file of the evidence for scrutiny. Once this was
assessed then the final part of the process involved a day’s inspection. During the day the assessors interviewed
parents, governors, staff and pupils, observed lessons and undertook work scrutiny. We were delighted at the end of
the day to be told we had been successful and had been recognised as a school that provides opportunities and
challenges for able, gifted and talented pupils. We are the first primary school in Somerset to achieve the award and
only the 6th in the South West. My grateful thanks to Mrs Emma King who, as our co-ordinator for the able, gifted and
talented, put together an outstanding file of evidence and worked so hard to ensure our application was successful.
Healthy Schools Plus
Last Thursday Mrs Helen Morley took a group of pupils from years 4 and 5 to Glastonbury Town Hall to present the
work they had been undertaking to an impressed audience. We were then presented with the Healthy Schools Plus
award. Again, we are one of the first primary schools in the county to achieve this. Many thanks to Mrs Morley for her
work in putting together a file of evidence to support our submission.
Cash for Communities
Mrs Morley has also entered us for a competition to win money for the school to develop the financial capability of its
pupils. We would like to set up a healthy tuck shop, run by the older pupils, in the new academic year and we have
entered the competition to raise the funds to set up such a venture. We have been notified that West Pennard are
finalists and could win up to £4 000. The amount we win is directly linked to the number of vouchers we can collect.
The vouchers will appear in the Mid Somerset Series newspapers and will be labelled ‘Cash for Communities’. Could
you please ask your friends, families, neighbours etc to look out for these vouchers and cut them out? The tokens will
be printed from July 29th to 23rd September. Thank you for your support.
Vouchers Generally
I would like to thank you all for sending these in whenever they are being distributed by the different organisations. We
have been able to
obtain a variety of sports and IT equipment from these which all help to
enrich the pupil’s education.
Baby News
Mrs Glover, who covered Mrs King’s maternity leave, has just had a baby girl called Bay Victoria. We are looking
forward to meeting the latest addition to the Glover family very soon.
Holiday Play Scheme
There are still a few spaces available for our summer holiday play scheme which is running for the first two weeks of
the holidays. The play scheme operates from 8.30am to 4.30pm and children will need to bring a packed lunch. The
cost is £16 per day. To be certain of a place you will need to pre-book but, providing there is space, children can turn
up on the day. If you require a booking form then please contact the office.
Music Reminders
Those children currently taking music tuition should have taken home their invoices at the end of last week. Please
can you ensure these are all settled by Thursday this week as we have to clear our invoice to County.
Holiday Work
The school will be a very busy place during the summer holiday period as there are a number of projects that will be
underway. The School House is being underpinned and the toilets in reception class and in years 1 and 2 are being
replaced.
I would like to stress that the school playground, in particular, will be a work zone and there will be materials and
vehicles on site. Village children are very welcome to use the school field during the school holidays but they should
keep away from the areas where vehicles and materials are kept.
I would also like to remind dog owners that dogs are not allowed on school premises under any circumstances.
Breakfast Club/After School Club
Breakfast Club will continue to run from the first day of term in September, Thursday September 2nd. The club will
be open from 7.45am and you do not need to book. The cost from September is now £2.00 a day. I am extremely
grateful to Mrs Andrea Hale, Mrs Rachel McDonagh and Mrs Karen Bale for their hard work in making the club such a
success.
After school club will also run from the first day of term. If you have not already made your pre-bookings for the first
half of the autumn term then please download a booking form from our website or contact the office. Places can also
be allocated on a day by day basis as long as there are spaces.
African Link
Dr Hugh Sharp and his wife Catherine visited the children recently and took an assembly where they spoke to the
children about their work with Plan UK. They will be returning to Africa in October and would like to take more
clothing. Therefore, if any parent has any surplus clothing, eg trousers, polo shirts, sweatshirts, T- shirts, hoodies,
peaked caps or sleeved dresses, please bring them to school in September and Dr Sharp will collect them to take to
Africa.
School Uniform
I expect that many parents will be shopping for school uniform during the summer so I would like to take this
opportunity to clarify the situation regarding footwear. Although trainers are acceptable as school shoes, they must be
plain black and should not have any other flashes of colour or pattern.
Leavers’ Events
There will be a Leavers’ Service in St. Nicholas Church on Friday 23rd July at 10.00am and a Leavers’ Assembly in the
School Hall at 1.30pm. Parents are most welcome but please bring tissues!
Clubs Letter
The clubs letter for the first half of the autumn term was sent out last week. If you have not received a copy then
please download from the website.
Report Returns
If you have not returned your report slip with your comments then please do so by return. Thank you.
Inset Day
There will be an INSET day on Wednesday September 1st. The children will return to school on Thursday 2nd
September.
Finally, I wish you all a happy summer holiday and thank you all for your support over the course of this year. This is
a very special school full of the most delightful children. We have had much to celebrate this year and yet again we
have our best set of SATs results ever from our hard working year 6 class. We all need to recharge our batteries and
look forward to working together towards an even more successful year next year. I would like to wish everyone a
brilliant holiday!
Helen Burchell
Ref: newsletters\Let sum 10 no 7