WARSTONES PRIMARY SCHOOL
NEWSLETTER
RESIDENTIALS 2016
Please don’t forget to make your
payments if you have agreed to
pay in instalments…..
PUPIL ABSENCE LINE
If your child is unable to
attend school due to
illness, we would now
like you to ring and
leave a message on our
pupil absence line
01902 551236
Please ring before the
start of school, the earlier
the better!
Much of the school budget is worked out on
the number of children who are entitled to
free school dinners have been registered.
With the universal free school dinner for
KS1, a number of children who would
normally be entitled to free meals are
‘missed’ and so the school does not get all
the budget it is entitled to, to provide
support in school. If you are eligible for
benefits of any kind, PLEASE can you ask
at the school office to check for you. All
you need is your national insurance number.
It could make a huge difference to the way
we are able to provide support for all the
children in our school.
Thank you!
With the cold weather, comes
warm woolly hats and gloves.
Please can you make sure they
are all named as many get
separated from their owners and
are looking lonely on a table in the
corridor
Advance Notice:
School will be closed on Thursday 5th May
as it will be used as a polling station.
Dates for your Diaries
Mon 1st Feb
YR 1 trip to Dudley Museum
NSPCC Assembly YR 5&6
Sparks to visit YR4
4pm KS1 Multiskills Competition at Highfields
Thurs 4th Feb
Teeny Weenies Playgroup Photos
Wed 10th Feb
NSPCC Workshop YR 5&6
YR 4 French Food Tasting
Fri 12th Feb
Break up for Feb Half Term
6pm FOW Valentines Disco tbc
15TH FEB - 19TH FEB HALF TERM
Mon 22nd Feb
Children Return to School
Tues 23rd Feb
Nursery Stay and Play
Wed 2nd Mar
4pm Full Governors Meeting
Thurs 3rd Mar
World Book Day
Mon 7th Mar
YR 2 Trip to The Sealife Centre
Chicks ‘Move In’ to Reception
KS2 Gym Competition
14-18th Mar
Book Fair
Mon 14th Mar
7.30pm FOW Meeting
Tues 15th and Thursday Parents Evenings
17th Mar
Tue 22nd Mar
YR 5 Bikeability
Wed 23rd Mar
YR 5 Bikeability
Thurs 24th Mar
YR 6 Smoke Free Workshop
Break up for Easter
25th Mar—8th Apr
EASTER HOLIDAYS
Mon 11th Apr
Children Return to School
Dear Parents
Well, if you haven’t already guessed—we have some very exciting news about three of our
members of staff! Mrs Evans, Mrs Crosthwaite and Mrs Cunningham are ALL expecting babies!!! We
are all so happy for them and their families as they look forward to this exciting chapter in their lives.
I know you will all join with us in wishing them every joy and best wishes as they prepare for the
patter of two tiny feet (or four for Mrs Evans as she is expecting twins)!
Please be assured that we will ensure that the children in these classes will continue to have excellent teaching when
the maternity leaves start. Mrs Bevan will cover nursery, Mr Corbett will be covering Y3FC and we are advertising for
an EY teacher to cover RGE. Mr Laurie will be managing Early Years as well as KS1 and will maintain the smooth running of Early Years in the meantime.
In other staffing news, Mrs Humphrey’s hip operation has gone really well and she hopes to be back with us after half
term. Mrs Sandhu’s donation operation has had to be delayed and we will keep you informed of a new date when we
know. We also hope to be welcoming Mrs Clark back before long.
Look out for our new webpage! We are populating it now with all the information that
needs to be on it and will let you know when it is live! The new page will be mobile and
tablet friendly. There is also a free app for your phones that once downloaded, you will
receive any letters, news and information straight to your phone as soon as we upload to
the page. Hopefully this will keep everyone up to date and share with you all that is going
on in school so you know what we are doing and can join in with all the excitement!
Thank you for your understanding and patience regarding the back gate. I know it may have been open a couple of
times as our relief caretaker has mistakenly opened it while Mr Eaton has been off but it will remain locked for
the safety of the children. But we are investigating options: we are finding out the costs to improve the pathway
behind KS1 where it narrows down and becomes a bottleneck, we are looking at how the children come in first
thing so as to avoid everyone arriving at the same time for the whistle and at costs for a gate across the back of
KS2 playground. We want to make sure we make it as easy as possible for everyone but also keep our children
safe.
Parents Evenings are on Tuesday 15th and Thursday 17th March. We do hope as many people as possible can
make it for this important opportunity to talk with your child’s teacher. Can I encourage those parents who are invited
in to speak with the class teacher on the ‘Achievement for All’ scheme to attend the meetings arranged for them. It is
a wonderful opportunity to really focus on your child’s needs but unfortunately a number of these meetings are not
attended for various reasons. Please do let us know if you are not able to attend.
We will be holding a Book Fair the same week as Parents Evenings.—a chance for parents to come and see
all the books for sale when in school for the appointment. We are having a whole school review of reading and
want to improve the quality and range of books we have in school for children to read—in class and to take
home. Please do support the Book Fair as we are given a percentage of the sales in books for the school
library—the more we sell, the more books for school!
Friends of Warstones are busy planning the next spectacular event - the Valentine’s Disco on Friday 12th
February! I’m sure everyone will have a ‘love’-ly time and ‘hearts’ will be full of joy! On a serious note—thank
you to everyone who have supported or helped at the events this last year. FOWS have raised over £4000
which is going to be put towards developing the outdoor learning areas in school and providing stimulating
equipment for play and recreation!
Ofsted Descriptor
‘Pupils value their education. Few are absent or persistently absent’.
Our attendance is currently above 95% for the school which is moving
in the right direction. Well done everyone!
But there are still some children who fall into the ‘persistently absent’
category. Many children can find themselves reluctant to go to school
for a variety of reasons . When they are ill it is understandable but
mild colds or being tired from a late night is not a reason to miss
Some of children who took part in a cross
school. If your child is worried about coming to school for any reason,
country race at Aldersley on
do come and talk to us so we can help your child deal with any
Saturday 23rd January.
situation they may be anxious about. Missing school
Well run everyone and thank you Mrs Bayliss
because of this only makes it harder to come back—let us work
for supporting them!
together to sort any problems out so your child can come to school
safe and happy and ready to learn!