Monday 30 September 2013

Newsletter 6

THE SCHOOL WILL BE OPEN AS NORMAL TOMORROW
We will not be affected by any strike action

READING WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS AND VOLUNTEER HELPERS
We would like to clarify that the date of this event had to be moved from the date indicated on the diary dates, the correct date is THIS THURSDAY 3 OCTOBER as indicated on the flyer sent week before last.  Please come along to the hall at 2.20pm.

HARVEST FESTIVAL THURSDAY 3 & FRIDAY 4 OCTOBER
Our services will take place on Thursday 3 October in St Michael’s church for classes KM, CA, LC & JC at 9:30am and Key Stage 2 at 10:30am.  Then on FRIDAY at 9.30am for Nursery & class CH.  All parents are welcome to attend either service.
The Harvest services will include singing and prayers.  These are Thanksgiving services in which classes have chosen items such as poems or songs to be presented by some of the children. 
Each child may bring in 1 or 2 small items to present for our Harvest collection.  Please no glass jars or bottles as the pupils have to carry them to church.
Any food donations will be passed on to the West Villa Homeless Families Unit in Ipswich and any money raised will go to the Soup Kitchen in Ipswich.

YEAR 6 TO THOMAS MILLS OPEN DAY
If you are taking your child out of school to go to Thomas Mills Open Day on Wednesday 2 October, please remember to sign them out (& in again) at the office.

CYCLE TRAINING – NOT ON THIS WEEK
Remember there is NO CYCLE TRAINING this Thursday, 3 October, it will resume next week.

FRIENDS WINTER HAT, GLOVE & SCARF SALE – FRIDAY 4 OCTOBER
The Friends will be holding a sale in the pavilion on the back playground on Friday 4 October where they will be selling an assortment of hats gloves and scarves, do remember your purse that day, and come along for a browse and a bargain.

JEANS FOR GENES DAY
Thank you to everyone who made a donation for this charity day recently, we raised £296 for the charity.

CHANGE TO DATE FOR CHRISTMAS CAKE STALL
Due to the class Christmas parties on the last day of term the Friends are moving their Christmas Cake Stall to the Friday before, 13 December, where classes NS & EM will be baking.

MONEY INTO SCHOOL
It would really help the office if parents can write your childs CLASS on the envelope when you hand in dinner money.  Thank you.

PERSONAL AND EMERGENCY DETAILS FOR PUPILS
please return any outstanding data sheets tomorrow
& remember to sign them at the bottom.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

House Football Tournament






Newsletter 5


PERSONAL AND EMERGENCY DETAILS FOR PUPILS
1 week deadline - please return by TUESDAY 1 OCTOBER
It is essential that we maintain accurate up-to-date pupil data, especially for emergency contacts and medical details.  With this letter please find a copy of the latest pupil data we have for your child/ren.  Please check the details and write on any necessary amendments, then SIGN THE SHEET at the bottom and then return it to the school office. 
Emergency Contacts: It has been noted that some children have only 1 contact number – obviously if there is an emergency with your child and that number is unanswered it means we have no alternative contact.  Wherever possible can you please provide more than 1 contact person / number.
Other Information: The system will only allow us to enter 1 selection for Travel Arrangements - if your child uses the school bus even if occasionally, please tick ‘School Bus’; otherwise tick the mode of transport that is used most frequently.
Keeping these details up to date at all times is very important and if any information should change during the year, please let us know.  Thank you.
Please return the signed data sheet to us by Tuesday 1 October.
Each pupil data sheet MUST have a parental signature at the bottom of the page.

REMINDER:  PARENT COUNCIL LAUNCH – Meeting for all parents
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER at 8.45am – Please come along
The parent council would like to remind all parents that they would like you to join them in the hall tomorrow between 8.45 and 9.15am where there will be a brief introduction by Mrs Picton, and members of the parent council.  This will be an opportunity to meet the parent council representatives and understand what role the Parent Council plays in the school.

HARVEST FESTIVAL CONFIRMED DATES: THURSDAY 3 & FRIDAY 4 OCTOBER
Our services will take place on Thursday 3 October in St Michael’s church for classes KM, CA, LC & JC at 9:30am and Key Stage 2 at 10:30am. Then on FRIDAY at 9.30am for Nursery & class CH. All parents are welcome to attend either service.
The Harvest services will include singing and prayers.  These are Thanksgiving services in which classes have chosen items such as poems or songs to be presented by some of the children.  Each child may bring in 1 or 2 small items to present for our Harvest collection.  Please no glass jars or bottles as the pupils have to carry them to church.
Any food donations will be passed on to the West Villa Homeless Families Unit in Ipswich and any money raised will go to the Soup Kitchen in Ipswich.

BACK PLAYGROUND - REMINDER “NO PARKING”
Due to a number of large cracks on the back playground, we are afraid that parents CANNOT PARK THERE, for the foreseeable future, when collecting from after school clubs.  Parents will have to park offsite and walk to pick up their child/ren. 
We apologise for the inconvenience.

READING CLUB
Mrs Akerman still has a few spaces for her reading club, it is open to pupils in Year 2 & Year 3, please let Mrs Akerman / the office know if you are interested in your child joining, places will be allocated on a first come / first served basis

COMMUNITY GARDEN PICNIC – MONDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 3.05-4pm
The Gardening Club would like to invite all families to join them at the Community Garden (Pigs Meadow) for a picnic straight after school on Monday 30 September.  It will be an opportunity to see the garden and to celebrate the end of the Suffolk 30 mile food challenge. Please bring your own food and drink (local ingredients if possible!) and something to sit on.  Parents of children in Gardening club should collect their children from school at 3.05pm to walk to the picnic together.
In the event of bad weather this event will be cancelled.

FRIENDS WINTER HAT, GLOVE & SCARF SALE – FRIDAY 4 OCTOBER
The Friends will be holding a sale in the pavilion on the back playground on Friday 4 October where they will be selling an assortment of hats gloves and scarves, do remember your purse that day, and come along for a browse and a bargain.

CYCLE TRAINING HELPERS STILL NEEDED
If any parents are able to offer help on a Thursday afternoon (until 24 October – but not on 3 October) with cycle training, then please do let the office know.  Even if you are only able to help with one or two dates that would really help to ensure we have the right number of adults to support the children.  Thank you.

READING WORKSHOP FOR PARENTS AND VOLUNTEER HELPERS
We would like to clarify that the date of this event had to be moved from the date indicated on the diary dates, the correct date is THURSDAY 3 OCTOBER as indicated on the flyer sent out last week.

NEW PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN AFTERNOON GROUP
A brand new group for under 5s has started at Sir Robert Hitcham's on Tuesday afternoons. The new ‘Make Do and Share’ group will be held during term time from 1.45-2.45pm in our Nursery and is open to all pre-school children in the area. The sessions will be led by the Saxmundham Meadow Children's Centre and will provide children and their parents/carers with the opportunity to share a story and have fun getting crafty and messy. 
For more information please contact the Meadow Children's Centre: 01728 652110 www.suffolkchildrenscentres.com or visit the their Facebook page. 

PARENT COUNCIL INFORMATION GATHERING – SECURITY STUDY
One of the first tasks the parent council will undertake is to talk to the parents of their class to gather your views on the school security – for example: what we have currently; what you feel about it; and what ideas you have.  The information they gather will be handed to the Governing Body to review and assess, and then outcomes will be fed back to parents through the parent council.  The reps will aim to approach the parents in the playground to do this, but if you would like to submit your comments please do so in writing via your parent council representative (indicating the class/es your child/ren are in).  Thank you.
e-mails
Although we now have emails up & running we have not been able to recover any emails sent to us between Sunday 8  September to Saturday 21 September.  If you have sent an email to us in that time window, please can you re-send it.

Tuesday 17 September 2013


READING WORKSHOP
FOR ALL PARENTS AND 
VOLUNTEER READING HELPERS

We would like to invite you to come along to this reading workshop on Thursday 3 October from 2.15-3.00pm in the school hall.

It will be an opportunity for you to learn ways you can support and help the reading development of your child, or those you work with in class. 

We expect it to be a very beneficial session for adults who listen to children read from Nursery age up to Year 6.

 

Newsletter 4

IMPORTANT NOTICE - ICT SYSTEM FAILURE AT SCHOOL
We are STILL UNABLE TO ACCESS EMAILS which is why we are sending a hard copy of this letter. If you need contact the school please do so via phone (01728 723354)

JEANS FOR GENES DAY – REMINDER THIS FRIDAY (20 September)
Instead of wearing normal school trousers or skirts, the children can wear jeans, but they should still wear their usual school shirts, sweatshirt and shoes.  We ask that those who do wear jeans bring in a £1 donation to the charity. 

ADMISSION APPLICATIONS FOR STARTING SCHOOL 2014/2015
If you have a child born between 01/09/2009 and 31/08/2010 then please collect a letter and form from the office to apply for a Reception place for September 2014.
YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOCATED A RECEPTION PLACE UNLESS YOU SUBMIT A FORM.
Please note they must be returned to the Admissions Team either on-line or to the address on the form (not to the school office) by WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 at the latest.
If you have any admission enquiries please speak to Mrs Miller in the office.

WHOLE CLASS MUSIC – CLASS PLDD
SCC ‘Wider Opportunities’ scheme apologises that they were unable to fulfil our request for clarinets for class PLDD, and have delivered flutes instead. These are slightly harder to play than clarinets, but Miss Cochrane, the tutor, believes the children can manage them.

IS YOUR CHILD HAVING A SCHOOL LUNCH WHEN YOU HAVE MADE A PACKED ONE?
Some children are telling the teachers they have a packed lunch, but are then joining the dinner queue to have a school meal.  We are regularly finding a discrepancy between what the teachers are told by the children when doing the dinner registers and the number of meals the kitchen are serving.  Because of this we will be doing spot checks in the dinner hall.  Parents of any children having a school dinner (when they said they were packed lunch), will be asked to pay the £2.20 for that lunch. 
Please remind your child daily what their dinner arrangements are for that day.

EXCITING NEWS FOR MRS VENTON
We are delighted to let parents know that Mrs Venton is expecting a baby in February.  We are sure everyone will join us in congratulating both her and Mr Venton.

PARENT COUNCIL LAUNCH – Meeting for all parents – WEDS 25 SEPTEMBER
The parent council would like to invite all parents to join them in the hall next Wednesday between 8.30 and 9.15am where there will be a brief introduction by Mrs Picton, and members of the parent council.  This will be an opportunity to meet the parent council representatives and understand what role the Parent Council plays in the school.
A leaflet from the Parent Council will be distributed next week.

HARVEST FESTIVAL CONFIRMED DATES: THURSDAY 3 & FRIDAY 4 OCTOBER
Our services will take place on Thursday 3 October in St Michael’s church for classes KM, CA, LC & JC at 9:30am and Key Stage 2 at 10:30am. Then on FRIDAY at 9.30am for Nursery & class CH. All parents are welcome to attend either service. More details will follow next week. 

*****PLEASE REMEMBER*****
TO WRITE YOUR CHILD’S NAME & CLASS ON THE BACK OF CHEQUES
...and if they are for dinner money, also state the days you are paying for, thank you.

ROAD PARKING CONCERNS
We have to remind parents again that you must not park on the double yellow lines in Vyces Road, College Road or New Road, or in the school driveway, when dropping your children off.  Please find a safe place to park so that you do not cause a danger to other road users or pedestrians.  Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

BACK PLAYGROUND - NO PARKING FOR COLLECTING FROM CLUBS
Due to a number of large cracks appearing on the back playground, we are afraid that parents CANNOT PARK THERE, for the foreseeable future, when collecting from after school clubs.  Parents will have to park offsite and walk to pick up their child/ren. 
We apologise for the inconvenience.

EMPTY SHOEBOXES NEEDED FOR DT PROJECT
Class KV are in need of empty shoeboxes for a project they are about to start, please drop them to class KV over the next week if you have any spare.  Thank you.

MEDICAL NEEDS
If your child suffers from asthma or allergies and you have not completed a medical form with details of their medication, it is essential that you ask at the office for a form.  The ‘Medical Needs’ policy can be found on the school website.

MORNING ROUTINE REMINDER...
Now the children are settling to their new class locations, please can we ask parents to encourage your children to gain independence in the morning, by bringing in their belongings on their own, wherever possible.

SUGGESTION FROM THE MIDDAY SUPERVISORS
KS1 & Foundation children have to check with the midday supervisors before they leave the dinner hall.  The supervisors do their best to encourage children to eat their packed lunches, however some parents are not happy for their child to be asked to try and eat a bit more.  It would help the supervisors if KS1/Foundation parents who are concerned that their child SHOULD eat all/most of their packed lunch put a card in the lunchbox that says “I expect my child to eat most of this lunch”, so they know who to encourage, and who not to.

ABSENCE PHONE LINE CARDS
With this letter please find a wallet size orange card with details of the school number to call when you need to report your child’s absence, we hope you will find these helpful.

 ------------ FRIENDS NEWS -------------
Publicity Help Required

The Friends need help from anyone with design skills.  They produce a couple of leaflets per term and are in need of someone with skills in design and creating printer ready files.  If you can help, or know of someone who can, please contact the chairperson as soon as possible on rupert@thedurrants.com or call him on 0779 381 255 33. 
------------ THANK YOU ! -------------

Class CA Painting

Class CA have been looking at primary colours and have been mixing them to make secondary colours.
They have used colour to create paintings in the style of artist Paul Klee.


Paul Klee





Thursday 12 September 2013

School email currently unavailable

Due to our server failure on Sunday, we still have no working emails at school.
Please contact us via phone (01728 723354)  if you require an immediate response.  Apologies for the inconvenience.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

After School Football Club Kicks off - in the rain!

The rain not stop these footballers from years 5 and 6 enjoying themselves.

Cycling Proficiency Course Starts

Another group of children have started a 7 week course with Mr Byer and Mr Mulrenhan on Thursday afternoons.


New House Captains

Pictured above are the captains and vice-captains of our 4 houses: 
Bulstrode, Hitcham, Mills and Howard.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

On-Line Payment for School meals


Parents can pay for school dinners on-line, on a weekly or half-termly basis. We are using a system run by SCC, which operates at no cost to the school or families. You will be aware that in order to streamline the dinner money processing we are now only accepting payments by any means on a Monday (unless your child is absent).
You should allow 2 days for processing, and please note we will need notification of the payment on a Monday, so if you are paying weekly, you will need to make the online payment by the previous Friday.
Payment needs to be for a minimum of 5 meals, but those 5 meals can be spread over any time period.  The system is NOT able to process payments in arrears; however you can make over-payments and add comments in the box detailing what days the overpayments are for.

Credits will still be carried forward, should your child be ill, or change their minds about the days they have chosen.
Once you have completed payment you will receive a confirmation email from SCC, who will also notify us with details of the payment.

We hope that this system will reduce processing time in the office, and provide a more convenient method of payment for parents. This is a new venture for us, and we hope that you will bear with us during the introductory period. Please contact the office for more information.
Go to www.eats-catering  and select ‘On-Line Payment’

Newsletter 3

IMPORTANT NOTICE - ICT SYSTEM FAILURE AT SCHOOL
Please be aware that the school server has stopped working (since Monday) which means that school staff are unable to access emails (including the main ‘admin’ email) and also the office cannot access any of their files, which is why we are sending a hard copy of this letter to all families. 
We do not expect to be up and running before next week.
If you need to inform the school of anything, please make contact via phone.

JEANS FOR GENES DAY – Friday 20 September
Jeans for Genes Day is a great way to bring the whole school together and raise money for children with genetic disorders.  Instead of wearing normal school trousers or skirtsd, the children can wear jeans, but they should still wear their usual school shirts, sweatshirt and shoes.  We ask that those who do wear jeans bring in a £1 donation to the charity.  More information can be found at http://www.jeansforgenesday.org/

 HOLIDAY REQUESTS
The school’s policy regarding absence requests for holidays is that they should be taken during school breaks NOT DURING TERM TIME.  Applications to take your child out of school during term time will be considered for exceptional circumstances only.  Authorisation may be given only at the discretion of the Head teacher.  Applications will not be considered unless they are received at least THREE WEEKS prior on a Leave of Absence form with a full written explanation as to why you are asking for absence during term time.

CHANGE TO PA/SB SHARE DATE
Due to a clash with cycle training we have to change the previously advertised date for the PA/SB share session. 
THE NEW DATE IS NOW TUESDAY 22OCTOBER, apologies for any inconvenience.

WATER BOTTLES
We would like to remind parents to provide their child with a filled water bottle for school; ideally with a ‘sports cap’ that will not leak in book bags.  We have water fountains in 3 activity areas and on the playgrounds so children may re-fill their bottle if they need to.  PLEASE NOTE the indoor water fountains CANNOT be drunk from directly, which is why a water bottle is necessary.  NO SQUASH in bottles please, just water.

YEAR 6 APPLICATIONS FOR HIGH SCHOOL
Parents of Year 6 will have received a letter from SCC regarding High School applications.  Please be aware that applications should be made on-line or using the form, which should be returned to the Admissions Team, Ipswich at the address on the form (not to the school office) by MONDAY 31 OCTOBER at the latest.

ADMISSION APPLICATIONS FOR STARTING SCHOOL 2014/2015
Reception application letters and forms for next year are now available at the school office. Please note they must be returned to the Admissions Team at Ipswich at the address on the form (not to the school office) by WEDNESDAY 15  JANUARY 2014 at the latest.

**TERMLY DINNER MONEY PAYMENTS NOW OVERDUE***
Please pay for this half-term’s dinners by the end of the week.
Weekly payers should pay on a Monday or bring packed lunches.
****Don’t forget you can pay on-line – see attached letter****
ACCESS TO KS1 / FOUNDATION CORRIDOR
For safety and security reasons the door to the downstairs corridor from the car park will remain locked in the morning.  To access the bottom corridor in the mornings please use the entrances on the playground side.

END OF DAY PLAYGROUND CONGESTION
We have found last week that there is a big crush of parents very close to the KS1/Foundation classrooms at collection time, this causes difficulties for the teachers to see parents to safely release the children to.  We would like to trial the following:
Please can we ask parents of LC & JC to stand further back from the fenced area as directed by the temporary sign on the playground. 
Parents of CA should stand close to the fence of the outside space by the class.
Parents of KM & CH can stand inside the fenced off outside space by those classrooms.

VOLUNTEER HELPERS IN CLASS... CAN YOU OFFER SOME TIME?
We are very grateful to all volunteer helpers who have already registered with us this year.  Some classes have no volunteers yet, so we have a number of sessions where help is required. 
Volunteer help is a very important part of school life and if you feel able to offer anytime, we would be pleased to hear from you.  To help in school you will need to have DBS check which can be arranged through the office.  Below are days/times where your help would be appreciated, please contact the teacher directly:
CLASS                 DAY  TIME                            DAY  TIME                DAY  TIME
DB                        Mon 10-10.50am
PA/SB                  Mon 10-10.50am                    Tues  1.30-3pm
EM                       Mon 9.30-10am                      Weds 10-10.30am      Weds 1.15-2.30pm
PL/DD                  Tues 10-10.50am                    Fri     8.50-10am
RV                        Mon 8.50-10.50am    
KV                        Any day – see Mrs Venton re times
LC                                    Mon 9.30-10.30am                 Weds  9-10am                        Fri   9-10am
JC                         Tues  2.30-3pm
CA                        Mon  2.30-3pm                       Weds 9-10am             Thurs 9-10am
CH                        Mon  9-10am                          Weds 9-10am             Fri   9-10am

WHOLE CLASS MUSIC – CLASS PLDD & RV
As part of the SCC ‘Wider Opportunities’ scheme we are receiving a delivery of brass instruments (Cornets, Tenor Horns & Baritone Horns) for class RV and Clarinets for class PLDD.
Over this year the children will receive whole class music lessons on a Wednesday with a tutor from the County Music Service.  After a few weeks the children will be able to take the instruments home on loan to practice.  Parents will be required to complete a loan agreement form and return it to the office before your child takes the instrument.  Forms will be handed out shortly.

SCHOLASTIC LEAFLETS
Orders for the attached leaflet should be returned by Monday 16 September. 
NO CASH can be accepted for these, either cheques payable to
Scholastic Limited or credit/debit card.

HELP!   THE FRIENDS NEED YOU!
The Friends are looking for some more volunteers to have some fun and help out with some of the events over the next 12 months.  All they need are your contact details and for you to help out for a couple of hours on key days.
Please send your details to rupert@thedurrants.com or call 0779 381 5533

PLEASE REMEMBER TO NAME ALL YOUR CHILD’S CLOTHES & BELONGINGS