Friday 24 October 2008

24th October, 2008.

Dear Parent/Carer,

Father Eric’s 30th Anniversary of his Ordination

Congratulations to Father Eric for his 30 years as a priest. The children presented him with a gift and card in this morning’s assembly. The parish will be celebrating this occasion with Father Eric in mass tomorrow evening, at 6pm in church. All are welcome.

Cakes and Sweets

In future can children not bring cakes into school for birthdays. Sweets are allowed. There will be certain occasions when children are able to bring party food into school and teachers will advise parents on this when appropriate.

Multi Skills

We are happy to announce we have found an alternative coach for multi-skills and this club will resume on Tuesday 11th November. Unfortunately we were unable to find an affordable alternative drama coach. Cooking for Year 3/4 and Fencing for Year 5/6 will begin on Thursday 13th November.

PTFA

The PTFA are looking for new volunteers. They meet every 4-6 weeks on an informal basis – usually in a local pub, but the venue is flexible.

Their aim is to:

• Form ideas that will lead to a stronger sense of community within our school
• Consider how they can positively impact on our children’s learning with exciting and unique educational opportunities.
• Enjoy the networking and social exchange with other PTFA Members.

The PTFA have recently appointed a new committee, but need your support, energy and ideas to keep their ideas fresh. Please help in any way you can, whether just for one event or throughout the year. Contact them through the school office, Mr Condon or any of the PTFA Members.

PTFA FASHION SHOW - Friday 21st November

St Joseph's Parish Hall. Doors open 6.30pm for a 7.30pm start with clothes from many high street retailers including Wallis, River Island, Topshop and Jane Norman.
Plus footwear, jewellery, handbags & makeup.

Tickets £2.50, on sale from PTFA members in the playground, or put
your ticket requests & payment in an envelope addressed to the PTFA &
hand in to the office. Please make cheques payable to St. Joseph's PTFA.

PE Kit

Can all children come back into school after the break with complete, labelled PE kit.
The expected PE kit is as follows –
White T-shirt
Navy blue or black shorts
Plimsolls/daps
Suitable bag for the above with a string loop for hanging

TV

The school owns a large TV and Video, and we would like to donate it to a worthy cause. Both items have been electrically tested, and if you are interested please contact the office.

Dates for Diaries

Wednesday 5th November INSET - School closed to pupils
Thursday 6th November – Children return to school
Friday 7th November, 9.30am – Start of term mass in the school hall
Monday 24th November Book Fair Week

Yours sincerely,

Matt Condon,
Headteacher.

Friday 17 October 2008

17th October, 2008.

Dear Parent/Carer,

October – the Month of Mary

This month the children have been learning how Mary guided Jesus, her son. We have also been praying to Mary so that she might guide us in life too.

Ofsted

As you know the school was inspected by Ofsted this week. Can I thank you all for your support, in what has been a very busy few days. In particular, can I thank the children, whose excellent behaviour, politeness and positives attitudes towards school impressed our visitors. The report will be published towards the end of the month.

Cricket Club

Apologies but the Cricket Club next week is cancelled. The children will still receive their entitled number of sessions.

69th Bristol Beaver Colony

The colony meets in St Josephs Parish Hall on a Tuesday evening (5pm-6pm), and we desperately need adult help. Can you spare*perhaps an hour*each month to help out with fun games and activities? Or if you would like to get more involved, we could use regular weekly help too. And if you are really keen, why not train to be an assistant leader? No scouting experience necessary, just a sense of fun.

For more details contact: Paula Mainprise on 07766494086 or email pbarwood@yahoo.co.uk

Celebration of Achievements

There will be a celebration assembly next Monday morning. The following children will receive awards:-

Kameron Bains-Doyle, David Sebastian, Morgan Quirke, David Sebastian, Mikenagh Quirke, Kaycie Bryce, Nikola Tolman

Lateness

There seems to be an increasing number of pupils who are coming to school late. If lateness becomes persistent your child will miss a significant amount of teaching time. Continued lateness causes disruption to the class teacher and the other pupils who are already engaged in the first lesson of the day. Also pupils are late being picked up at the end of the day.

After School Clubs
We hope to give you an update about the status of the Drama and Multi-Sport next week. We are currently seeking alternative providers for these activities.

Yours Sincerely




Matt Condon
Headteacher


Dates for Diaries

Friday 24th October End of Term 1
Wednesday 5th November INSET - School closed to pupils
Monday 24th November Book Fair Week

Friday 10 October 2008

10th October, 2008.

Dear Parent/Carer,

After School Clubs

Unfortunately we have had to postpone Drama and Multi-Sport for at least two weeks. The current providers are unable to guarantee a reliable starting time. We are currently seeking alternative arrangements to ensure the children enjoy high quality After-School activities. Children will still received their entitlement or refunds will be given. We are all disappointed that we have had to take this action.

The following After School Clubs at the moment are:-

Wednesday – School Choir
Wednesday – Polish Club
Friday – Cricket for Years 3/4/5/6

We also will be running a Food Club as well as Tag Rugby.

Celebration of Achievements

There will be a celebration assembly next Monday morning. The following children will receive awards:-

Maria Bellavia, Jerrin Thomas, Ruby Webber, Aaron Martin, George Hodder, Sydney-Kay Haberfield, Dean Turner, Rhianna Hamilton and Elliot Swan.

School Closed – Staff Training Day

A reminder that the school will be closed on the 5th November (the day after the Autumn break)

Special Visitors – Ofsted!

This morning we received notification that a team of Ofsted inspectors will be joining us on Wednesday and Thursday of next week. We are all looking forward to showing the team what good work we are doing in school and working with them to plan further improvements. Please find attached a letter from the team, a questionnaire and a leaflet telling you about the inspection process.

The lead inspectors name is Judith Goodchild and hopefully you will have a chance to meet the team in the school playground next week.

Yours Sincerely

Matt Condon
Headteacher


Dates for Diaries

Tuesday 14th October Parents Evening
Thursday 16th October Parents Evening
Friday 24th October End of Term 1
Wednesday 5th November INSET - School closed to pupils
Monday 24th November Book Fair Week

Monday 6 October 2008

3rd October, 2008.

Dear Parent/Carer,

After School Clubs

The following After School Clubs will begin next week –
Tuesday 7th October – Cricket for Year 3 + 4 (also now Y5+6)
Thursday 9th October – Drama for Year 5 + 6 (also now Y4)
Friday 10th October – Multi Sports for Year 1 + 2 (also now Y3)

A charge will be made for each of these activities to cover the costs of instruction and first aid cover. Letters will be sent out this week and activities will be offered on a first come-first served basis.If your child attends any of our after school clubs, please inform the school if your child will not be attending for any reason. This is for the safety of the children and also ensures that clubs can start promptly and all children are accounted for.

Religious Education Topic - Invitations

Next week we begin our new RE topic. In this topic the children explore God’s invitation to belong to God’s special family through Baptism and Confirmation. God invites each of us to share in his life and his work. There are many stories both in the Bible and in the history of the Church of the invitations God has given to his people and their lives of love, obedience and service. All Saints Day on November 1st celebrates the lives of ordinary people who have responded to God’s invitation.

Suggestions for home activities

If your child has been baptised, tell them about that special day. Show them any cards, photographs, dress, candles you still have. If not, ask them to tell you what they know about Baptism /Confirmation.

Read together some children’s stories of saints.

Parents’ Evening

Parents’ Evenings this term will be held on Tuesday 14th October from 4.00-6.00pm and on Thursday 16th October from 4.00-6.30pm. The purpose of the meeting is for teachers to share how your child is progressing in their learning, to look at their completed work, to learn about what they need to do to improve and to share any important information. The meeting lasts for no more than 10 minutes.

Please return the slip, indicating the time you would be able to attend. If you have more than one child in school, please put all the names on the form and the teachers will endeavour to give you times close together.

May I remind you all that it is very important that at least 1 parent/carer attends this meeting.Zoe our Kitchen Supervisor will be serving school dinner taster sessions during these evenings

Cycle Training

We hope to offer cycle training for children in Year 3/4 and Year 5/6. Last year some courses were booked but interest was low. If you are interested in your child receiving cycle training, please contact the school office so we are able to make a suitable booking.

Online Newsletter

Just a reminder that the school Blog (online diary) and the weekly newsletter are available via the school website (the address is on the letterhead). If you no longer want to receive a paper copy, let the school office know. Let’s save paper!

Walk to School

OCTOBER is walk to school month! Families can walk into school any day of the week.

Also a reminder that cars parked on Zig-Zag lines will be reported to the police.

Celebration of Achievements

There will be a celebration assembly next Monday morning. The following children will receive awards –
Kamal Smallwood, Bailey Freeth, Andre Chipperfield, Cara Freeth, Jasmine Helm, Charles Johnson, Marissa Peart, Max Poole, Keegan Broad, Shannon Hallard. Olivia Lambe, Alana Kilbane and Callum O’Neill.

Parent’s Information Sessions

A big thank you to parents who attended these sessions and to the teachers who planned and presented the information. We will repeat these sessions next year.

Dates for Diaries

Tuesday 7th October - Year 6 - Lifeskills Centre
Tuesday 14th October - Parents Evening
Thursday 16th October - Parents Evening
Friday 17th October - Y5/6P Class Assembly
Friday 24th October - End of Term 1
Wednesday 5th November – INSET – School closed to pupils

Yours sincerely,Matt Condon, Headteacher.