Dear Parents/Carers,

Jesus Christ Superstar

 

 

Congratulations to the children and staff for their amazing performances during this last week. The standard of sing and acting was fantastic and the story was told with great confidence and intense emotion. I was incredibly proud of all who were involved.

School Attendance

Despite the vast majority of parents supporting the school, our attendance is significantly lower than previous years.  In the main, this is due to holidays in term time plus a significant minority of pupils who are absent from school for one or two days, on numerous occasions.  Although we would not want your child to come in to school if they are unwell, headaches, tummy aches and other ailments often disappear once the child is in school.  We are able to administer antibiotics to a child, on completion of a form, so it is not necessary to keep that child at home, once they are feeling better, until the course of medicine is completed.

 

There is an Amendment to the ‘Education Regulations 2006’ from September 2013, concerning leave of absence.  These amendments make clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.  THIS MEANS THAT WE CAN NO LONGER AUTHORISE ANY ABSENCES FOR HOLIDAYS.  Absences can only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.  If you wish to make such a request for absence, a form must be obtained from the school office and must be submitted at least ten days before the commencement of the requested period. 

Each case will be considered by the School Attendance Team and if agreed, written confirmation will be given to the parent or carer.

We would ask for your support in this matter and arrange any holidays to fall within the average twelve weeks of holiday from school.    
 

Mr Condon’s Charity Bike Ride for Ataxia UK

On the 26th July, a small group of us are cycling from Bristol to Colwyn Bay in North Wales for charity. The ride will be about 240 miles long and will take us 4 days. Members of the team have nominated their own charity to support and I have chosen to support Ataxia UK.

As many of you know, Liam Rice in Year 6 has Friedreich’s Ataxia. Ataxia is the name given to a group of neurological disorders that affect balance, coordination, and speech. There are many different types of ataxia that can affect people in different ways.  Some forms of ataxia are treatable, but in most cases there is still no cure. Ataxia UK are funding a wide range of research projects to try to find treatments that can help ataxia, and ultimately to find a cure.

I realise that this is a busy and expensive time of the year, so I will asking for donations towards Ataxia UK when we come back in school in September. By that time I hope to have successfully completed the ride and will have pictures and stories to share with the children. However any donations received before September will be gratefully received.

I hope to put lots of pictures on the School Blog along the way. Thanks for your support.

Missing reading books

Can I please ask that all families check if you have any school reading books at home. We are missing lots of books from the library and classes would appreciate any that are returned to school.

Start of Year Parent Information Sessions

These short information sessions will take place during the second week of Term 1 from 3pm in each class. In these sessions information will be shared about expectations for the school year and other important information.. Reception and Year 6 have already held their meetings. Dates are in Dates for Diaries.

Charity Fundraising

This has been a priority for the school this year and we all greatly appreciate your on-going support. Here is our contribution from Year 2:

Last week on Thursday David from Cafod came in to Year 2 to talk about the poor countries and     David came into get our cheque.  We saved money  during Lent for a super goat.  We saved our own money from home and money lying around in the house.  David showed us a funky animation showing that there is enough food for everyone, it is just that we are not sharing it correctly.  David gave us  a paper plate and got us to  draw our favourite food around the edge and then we wrote a prayer in the middle.  He showed us a video of a Super Goat.  They’re super because the goat produces 2 litres of milk every day.  It doesn’t go really far because it is lazy, and the poo doesn’t attract insects or smell nasty, and it eats anything.  We enjoyed David’s visit.

And from Year 3:

Cafod is a charity which raises money to hep people who suffer from droughts and starvation.  During the Easter term we ran a special fair to raise money for Cafod.  We held a raffle and lots of other stalls like pin the tail on the goat.  We raised a brilliant £86.00.   Last Friday we held a cake sale and a couple of games to try and raise some more money.  We managed to raise £56.74, so all together we have raised £142.74 for Carfod.

Thank you to everyone in the school for helping us raise this much money.

Free Family Fun Day

There is a Free Family Fun Day on Sunday 28^th July 11.00am-2.00pm for children with asthma and their families at Easton Leisure Centre.  Book early to avoid disappointment on 02920 435 400/0207786 4931 or sevans@asthma.org.uk.

New government guidance for parental consent for off-site activities

Written consent from parents is not required for pupils to take part in the majority of off-site activities organised by a school (with the exception of nursery age children) as most of these take place during school hours and are a normal part of a child’s education at school.  However, parents should be told where their child will be at all times and of any extra safety measures required.

Written consent is usually only requested for activities that need a higher level of risk management or those that take place outside school hours.  The department has prepared a “one-off” consent form which schools can as parents to sign when a child enrols at the school.  This will cover a child’s participation in any of these types of sporting fixtures outside the school day, residential visits and all off-site activities for nursery schools which take place at any time (including during school holidays or at the weekend). 

Parents must be told in advance of each activity and must be given the opportunity to withdraw their child from any particular school trip or activity covered by the form.

Textiles Club

This new club will be run by school governor Helen Stepaniuk and will start on Monday 16^th September. The club will start after school and finish at 4.45. This will be a free club open to pupils in Year 3-6 although there will be a small cost for materials. Places are limited, so please contact the school office if your child would like to join this new club.

Sun Protection

The weather is currently wonderful which means the children have been able to use the school field more often. We advise that all children have a sun hat in school at all times. If you wish your child to put on sun cream in school, we also advise they have this in school everyday, again clearly labelled with their name.

Celebration of Achievements

There will be a celebration assembly on Monday 22^nd July at 9.10am where the following children will receive their headteachers award: Melani Biju, Haris Latif and Harrison Hershbein.

Dates for Diaries

Wednesday 24th July                                      -           Leavers Mass and end of term

Monday 2nd September and
Tuesday 3rd September                                   –          INSETs (school improvement)
Wednesday 4th September                             –          Start of Term 1
Monday 9^th September at 3pm                -           Y1 Parents Information Session
Tuesday 10^th September at 3pm               -           Y4 Parents Information Session
Wednesday 11^th September at 3pm        -           Y3 Parents Information Session
Thursday 12^th September at 3pm              -           Y5 Parents Information Session
Friday 13^th September at 3pm                   -           Y2 Parents Information Session
Friday 27th September                                      -           INSET (outdoor learning)

 

Best wishes

 

Matt Condon
Headteacher