Welcome to the last newsletter of
this school year. The children have had another great year of learning and are
making better progress than ever before. Can I thank you all for your hard
work, friendship and support. A paper copy is being sent home to all families
this week.
A Message on
behalf of the School Governors
Congratulations
to children, parent, carers and school staff for a fantastic year of
achievement. We can all see the
excellent results of working together.
Well done everyone.
We
have every confidence that next year will be as good or even better!
From
Shelagh Williams (Chair of Governors)
Staffing Changes
Mrs Rollings has decided to step down
from her role as Assistant Headteacher. Mrs Bell has been appointed as Assistant
Headteacher for the next year. Both teachers will be working together to support
children with special needs although Mrs Bell takes overall responsibility in
this area. Mrs Joseph continues in her role as the other Assistant Headteacher.
Can I take this opportunity to thank
Mrs Rollings for her significant contribution as Assistant Head over the past 6
years.
From September, Mrs Rollings will be
reverting to her maiden name of Miss Garnier.
Goodbye and Thank You
Sadly
we will soon be saying goodbye to a valued member of the St. Joseph’s team. Mr
Trevor Wallace has worked as a Teaching Assistant for nearly two year
supporting children across the school in their learning.
The
children and staff will miss him greatly and we wish him lots of luck for the
future.
Summer Wedding
During
the Summer Mr. Conlon is getting married. We wish the couple a wonderful
wedding day and that they are very happy in their married life.
School Dinners
There will be fish fingers instead of
meatballs on the last day of term.
Sponsored
Bike Rides 2014
As
you may recall, last year I cycled from Bristol to the north coast of Wales
raising money for Ataxia UK. At the start of the summer holiday I am cycling
from Bristol to Whitby on the coast of the North Yorkshire Moors; cycling over
350 miles over 5 days. But I'm not the only adventurous cyclist...
During the same week Angus Wallace in Year 4 is cycling from Bristol to
Radstock and back; an amazing distance of 50 miles in one day. Angus is only 9
years old!
We've both decided to use our journeys as opportunities to raise money for St. Peter's Hospice. St Peters Hospice is a Bristol charity caring for adults with life-limiting illnesses. They aim to improve the quality of their living and dying while extending care and support to their families and loved ones.
We've both decided to use our journeys as opportunities to raise money for St. Peter's Hospice. St Peters Hospice is a Bristol charity caring for adults with life-limiting illnesses. They aim to improve the quality of their living and dying while extending care and support to their families and loved ones.
St
Peter’s Hospice cared for our
caretaker Nick Buck's wife, Sonia, who passed away in November of last year.
Sonia had been battling cancer for some time and received a wonderful level of
care at St Peter's Hospice.
We
have sent home sponsor forms and a Just Giving site can be found on:
We
appreciate any support you can give.
School
Attendance
I
am pleased to announce that in 2013-14, our attendance rose to 96.3% (including
Reception who had amazing attendance). Although we’ve had a better year of
attendance, it is still a concern, especially where:
·
Parents have taken children out of
school for holidays or extended family visits.
·
Too many children are missing school
for lots of odd days.
As
you know, from last September, Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence
during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Absences can only
be authorised in exceptional circumstances.
The
school has done its best to work with parents, and we have resisted taking
action such as fining because we want to maintain good relationships and we
always want to behave in a reasonable manner. Overall, this approach has been
successful.
However,
it would not be reasonable for children to be missing school for such reasons
on an annual basis. If children, who have missed school for extended periods
this year, also miss extended periods next year(as unauthorised absences), we
have no choice but to take further action, which is very likely to be issuing a
fine.
Also,
can I request that parents and carers do not take children out of school due to
illness, when it is actually for another reason. Often in these cases, children
tell their friends or members of staff another reason why they’ve
been off school. In such cases, we have no choice but to request written
confirmation for any absence. Without written confirmation absences cannot be
authorised.
Free School Meals
As you will know, all children in
Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will be entitled to Free School Meals from
September.
Year 6
Performance of Jungle Book
Congratulations
to the children and staff for their amazing performances during this last week.
The standard of singing and acting was fantastic and the story was told with
great confidence and intense emotion. I was incredibly proud of all who were
involved.
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. Y2 Parents Session is
now on Thursday 4th September
School
Uniform (another reminder before the holidays)
|
Uniform
for Boys:
White
shirt or polo shirt
Navy
blue jumper or school sweatshirt
Grey
or black trousers
Grey
or black socks
Black
shoes or black trainers.
|
Uniform
for Girls:
Navy
blue or grey pinafore or skirt
Navy
blue or grey trousers
White
blouse or polo shirt
Navy
blue or grey cardigan or school sweatshirt
White
or blue socks
Blue
and white or pink/red and white gingham dress
Sensible
flat black shoes or trainers.
|
The
school uniform can be ordered through Initially Yours. Their telephone number
is 0117 9673847.
2014-15 Term
Dates
Term
1 - Monday 1 September to Friday 24 October 2014
Term
2 - Monday 3 November to Friday 19 December 2014Term 3 - Monday 5 January to Friday 13 February 2015
Term 4 - Monday 23 February to Friday 27 March 2015
Term 5 - Monday 13 April to Friday 22 May 2015
Term 6 - Monday 1 June to Monday 20 July 2015
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.
Celebration
Assembly
There
will be a celebration assembly on Monday 14th July at 9.15am, where the
following children will receive their headteacher's award: Haris (Y2)
Energy
Club: Aleena (Y5), Allen (Y3). Isabel (Y3), Vanessa (Y3), Josh (|Y3), Helene
(Y3), Olivia (Y4), Kai (Y5), Piper (Y4), Vanessa (Y4), Charlie (Y3), Soraya
(Y4), Alexandra (YR), Symon (Y1), Harrison (Y2), Tihanna (Y2), Dashana (Y1),
Naomi (Y1), Melanie (Y1), Hecotr (Y1), Darrell (Y1), Janice (Y1), Bogdan (R),
Nelson (R), Jesselyn (Y1), Joseph (R) and Ruby (Y1).
Dates for Diaries
Monday
21st July - T6 Attendance Assembly
Tuesday
22nd July at 9.30am - Leaver’s Mass in ChurchTuesday 22nd July - End of school year
Monday 1st September - Start of new school year
Thursday 4th September - Y2 Parents Information Session (date changed)
Monday 8th September at 3pm - Y1 Parents Information Session
Tuesday 9th September at 3pm - Y4 Parents Information Session
Wednesday 10th September at 3pm - Y3 Parents Information Session
Thursday 11th September at 3pm - Y5 Parents Information Session
Friday 26th September - Staff training day (school closed)
Friday 3rd October - Staff training day (school closed)
Have a safe and happy holiday.
Yours
sincerely,
Matt
Condon
Headteacher