Newsletter #12

Dear Parents, Pupils, Staff and Governors,

Canon Tomlinson

Last Friday we held a very touching memorial service in the school grounds with pupils, staff, governors, Revd Sandra and members of Ian’s family. After an opening prayer and welcome, our Team Captains George, Charley and Leah along with members of Willow Class and Beech Class planted a beautiful Horse Chestnut tree in Ian’s memory. In years to come the tree will be a long lasting memory of Ian’s association with the school and I hope that when it comes in maturity children will enjoy playing games of conkers!

SIAMs

As you know we had our Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMs) recently. Andrew Rickett, a very experienced inspector, looked at the school’s self-evaluation and evidence across four main areas: Christian Distinctiveness, Collective Worship, Religious Education and Leadership and Management. We are proud to have been validated as an Outstanding Church School. Thank you to all of you who contributed not just to the inspection but over the last three years as we have moved the school forward. The report is now public and available on our website (Ethos and Core Values) if you would like to read the detail.

Breakfast Club

Mrs Salusbury, who has been running Breakfast Club for some while, has secured a place to do teacher training and so would like to give up her role at school. Therefore we are looking for a suitable person to run breakfast club each morning. Please see Mrs Tilley if you are interested.

Class Teacher Vacancy

I am interviewing next week for our KS2 vacancy. I am hopeful of being able to make an appointment and will let you know the outcome as soon as I can.

Next Term

We have had to make an adjustment to the arrangements for Maple Class for next term. Mrs Gwen Farley will now be teaching that class all day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then Thursday until lunchtime. Mrs Lock will then take over and teach Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. However, Mrs Lock is scheduled to be absent for a week or so at the beginning of next term so if Mrs Dabill is back I will teach Maple Class on those days and if not we will arrange cover. Mrs Farley has taught the class before and spent some time in school this morning meeting with me and chatting to the children.

While Mrs Dabill is still absent I will continue to teach Oak Class. At the moment I do not know when she will be able to return. If she is not back after Easter I will be taking her parents appointments for her which we have rearranged for 24th/25th April.

Trainee Teacher

Miss Amy Bolton has joined us from Winchester University until almost the end of the year for her final teaching practice. She will be working predominately with Beech Class and will be supported in her training by Mrs Preece and Miss Burton.

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 SATs

At 6pm on Wednesday 26th April there will be a meeting in the school hall for parents of pupils in Years 2 and 6 to find out about this year’s SATs tests. I hope that this is a convenient time for as many of you to attend as possible; I’m happy for children to attend too if that helps with child care. I will make any PowerPoints and resources available on the school website afterwards for those who can’t attend.

Easter Service

Our end of term service is being held at St Peter’s Church at 9:30am next Wednesday. If you are able to accompany us to church then please let your child’s class teacher or the school office know.

School Grounds

I’m going to go ahead with the School Grounds day on the 8th April because I have very few free weekends over the next month or so. If it doesn’t happen then we’ll be in to summer and the opportunity will have gone. All welcome for all, or part of the day; we’ll be having a general clear up around the site and hopefully giving the Yurt a good clean. We still have plenty of leaf mulch available if you would like some: donations to the PTA please.

End of Term Concert

At 2:00pm on Thursday 6th April we will be holding a music concert to share what the children have been learning this term. This will involve pupils from Beech, Maple and Willow Classes and will hopefully be a nice end to the term in the same way that our Christmas Concert was. All parents are welcome to attend and you will be able to take your children home straight after the concert.

PTA Film Night

The PTA are running a Film Night rather than a disco to end the term; flyers should have come home in book bags by now. There are separate films for KS1 and KS2 with an interval for snacks. The cost is £2.50 to cover the cost of refreshments and the evening runs from 6-8pm. Please just turn up and pay on the door; no need to book or pre-pay.

PTA Fun Run

You should have had a flyer this week for the May Fun Run we are holding at school on May 14th.  Further information can be found here: http://www.appleshawschool.com/FunRun

Tell your friends!

It was a really great event last year and we’re hoping for this year’s to be even better. Thank you to the PTA members who have already spent hours preparing for the event!

We will be sending a sponsor form home next week for any children who are interested in running the 1k or 5k race and want to get sponsored for doing it!

After School Clubs

There won’t be any after school clubs next week. Clubs will resume week beginning 2nd May.

School Dinners Reminder

From April 1st the price of a school meal for pupils in Key Stage 2 will increase to £2.15. A week of dinners for one child will therefore cost £10.75. School Meals for pupils in Willow and Beech Classes remain free as part of the Universal Infant Free School Meals Scheme. A new dinner menu will be coming home soon. Please note that this school will not be offering the Picnic lunch option.

 

Finally I would just like to say a huge thank you to all of you who have offered your help over the last few weeks. This has certainly been a challenging term for a number of reasons but the strength of our community really comes through when people recognise the difficulties and offer their help. I’m hoping that we’ll be back to some semblance of normality after Easter, but who knows!

Happy Easter!

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