June 2002

Half Term Week: Monday 3rd - Friday 7th June

Residential Visit Meeting for Parents

SATs [Standard Assessment Tests]

Golden Jubilee Coins

Summer Fayre / Parish Council Jubilee Celebrations

Reminder - Country Dance Festival

Improved Washroom Facilities

Cycling

Our New Discipline Policy

Staff Leaving

Half Term Week: Monday 3rd - Friday 7th June

Another half term is behind us. It is hard to believe that we are almost coming to the end of another academic year. Back to top

Residential Visit Meeting for Parents

A meeting for the parents of all the children going on the residential visit to Folkestone and France this year will be held on Tuesday 11th June at 6.00 p.m. It is very important that one representative from each family attends the meeting as Mrs. Kemmett will be discussing pocket money, medications, behaviour, a relay telephone system and all those little details that help our residential visits go as smoothly as possible. Back to top

SATs [Standard Assessment Tests]

What did we think of this year's SATs papers?
Our verdict - The written Maths and Science papers were very fair but the English reading paper was heavily weighted against the lower ability reader. The same text is presented for all children and so some of the vocabulary - 'macaque monkeys' was alien to many of the lower ability group.
Some of the Year 6 children's comments:
"It was hard to understand the words"
"The questions were harder than I thought they would be"
"The questions were more challenging than I imagined"
"It was hard to decide which story to pick in the writing"
A total of twenty-nine children sat various extension papers in Maths, English and Science. This is a real achievement, as many schools do not put children forward for these papers. Back to top

Golden Jubilee Coins

Every child should be bringing home a commemorative coin as a keepsake of the Queen's reign. Out of all the memorabilia we looked at, we considered this coin to be quite tasteful. Back to top

Summer Fayre / Parish Council Jubilee Celebrations

Thank you so much for supporting both the Fayre and the Parish Council celebrations last Saturday. The 'Friends' have made a clear profit of just over £2500, which is down to the attendance of so many. You came along, you spent your money and you stayed for many hours. The evening attendance surpassed all expectations with parents, school staff and the community all enjoying themselves together. The culmination of the day was the superb firework display, which despite the rain thrilled everyone present. I cannot thank everyone individually but I must mention a few:
Wendy Lane - Chair of the 'Friends', who did so much work, prior to the Fayre, to make it the success that it was.
Louise Mackenzie - Governor/parent/Parish Council - who liaised between parish and school and gave up so much of her weekend to get the school operational for Monday morning.
Ian Bartlett - Governor and parent who also gave up so much of his weekend to help during the day, supervise during the evening and clean up next day.
Martin Cambridge - Co-ordinator for the parish, who made it possible for the joint celebrations to happen.
I have personally thanked the staff and the 'Friends' for their unstinting support on Saturday. There is even talk of it becoming an annual event!! Back to top

Reminder - Country Dance Festival

This is to be held at Elmbridge Junior School on 27th June 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. Mrs Pendlebury will be setting up a working party to make costumes after half term. Please let her know if you are able to help. Back to top

Improved Washroom Facilities

Hooray! - This week we have had new boilers installed in all toilet areas. There were difficulties removing the old tanks and pipes and this caused us to have periods without water. However, it does now mean that the children will be able to wash their hands in hot water. Back to top

Cycling

The Year 6 pupils who undertook cycling proficiency all passed the test at the end of the course. Well done to all. However, it is not a signal that they all completely road worthy! They still need to take absolute care whenever they venture on the roads.
Thanks must go to P.C. Bartholomew and Ean Bartlett for giving up their time so readily to support our school. Back to top

Our New Discipline Policy

This is almost ready for a working party to evaluate and decide if it will stand up to various scenarios. I will be asking for volunteers after half term. You may or may not have read the report in the Citizen about bullying. We were disappointed to read it, however, we have received super support from so many parents since it was published. I did invite the Citizen into school to see for themselves but they declined. The staff at Innsworth are very proud of our school and put so much commitment and effort into giving all children the best possible education. This is almost always at the expense of their own personal time.
I received a wonderful letter from a Year 7 boy who left us last July extolling the virtues of Innsworth Junior. Who said boys weren't writers! Back to top

Staff Leaving

As Mrs Jones has moved to the Forest of Dean, she will be leaving Innsworth Junior at the end of this term. We will be really sorry to see her go as she has been a super Year 4 teacher as well as a wonderful choir co-ordinator.
We are interviewing for Mrs Jones' replacement on Monday 10th June.
Enjoy the Jubilee celebrations. Back to top

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