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Newsletter Tuesday 12th September 2006 Part 1

Last week we welcomed many new pupils, as well as our returning pupils, to the start of another school year at Innsworth Junior. I have to say our Year 3 pupils have settled in very well and made the adjustment from the Infant to the Junior stage with ease. If you know differently, please let us know. Pupil numbers have allowed the classes to be relatively small in Years 3 and 4. Year 5 remains below 60 whilst Year 6, is our largest year group with 63 pupils. Currently, we are still hoping to hear positive news from the RAF as to the future plans for the site. We all have our fingers crossed that another defence agency will soon make an announcement. Hopefully having made good use of the time away from school, everyone is now ready to get back to the routines of term time. I love my holidays but know that I need term time to balance these 'lazy' days! Back to top

Staffing

We have welcomed Mr Barrow to Year 6 and know that we are very fortunate to have him on our staff. We have also welcomed Mrs Taylor as a member of our cleaning team and relief midday supervisor, whenever she is needed. Back to top

Mathematics / English Groups

At the end of last week, all pupils in Years 4, 5 and 6 were put into their Mathematics and English groups. There is always an overlap between the two groups within each year so teachers will coordinate their planning to take account of this. During the term, if it becomes obvious that a pupil is not in the set, where the best progress can possibly be made, a review will take place. Obviously, we will communicate our findings to the parents as it's in a child's best interests to be with children who learn in a similar way. Year 3 pupils will be grouped at the end of the week, as our overriding priority is to make them feel settled in our school and allow them time to adjust to the Junior school procedures. Experience has shown us that giving Year 3 time to settle at the beginning makes them more confident in the long run. The Year 3s will start in their new English / Mathematics groups from Monday next week. Back to top

Staffing Job shares [Year 4 and 5]

In order to save any confusion we thought it might be advisable to let you know when each teacher is working.
Year 4
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri
a.m. Mrs Sawyer Mrs Sawyer Mrs Sawyer Mrs Edge Mrs Edge
p.m. Mrs Sawyer Mrs Sawyer Mrs Edge Mrs Edge Mrs Edge

Year 5
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri
a.m. Mrs Kemmett Mrs Kemmett Mrs Pendlebury Mrs Pendlebury Mrs Pendlebury
p.m. Mrs Kemmett Mrs Kemmett Mrs Kemmett Mrs Pendlebury Mrs Pendlebury

A timetable of the children's lessons will be sent home to you fairly soon. Back to top

Summer Writing Project

Thank you very much for supporting your child's writing throughout the summer holiday. As soon as we are able to report the number of pupils who took part, we will let you know. One of our Year 5 pupils, Charlie, gave her comment about the Summer Writing Project:- "It was good because when I get older, I will remember what I have done." Certificates will be awarded to those who took part and to those who must be recognised for putting in so much time and effort. Back to top

Home School Partnership Agreement

These forms should be with you early next week. I am hopeful that 100% of parents will return our agreement forms, signed, discussed and ready to endorse. If you have any fundamental disagreement, please speak to us - we [the teachers] want to work together with you [the parents] for the benefit of your child. I am looking forward to signing 215 forms next week. Basically, the agreement states the way our school operates and it does underpin all that we do here in school. Without home and school working together, your child will not make the best possible progress. I will be on the telephone to parents, who do not return them, asking if this agreement causes a problem. We are always trying to make sure that we give our pupils the best possible support. We need you, the parents, to make this possible. If you have any issues with this agreement, just call into the office and make an appointment to see me. I am more than willing to listen to your thoughts. Back to top

Homework Schedule

Homework is a contentious issue in all schools! Some parents welcome homework and want more than that which is issued, whilst others regard it as a blot on their children's time at home. Even in Canada [where I holidayed] the homework issue was topical in the Toronto Times. Homework is part of the present school culture and so we try to work within this set up. All teachers are asked to keep to the homework schedule so that parents know when homework has been given out. There are times, such as teacher absence, when it is not possible to comply with our schedule but hopefully these will be few. Generally, all teachers try to set homework, which complements the pupils' work in the classroom. The following information, which appeared in the Toronto Times, seems to strike a happy balance. 'Pupils should multiply their Grade [Year group] by 10 minutes [They are a year behind us so a Year 6 is Grade 5 in Canada]. Therefore a Year 6 should have 50 minutes of homework [Year 6 = Grade 5, 5 x 10 minutes = 50 minutes]. This means that Year 3 = 20 minutes, Year 4 = 30 minutes, Year 5 = 40 minutes and Year 6 - as above. Over the course of a week, this should not eat into family life too much. If your child insists on spending hours upon hours on their homework, please check on whether this amount has been set by the teacher. If it has, ask to speak to your child's teacher. As reading is a life skill and should be encouraged for enjoyment and not just as a homework, this time would be outside of the allocated time above. Back to top

Bullying

Bullying will not be tolerated at our school. We will not accept name-calling or physical violence of any description. Our important rule is:
'NO TOUCHING WITHOUT PERMISSION'
The pupils are encouraged to tell an adult whenever they feel someone has done something wrong to them e.g. hit, name calling etc. Our motto is: 'Do not retaliate but tell an adult.' This stops the bully from putting the blame on the second person. If at any time you have concerns, please let us know as we take all concerns very seriously. We cannot say bullying does not happen but we can say that we will immediately act on any instances whenever they arise. We also deal with these type of issues through PSHCE [Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education] programme and Circle time. Back to top

Extra curricular activities

All start the week beginning the 18th September. Please take it that if your child requested a particular club and you have not been told otherwise, they will have been given a place. If numbers are too high to be manageable then the club will have to operate on a rotational basis.
Computer Club - Mr Jones will send out a letter informing you of the dates of your child's sessions, if the club has to operate on a rotational basis. Children taking part in Computer Club are able to join other clubs, prior to or after having had, their set sessions.
EXTRA Tennis club for Years 3 and 4 will take place on Thursdays from 3.15 - 4.15 p.m. starting on Thursday 28th September. Information on this will be out shortly. The two classes in Years 3 will have a half hour 'Taster' session at some point fairly soon. Again, as tennis is run by an outside agency it has to be paid for.
EXTRA As in past years Mr Andy Tucker will be offering football coaching for all ages at a cost of £15.00 [10 weekly sessions plus a certificate]. This will be on Tuesdays from 3.30 - 4.30 p.m. and will commence on Tuesday 19th September. Letters were sent home yesterday. Please note that sessions are on a Tuesday not a Monday as stated in the letter.
EXTRA Judo will be taking place on Thursdays in the hall. The first session will be on Thursday 14th September. Forms have already been given out. Back to top

Bad Hair Day - Friday 21st July

Do have a look at the photographs in reception; they will make you smile! Back to top

Residential Visit 2007

Year 5 and 6 Residential Visit to Isle of Wight Mon 25th June to Friday 29th June 2007- 5 Days. Letters will be out fairly soon - please look in the school bag if you do not receive yours by the end of this week. Back to top

Swimming this term - Year 5 and 6

Year 5 swimming will start on Wednesday 27th September.
Year 6 swimming will start on Friday 22nd September.
Forms requesting parental help are being sent out. Even if you feel you cannot commit to a regular 'swimming session' we would be delighted to accept an offer of one or two individual sessions. Ultimately, we cannot operate without help because of health and safety issues. If you feel a little unsure, please come and have a chat with either Miss Stocken or myself. We will convince you! Back to top

Pupil Helpers

Teachers are very grateful for the early morning offer of help from our very supportive pupils. However, arrival at school does not need to be before 8.30 a.m. as it is possible that their class teacher may not be around until that time. Back to top

Headlice

Just a reminder about what we need all our parents to do! We call this the Sunday night check. We need everyone to commit to this in order to maintain tight control of the situation. Headlice cause great distress, especially when they reappear after thinking the problem has been solved. Please eradicate headlice for good! Back to top

Innsworth Out of School Club / Hometime

At the end of each day children going to 'Larkfield After School Club' are sent to the library area. This is where the club leaders collect them. Should any child forget and go out to the gate they will be brought back into the library by one of the teachers. This will also be the case for all children awaiting a late parent. Back to top

Parent Helpers

If you feel you have a few hours to spare, mornings or afternoons, for one session or more, we can certainly put this time to good use. Please contact us if you are interested. Police checks do need to be made on all adults that we invite into school. This is no reflection on you, but an inevitable action in this day and age - unfortunately. Back to top

'Friends of Innsworth Junior School'

The 'Friends' have arranged their AGM for Thursday 28th September at 3.30 p.m. We would be delighted to see a few new faces so please come along. Many parents often want to show an interest but feel they may be coerced into greater participation than they would want. Please be assured we are a friendly group who operate on a very informal basis with help being asked for on an individual event basis. Come along and see for yourselves. Back to top

Attendance

It is important that all children arrive on time so that they can settle down before the first lesson of the day. Obviously, there may be the odd occasion when the car will not start and you have no control over matters. Similarly, it is important that absences are kept to a minimum. Again there will be occasions where illness or a family holiday necessitates an unforeseen absence. Any absence which is not deemed to be in the best interest of your child's education will be recorded as 'unauthorised' and followed up. Obviously, dental or medical appointments are authorised, although keeping them to a minimum is ideal. The Governors do monitor all absences and concern is shown when the same names frequently appear. A telephone call to school, on the first day of absence, allows us to keep a tight hold on pupil security. If you are unable to do this, we must have a letter following the absence. Most of our parents already follow this procedure. Lateness is also monitored and this will be followed up if it happens with regularity. Children need all the support they can get and concentration comes from being ready to listen to the teacher. Back to top

P.E. Kit at School all Week Please

Some parents will already be aware that we are 'cracking down' on children, who miss their PE lessons because they have no kit in school. This can be avoided by bringing in the P.E. kit on Mondays and taking it home on Fridays. This ensures that it is readily available for lessons. Children will naturally be excused P.E. and games on medical grounds. Please send a note to the teacher if this is necessary. I apologise to those parents, who receive a note on the rare occasion that their child does not have their kit but it is very difficult and time consuming to keep track of individual children. Last year too many children missed too many physical activity sessions and in this day and age, this is not acceptable. Remember: Black shorts and white top for P.E. Plimsolls or bare feet for gymnastics, trainers only for outdoor games. Back to top

Clothing

PLEASE NAME YOUR CHILD'S CLOTHING.
A simple name or initials in biro would be quite adequate [you will need to repeat this action when you wash the clothing]. Back to top

Parking

Please may I ask you to be mindful of the local residents when parking near the school. Last year there were occasions when some residents were not able to enter/exit their driveways without great difficulty. We also request that parents do not drive in the school car park during the day. Back to top

Secondary Transfer (Year 6 parents only)

Please take the opportunity to visit the secondary schools during these coming weeks. I have set aside Monday 18th September for a meeting with Year 6 parents from 6.00 - 7.00 p.m. in the school hall. Please come along and listen to what I have to say before completing your Common Application Form. By next Monday, I will also have your child's Year 6 verbal reasoning score. Each September all children at our school undertake an age-related Verbal reasoning test and for those parents contemplating the Grammar Schools, this score may be quite significant when contemplating their secondary schools. Back to top

Harvest Festival: Thursday 12th October 10.00 a.m.

This year's Harvest Festival will be taken by Reverend Ann Morris from St John's the Evangelist Church, Churchdown. All parents are welcome. We would value offers of help with the 'bagging' of produce after the service and with the Year 3 delivery of this produce in the afternoon. Please contact Miss Mackie if you are available. Back to top

Peripatetic Music: Budding Musicians

During the week many children learn to play a musical instrument by being taught by peripatetic music teachers. At present these lessons are available to Years 4, 5 and 6. The hire of the instrument and tuition do have to be paid for each term. This is currently about £40 plus hire. It is also important that thought is given to the practice that goes with learning an instrument. Commitment is vital for progress to be made. All instrumental lessons start this week. Monday: Flute/Clarinet, Tuesday: Brass, Thursday: Violin/Guitar and Friday: Cello. We do now have a Guitar teacher, so if any children are interested, please let Miss Schofield know. Back to top

Healthy Eating

For the past eighteen months we have been working towards becoming a healthy school and so we have only allowed children to eat fruit from Monday to Thursday. We are now going to extend this to the whole week as we believe we have a duty to our children to ensure that they adopt a healthy eating attitude. Therefore, at break times, crisps will not be acceptable but in order to help those who do not find fruit filling, we will accept fruit bars [but not fat laden cereal bars] or cheese. Children should not bring sweets or fizzy drinks into school at any time. Back to top

Part 2