Newsletter 20th June 2008

End of term arrangements!

Coming up……

Sports’ Day Wednesday 2nd July 9.30 a.m.

Ofsted Visit on Tuesday 3rd June

CLIC Sargent –Recycling old phones

New Governors

Year 6 Leavers’ Ball

Year 5/6 Day Trip to France

“Into the Woods” Theatre Production

Tennis Year 3

Tesco and Sainsbury’s Vouchers

A New Cross Curricular Curriculum

Literacy in classes

Mathematics Lessons

Wedding Bells for Mrs Edge

Back to School in September

Staffing

End of term arrangements!

This time of year is a very busy one so we need to make sure everyone knows what is happening and when!

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Coming up……

Residential Visit…Make sure you are at school by 7.30 a.m. on Monday 23^rd June [only those who are going!]

 

 

 

Book Fair     Thursday 3^rd - Wednesday 9^th July inclusive.  Please come along and pick out some reading matter ready for the summer holidays!

 

 

 

Friends’ Summer Fayre   Saturday 5^th July 2.00 – 4.00 p.m.  Please send in your items for stalls.  If you need any extra raffle tickets, please ask at the office.  More helpers are needed on the day, so if you can assist, please return the reply slip sent out recently.

 

 

 

This year the Friends’ would like to have a second hand uniform stall at the Summer Fayre.

They would, therefore, be grateful for any donations of good quality surplus uniform you may no longer need.  Thank you in anticipation of your support

 

 

 

Consultation Evenings  Tuesday 8^th July for informal meeting, Wednesday 9^th July for set appointments.  A letter will be sent home soon.

 

 

 

Leavers’ Assembly… 11.00 a.m. on Friday 18^th July.  Parents are welcome to attend.

 

 

 

Bad Hair Day!  Once again we will be having our annual end of term Bad Hair Day on Friday 18^th July in aid of CLIC.  No doubt children are already thinking of ideas for all their weird and wonderful hairdos!

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Sports’ Day Wednesday 2nd July 9.30 a.m.

Sports’ Day will soon be here so please mark your calendar if you have to book time off work.  Children must be in P.E kit so it is advisable to send kit in line with our normal practice – on the Monday morning.

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Ofsted Visit on Tuesday 3rd June

The day visit by Mr Russell Jordan, Her Majesty’s Inspector on behalf of Ofsted, went very well.  A copy of the report is attached to this newsletter.  When Mr Jordan sat in my office and stated that he was struggling to find an area for improvement, I knew that he had been impressed.  And impressed he most certainly was!  He spoke to many groups of children and concluded that our children were very intelligent.  Spot on!

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CLIC Sargent –Recycling old phones

Clic Sargent is urgently asking for old phones to be donated to their cause.  For every phone donated, Clic Sargent receives £3.  If we are able to collect at least 25 phones, a free courier service will be made available.

The following statistics explain why we should be doing our best to help Clic.

150 mobiles will help towards providing a Clic Sargent family support worker for a week.

650 mobiles will fund a play specialist for a month.

3500 mobiles will fund 10 families to have a holiday at Malcolm Sargent House.

Clic Sargent is one of the two charities which we regular support, so if you have an old mobile gathering dust, please send it to a good home!

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New Governors

We have recently welcomed two new governors onto our Governing Body.  We are very pleased that Mrs Julie Rees [mother of William in Year 6] and Mrs Marlene Neath [local to the area] have joined us as Community Governors.  The Governing Body at this school put in many hours throughout each week to give the school direction, support and drive.

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Year 6 Leavers’ Ball

Our Year 6 children are eagerly looking forward to their Ball on Tuesday 15^th.  I am sure we will be in for a treat when we see all our pupils wearing their glorious attire.

 

 

 

Many thanks to all the Year 6 parents who have been supporting the children with their fundraising for the Leavers’ Ball.  The target is £400 and we are well on the way to exceeding this.

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Year 5/6 Day Trip to France

A letter has been sent home this week explaining what is needed for the trip.  With such an early start, don’t forget to set your alarm clocks!!

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“Into the Woods” Theatre Production

As you know, Miss Schofield is appearing at the Everyman Theatre next week (from Tuesday until Saturday) as Cinderella’s stepsister ‘Florinda’ in “Into the Woods”.  If you have not already booked your tickets – do not forget to call the Everyman box office on 01242 572573.

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Tennis Year 3

Our Year 3s deserve a “pat on the back” after their super start to our mini tennis league.  We have played two matches and won two!  Well done to Reece Walsh, Jemima Raine, Matthew Jones, Jessica Chitty and Chloe Halliday.

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Tesco and Sainsbury’s Vouchers

We are now in the process of counting both Tesco and Sainsbury’s vouchers so the collection is now closed for this year.  We are not registered with Asda so cannot use their vouchers.  Nestles Box Tops for Books are still being collected as they are valid until 31.3.09.

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A New Cross Curricular Curriculum

Currently the staff are engaged in developing a new exciting curriculum, which will allow the children to become more actively involved in their learning.  We are hoping to integrate learning around a central theme, which will allow skills and application to be transferable across the curriculum areas.

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Literacy in classes

From September, the class teacher will take responsibility for Literacy teaching.  This is a departure from our current practice and is in line with recent developments across the country.  It will allow teachers to develop Literacy skills across the curriculum and not be confined to the hour each morning. 

In line with all our practices, we will monitor the children’s progress and evaluate the outcomes.  Evidence from professional sources suggests that this way of teaching Literacy has a greater impact than ability setting. 

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Mathematics Lessons

Mathematics will continue to be taught in the most appropriate ability setting.

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Wedding Bells for Mrs Edge

Getting married?

 

 

 

We will be welcoming Mrs Edge back in September as Mrs Kelly as she will be getting married in August.  I am sure you would all like to join me in sending Mrs Edge and her ‘husband to be’ our very best wishes for the future.

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Back to School in September

We will be welcoming all our children back to school on:  Wednesday 3^rd September.

 

 

Monday 1^st and Tuesday 2^nd September will be In-service days for staff only.

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Staffing

I have put this item last as I wanted to make sure that you had read all the other items mentioned in this newsletter first!

 

 

 

As you know, we are having to say ‘Goodbye’ to several members of staff because of predicted pupil numbers.  The two Teaching Assistants leaving us are:

Mrs Christine Meek and Mrs Wendy Lidstone-Lane.

 

 

 

We are really sorry to see them go as they have put great effort into supporting both teachers and children during the time they have been at Innsworth Junior.  Both have been super members of staff and would not be leaving us had our current situation not arisen.

 

Mrs Meek has done an admirable job in supporting children’s learning in Years 3 and 4.  During Mr Jones’ absence she made sure that class procedures remained the same throughout, checking that reading books were regularly changed and homework given out. 

Mrs Meek’s services have been highly sought after; she has already secured another school post for September.  We wish her every success in this new position.

 

 

 

Mrs Lidstone-Lane has been with us for eight years so it is very hard to say ‘Goodbye’.  For the last few years, she has worked with the Year 4 children.  There are many children who have made progress because of the support programmes put in by Mrs Lidstone-Lane.  Over the years, she has worked closely with Mrs Davitt to ensure children with special needs were able to access the lessons.  Mrs Lidstone-Lane has been a treasure; her display skills are ‘second to none’. 

Mrs Lidstone-Lane has also played a key role in supporting and Chairing the Friends of Innsworth over the years, for which we are very grateful.

 

 

 

Mrs Davitt opted to take redundancy as she was looking to scale back her teaching commitments.  After twenty-one years as a Special Needs Co-ordinator, she has earned her right to ‘take a rest’.  Many adults ‘out there’ owe Mrs Davitt a great deal of gratitude for the support she gave to their learning.  This school has benefited from the enormous wealth of experience that Mrs Davitt has accrued over the years.  I have the unenviable task of picking up the reins from Mrs Davitt!

 

 

 

This next piece of news has ‘come out of the blue’!

 

 

 

Miss Stocken has been recently been appointed as a Gloucestershire Primary Teaching and Learning Consultant for Mathematics.  This is a real endorsement of Miss Stocken’s skills so although we will miss her presence, skills, dedication and enthusiasm, we have to acknowledge that she has done so well to be offered this prestigious position.

Well done Miss Stocken! 

Miss Stocken, a truly marvellous Year 5 and Year 6 teacher, has always commanded the children’s respect as she sets high expectations in both work and behaviour.

 

 

 

Many parents may not be aware that Miss Stocken has been at Innsworth Junior for nine years and has taken responsibility for:

Ø      Mathematics

Ø      Swimming

Ø      Visits including the Residential visit

Ø      Acting Deputy Headteacher three times

Ø      School organisation -Assembly rotas,Timetables

Ø      Modern Foreign Languages and many, many more.

These responsibilities now have to be distributed throughout our remaining staff!

 

 

 

Because of Miss Stocken’s promotion, no other member of staff is facing redundancy.

 

 

 

Miss Stocken will be greatly missed, especially as a Year 6 teacher so it will fall to the other teachers to make sure they pick up her mantle!

 

 

 

I am now in a position to be able to say that the teachers for September will be:

Class 1 – Miss Mackie

Class 2 – Miss Schofield

Class 3 – Mr Jones

Class 4 – Mr Ward

Class 5 – Mrs Pendlebury/Mrs Kemmett

 

 

 

Mrs Edge will be providing cover for the teachers when they have their release time for planning and assessment.

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