Anlaby Acre Heads Primary School
Autumn Newsletters
Welcome Back ++ Staff
Changes ++ Home-School Agreement ++ 5-a-side Tournament
School Improvements ++ Start of Year Reminders ++ Numeracy
Numeracy Course ++ Walk to
School Week ++ Collections
Absences and Tests ++ Dates
Welcome back to Acre Heads at the start of the last term of this millennium (if you count 2000 as the first year of the next!). I do hope that you and your children had a good holiday, but I am sure I heard a few sighs of relief that it was over as I met parents on the first day back.
Last school year was a very good one, rounded off by a good inspection report which was full of positive comments and praise for the school. This year, with the help of you and your children, we are aiming to do even better.
As well as the new staff mentioned in the last newsletter we have one more new teacher and two new child support assistants who have joined us this September. Our new teacher is Mrs Anderson, who actually taught at the school a few years ago. Mrs Anderson will be working alongside Mrs Smith with the year 2 class. Our two new child support assistants are Mrs Holiday and Mrs Himsworth.
If you have not yet signed the Home-School Agreement which we sent to you, could you please read through the information again and then return the Agreement to the school office. If you need a new copy please ask for one at the school office.
5-a side Tournament The 5-a side football team mentioned in the last newsletter were runners up in the tournament in July – well done to them all.
Mr Witty has painted a number of areas of the school during the holiday, making them much brighter and more cheerful. We have also had the paving between the mobiles relaid to make it safer. This was a point which was raised at the last Governors’ Meeting for Parents and I am pleased we have managed to have that work done so quickly. Another point which was brought up at that meeting was the school accommodation, in particular the temporary classrooms and the many problems they cause. This was actually identified by Ofsted as a key issue at the school. For many years the school governors have been trying to improve the accommodation by requesting a new extension to the school and the removal of the temporary classrooms. Hopefully this year the small main school classrooms will be extended, but this does not solve the school’s main problem. In the coming months we shall be making further representations to the Council, requesting an extension. I know I can count on the support of our parents and carers as we all try to improve the quality of the accommodation at the school.
On a much more positive note, I am pleased to let you know that the school has had the best summer for years – there was no vandalism at all! This means that the money which we have had to spend on repairs in the past can now be spent on education. The new fence has certainly made a difference!
Jewellery
It is essential that no jewellery is worn by any pupils whilst at school. This is for safety reasons and parents are requested to support the school in this to avoid the chance of injury to their own and other children. Jewellery should certainly not be worn during PE lessons.
School Uniform
The wearing of school uniform helps to foster a sense of pride and belonging in the children. It also avoids the upset and cost of trying to keep up with the latest fashion! Fashion ‘fads’ are not expected to be reflected in the children’s appearance at school. It would be very helpful if all clothing was clearly labelled with the child’s name. School uniform is as follows,
BOYS Grey trousers, white or grey shirt with plain dark green tie (preferably elasticated for infants), dark green pullover or school sweatshirt, grey socks (plain or with green pattern round top).
GIRLS Dark green or grey pinafore dress or skirt or grey trousers (not black or any form of leggings), white blouse with dark green tie (preferably elasticated for infants), dark green jumper or school sweatshirt, white socks. Tights should be white, black, green or flesh coloured.
Sandshoes or soft shoes must be worn inside and sandshoes are essential for P.E. lessons. Fashion garments and jewellery should not be worn by boys or girls.
Green sweatshirts and white 'T' shirts with the school logo are available from the school office.
Acre Heads baseball caps can be worn outside during the summer months and are available from the school office.
All children must wear suitable kit for physical education (P.E.). Tops (T-shirts) should be white or green, shorts should be white, green or black. A jogger suit is useful for Junior games. Sandshoes are essential for all pupils for indoor P.E. lessons. P.E. dress should be in school colours and not the latest fashion garment. All clothes should be named. Children need a P.E. bag and these are available from the school office (priced £2.50). This should be named and kept at school during the week.
This term the school will be starting to use the government’s new maths initiative, the National Numeracy Strategy. This involves the children usually having about an hour of maths each day, based on the lesson format and contents of the National Numeracy Strategy. Much of what will be happening in maths lessons will be nothing new to the children at Acre Heads, but the methods of teaching and the resources we use will sometimes be different.
As you may recall, last year we introduced the National Literacy Strategy and there have been some definite improvements in English at the school. We are confident that the Numeracy Strategy should lead to similar improvements in the maths.
A special meeting is planned to be held at Wolfreton School, which will introduce local parents to the Numeracy Strategy.
This term we are hoping to run a special course for parents and carers of children in key stage 1 which aims to help them help their children with mathematics. The course will be run by the Cottingham Continuing Adult Education Centre and will take place on Wednesday afternoons in the Green Room. It promises to be very interesting and very informal, giving parents and carers the chance to find out the many ways in which they can support their child, for example through talking about numbers and making and playing simple maths games.
If you are interested in coming along to the sessions (which are completely free) please let the school office know before Friday 17th September (562250).
Walk to School Week (Monday 20th September)
Many people are still rightly concerned about the traffic problems down Welbourn Walk. I have written to residents about the importance of staggered parking so that emergency vehicles can have access to the school and I have asked parents on a number of occasions to avoid driving down to the school to collect and drop off children. We have had some very near misses in the past and I would like to ask again that if you are dropping your children off or collecting them, please park on Norland Avenue and walk down to the school. The week beginning on Monday 20th September is Walk to School Week and this may be a good time to make a change to any routines which involve driving down Welbourn Walk.
There are many offers of free stuff for schools from various companies at the moment. We are collecting Safeway tokens and Daily Mail tokens for school trips, as recently advertised on TV. Time Computer tokens and tokens from The Times and Sunday Times are also being collected for free software. We are also collecting Nestle’s box tops and continuing to accept Books for Schools tokens and Pringles‘ tops. If you have any of these they can be put in the collection boxes in the school entrance.
Many thanks for all of the tokens last school year. We have received free sports equipment, software and books already from the various schemes.
The Year 6 tests will be taking place in the week beginning on Monday 15th May 2000. This is a change from the previous date which the Government had set. Year 2 SATs will also be taking place in the summer term of 2000. May I remind all parents that any time off school is disruptive to the children’s education, but during the summer term, when there are national and school tests it can be even more difficult to deal with. Please try to avoid requests for absence at all times.
Please note that these are subject to change.
Monday 20th September Walk to School Week begins
Tuesday 21st September 7:15pm Friends of Acre Heads Annual General Meeting
Friday 1st October Friends of Acre Heads Quiz Night
Tuesday 12th October Individual School Photographs day
Thursday 7th October Numeracy meeting for parents at Wolfreton School
Thursday 14th October 6:00-8:30pm Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 20th October Victorian Day (Key Stage 1)
Friday 22nd October School Closed for training day
HALF TERM Week beginning Monday 25th October
Monday 1st November School re-opens
HOME ++ NEWSLETTERS INDEX
Head Lice ++ Humber Bridge Memories ++ Numeracy Strategy Meeting ++ Early Arrivals
Jewellery ++ Footwear ++ Still collecting
RNIB ++ Children's Book Week
Dinner Notes ++ Dates
I am sorry that much of this newsletter is reminders about school procedures, but we have far too many children who are not managing some of the simplest expectations of the school and we need your support in ensuring that your children are doing the right thing. We have also made slight changes to some of the school policies and procedures. Hopefully, these reminders will help avoid the need to contact parents individually.Dear parents and carers,
There are occasional instances of head lice in children in most schools, and Acre Heads is no exception. The latest guidance to schools suggests that at any particular time, in most schools there will be a number of children with head lice. ‘Outbreaks’ of head lice are rare and schools are being advised to simply keep reminding parents about the problem and what to do about it. May I suggest that you check your children’s hair today* and if you find any infection (at least one living, moving louse) consult your local chemist, health visitor or doctor. Please inform the school of any confirmed infection.
*Detection combing of wet hair using a fine comb is recommended – a brief information sheet is available from the school office and your chemist or doctor can give further advice.
Do you remember when the Humber Bridge was built? Were you involved in any way? Do you remember the first day you crossed it? Were you there at the opening?
Some of the children in key stage 2 will be involved in a special project this term about the Humber Bridge. If you have any memories of the bridge I wonder if you could jot them down for the children to use in their work. Just a paragraph will do and it will certainly help the project on its way. Also, if you have any photographs which we could borrow they could be equally useful. We are hoping that some of the children will help develop a Humber Bridge section to the school’s web site which will include the things mentioned above. If you have any memories or photos, please send them to me via the school office.
Numeracy Strategy Meeting for Parents
The provisionally planned National Numeracy Strategy meeting for parents will now not be taking place at Wolfreton School. Instead we shall have a meeting at Acre Heads. Janet Kelly, the local education authority’s adviser for mathematics has kindly agreed to introduce parents to this new approach to maths in schools. As well as answering parents’ questions about the strategy, she will talk about what will be going on in classrooms and show a video of a numeracy lesson. The meeting will start at 7:00pm in the school hall and there will be refreshments available from 6:50pm. I hope as many parents as possible will be able to make it to the meeting, to find out more about their children’s work in maths.
We have an increasing problem with children arriving at school too early. Some children are even arriving before half past eight. No children should be at school before 8:45am and when they arrive they should wait on the school playgrounds. They must not enter the school. Staff are always at school prior to 8:45am preparing for the day ahead, but it is only from 8:45am onwards that staff are available should the need arise. Please make sure that your child does not arrive at school before 8:45am. Some parents who have to leave for work earlier than this make arrangements with other parents for their children to go to their friends’ houses until it is time to go to school.
As you may know we are trying very hard to reduce the amount of jewellery worn at school. At a recent meeting it was agreed that due to the problems many parents and carers have expressed over their children removing earrings, from now on small studs will be accepted in school. Other jewellery must not be worn at all for safety reasons. We still have concerns about children wearing studs because of the possibility of playtime accidents and all these should certainly be removed for PE lessons. If removing the studs is not possible (usually because the holes may start to heal) then parents should send pieces of surgical tape to keep the studs covered, avoiding some of the chances of accidents and injuries. Please note that if children arrive at school with jewellery other than stud earrings, they will be asked to remove it. The jewellery will be kept in a safe place until the end of the day, when the child can take the jewellery home and not bring it back to school.
If you have any concerns about the school’s policy regarding jewellery please let me know. Since this is the start of a new school year, if you have previously informed the school about any particular issues regarding your child and jewellery, please send a note to the class teacher to explain any arrangements which have been made.
Children should bring a change of footwear to school and may wear a pair of sandshoes for PE. The sandshoes can also be used as indoor shoes. From now on if the children do not bring sandshoes they will be able to do PE in bare feet. It would be helpful if children in key stage 2 brought a pair of trainers to wear for outdoor PE (these should not be their indoor shoes). All the children are expected to remember to change their shoes when they come into the school.If your child does not bring a change of shoes for any reason could you please send a note to let us know.
We are still collecting tokens from various places, including Pringles tops, Nestle’s Box Tops, Books for Schools tokens, Safeway School Trip vouchers and now McVitie’s Free Maths Stuff For Schools tokens. Most of these can be put in the containers in the school entrance or sent to the school office if the container is not there.
Many thanks to everybody who has supported the RNIB appeal by sending donations into school. There is still time to collect and send in any more donations, which will help the school sponsor a book for the blind. All donations must be received by Monday 18th October.
This week is Children’s Book Week and your child should have brought home our usual book club order form to coincide with the celebration. May I remind you that money should be sent with any orders.
On Friday this week most of the children will gather in the hall for a story. All around the North of England children will be listening to a story at exactly the same time, it is expected that about ten thousand children will be involved and that should make the headlines and promote reading for pleasure.
As you know, we expect the children to bring a note to school on Mondays to let us know what they will be doing at lunchtime during the week. From now on, if your child does the same thing every week, you can send a note at the start of the term letting us know their normal routine. A note will only need to be sent in then if the routine is different in any particular week. All dinner money should also be sent in on a Monday morning.
Please note that these dates may change.
Tuesday 12th October
Individual School Photographs day
Thursday 14th October 6:00-8:30pm
Parents’ Evening
Monday 18th October
Sutherland Lodge Meeting
Wednesday 20th October
Victorian Day (Key Stage 1)
HALF TERM Week beginning Monday 25th October
Saturday 30th October
Children’s Parties: Friends of Acre Heads
Monday 1st November
School re-opens
Tuesday 2nd November 7:00-8:00pm
National Numeracy Strategy – Meeting for Parents
Wednesday 10th November 7:15pm
Friends of Acre Heads Meeting
Saturday 13th November
Tabletop Sale: Friends of Acre Heads
Friday 3rd December
Christmas Fayre: Friends of Acre Heads
Tuesday 7th December
Infant Christmas Performance – evening
Wednesday 8th December
Infant Christmas Performance – afternoon
Thursday 9th December
Infant Christmas Performance – evening
Tuesday 14th December
Junior Christmas Performance – evening
Wednesday 15th December
Early Years/Reception Party
Junior Christmas Performance – afternoon
Thursday 16th December
Year 1 and Year 2 Party
Junior Christmas Performance – evening
Tuesday 21st December
Year 5 and Year 6 Party
Wednesday 22nd December
End of term
Monday 10th January 2000
Staff training day
John Bennett
Happy Christmas +++ Christmas Performances +++ Christmas Postbox +++ Christmas Cards Recycling +++ Millennium Headlines +++ Dinner Money +++ Lunchtime Supervisors +++ USA Week +++ End of Term Diary
It's that time again! The tree is going up, the postbox is ready, the staff and children have done a wonderful job decorating the hall, the children are getting excited and the weather is getting worse! Since this is the last newsletter this year, I would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year, on behalf of all the staff and governors of the school.
Please note that the tickets for the Christmas performances were allocated on a strict 'first come-first served' basis and were limited in number for reasons of safety and comfort. Please do not come to any performances without a ticket.
All the children were given forms to get tickets, but many children and parents called at the school office for further copies of the forms. Please remind your child that any letters from school must be taken straight home and given to you.
If you are helping your child to address cards to go into the school's Christmas postbox, please make sure they put the full name and the class of who they want the card to go to. Last year we had cards addressed to family members put in the postbox - to avoid disappointment please check the cards your child is sending - obviously only cards for pupils or staff should go into the school's postbox.
Please send your Christmas cards to the bags in the school's entrance at the start of next term. They will be sent to the Post Office as part of their recycling scheme.
To celebrate the start of the next millennium, Anlaby Acre Heads will be producing a special issue of Headlines. The issue will include a look back at the last millennium and a look forward to the next. Any articles, poems, millennium jokes and puzzles should be sent to me before the end of term.
It would be wonderful if parents could work with their children in creating stories, poems, articles etc. about what they think will happen in the next millennium. Perhaps grandparents could talk to the children about what has changed in the last 50 years and parents and children could write about what might change in the next 50.
There are an increasing number of children bring in payment for school lunches at the wrong time. All dinner payments must be brought to school on Monday (unless your child is not in school). It is essential that payment is sent only on a Monday so
the kitchen staff can make correct orders for each day
on every day except Monday teaching staff do not have to collect, count and record money sent in (which leads to less teaching time)
the office staff do not have to 'bank' money every day.
The time spent dealing with dinner payments almost every day means that other important jobs cannot be done. Some schools do not accept dinner payments except on a Monday and if this problem continues I shall have to consider that option.
Please make sure you always send dinner money to school on a Monday when your child is in school. If it is possible, please send a cheque made payable to ERYC rather than sending money.
The school still needs standby lunchtime supervisors. If you are interested in occasionally working as a lunchtime supervisor at the school to cover temporary absences, please call the school office so that we can put your name on the list of people who may be available.
We shall be holding another themed week in February next year (21.2.2000 - 25.2.2000). Following on from the success of our African and European weeks, our next focus will be on the United States of America. If you have any items from the USA or links with the USA please let your child's class teacher know if they can be borrowed or considered for use in the project. I shall send more details nearer the time.
Happy Christmas and Happy New Millennium
John Bennett
Tuesday 7th December
Infant Christmas Performance – eveningWednesday 8th December
Infant Christmas Performance – afternoonThursday 9th December
Infant Christmas Performance – eveningTuesday 14th December
Junior Christmas Performance – eveningWednesday 15th December
Early Years/Reception Party
Junior Christmas Performance – afternoonThursday 16th December
Year 1 and Year 2 Party
Junior Christmas Performance – eveningMonday 20th December
Year 3 and Year 4 PartyTuesday 21st December
Year 5 and Year 6 PartyWednesday 22nd December
End of termMonday 10th January 2000
Staff training dayTuesday 11th January 2000
Children return to school
