Anlaby Acre Heads Primary School
Summer Newsletters
This Friday +++ The Inspection +++ Haltemprice Sports +++ Sports Days +++ Reporting absence +++ Collections
Bits and Pieces +++ Sunny Days +++ Home-School Agreement and Homework +++ More bits and pieces
Dates for the rest of this term
Please remember that the children do not come to school this Friday. The staff will be involved in a training day in preparation for the introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy at the school in September.
As expected the week beginning on May 17th was both stressful and successful. The school looked marvellous, the staff worked extremely hard, the children behaved and worked to their highest standards, our devoted band of helpers made the week easier for all involved and the inspectors – well, the inspectors were everywhere! The governors have recently received some verbal feedback prior to the publication of the inspection report. It appears that apart from a number of issues, which had already been identified in one way or another, the school will receive a very good report. Some areas of school life will come out very well and we shall celebrate these, other areas will require some development. You can rest assured that the hard work put in in the past by the school staff and governors will continue by addressing whatever is identified by the inspection. This will happen alongside the work that the school is already committed to, for example developing numeracy and information and communication technology.
The yearly inter-school sports competition takes place on 30th June. Although in previous years we may not have won a great many events, one thing we can all be proud of is the support and behaviour of the pupils. I have received a letter from the event organiser which points out the following in order to ensure that the event goes well. I fully agree with his comments.
‘The last couple of years has seen a deterioration in the recognition by parents/supporters to recognise stadium protocol and of some pupils to remain ‘penned’ throughout the duration of events.
The marshalls are having increasing problems in officiating the events and making decisions regarding placement of winners.
Competitors must remain in their ‘school pens’ until all their events have been run, when they may be allowed, under the supervision of a responsible adult, to move to the spectator area.
Spectators will be given their own areas which are well away from the start/finish line. The green central field is prohibited to all except competitors who have been called specifically for a field even plus marshalls.’
I am sure that the organisers can count on your support in ensuring that the event runs as smoothly as possible.
Our own Sports Days are planned for Thursday 8th July (Infants) and Friday 9th July (Juniors), both will start at approximately 1:30pm. The Friends of Acre Heads will be providing refreshments for spectators and drinks for the children during the afternoon. If there is time at the end of each afternoon there will be a race in which parents can take part.
Once again could I ask that all spectators stay on their own side of the track to help ensure that the afternoons run smoothly.
Please remember that if your child is not coming to school on a particular day it is essential that you telephone the school or let the school know in some other way that your child will not be attending. The office should know before 9:30am and your message will usually be able to be taken from 8:45am onwards. You only need to report the absence on the first day. If your child does not return on the next day the school will assume the absence has continued for the reason given.
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As the Books for Schools, Sainsbury’s and Pringles tops promotions come to a close may I remind you that we would still like to receive any tokens, points or tops – in previous years we have sometimes been able to ‘carry forward’ the collections. A new promotion has recently begun. This involves Nestles cereals. If you spot any of the ‘Box Tops’ please send them with your child, to be put in the box in the school entrance. |
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Watch out for the poster advertising the Friends of Acre Heads Summer Carnival - it promises to be a wonderful day. Tell your friends and come and join the fun on Saturday 10th July.
Please note that meals which have to be cancelled for any reason after 11am will still have to be paid for.
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We still have school baseball caps available. They are on sale from the school office. If you wish your child to wear some form of protective cream at school, may I suggest that you consider ‘P20’ which is available from Boots and Bodycare. This is a sun cream which lasts all day. Due to the nature of the products, for safety reasons we cannot allow the children to bring their own creams and put them on themselves, nor can the staff be involved with this. If your child stays at school for lunch and you would like to come to school at lunchtime to put cream on, or send someone else to do that, please call the school to make arrangements. |
Home-School Agreement and Homework
Many thanks to all those parents who sent back the questionnaires about the Home-School Agreements and Homework. Your responses have been very useful in the ongoing process of developing these two important areas. Please note that specific individual comments made on the questionnaires will all be carefully considered when finalising the Home-School Agreements and the homework policy. For your information the analysis of the questionnaires led to the following general conclusions.
With regard to homework, the analysis showed that many parents agreed with the government’s expectations, but a significant number expected less homework than recommended by the government. Taking all comments into account the following is a general view of how much homework should be given and how often.
Amount of homework
Responses suggest that as well as an average of 20 minutes per day of reading (Key Stage 1 - 10 mins, Key Stage 2 – 20 mins), children could have the following homework
Early Years/Reception - none except reading
Year 1: 1 hour per week
Year 2: 1 hour per week
Year 3: 1.5 hours per week
Year 4: 1.5 hours per week
Year 5: 2 hours per week
Year 6: 2 hours per week
Frequency of homework
Responses suggest homework once a week at key stage 1, twice at key stage 2.
These results, along with further comments will be discussed at the Annual Governors’ Meeting for Parents on July 1st.
The staff and governors have also had an opportunity to respond to the above and at a special meeting we had a ‘School Council’ which included children from each year group, who also gave us their ideas.
Friday 23rd July is the last day of term and school reopens on the 9th of September. The two days before this are staff training days related mainly to the National Literacy Strategy which aims to improve English skills in all schools. Expect some information on this towards the end of this term or early next school year.
Open Evening is on Thursday 15th July, 6:30-8:30pm. May I remind you that if you wish to discuss anything confidentially with a teacher, a separate appointment will need to be made.
Mr deVries is unfortunately not yet well enough to return to school after his accident. Fortunately Mrs Burt is able to continue to cover Mr deVries’ class for the time being, helping to maintain continuity for the class.
Many thanks for your support for the National Children’s Homes fundraising activity. The school has just had a special visitor, Cedric the dragon himself! Mrs Ashburner, who coordinated the event has accepted over £330 from the children, which will be put to good use supporting homes for children less fortunate than our own.
Dates for the rest of this term
Please note some dates are subject to change. You will, of course, be notified of any such changes.
June
Fri 25th June Additional pupil holiday
Staff Non-Contact Day
Wednesday 30th June Haltemprice Sports
July
Thursday 1st July 7:00pm Annual Governors'
Meeting for Parents
Thursday 8th July Infants’ Sports Day
Friday 9th July Juniors’ Sports Day
Saturday 10th July Summer Carnival
Thursday 15th July Open Evening 6:30-8:30pm
Wednesday 21st July Leavers' Evening
Friday 23rd July End of Term
Have a good summer!
John Bennett
Staff Changes +++ Home-School Agreement +++ 5-a side Tournament
Open Evening +++ Homework +++ Bits and Pieces
Dear parents and carers,
I realise that this is yet another long newsletter, but when you read it through you will see that it does contain important information.
There will once again be some changes in the school staff in September. Mrs Swearman, Miss Brannon and Mrs Murray will all be leaving the school at the end of this term and Mrs Welsh will be starting her maternity leave. I am sure you will join me in wishing them all the very best.
A replacement for Mrs Swearman will be appointed shortly and he or she will be working alongside Mrs Smith in a similar jobshare arrangement.
Two new teachers will be joining the school to replace the other staff who are leaving. Mrs Bennett (no relation!) will be joining the key stage 1 staff and Miss Mitchell will be joining key stage 2. Miss Blackford will be joining us for one term to cover Mrs Welsh’s nursery nurse duties.
The way in which the school classes are organised will be much the same, except in year 3 and year 4, where pupil numbers mean that we shall be returning to the previous system and we will have three mixed year 3/4 classes.
Early Years/Reception: Mrs Spratt
Year 1: Mrs Bennett
Year 1/2: Mrs Sumpton
Year 2: Mrs Smith and a new member of staff
Year 3/4: Mrs Turner
Year 3/4: Mr deVries
Year 3/4: Miss Stafford
Year 5/6: Mrs Hare
Year 5/6: Miss Mitchell
Year 5/6: Miss Hind
Two new child support assistants (CSAs) will also be joining the school staff from September.
At the end of this newsletter you should find the class your child has been assigned to for next year.
We all know that the partnership between the home and the school is extremely important. Each child’s time in school will be more fruitful if there is a common agreement about each child’s education and a common understanding of each child’s needs and how those needs will be met. These are the main reasons for the school’s recent production of a Home-School Agreement.
With this newsletter you should have received a copy of the Home-School Agreement and a copy of the Government’s information about them. As you will know we have asked children, parents, carers, staff and governors to help in making this, based on the expectations of the Government. It has been changed to take many people’s ideas and views into account. Thank you for your help in this.
One of the most asked questions is, ‘Does my child have to sign it?’ Experience suggests that from about year 2 upwards the children have a good understanding of the need for rules and the expectations of the school.
They also respond well when these are written down and talked about – having them written down seems to give them even more importance in the children’s eyes.
I would hope that all children from year 2 (in September) onwards will sign the agreement after their parents/carers have talked to them about it. I would certainly hope that every parent or carer will talk through the pupil section of the agreement with their children, stressing how important these very basic things are to making school both a happy and a good place to learn. Below year 2, parents and carers can talk the points through and sign the pupil section to show that their child has listened to the points.
As a registered parent/carer of a child at the school, I am inviting you to sign the agreement*. The leaflet from the Government explains why we are producing these agreements and how they will help build, maintain and improve the work which you as parents and carers do alongside the work we do in school. It also explains the status of the agreement.
Once you have signed the agreement it should be returned to school, I shall then sign it on behalf of ‘the school’, a copy will be made and the original will be returned to you. Please do not fold the agreement before you send it to school, it needs to be flat to go through the photocopier.
* Parents and carers of Year 6 pupils will receive the agreement just for information, they do not need to sign it.
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This coming Saturday (17/7/99) a 5 -a side football team will be representing the school at a tournament at Newington Park All Weather Pitch, St.George’s Road, Hull. The first matches kick off at 10:00am (our first match is at 10:40am) and the event is likely to finish between 3:30pm and 4:00pm. I am sure the team would appreciate any supporters who can attend. The team is being organised by Mrs Smith and Mr Holiday, my thanks go to them both. |
As mentioned in the last two newsletters, Open Evening is this Thursday (15/7/99) from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
Watch out for the Friends of Acre Heads and photographic displays in the hall, where refreshments will also be served.
From next term the school will begin to use a definite homework policy, developed with parents, carers, pupils, staff and governors. I shall send you a copy of the main points of the homework policy during September.
The previous newsletter noted that staff training at the beginning of next term would be on literacy. It will in fact be training on numeracy and the National Numeracy Strategy.
I am pleased to inform you that Mrs A Rogers has been duly appointed as a new parent governor for the school with effect from September 1999.
Many of the children are bringing ‘gel pens’ in to school. Unfortunately there has been a growing number of children claiming that other people have their pens. Since they all look the same, it is very difficult and time-consuming for the teachers to sort these difficulties out. If your child wishes to bring those pens in to school could you please make sure that they are clearly labelled.
Haltemprice Sports was another successful evening, with many of our children being awarded places and some very vocal supporters cheering our competitors on in a really supportive way.
The Friends of Acre Heads Summer Carnival was a great success again this year – with the wonderful weather just adding to the atmosphere. Many thanks to all of you who came along and to those of you who helped or donated prizes and cakes.
As you will have read in the school’s Ofsted report, the quality of the teaching at the school was considered to be very high. One of our parents has suggested that the children might like to nominate a teacher for the ‘Thorntons Teacher of the Year 1999’. Nomination forms are available in the school entrance and from the school office.
We now have new school caps in stock, available from the school office. These are in the legionnaire style, with the cover going down the back of the basic cap. This will provide additional sun protection for the neck. We have kept the price the same as for the baseball caps, at £3.00 each.
Have a good summer (again!)
John Bennett
