CT - Spring 2012 2

Dear Parents/Carers,

It is a very busy half term for the school in terms of finance and planning ahead for the next year. For the children it is a time of concentrated work to help them make good progress. Parent/pupil and teacher target setting meetings are taking place so that parents/carers are aware of their child’s progress to date and what they need to do next to improve. Many parents/carers ask what can they do to help the child develop skills further and the answer is regular reading practice and help with practical maths, from recall of times tables and learning maths facts such as double of each number(eh 2+2, 3+3 etc) to weighing and measuring in practical activities.. Any time spent with your child talking, laughing and visiting places is of the utmost benefit to them and is better than any worksheet school could provide.

Dates for your diary

28 Feb Class 4 parent/pupil/teacher meetings am
28 Feb Reception health screening
29 Feb Finance Governors meeting at 4.30pm in school
1 March World book day- FANCY DRESS EVENT
1 March Class 4 parent/pupil/teacher meetings pm
6 March Reception class parent/pupil/teacher meetings
6 March Governor admissions committee meeting 4.30pm in school
13 March St. Joseph’s day for prayers for vocations
14 March Full Governor meeting 5pm in school
15 March Class 5 parent/pupil/teacher meetings
19 March Catch up session for parents who could not make day time meetings with teachers
28 March 6pm Easter egg bingo and tombola
30 March RNLI assembly for KS2
30 March School closes for Easter
16 April School reopens

Assembly rota

2 March Class 5
9 March Year 2
16 March Class 3
23 March Y1
30 March Class4

Home school association

Many thanks to the Home school association for organising and running the recent school discos and sponsored pancake toss. Both events were very popular and enjoyed by the children. The total raised has not yet been counted so if you still have any sponsor money to send in please do so this week. The next event is Easter egg bingo on March 28 where there will also be a tombola stall for the children. Please come along and support us on this date.

Topics this term

FS Plants and animals
Y1 Growth in plants
Y2 Saving water
Cl 3 Significant people and Healthy eating/teeth
Cl 4 Time tunnel and Fit for life
Cl 5 Science revision of a range of topics for SATs

Visits

Class 3 recently enjoyed a lovely trip to Park Bridge to study water pollution. The trip was made possible by the help of parents and grandparents. Thank you very much for all the help given on the day with transport and supervision of the children. Without this help the trip would not have taken place because the cost of a coach would have been too high. Thank you very much once again.

Filmclub

Filmclub will start again on March 6th. It will be on every Tuesday evening. All KS2 pupils are welcome to come along and watch the film but please ask your child to check the time the film finishes as it can vary quite a lot. A notice is put up with the film title and finish time on it on the door the children use. Also please come down to the door to meet your child after film club. The “tuck shop” will be open as usual during the film for any child who wishes to buy a snack.

Other clubs

Currently the following clubs are running PE for Y5/Y6 on Monday. Badminton for Y4, 5, 6 on Wednesday, Glee club on Friday for Y3/Y4 and Chess for any KS2 child. Individual letters have been sent home for all of these but if any more children wish to join they are welcome to ask.

Picking up children

On a number of occasions recently parents have been very late picking up children. If you are going to be late please telephone school and we can explain to the child why they are still there. However please make every effort to be on time because there are some days when staff have other work to do and cannot mind the child any longer. The finishing time for events is told to parents and it would be helpful if whoever is picking up was already at school at that time for the child.

School grounds

Hopefully we will be planting more shrubs and plants in the school grounds soon. If anyone if taking out bushes or plants at home that they no longer want we would be very happy to put them into our garden areas. The school eco committee and school council will be starting again this week and they will be taking part in deciding what to plant and actually putting plants in. It is hoped that each class will have a small area to plant and can choose whether to have flowers or herbs etc.

Lift

The lift has now been installed in the new part of the school and although it is not fully finished it is available for anyone who has difficulty walking. If you are coming to watch assembly or see a teacher please come in by the office entrance to the school and someone will take you to the lift and explain how it works.

St. Joseph’s Penny

During Lent the school is asked to raise money for St. Joseph’s Penny, a diocesan charity which supports families within Salford diocese who are in crisis for whatever reason. The charity focuses on the children and the traditional little money collection boxes will be sent home school. Everyone is asked to fill the box and return it to school. In previous years the children have also organised their own fund raising events so do not be surprised in the next few weeks if your child asks for 10p for a go at some sort of game. Already someone has suggested a talent show which was incredibly good last time we had one and perhaps this time we could invite parents to attend also. All ideas for activities are welcome so please chat to your child about it. Thank you.

Midday assistant

The school will shortly be advertising for a midday assistant. The job involves supervising the children for one hour each lunch time both in and out of school and is term time only. If you are interested in this post please see me to discuss it. Any applicants for the post have to have a CRB(criminal record ) check clearance before starting work.

Nursery and Reception class application

Applications to primary school have changed greatly over the past few years and in reality it is the local authority who organise the process. The applications for reception and secondary school are all made online and the school does not actually know who has applied and which school they have applied for. We hold a register of interested parents who wish for their child to come to St. Joseph’s and can only remind them of the process. If you have a child who is three before August 31st 2012 and are interested in a nursery place for September please make sure you have registered an interest with us. The admissions committee will be looking at Nursery places on March 6th. Similarly if you know of any other baptised Catholic children in Mossley who require a place please let them know. It is important to state however that a place in Nursery does not mean that the child will get a place in school. Admission criteria are very strict and are listed on the school website or available in school for any parent who wishes to see them. The local authority is aware that there is going to be large demand for school places over the next few years so please register an interest with us as soon as possible to ensure we know about your child. The admissions committee will be rank ordering children for Reception places also on March 6th. This lists all children in order of the admission criteria of the school. The ordered list then goes back to Tameside who then sort the list and allocate school places. It is very important that the child is baptised before the time of applying to primary school as this is one of the admission criteria.