Spring 1 2010

The Carpenter’s Tale
Spring 1, 2010

Welcome back to the first half of the Spring term. Somehow that seems to be the wrong name for the weather, snow and cold we are currently experiencing! School is running as normal at the moment but I will repeat the methods of advising parents re a school closure below just in case we have further bad weather.

Apologies once again for the closure days last week. Schools have been advised to tell parents the reasons for the school closure. I actually think our parents are wise enough having experienced the weather in Mossley to work that out for themselves. However the reasons are:
Monday- frozen locks and no provison for school meals.
Tuesday- lack of staff . Only myself and three staff got to school (it took us all a long time to get here despite setting out very early) and again no meals.
Wednesday- a continuation of Tuesday
Thursday school reopened. We again had a problem with no provision for school meals but school could cater for the 14 children who were in using the Coop and the local chip shop.

St. Joseph’s actually managed to operate quite well in comparison to many other schools but I know it caused difficulties for some parents. However despite being open for two days only just over one third of the children actually attended school last week as other parents were loath to risk the journey. The decision to close is not taken lightly and it is thoroughly discussed before doing so. I am sorry, however, if it inconvenienced you.

We have cleared as much snow as we can from the top playground to enable parking for staff so that side roads are clearer for parents, and dug a path to the school. The path is not any wider because, in common with the rest of the country, we had no grit despite having ordered ours way before the snow came in December. Also many people prefer to walk on the snow rather than risk the path being icy. We can maintain the path with the limited grit supply we managed to purchase yesterday for about two weeks . Schools have to purchase their own grit and when we can source and store more grit we will try to get more in. Hopefully we may have had some thaw by then.

Methods of notification of school closure
Recorded message on school answerphone. Please listen to the whole message.
Alerts on some radio stations- Key 103, Tameside radio, GMR, Real radio and Smooth radio.
School website- at times however staff cannot access this from home as Tameside switch the server off.
Tameside website- list of open/closed schools.


Parent Governor election

Four parents kindly volunteered to be the parent governor of the school. Ballot slips went out before Christmas from the four candidates and the returns were counted. Mrs Allcock was elected by parents as the parent governor and she takes up her role this term. Thank you to the parents who stood for election and to all those who returned their ballot slip. It is wonderful to know that parents are so willing to volunteer to help the school.

Assemblies
15 January Class 5
22 January Class 3
29 January Class 2
5 February Class 4
11 February Class 1

Parents are welcome to join us on Friday for assembly. Please remember this is not a concert but a time of prayer and worship from the whole school. We also celebrate our Good News at this assembly so children are welcome to bring in their awards for achievement in out of school activities.

Extra curricular

The after school clubs have not started yet because of the weather and road difficulties many people face. Some of the proposed after school clubs will not begin until after half term to ensure safety. The sports club that operate on Monday evening for Y5 and Y6 and on Thursday for Y3 and Y4 would like new members, particularly at the Thursday sessions. The children learn skills in a new sport each half term and join in Tameside competitions around this. Please sign up for your child to join in. The sports clubs will begin next Monday, January 18th.

Used Christmas cards
If you have any Christmas cards not yet recycled Class 1 would like them to practice cutting out and making their own jigsaws. Similarly any other Christmas materials that are unwanted can probably be used creatively by the children. Thanks.

Salford Diocese School Levy

It is the time of year when we again have to ask parents to pay their contribution to the Diocesan levy. Some parents paid half of this money in September and the remainder is now due. Some parents have not yet sent in any of their contribution. We do keep a record in the office of payments so if you are unsure of your situation please ask .Thank you in anticipation of your prompt response. The school’s bill of around £1100 has already arrived.

Topics this term

All parents wish to help their child succeed. We know we are lucky to be supported by many parents on a regular basis. The main focus daily is on reading, spelling and times tables. Occasionally children are given a worksheet to complete or in the case of year 6 specific homework to help them with SATs in May. Please continue to help your child with all of these. However talking about other topics is also of benefit to the children and listed below are some of the individual class topic focus points.

Nursery Winter clothes and weather
Class 1 Winter, light and dark
Class 2 Light and dark, electricity
Class 3 Healthy eating, teeth
Class 4 Tudors, Chinese New Year
Class 5 Tudors, Forces and electricity

Christmas collection
Thank you so much for your donations following the Christmas nativity plays and Carol service. We have raised around £300 for charity. The school tries to choose a new worthy charity each year from the many who ask for help and this year we hope to donate the money to the Lifeboat Service. The lifeboat service is funded entirely by voluntary means and yet is so important to this island nation and the safety of all who enjoy the sea.

Holiday list

Please find a further copy of this year’s holiday list.
Dates
Thurs 11 Feb School closes Half term 1 week,1 day
Fri 12 Feb Inset day

Mon 22 Feb School opens Sp 2
Thurs 1 April School closes at 1.30pm Easter 2 weeks 1 day

Mon 19 April School opens Su 1
Mon 3 May School closed Mayday 1 day
Fri 28 May School closes Half term 2 weeks


Mon 14 June School opens Su 2
Fri 23 July School closes at 1.30pm Summer hols

Easter Sunday is 4 April
Mayday 3 May is a public holiday
Whit Friday May 28 . This will be a school day to enable us to take part in the Whit walks.
Autumn term 2010 will begin in early September. Governors have not agreed the holiday list as yet.