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Chalfont St. Giles Junior School |
May 2008
Dear Parents,
As we reach the end of another busy term I’m taking the opportunity to send out a few reminders and items of news to all parents.
INSET DAY
Most importantly a reminder that tomorrow is an INSET Day for teachers
and therefore the school will be closed. We will re-open on Monday 2nd June
following the half term holiday.
STAFFING
Friday 6th June will be a landmark day for the school as Mr Wattam,
our Site Manager for the last 14 years, retires from his many and varied duties
at the school. It will be difficult to imagine the place without him and the
many compliments we receive about the appearance of the school have much to
do with the pride and dedication he has put into his work over the years. Whether
it be fixing or replacing things around the school, maintaining the grounds,
constructing furniture and shelves, sorting out the heating or relentlessly
cleaning the classrooms, main hall, dining room etc Mr Wattam has been an integral
part of every school day and we wish him every happiness as he takes the opportunity
to embark on the next chapter in his life.
Parents who would like to demonstrate their appreciation for everything he has
done for the school can send in any contributions toward a leaving gift to the
school office in an envelope marked accordingly.
News of his replacement will be announced after half-term.
Exciting news for one member of staff as Miss Cato gets married on May 31st, returning as Mrs Lane after half term. I’m sure you will join the staff in wishing her, and husband to be Andy, best wishes for the day (and fingers crossed for good weather) and every happiness for their future together.
As we await news of Mrs McNamee’s new arrival we will also be seeing the departure on maternity leave of Mrs Tompkins (our Year 5 LSA) after half-term. We wish her and the new baby all the best for the coming weeks and look forward to seeing both fit and well in school when they feel up to paying us all a visit.
SPONSORED WALK
We hope all parents will be able to help the children collect plenty
of sponsors for the event on Friday 6th June. The funds raised will really help
make a difference to the success of our school environment project.
PLEASE NOTE THAT SPONSOR FORMS NEED TO BE RETURNED TO SCHOOL ON WEDNESDAY 4TH
JUNE AND NOT 6TH AS STATED ON YESTERDAY’S LETTER.
MINI-ENTERPRISE / PROJECT WEEK
This year’s mini-enterprise has been a great success with an
even wider range of products being designed and made by our Year 6 pupils. The
lunchtime sales have been busy and companies have responded well to the demands
of their customers, who have been displaying some shrewd purchasing techniques
to ensure they get value for money. The final totals will be announced after
half term, once the accountants have submitted all their returns, but I would
like to congratulate Year 6 on a well run project and the staff who have acted
professionally in assisting with resolving any minor company crises during the
week.
Years 3 to 5 have also had a productive week with puppets, Vikings and tales
of Norfolk adventures in abundance. Once again the teachers have planned and
delivered an interesting and stimulating thematic week to enrich the learning
experiences of the children and my thanks go out to all staff involved in making
the week that little bit different and special for the children.
BURMA / CHINA APPEAL
Thank you to everyone who sent in contributions to this worthy cause.
The school raised an amazing £702.78 on the day and we shall be sending
this off to the DEC with the hope that this tremendous gesture from our school
community will go a little way to help the many thousands of people affected
by the events in South East Asia.
NEWSPAPER CHALLENGE DAY
Six of our pupils took part in the annual challenge event along with
other local schools. The task this year was to write and produce a newspaper
containing news and articles about local and current events and issues. Marium
Ladha, Teague Smith, Charlie Shreeve, Catherine Westall, Olivia Hodgkins-Brown
and Connor Barratt all threw themselves into the task, working under pressure
to hit their deadlines, and certainly enjoyed the day out of school working
with other pupils. Thank you to Miss Bicker for all her input and work towards
the event and to Mrs Smith for her assistance on the day.
PE KIT / UNIFORM
We seem to have recently had an unusually high number of children forgetting
or losing PE kit and consequently wasting a lot of time looking for spare kit
to use in lessons. We also seem to have had our stocks of spare kit depleted
by the same children not returning items after using them. It would help us
greatly if your child’s PE kit (all items) was clearly labelled with their
name so any mislaid items could be returned to them when found. It would additionally
help resolve disputes regarding ownership of pairs of shorts, T-shirts etc.
The school cannot keep, or afford to supply children with, unlimited supplies
of spare PE kit and we are trying hard to encourage the children to be responsible
for their belongings so anything you can do to support our efforts will be greatly
appreciated.
With regard to uniform the age old issue of trainers and other items of inappropriate
footwear is beginning to creep into school and I would like to remind parents
that, regardless of the time of year, the uniform of the school includes black
school shoes and not trainers, white open toed sandals or any other variation
or deviation from what we expect to see the children wear. We have a uniform
for a reason, please respect this.
LITERARY FESTIVAL
Well done to all the winners of prizes in the various categories of
the Literary Festival writing competition, I know the judges were really impressed
by some outstanding pieces of writing from some of our most talented writers
in school. The support of the Festival Committee was very much appreciated in
all aspects of their work, including the provision of the writers and illustrators
that came into school to work with the children.
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After a busy week of testing (especially for Year 6 with a marathon 9 tests) the children and staff are looking forward to next week’s annual project week.
VILLAGE TIDY DAY
An invasion of the village centre by the Junior School may have been
noticed on Friday 9th May. Sixty four of our Year 6 children, accompanied by
school staff and volunteer parents, were very busy throughout the village helping
to prepare for the Open Gardens weekend and the Literary Festival. As a result
of liaison with the Parish Council, the Church and other community groups, the
pupils were involved in clearing parts of the river bed, litter-picking, dusting
in the church, planting the flower beds outside Milton’s restaurant, cleaning
road signs, sorting books in the library and painting some of the church railings.
The initiative came about through the school’s new Citizenship Award programme
which all of our older pupils are involved in. The programme encourages the
pupils to take part in a wide range of activities at home, school and the community
to help them consider the effects of their actions on the world around them.
It is our hope that the scheme will open the children’s eyes to the wider
community and issues that effect all of us, developing their knowledge and understanding
of the world and beginning to prepare them for adult life as good local and
global citizens.
The children enjoyed their tasks on Friday and many commented on the immediate
improvements they could see from their efforts, as did many members of the public.
It was also a welcome relief from the classroom on a hot day! Thanks go out
to all the parents involved and especially to Mrs Johnson for all the hard work
involved in putting together the ideas and plans for a very successful new venture
which we hope to repeat again in the future. Our thanks also to Kate La Motte,
who put a lot of work in behind the scenes in the build up to the event and
helped publicise our children’s efforts.
MINI-ENTERPRISE
The Year 6’s have been remarkably upbeat and mature about the
demands of the SATs AND have already put a lot of thought into their mini-enterprise
project, securing their loans from the ‘Dragons Den’ that was Mr
Tagg sitting in the library yesterday. Good luck to all the companies next week.
May I remind all parents and children that the sale days are on Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday lunchtimes and that all parents are invited into school on Wednesday
lunchtime to view the sales and maybe purchase items themselves. Please ensure
that if your child is bring money into school that it is in a named and secure
purse, wallet or money bag to keep it safe until lunchtime.
UNIFORM UPDATE
We are hoping to have the first sample of our new school jumper available for
viewing after half term and will also be emailing and sending home pictures
of them for you to see. The children will also play a role in helping to decide
on which tie they will be wearing next year, again after half term. Details
about ordering the new uniform will be coming home soon, once all the details
have been finalised, and we are hoping an option to order directly from the
suppliers via the internet will also be available to parents. A full and updated
uniform list will also be sent out to parents in the near future along with
a further request regarding your feelings about standardising the colours of
coats children should be wearing to school. We are excited by the look and quality
of the new jumpers and can’t wait to see the children looking smart and
that little bit more grown up in September.
NEWSPAPER CHALLENGE DAY
On Wednesday 6 of our pupils will be accompanying Miss Bicker to take
part in a combined challenge day with pupils from other local schools to write
and produce newspaper articles about our locality. They will be briefed by professional
journalists before embarking on a deadline busting assignment to report on their
activities. We look forward to seeing the fruits of their labours very soon.
LITERARY FESTIVAL
The children were fortunate to enjoy the input of visiting writers and illustrators
today as part of our involvement in the festival as Coral Rumble, June Peters
and Wendy Lewis spent time with each of the year groups. The workshops were
fun and aimed at stimulating the children’s interest in reading and writing
for pleasure and my thanks go out the festival committee, which included Mrs
Whiteley, for their support in providing this for the school. On Monday members
of the committee will coming into assembly to announce the winners of the writing
competitions the children have been involved in as part of the school’s
participation in the event and we would encourage parents to go to the Memorial
Hall to view some of the pieces chosen for exhibition over the festival weekend.
SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT PROJECT
The plans are almost finalised for the development of our outside areas (and
some indoor areas) and Miss Bicker will shortly be writing to parents again
to advertise the help day in which we hope to see plenty of volunteers come
into school to assist with all the various mini-projects that will be happening.
So if you’re handy with a paintbrush, fancy flexing your DIY muscles or
are of the green fingered variety then keep an eye out so that you can lend
a hand to something that I am sure will make a real difference to our school
site.
An early thank you to Mr Wilson, father of Cassidy and Kayleigh, for his kind
donation and delivery of tyres to the school which will be used as planters
around the school as part of the project.
REMINDERS
Parents in Year 4 are reminded there is a meeting about Verbal Reasoning on
Tuesday evening starting at 7.00pm in the Dining Room.
All parents are reminded the school is closed for an INSET Day on Friday 23rd
May and that the school re-opens for the final half term of the year on Monday
2nd June.
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Welcome back to everyone after the Spring break and a really big welcome back to Year 5 fresh from their adventures in Norfolk. The Summer term is always a full and exciting term for all concerned, especially Year 6 as thoughts begin to turn to moving on to their new school, and rest assured the children and staff will be kept busy and entertained with the curriculum and a packed programme of events ahead.
YEAR 5 RESIDENTIAL TRIP
The 59 Year 5 children, accompanied by 5 members of staff, had a wonderful
week in Norfolk at the Kingswood Centre in West Runton where they enjoyed a
packed programme of adventurous activities including abseiling, caving, leaps
of faith, climbing and team challenges. The feedback received so far from children
and parents has all been really positive and we have already made a provisional
booking for a return in 2009. The pupils were an absolute credit to the school
and helped make an exhausting week for the busy staff that extra bit special
with their energy and efforts to achieve great things, even when they felt a
bit nervous. My thanks to Miss Blackburn and Miss Bicker for organising and
leading such a fantastic trip and to Mrs Jackson (a rival to Dr Quinn Medicine
Woman if ever there was one) and Mrs Whiteley for all their help and assistance
during the week. A brilliant week all round!!
PARENT MEETINGS
We have 3 meetings coming up in the next few weeks that may be of interest
to you. This term’s Open Forum will be on Tuesday 13th May (9.15-10.30)
so please look out for the letter inviting agenda items that will be coming
home next week.
On Thursday 15th May (7.00pm) a meeting for Year 5 parents explaining the 11+
testing procedure and the Secondary School allocation process will be held in
the Dining Room. Parents are advised to come along to the meeting, especially
if this is the first time you have had a child involved in this as it does require
a fair degree of explanation. The meeting will probably last around 90 minutes,
if previous years are anything to go by.
The following Tuesday (May 20th) a meeting for Year 4 parents will be held (7.00pm)
in which we try to unravel the mysteries of verbal reasoning and offer suggestions
as to how parents can support their children at home in developing greater confidence
in this particular form of questioning. This is a new venture and we are keen
to see how much interest it generates so please come along if you have an interest
in this particular subject.
SATS / QCA TESTING WEEK
The week of Monday 12th – Friday 16th May will see the children
of Year 6 sit the National SATs tests in English, Maths and Science whilst all
other year groups will sit their respective QCA tests in English and Maths.
It is important that children are in school this week and that late nights etc
are avoided. In order that additional pressure is not place upon the children
of Year 6 (who have 9 tests in total) there will be no homework set over the
weekends either side of their tests.
MOBILE PHONES
Parents are reminded children should not have mobile phones in school
without prior agreement. Those who have permission should check them in with
the office at the beginning of the day. Failure to do so will result in confiscation
and a removal of permission to have them brought into school.
PROJECT WEEK
The four day week (due to Friday’s INSET day) beginning May 19th
is our annual project week in which each year group will have a single focus
or theme for their studies for all lessons. This enables the children to engage
in both more independent learning and to study an aspect of their curriculum
in more depth than they would otherwise have the opportunity to. Details of
each year groups topics will be sent home to parents in the near future to help
you support their learning during the week if you wish to do so. Year 3 are
using the theme of puppets and plays, Year 4 The Vikings and Year 5 are following
up their visit to Norfolk.
MINI ENTERPRISE
During Project Week our Year 6 pupils will be in full production mode as part
of their mini-enterprise project in which they will be designing, manufacturing
and ultimately selling products to the children of the school. Now in its third
year this is a dynamic and interesting peek into the ‘real world of work’
and the trials and tribulations (and hopefully the rewards) of running a business.
A letter explaining how this works in practice, and more detail, will be sent
home to all parents soon.
HOMEWORK
Parents in Years 3 to 5 will have noticed today a new element to the
children’s homework, as we have introduced the use of Springboard books
into the programme. In most instances this will form part, or all, of the English
element of the homework and children will have been told which pages to do from
the book that they have been given. Springboard books are part of your child’s
homework, not all of it, and they will still be using their green homework book
each week as well.
CLUBS
Most clubs started this week but please check with your child as to
the specific arrangements for those that have not. May I remind all parents
that after school clubs end at 4.45pm when your child should be promptly collected
from the front entrance. We have already had pupils collected after 5.00pm this
week which does nothing to enhance the goodwill of teachers who freely give
up their time to run clubs for the children as part of our extensive programme
of activities. Please respect this and make every effort to arrive at the school
on time each week.
LITERARY FESTIVAL
A reminder that the 400th anniversary celebrations of John Milton’s
birth will be held in the village over the weekend of 16th -18th May. The school
will be visited by authors, illustrators and poets on the Friday who will be
running workshops with the children and we will also be announcing the winners
of the various writing competitions that have formed part of the event. Year
6 will be taking part in a village tidy day on Friday 9th as part of our contribution
to the community’s preparations for this big occasion.
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