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Chalfont St. Giles Junior School |
As we head toward the busy Christmas season the school is gearing itself up for a number of exciting events whilst at the same time continuing to focus upon the aspects of school improvement identified in this year’s school plan. My next newsletter will include an update on some of the progress made so far this year and it is important you continue to play your role by feeding back to the school your ideas when requested. If you haven’t already done so please complete and return the slip sent out last week asking for your input regarding the home-school communication books. We will also be polling parents regarding their ideas for the school website as we are looking at how to revamp and improve the existing one and as parents are potentially its greatest users we feel it is vital we gather your views if the site is to be improved.
ANTI-BULLYING WEEK
At the end of this busy week and today’s ‘Blue Friday’
we hope that we have helped raise the children’s awareness of this important
issue and given them some practical tips to help beat the bullies. It is particularly
important that children approach staff when there is a clear problem as we have
demonstrated recently that we act swiftly when they do. If we are to truly tackle
the problems and upset that can be caused by all forms of bullying then pupils
must have the courage to speak up and not subscribe to the culture of ‘not
telling or grassing up’ that has prevented some from doing so in the past.
The leaflets, badges, competitions, lessons and assemblies will have all helped to reinforce this message and we urge parents to continue to talk to their children about bullying and what to do if they ever feel they are being subjected to it in or out of school. Together we can help all of our children to face up to the problem that sadly seems to exist in today’s society and to ensure it doesn’t rear its head in our school.
It is also vital that parents remain vigilant regarding their child’s use of services such as MSN Messenger as it has come to our attention that this has been used by children out of school as a means of spreading rumours and isolating individuals through posting their comments on boards etc. Equally the use of mobile phones has to be watched and regulated as these, along with websites, are areas we cannot oversee or control within school, even though we have often to deal with the consequences.
Thank you Mrs Whiteley who co-ordinated the activities during the week and to all the staff for continuing to help raise our children’s awareness of how to tackle the problem of bullying.
Comments from the children of journalist club:
I think bullying is horrible and we would all like it to stop. So remember if you see something, say something. Olivia Hodgkins-Brown Year 4
Anti-bullying week is a good idea, because it shows people how mean and horrible bullying really is.. It needs to stop. Some people think bullying is cool, others think that people will be their friends if they bully others. There are a lot of reasons why people bully others. But no matter what the excuses is it is still bullying. Immy Hirst Year 5
M&M PRODUCTIONS ‘CINDERELLA’ (NEXT TUESDAY)
Next Tuesday (27th) sees the return of our old friends M&M Productions
with their annual pantomime production performance. It’s always one of
the most popular occasions during the school calendar as year after year we
are treated to high quality performances that you would be hard pressed to beat
in any of the local theatres and the sense of fun and levels of audience participation
are equally impressive (our children also rank as the company’s favourite
audience on their travels). We are asking for a contribution of £2.50
per child towards the cost of the performance (extremely good value for an hour
and half of entertainment) and ask that parents send this into their child’s
class teacher by Monday of next week in a named envelope. Whilst the contributions
are voluntary without them we will not be able to continue to make such visits
a feature of the school year so please support the school in continuing to provide
such a rich and varied experience for the children.
WOODROW PAYMENT DEADLINE
A reminder to all parents of Year 4 children going to Woodrow High
House in January, that the deadline for the final payment is Monday 3rd December.
Please ensure your payment reaches the class teacher on Monday so that the school
can settle our account in good time. Thank you.
SCHOOL BOOK FAIR
Thank you to all the parents who signed up to volunteer to man the
stalls at the forthcoming book fair (28th Nov – 3rd Dec). Mrs Whiteley
is currently drawing up the rotas and will contact you soon. The fair will be
open every day after school from 3.35pm to as well as lunchtimes. Remember not
only does it provide an opportunity to purchase a wide range of books just before
Christmas but a percentage of the profits goes to the school to buy in even
more books for our own stocks. Last year this equated to a fantastic £800
plus.
CHRISTMAS TREES
Following a successful venture last year we are once again able to
offer parents the opportunity of purchasing a Christmas tree direct from Rowan
Farm Nursery and Garden Centre. Prices include delivery and cutting the trunk
to your stand and forms are being sent home today with the children. 10% of
all sales will be donated to the school along with a tree to decorate our Dining
Room ahead of the Christmas Fair. You can order direct from the centre (personal
visit, phone or post) or send your form into school and we will forward it for
you. Please remember to write the school name on the bottom of the form so that
all sales are logged.
PA NEWS
The Christmas Fair is fast approaching on the horizon and the PA will
soon be looking for donations of items for sale and as prizes on the stalls
that will feature. This year we are also hoping to see an increase in the number
of stalls designed and run by children as Year 6 take on the challenge of fund
raising ideas. This morning Parent Class Reps met with some of the committee
to start planning the organisation of the Fair in more detail and with a view
to recruiting more helpers so if you are able to pitch in on the night let your
rep know as soon as possible.
The PA wish to pass on their thanks to everyone who has already brought in toys, books etc and would like to remind everyone that there are now only 3 weeks to go until the Fair so please keep them coming in. Watch out for a newsletter from the committee next week as well as emails from your Parent Class Reps looking for volunteers.
In addition I have agreed to a non-uniform day for the children on Friday 7th December in return for the children all bringing in a plastic pint pot full of sweets to supply one of the stalls at the Fair. More details from the PA will follow soon.
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STAFFING CHANGES
Mrs McMahon will be leaving the school at the end of this term as she
moves on to a new position at Northwood College starting in January. She has
been a valued member of the school team for many years now, developing the excellent
artistic opportunities and talents within the school as well as teaching pupils
in Years 5 and 4, and most recently has been focusing her attentions on supporting
pupils across the school as part of her role as SENCO. We wish her every success
in her new role and thank her for the contribution she has made to the school
in her time with us.
In order to maintain the existing staffing structure we have been working towards for the last few years the Governors and I have decided to appoint Miss Cato into the role of school SENCO, taking on the role and responsibilities carried out by Mrs McMahon so far this year. As a result Mrs Scott has been appointed to take on the Year 4 class from Miss Cato. As a teacher with a long association with the school and a good knowledge of the children, gained from working with them last year, we are confident she will help ensure the transition in January runs smoothly for all concerned.
We also said goodbye to Mrs Hodge (our Year 6 LSA) last week who has moved onto a new position at Beaconsfield Secondary School and she will be replaced by Mrs Jackson who begins working with Year 6 next week supporting pupils in and out of class and carrying out lunchtime supervision duties.
PERFORMING ARTS WEEK
Last week saw an all singing, all dancing school in action as our Performing
Arts Week bounced into life. The workshops were great, particularly the Urban
Strides street dance, and the lessons around the school saw children not only
working fantastically in their mixed age groups but with energy and enthusiasm
when working toward some superb performances at the end of the week. The staff
worked incredibly hard to plan and deliver the week and my thanks goes out to
all of them, in particular Mrs Whiteley who planned, organised and co-ordinated
many of the activities that went on during the week.
SEN PARENTS MEETING
It was good to see so many of the invited parents attend the informal SEN meeting
on Tuesday afternoon when they were able to meet with Mrs McMahon and Mrs Cowburn
(our SEN support teacher) to discuss general SEN matters and also establish
links with each other. We hope this will be the first of a series of such meetings
during the year and welcome any feedback regarding their usefulness in helping
both school and parents work more closely together to support their children.
My thanks to Mrs McMahon for creating and organising this new venture within
the school.
LETTERS BY EMAIL
This newsletter should be the first to have been emailed out to all those parents
who took up the option of receiving written communications from school by email.
Hopefully in reading this those of you who have received it will now continue
to find all future letters waiting in your inbox (as opposed delving into your
child’s bag to find them)! If you didn’t express an interest in
receiving your letters in this way and would now like to please contact the
school office with your email details and we will add you to the appropriate
lists as soon as possible. All other parents will continue to receive letters
by hard copy via the usual pupil post route.
PARENT CONSULTATIONS
Thank you to all parents who attended the Parent consultation meetings,
we hope they proved to be productive and informative. If you feel there remain
any issues or details unresolved from the meetings could you please contact
either the classteacher or me regarding arranging a meeting to follow these
up as soon as possible.
LIBRARY HELP NEEDED
Mrs Whiteley is looking for parent volunteers to help in the school library
both on a regular basis at lunchtimes and to help set up the new computerised
checking in system (basically sticking barcodes on books, logging them into
the database etc) so if you are willing and able to help in any way please contact
the school to offer your services. Every little helps as our friends at Tesco
often remind us!
BOOK FAIR HELP NEEDED
Mrs Whiteley is also looking for volunteers to help man the School Book Fair
on the following days after school (Wed 28th, Thurs 29th, Fri 30th Nov and Mon
3rd Dec) from 3.30 – 4.15pm. If you are able to help out in one or more
of these slots either contact the school directly or let your class parent rep
know and they will pass on your available dates. It would be great to have plenty
of help on board as the Book Fair not only gives the children a chance to get
their hands on new and exciting books but raises money for the school to invest
in more books for our library and classrooms.
TESCO VOUCHERS
On the subject of Tesco the last few days of the Sports Voucher scheme are upon
us so if you can send your child into school with any remaining vouchers you
might have it will help us in working toward our aim of acquiring a set of basketball
posts for our playground. We are still some way short so we really need every
one we can get!
ANTI-BULLYING WEEK
From the attached dates list you will have noticed that this annual event is
soon upon us and the school will be focusing our pupils minds on this issue
once again through their PSHCE lessons, assemblies and other activities during
the week. In particular we want to continue for the children to come to us when
issues arise as often problems between children go unnoticed for some time and
staff find it difficult or impossible to deal with issues they are not fully
aware of. Once we are aware of any ‘bullying’ related issues we
try our best to intervene and where appropriate tackle those responsible robustly.
Please encourage your child to be clear and honest with us when they feel there
is an issue and take time to regularly talk to your children about school to
give them the opportunity to tell you if there are any issues we need to know
about.
PTA EVENTS
The school is very keen to work more proactively and closely with the parents
who devote so much of their time to fundraising events and therefore we are
keen to establish a Parent Teacher Association this year. I attended the first
meeting before half-term and I am confident those already on board will be doing
their utmost to not only raise money but to put on a number of events that will
allow those in the school community to have fun together.
Two dates for your diary already are the Christmas Fayre (Friday 14th December)
and the Quiz Night (Saturday 9th February) so we really hope to see as many
of you there as possible to help make them a success. A more detailed PA newsletter
should have accompanied this letter via your preferred postal route.
SCHOOL TRUST FUND
The Governors would like to pass on their thanks to all parents who have already
contributed or pledged contributions for the year ahead and would like to remind
all others that it isn’t too late to pledge a contribution for the remainder
of the school year as the funds help the school to maintain the levels of staffing
and resources that help us to deliver the best opportunities for the children
that we are able to.
CHRISTMAS PRODUCTIONS / CAROLS AT THE CHURCH
Some advance notice for these two popular events in the school calendar.
Children in years 3 and 5 are already rehearsing for their Christmas productions
and you will be able to see the fruits of their labours on the afternoon of
11th and the evening of 12th December. The performances will be held for parents
of children from those year groups and a letter will go out in early December
for parents wishing to request seats.
Our annual ‘Carols at the Church’ event has been confirmed for Monday
17th December starting at 7.00pm. All parents are invited to join the pupils
and staff of the school in celebrating the festive season with a mix of performances
by the children and communal singing, so look out for more details in a letter
coming home nearer the time.
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