18 Sep 2008 - September Newsletter
Dear Parents,
I hope you all had a very enjoyable summer break in spite of the weather!
We are very pleased to welcome Miss Newman, our new Year 3 teacher and Mrs Penstone and Mrs Hildebrand, who are covering Mrs Peck’s maternity leave in class 6.
PREMISES
Work, which will include taking the wooden fence down in the corner of the playground and therefore extending the play area, is due to commence on Monday 22nd September. It is also intended as part of this project to install a sail or large umbrella to give pupils and parents shelter from the rain and the sun.
HARVEST FESTIVAL
Our Harvest Service will take place in school on Thursday 2nd October at 2.00p.m. and will be conducted by Rev. Andrew Marsden. You are very welcome to attend, but seating will, as usual, be limited. We hope to finish the service by 3.00p.m. in order for parents to collect children from the Infant School.
This year our Harvest will be going to COATS (Crowthorne Old Age to Teen Society) who have asked if we could provide:
§ Canned tomatoes / soup / beans
§ Canned and dried fruit
§ Pasta and rice (dry not canned)
§ Sugar
§ Coffee
§ Tea
§ Biscuits
§ Sweets (not chocolate)
All food should be in date by at least 4 months
We would also appreciate seasonal fruits, vegetables, flowers and foliage to decorate the hall. We hope that one or two of our ‘home grown’ pumpkins from the raised garden beds will be ready for the display. Gifts should be sent in on the morning of the service only please, and the children will be asked to bring them straight to the hall when they arrive at school. I appreciate the difficulties involved in making arrangements to have toddlers looked after during the daytime, but please bear in mind that young children can spoil the occasion for our pupils and parents if they are noisy.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
I am delighted to see what a great effort parents are still making to send their children in correct school uniform. I would like to remind everyone that we also have a special school PE kit, which is a yellow t-shirt and blue shorts.
The t-shirts can be ordered from the PTA via an order form which can be collected from the school office. Could you also please ensure that your child has an apron or old large shirt for art and craft to protect their uniform.
Please ensure that your child is wearing sensible shoes. The ballet pump style of shoe which is popular with some girls is not really suitable for school as they offer little support and don’t protect them in the playground.
Children regularly manage to lose items of clothing etc. and I know that this is extremely annoying for parents, especially if they are new. We do our best to reunite children with their belongings but it is most important that everything is labelled clearly.
CAR PARKING
This subject is one that crops up regularly but unfortunately we still have a few parents who disregard our parking rules despite the fact that they are made for safety reasons. We understand that parents are often in a hurry but in the interests of the safety of all children, please do not park on the yellow zigzags outside schools when dropping or picking up your children. The yellow zigzags are there for a specific reason. It creates a clear area to enable children to cross the road when entering and leaving the school.
Please consider the following points of information:
§ The zigzag lines and the areas opposite the zigzags need to be kept clear.
§ The zigzag areas are not a drop-off zone
§ Children who walk to school are too small to see around parked cars.
§ Parking is a community matter, not just a school or police matter.
§ Do not park across resident’s driveways blocking access.
Please be considerate to our neighbours, pedestrians and other drivers.
HEADLICE
Please check your child’s hair at least once a week. Friday night is a good time to do this as any outbreak can be treated during the weekend. Please also ensure that long hair is fastened back whilst in school as an added deterrent. Frequent combing with a fine-toothed comb also helps.
HEALTHY EATING
Some new parents may not be aware of our healthy eating policy regarding break-time snacks. The children are not allowed to eat anything other than fresh fruit or vegetable items at break time so please do not send them with pre-packed items such as ‘Winders’, cereal bars, crisps or sweets etc. This also helps us to avoid litter. At lunchtime, crisps are allowed in lunchboxes as part of a packed lunch but again please avoid sweets. Please note that anything containing nuts should not be brought to school. We have an increasing number of children who suffer from nut allergies and we have to be very careful to ensure that they are not in any contact with nuts.
I know that a number of parents like to send in sweets for the class when their child has a birthday but please do not feel that this is something that you are obliged to do. In fact the government are actively discouraging us from giving out sweets at any time during the school day and we would appreciate your support on this matter.
MUSIC LESSONS
We regularly have peripatetic music teachers in school to teach guitar, keyboard, violin, brass, woodwind and recorder. If you are interested in your child taking instruction in any of the above instruments, please contact the school office.
PARENT HELPERS
We are always delighted when parents are able to come into school to help with a variety of activities such as listening to readers, assisting with computer work, art, cookery or technology. We are also very keen for every class to have a parent helper to assist the children with changing their library books. If you can help in any way please let me, or your child’s class teacher know.
New parent helpers need to be police checked before working in school but this is not too onerous. If you have not helped in a school before, and do not have a certificate, a form is available from the office.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
We are constantly trying to reduce the amount of paperwork sent out to parents and a number of you have given us your email details. We do want to send information via this route but need to be sure that it reaches the required destination. If you would like to receive letters electronically please ensure that you keep us up to date with any email address changes.
We will be using data collected from the
SUPERMARKET VOUCHERS
Please continue to bring these into school.
FLORA COOKING WITH SCHOOLS
Many thanks to everyone who has already logged on and registered their tokens! There is still time to earn more points to buy cooking equipment for our school. It is very easy to register and earn us money! If you eat Flora then please log on to www.cookingwithschools.com and register your points.
‘BRIGHTEN UP WITH BULBS’
Did you notice the bulbs by the school gates last spring? Yet again we would like you to bring a bulb to school over the next few weeks. The bulbs must flower before March before the grass is cut e.g. daffodils and crocuses. We will plant these during lunch break. Please bring your bulbs in a named bag.
Gardening
Unfortunately our tomatoes haven’t ripened but it looks as though we will have some pumpkins ready for Harvest festival. Gardening will be as required and will take place on Monday lunchtime.
The school would like you to collect 'Let's grow' vouchers from Morrisons (once Safeway). Our nearest store is Skimped Hill,
Holidays
We have a large notice board with a map of the world. We would like to fill it with photographs (no more than postcard size) of the children on their holiday with a name and place on the front, if computer generated, or written on the back. This can be handed in to class teachers or Ms Moores.
Tennis balls
We would appreciate donations of used tennis balls that are in good condition, for playtimes. Berkshire Racquet Club recently gave us a much reduced rate on a box of used balls but we still need more.
WEATHER MONITORING
So far we have not received a date for the annual rainwatch project week. It is likely to be at the beginning of November. Children will be given details later.
CURRICULUM
We are in the process of updating the curriculum profile we send to parents. These should be with you shortly and will include a ‘Clubs’ timetable
ABSENCES
May I take this opportunity to remind you that unless there are exceptional circumstances leave of absence in term time will not be authorised.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Please find diary dates and term dates attached to this letter - or via the Diary Dates button on our website.
COLLECTION IN MEMORY OF MRS STEVENS
We all knew Mrs Stevens had been very unwell for some time however, the news of her death, at the end of the summer term, came as a great shock to us all.
At the time her family said that donations to her favourite children’s charity would be gratefully received. As there was no time to properly organise this before term ended, the PTA sent flowers to the funeral on your behalf.
We would now like to organise a collection for Mrs Stevens and donations can be sent to the school office. Please make any cheques payable to the NSPCC.
To mark her time at Oaklands we intend to plant a tree later in the year with a suitably engraved plaque.
Yours sincerely,
Miss S. Charnley
Acting Headteacher