NewStAnd Newsletter 10th February 2012
St Andrew's Church of England Primary School Newsletter Friday, 10th February 2012
Rights Respecting Schools
Administration of medicine procedure
Mathletics
Eco fund raising
Class Ash Blog
Touch typing
Clubs / activities
Dates for the term
Dorset school league tables
Music tuition
Breakfast club & school Start time
Dates for your diary
Half term
We hope all St Andrew's children and their families and friends have a happy and safe half term holiday. See you back on Monday, February 20th.Update on Rights Respecting Schools Award (by Sam Willis, our RRS leader)
We are very pleased to announce that we have been successful in achieving the first stage of this award, Recognition of Commitment. We are now embarking upon our action plan to achieve level 1 status. As you may remember this is an award driven by the children and the steering group have been very active in letting us know their opinions! At the moment the staff are working on changing their tea and coffee to fair trade products only and we will be learning about the effects that fair trade has on children's lives globally during fair trade fortnight. (27th Feb - 11th March). If you are able during the first week please come in and see our display. It would also be great if the children could bring in 1 empty package from a fair trade product that you have in your cupboard. Many thanks for your support.For those of you who were unable to get to our information stand at the Christmas fair this is a quick reminder of what the award is about……
"The Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of a school's planning, policies, practice and ethos. A rights-respecting school not only teaches about children's rights but also models rights and respect in all its relationships: between teachers / adults and pupils, between adults and between pupils."
Administration of medicine procedure
A reminder regarding medicine procedure in school. All medicines are subject to a detailed record sheet being completed by parents/carers which is available in the school office. For the benefit of parents/carers who are unable to come into school we have added the parental request/permission form to the website which can be downloaded and printed to send in with your child. We may also contact you by phone to check if any details are unclear. It could also be completed electronically and emailed in to office@yetminster.dorset.sch.uk . With all medicines, we are unable to exceed or change the stated dose. For non-prescription medicines the form also needs to be completed, including for cough lozenges. All medicines must be handed in to and stored in the medicine cabinet in the school office. Children will have to ask an adult to access and supervise the distribution of all medicines. Records will be kept of each administration of medicine.We are unable to administer medicines that are past their use by date. These are usually asthma inhalers or epipens. Any medicine past it's use by date will be returned to parents / carers and, if necessary, a replacement will be asked for. It is the parents/carers responsibility to replace medicines. We are unable to administer similar medicines belonging to another child.
Mathletics
With the help of PTA funding we are setting up Mathletics accounts for all children in our school. Mathletics is an internet based teaching and learning resource. It is a fun, interactive way of learning, practising and embedding a wide range of maths knowledge and skills. Over the next few weeks our children will be given login details enabling them to use this online resource both at school and at home for the next twelve months. It is designed to support, motivate and challenge our children in their maths development.Eco fund raising
The school Eco Council would like to remind everyone that we are raising money through collecting and recycling:- Activia yoghurtpots and
- old pens.
Boxes are situated in the school entrance hall. Thank you for your support. (from the Eco Council)
Class Ash blog
Class Ash children have been busy blogging about all sorts of things this year. Our class blog is a place to share writing, we are part of a "quadblog" which is a group of 4 schools who take it in turns to visit each others blogs each week and leave comments. We also take part in a weekly writing challenge which is for children under 16 from all around te globe to take part. We have had two of our class "showcased" so far this year; this is when several of the team of commenters recommend a piece of writing.Blogging is a fabulous way for children to write about their interests outside school and one of the best things is that they can receive feedback on their writing. All comments are moderated by me before they "go live".
Our blog is at www.classash.primaryblogger.co.uk
Please pay it a visit and leave a comment by clicking "leave a comment" . Email addresses are needed on the form but are never shown on the blog. The children love seeing their work on their own class blog and especially love receiving comments. It means that their writing has a real sense of purpose and is read by a wide audience. So far our blog has been visited by over 3000 visitors from all around the world! You can see where in the world they have come from on the flag counter
Touch typing
Would you like to learn to type without looking at your fingers? In the long run it's much quicker.The club is open to pupils in Key Stage 2 and is to be run on a Tuesday after school at 3.15 - 4.00pm from 21st February. If you prefer it is possible to work at home.
If you are interested let school know or contact Emma Harris on emma.harris27@btinternet.com .
Clubs / activities
Lunchtime and after school clubs and activities have begun. If you would like further information please see Mrs McVeigh in the school office.Dates for the term
Showing assembly dates have been set for the spring term - please check out below for the dates for your child's class. Please note - not all the showing assemblies are on Friday.Dorset school league tables
The Department for Education (DfE) recently published the Primary performance tables for results from 2011. The DfE table placed St Andrew's CE Primary School joint first out of 172 schools in Dorset when measured by the percentage of children achieving Level 4 or better. 100% of our children achieved Level 4 or above in both English and maths. Furthermore, the tables can be found by copying and pasting the link below and then clicking on the 2011 column to order the results:http://www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/group.pl?qtype=LA&superview=pri&view=aat&set=1&tab=1&no=835&sort=ks2_11.ptengmatx&ord=desc
There are a range of methods to assess children's progress and judge how well a school is doing, but we are very pleased with the progress shown by our children in the performance tables.
Music tuition
We have a wide range of music tuition available in school. Teachers, instruments and times are listed below:Paul Huddleston: Drums - Thursday afternoon from January
Christine Dickerson: Tuesday; piano
Joy Edwards: Wednesday; piano and keyboard
Siska Redman: Thursday am; flute and clarinet
Roger Trim: Thursday pm; violin, guitar, mandolin, accordion and psaltery.
If you are interested in your child learning one of these instruments please ask Sandra for further details at the office. For any instruments not on the list that you are keen on, please ask us and we will attempt to secure a teacher.
Breakfast club & school start time
School opens at 8.30 am for an 8.45am start. Breakfast club is available from 7.30am at £3.50 (w. breakfast) / £3.00 (w/o breakfast). No booking is required. If you only require a shorter time, please contact school and we will try to arrive at a flexible arrangement.Dates for Diary (More to follow)
10th Feb, Fri - End of half-term; Valentine Disco at school.20th Feb, Mon - Back to school
23rd Feb, Thu - Holly, Oak and Acorn classes to visit Dorchester museum
24th Feb, Fri - Willow and Ash visit to Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre
29th Feb, Wed - Books at Bedtime, 6-7pm
1st Mar, Thu - World Book Day - Fancy Dress and activities
2nd March, Fri - PTA meeting, 9am, school staffroom
2nd Mar, Fri - Chestnut showing assembly, 2.30pm
6th Mar, Tue - Willow showing assembly, 2.30pm
8th Mar, Thu - Holly & Acorn visit to Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre
9th Mar, Fri - Oak & Chestnut visit to Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre
11th March, Sun - Messy Church at St Andrew's CofE Primary
13th Mar, Tue - Book Fair Week
16th Mar, Fri - Holly & Oak showing assembly, 2.30pm
16th Mar, Fri - PTA quiz night, 7pm, school hall.
20th Mar, Tue - Jurassic Coast Van in school
21st Mar, Wed - Acorn showing assembly, 2.30pm
23rd Mar, Fri - Big Jurassic Mile (as part of Sport Relief)
27th Mar, Tue - Ash showing assembly, 2.30pm
30th March, Fri -Easter Church Service, 9.30am (provisional, TBC)
End of term
16th April, Mon - INSET, school closed
17th April, Tue. - Back to school
May 7th, Mon - Bank holiday
May 28th, Mon - Visit by Gryphon to meet Year 6
June 1st, Fri - end of half-term
June 11th, Mon - back to school
June 13th, Wed - Gryphon parent's evening for Year 6 parents
24th June, Sun - Messy Church at St Andrew's CE Primary
3rd July - Induction Day for Year 6 at Gryphon
July 20th, Fri - end of term
21st October, Sun - Messy Church at St Andrew's CE Primary
Paul Miller
(Headteacher)