Newsletter 3 – Autumn Term 22nd September 2016
Happy Home Learning
This week we have had some special visitors, please talk to your child about the guide dog visit. Why are guide dogs so special? What do they help people with?
Foundation Stage 2
This week we had a lovely visit from a guide dog called Flynn. We found out lots of information about guide dogs and even got to stroke him! Please can you talk to your grown up about the visit and tell them something you learned about guide dogs. You could then draw a picture of Flynn in your homework book!
Year 1
Spellings – some, put, is, for, they, are
Literacy – Can you write some sentences using the above spellings? Remember to use a full stop and capital letters.
Maths – Using a ruler can you measure items from around your home? Draw them in your homework book and record the length and height in cm.
Year 2
Spellings of the week – castle, kitchen, grand hall, dungeon, windows, arrow slits
Maths – Can you practise counting in 10s, forwards and backwards from any number?
Literacy – We would like you to get busy on the internet and look up Skipton Castle, what do you expect to see on Monday?
Macmillan Bun Sale
We would remind you that on Friday 30th September we will be holding a bun sale in support of Macmillan, commencing at 2.45pm in the hall. Any donations of cakes, buns or biscuits should be handed in at the office no later than Friday morning. Thank you
Stay and Learn Sessions
We look forward to welcoming you into your child’s classroom to take part in our Stay and Learn Sessions which have been designed to give you an insight into the expectations for your child. We will be focusing on handwriting and the sessions will be on the following days:
Year 2 – Thursday 29th September @9am
Year 1 – Friday 30th September @ 9am
Autumnal Walks
Whilst you are out and about enjoying the beautiful weather of early autumn could you please look out for and collect items that we can use in our displays around school. We would like you to bring in conkers, sycamore seeds and acorns or anything unusual which you find but no leaves please. We are looking forward to see who can find the biggest conker!
Parking
There have already been a number of local residents contacting school with concerns regarding the inconsiderate parking of some of our parents/carers when dropping off and collecting children from school. We would remind those responsible that parking on pavements, zig zag lines, staff car parks and blocking driveways is unacceptable. The police make regular checks and have prosecuted where necessary so please be aware of this when parking outside school. We would encourage parents/carers to walk to school where possible and are thrilled that our school have enrolled with Living Streets’ year-round walk to school challenge. Further details will follow shortly and we look forward to working with you as we take part in this exciting new challenge!
Diary Dates
Monday 26th September Y2 visit to Skipton Castle
Friday 30th September Macmillan Bun Sale
Friday 21st October School closes for Half Term
Monday 31st October Inset Day
Tuesday 1st November School Resumes
Friday 16th December School closes for the Christmas Holidays
Tuesday 3rd January School resumes for the Spring Term
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT INFORMATION. THANK YOU
Free School Meals (Pupil Premium)
As you will be aware, all children in Key Stage 1 have been entitled to free school meals funded by central government since September ’14. Therefore, there has been a decline in the number of families applying for the benefits related free school meals which also attracts a pupil premium payment for our school.
The Government has released National data and research which suggests that children eligible for free school meals can tend to do less well, for example in 2014 45% of children eligible for free school meals achieved the expected level at the end of the early years foundation stage compared with 64% of other children. The Pupil Premium will provide us with extra funding to close this gap.
Pupil Premium is therefore a really important payment for schools and a good opportunity for eligible parents to get even more support for their children.
Schools can use the funding in any way they choose to improve the quality of education that we provide for children who are eligible. This could include for example, additional training for our staff, investing in partnership working with other colleagues and specialists to further our expertise, purchasing additional resources or deploy staff.
If your family meets any of the criteria below we would encourage you to apply, as not only will your child receive additional support in school, they will also be eligible for FREE after school clubs and FREE school visits.
You can claim free school meals for a child who lives with you and who you are responsible for. Your claim will be automatically processed if you receive Housing Benefit or Council Tax Reduction and get any of the qualifying benefits.
Eligibility
Your child is eligible for Free School Meals (& Pupil Premium) if you get one or more of the following benefits:
• Income Support
• Income-based Job Seekers’ Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, provided you are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit, and have an annual gross income, of no more than £16,190 (as of 2014 financial year) as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
Applying is easy! You can apply in two ways…
1. Visit www.rotherham.gov.uk and type ‘Apply For Free School Meals’ into the search box at the top of the page and follow the link
2. Phone the school office or pop in and speak to the office staff who can offer support in filling the form in online in a private space in school. All applications will be treated in strict confidence.
Thank You
