School Calendar

Monday, 10 November 2014

November Newsletter

November Newsletter 10/11/14
Safeguarding
Dear parents,
 I am committed to parental involvement in the school. The Friends of Glenboi have had three meetings so far this half term and have more exciting events planned for the year ahead. However, your child’s safety is our main priority. Since the completion of the new fence over the summer holidays we are now as secure a site as any school in RCT. To maximise the safety of your children I must ask you to leave your child with the class teacher at the door, and refrain from entering the school building in the morning or afternoon, unless you are  asked to enter by the class teacher. This approach also improves the independence of your children E.g. Taking their coats off, hanging clothing on their pegs etc.
If you enter any council or government building there are strict boundaries where the public can or cannot enter and as a school we must ensure that we act to protect our children to the highest possible levels. We also need to know exactly who is on our school grounds and particularly in the building at any one time for health and safety reasons e.g. should we have a fire.
From Tuesday 11/11/14 I ask all parents to be aware of the following:
·         Please ensure that your child arrives in school by 8.55am.
·         If you are with your child please hand your child to the class teacher / teaching assistant at the class door.
·         Mr. Robbins the caretaker will lock the gate at 9.05am.
·         If you arrive later than 9 am please take your child to the main office at the entrance of the school where Mrs.Doolin will ask you to sign the late register.
·         Mrs.Doolin will then arrange for your child to be taken to class.
In addition, please help us keep your children safe by;
·         Avoiding driving your car into the school car park
·         Avoiding parking on the lines outside the school. I am sure that we would all agreethat a minute extra to park safely is a small price to pay to ensure a child’s safety.

Schools Priorities for 2013-14
TARGET 1: To ensure that formative and summative assessment procedures are effective in raising pupil standards.
TARGET 2: To improve the quality of teaching and learning in maths for all groups of pupils.
TARGET 3: To improve the quality of teaching and learning in English  for all groups of pupils
Target 4. To improve pupil’s attendance to at least 95% and 95% of pupils are punctual.

Attendance
Our aim is that at five minutes past nine each morning, the yard is clear and the bottom gate is  locked.   There is nothing worse for a child than walking into a class when everyone else is working.  We have a policy in school that learning starts at 9am.  Therefore, it is important that everyone is here on time.  Please help us to achieve this aim. Thank you
Last year our attendance rose to 94% and we are very grateful for your support in raising our attendance figures. I am sure you have all read the letter from the Director of Education about the new rules for holidays taken in term time. Nearly all of you have made these changes already and consequently limited the time that pupils are taken out of school.
Our attendance target this year is 95%, if we can aim for and achieve 95%, it will be a fantastic achievement and puts us up there with the best schools in Wales.  It is clear that high attendance supports high achievement and as a school we have evidence which clearly supports this.
There are times when you need to collect your child from school during the school day. If this is for a medical/dental appointment please could you bring an appointment card with you to evidence the absence. We can therefore put the appropriate absence code against your child’s absence. If you do not bring the card, we have been told by the authority that the absence must be labelled as an unauthorised absence. The authority records the number of unauthorised absences and are looking to fine parents when 10 occur (1 day is 2 absences – morning and afternoon). Please pick your child up from reception not the class if your child has a medical appointment.

Attendance procedures summarised:
·         Inform the school by 9.30am if your child is not attending school.
·         All holidays in term time are to be coded as unauthorised absences.
·         RCT requires all illness to be evidenced by parents- doctors’ appointments, medicine bottles, prescriptions, doctors letters can be used to evidence illness.

Children In Need
Friday 14th November is Children IN Need, the theme of the day will be to dress as a super hero and bring a donation of £1 for the privilege.

Head Lice
There have been reports of head lice throughout the school. We would advise that you check your child’s hair thoroughly and if you find any lice treat your child immediately. Please note that head lice are not a reason for absence from school.




Value Of the Month
As a school we have identified 7 core values that we want to ensure that our pupils understand and demonstrate. Our Value for November is RESPECT, we are discussing this value and the importance of showing respect for others and for yourself. We would appreciate your support by talking to your children about showing respect for themselves and each other. This will support all of the work we are doing in class and in assemblies.

PE Kit
Please ensure that your child brings shorts and a t-shirt to school on the day that they have indoor PE. For outdoor PE we ask the children to bring tracksuit bottoms and an appropriate top to wear for PE. As the wet and cold weather approaches please ensure that all pupils come to school wearing a coat, even if it’s not raining. This means that children don’t get wet on the way home if it begins to rain in the afternoon.
 From tomorrow Tuesday 11th November, PE for class 5 will be Rugby- outside. Mountain Ash RFC are coming into school to work with staff for the session.

Rugby Club
All junior pupils are invited to take part in rugby club. I will be taking it on a Tuesday lunchtime starting tomorrow. Pupils can wear uniform to school and get changed at break time. 

New Website
We are proud to direct you towards our new school website http://glenboiprimary.weebly.com You can also follow us on twitter @ primary_glenboi.
The website keeps parents informed via our news blog and twitter feed, and keeps you up to date on upcoming events via the school calendar. I would ask you to please visit the site as this will allow it to be found on Google as soon as possible. The more viewers we get the quicker Google will recognise it as the school website.
I appreciate that there is a lot of information in this newsletter however the school is working hard to strive for excellence in all areas, safeguarding pupil’s safety and wellbeing, teaching and learning and developing the whole child. Many thanks for your support.

Thank you and best wishes,   



Mr. Llewellyn 

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