Newsletter 11th February 2010

Dear Parents,

I am amazed at how quickly this half term has passed. I hope that next half term will be less eventful, certainly weather wise!

Rainbow Class

I am delighted with how well the children have settled and hope they have enjoyed their first half term at school. I hope parents too have found the move to school easy. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries regarding any aspect of school life. I have an open door policy and am at the front of the school most mornings if there is anything you wish to discuss. Otherwise I am happy to take phone calls or make appointments for longer chats.

School gardens and grounds

We are very lucky to have such beautiful school grounds and we have groups of children and adults who work hard to keep them looking smart and tidy. During the spring months we see the most dramatic changes take place when all the bulbs start to appear. The children planted several new bulbs in the autumn to celebrate the school’s 40th birthday. Please will you help us to protect these new plants by keeping your children off of the grassed areas and flower beds around the site. It is lovely to see all the younger siblings playing outside before and after school but when they are running around on the grass they are probably trampling over the new shoots. Thank you for your help.

PAFT Meetings – help requested

As you will be aware Chestnut Lane School are running a Parents as First Teachers project to support parents of preschool children. This involves running a parents workshop every 2 weeks. We are looking for help setting up the meetings on a regular basis. This would involve setting up chairs, refreshments, putting out leaflets, photocopying handouts, putting out resources for the crèche and meetings. All of this needs to be done prior to the meeting. If you can spare an hour to help us out in the morning, every 2 weeks it would be much appreciated. The dates for this term are as follows and most are Wednesdays:

24 February, 10 March, 24 March, 21 April, 5 May, 20 May, 16 June, 1 July, 14 July, time to suit.

If you are not able to help out on all these days, then please let me know which ones you are able to help with!

Many thanks in anticipation

Rosie Phillips

School Closure Procedures

I hope that you have all received an update on the procedures we will follow should we need to close the school. Please keep that letter safe and please do keep us informed of any change to your mobile phone numbers.

Building Works

Over the half term holiday two projects will begin on our site.

1. Changes to the School Front Entrance and Office

This project is likely to continue for several weeks and will cause some disruption to our routines.

The front and back doors will be replaced during half term and then new windows will be created in the office on our return to school. We had hoped for this work to be completed during a longer school holiday but it has not been possible to arrange this.

Therefore the front door and office will not be accessible during the works. Suzanna and Tina will be based in the IT room and access to the school will be through the scooter park and in through the side door in that room. During this period bikes and scooters must be parked in the racks and not left on the floor. Signs and notices will be put up to direct visitors. The side gate into the quadrangle will still be open at the same times during the day.

Please be assured that the children, once in school, will not be affected by this work.

2. The Caretaker’s House

Building work will begin on the house on Monday 15th February. This project has been organised by the local authority and is beyond our control. However I will be working closely with the contractors to ensure that the work has minimal impact on our school. Please do be aware though that there may be additional vehicles on site.

I hope that both projects run smoothly and that they will be completed as quickly as possible.

Sweets in School

Please do not send your child to school with sweets for snacks, in lunch boxes or as birthday treats for their class mates. I am afraid we are unable to allow children to have cough or throat sweets either.

BLAST After School Club

If any parent requires further information regarding the after school club and holiday club at Elangeni School you can email BLAST : info@busy’living.co.uk or call them directly on: 01494 722318.

Coughs, Colds and Tummy Bugs

We have had a lot of illness this half term and I would like to thank you all for helping to prevent the spread of tummy bugs in particular by keeping your children at home for 48 hours. I hope that the holiday break will give everyone a chance to recover fully.

World Book Day 4^th March

Just to give you advanced warning, we would like the children to come to school in fancy dress on this day. We have chosen a theme for each year group.

Year 2 – characters from any Dick King Smith story to fit in with their new topic.

Year 1 – characters from Roald Dahl (following the trip to the museum).

Early Years – characters from nursery rhymes.

More details about this day will follow after half term.