24^th October 2014

Dear Parent / Carer

Thank you to the PTA for arranging the Hallowe’en Disco.  I’m sure all the children had a fantastic time!

I have heard today that Miss Jones is well on the road to recovery and will be returning to work on Monday 3^rd November.  To support Miss Jones on her return to work, I have arranged for Mrs Pugh to also be in class for 2 days each week in a supportive role.  I am sure that this will now settle the class more effectively and ensure that they continue with their learning. 

The work on the boundary wall will begin through half term.  Please note that this will still be continuing when the children return to school after the break.  The working areas will be closed off to the pupils.  Please take extra care during this time.

I have had some difficulty confirming dates with theatres and/or cinemas at the moment despite them making temporary arrangements for Christmas excursions for the children.  I have detailed below the provisional dates – please note that these are NOT confirmed at the moment and details will follow as soon as possible.

3^rd December                                      Festival of Christmas Music for Primary schools – details to follow

4^th December                                      Nursery and Reception to Visit Santa – details to follow

5^th December                                      Year 1 to Year 6 to the cinema – details to follow

10^th December                                    Dress rehearsal for Nursery and Reception – Year 1 and 2 to watch

11^th December                                    Nursery and Reception Christmas Concert

11^th December                                    6pm. Carols by Candlelight – Year 1 to Year 6 with the Brass band.  Mulled wine and mince pies will be available while everyone joins in with the Carols and fun!

16^th December                                    Year 2 and staff to visit Trallwn

19^th December                                    Last day of term before Christmas holiday.

Mrs Thorne’s photo challenge has produced some very interesting places to read!!  These have included sat in the fridge dressed in hat, scarf and gloves or reading upside down   just like Batman!  Thank you to all the children who took part.

Remember that Monday 3^rd November is an INSET day – and the school will be closed to the children

Enjoy a happy and safe half term break with the children!

Yours

Mrs J Loveridge - Headteacher

NEWSLETTER: 20th October 2014

Dear Parent / Carer

Thanks you so much for your kind donations for our recent events.  The Macmillan Coffee Morning was extremely well attended and with your donations, we were able to donate £652.44 to the charity at a special assembly.

The display of Harvest gifts was also fantastic.  Year 6 delivered the gifts to our friends in the community and we have received many cards to thank the school, and you for your generosity.

The PTA has the Annual Halloween disco on Thursday 23rd October.  Please support the PTA.  They continue to work hard and raise funds for the school.  They have recently purchased a special cabinet to securely store our collection of iPads, as well as a MacBook.  This will develop the school’s ability to use the iPads effectively to enhance the learning opportunities for the children.

Work is scheduled to take place on the boundary wall along the infants and nursery yard.  The work will be set up on Friday 24th October, and we hope that the wall will be demolished and cleared during half term.  The wall will be re-built following this work, as well as taking care of the properties of our neighbours.  A secure working site has been arranged to ensure the safety of the children during the works.

All the children have been on trips this term already.  Nursery and Reception visited the Museum in Cardiff, to see the fossils and dinosaur bones, whilst Year 1 and 2 visited Barry Island Lifeboat Station to find out about their work for their theme ‘Land Ahoy!’.  The juniors have been to Fleet Air Museum and Caerleon Museum – each visit to enhance the work in the classroom – the children always learn so much from these valuable visits.

Each class from Year 1 to Year 6 have also visited Pontypridd Museum where they took part in a range of fun ‘hands-on’ science activities.

We have been fortunate to identify a pantomime for the children which is available before Christmas as originally planned.  This performance of ‘Puss in Boots’ is also a less expensive opportunity for the children to begin to build up to the excitement of Christmas.  I will provide details over the next few days.  Please see below for new dates for the diary.    We are also working with Trallwn Infants to develop effective Transition plans to ease the move from Trallwn to Coedpenmaen for both pupils and parents.

20th and 21st October       Parents’ Evenings – appointments have been distributed –

please see the class teacher if you need to change your appointment

24th October                                       Last day of half term

3rd November                                     INSET Day – school closed to pupils

12th November                                   PC Rob Thomas                   Year 3                    ‘Friend or Foe’

14th November                                   BBC Children in Need – details to follow from the school council

18th November                                   Story telling Workshops – visiting author

21st November                   PTA Cake Day

24th November                   Year 5 and 6 to see ‘Grease’ at Hawthorn High School

I aim to confirm the dates of our Christmas activities by the end of the week.  Where possible, I will try to avoid clashes with Trallwn Infants with regard to Christmas performances.

Mrs Thorne has set the children a photo challenge:

Can the children bring in a photograph of them reading in an unusual place?

They may be: up a mountain, in a swimming pool, in your club, on a horse, upside down, etc.

The best photograph will win a prize and all photos will be displayed in our brand new library area.  Good luck!

Yours

Mrs J Loveridge - Headteacher

Free ipads!!!

Please could you send any of these butter foil tops into school. 50 of them will give us a free ipad!!! Diolch!

Macmillan say; "thank you."

A representative of Macmillan visited our school to thank everyone for raising so much money and to tell us how our money will be used. school council were given some 'goodies' for their hard work.

13^th October 2014

Dear Parent/Carer

We have been informed that the Unison, GMB and UNITE unions have cancelled their industrial action on Tuesday 14^th October.  Therefore, the school will be open for all pupils on Tuesday 14^thOctober.   The proposed visit for Year 3 to Pontypridd Historical Centre will also now go ahead as planned.

Last week’s visit from the Estyn Inspectors was successful.  Whilst I am unable to share the details of the report until it is made available by Estyn (up to 4 weeks), I can confirm that they are pleased with the standards of teaching and learning being provided by the school.  There are a few areas which need further development.  These had already been identified and are included in the school’s development plan.

Miss Jones has informed me that she is still unwell.  We have secured Mr Teague who will work with Hazel class until half term.  I will continue to keep you up-to-date with this situation.  Mr Teague is being fully supported by school staff to ensure that the teaching and learning of the children remains the priority – with Mr Teague following the school processes and planning for lessons.

I would like to welcome our new Parent Governors, Helen Rose and Gareth Stock, to our school and I am sure they will be available to you to address any concerns you have which need to be presented to the Governors in our regular meetings.

Parents’ Evenings are set to go ahead next week – on Monday 20^th and Tuesday 21^st October.  Appointments will be made available to you by tomorrow at the latest.  We look forward to seeing as many parents as possible, so that we can discuss your child’s progress, how they have settled into their new classes and any areas for further development.  Please note: parents of pupils in Hazel class will be given appointments in the near future.

Children are encouraged at all times to discuss any worries they have with their class teacher – or any other adults at school.  This allows us to deal with any issues immediately and avoids the children becoming more anxious and worried.  When school staff deal with issues immediately, children are able to recall events more accurately and allows us to introduce any sanctions as necessary.  I would be grateful if you could encourage your child to talk to the class teachers so that we can address any concerns they may have. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind parents of our school’s open door policy.  If you have a concern about your child the first point of contact should be your child’s class teacher.  If this contact does not then answer your concerns, please pop to the office where I will see you if I am available, or it may be appropriate to make an appointment.  I will also be available during the parents’ evenings and the planned ‘drop-in’ sessions for the Senior Leadership Team.  These sessions will be held in the headteacher’s office – parents are invited to meet in the clerk’s office - where parents will be seen as needed.  Meetings so far have been productive and it has been a pleasure to meet you.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs J Loveridge

DELIVERING HARVEST PARCELS TO OUR COMMUNITY

Reading photo competition

Mrs Thorne is setting you all a photo challenge:

Can you bring in a photograph of you reading in an unusual place?

You may be: up a mountain,  in a swimming pool,  in your club, on a horse, upside down,  etc.

The best photograph will win a prize and all photos will be displayed in our library area.

Good luck!

NEWSLETTER

3^rd October 2014
Dear Parent / Carer
We have been informed that Unison, GMB and UNITE unions intend to take industrial action on Tuesday 14^th October.  As a result, the school will be closed for all pupils on Tuesday 14^th October. PLEASE NOTE: if the industrial action is called off, the school will be open to pupils as normal.  We apologise for the disruption this may cause to families.

You may recall that I mentioned a few weeks ago that I planned to have some gates installed at the front of the school.  I am very pleased to say that this has now been completed.    As a result, when all the children have been dropped off to school, the gate in this fence will locked, as well as the double gate at the rear of the school (to the staff car park) and the single gates along the back wall.  This will ensure the children remain safe in school, especially during break and lunch times.  Any adults who require access to the school will need to come around to the front of the building and enter through our reception area.  The gates will be re-opened at about 3.10pm in readiness for children leaving at the end of the school day.

Please note that the car park at the front of the school is very small and should not be used by parents who wish to drop their children off in the mornings, or pick up at the end of the day.  The car park is for school staff and should not be used after 8.30am by parents.  This ensures that visitors to the school, as well as deliveries, are able to gain access without causing any difficulties for vehicles parked there.

Today is Mrs Freegard’s last day at Coedpenmaen Primary School.  I would like to thank Mrs Freegard for all the hard work and commitment she has shown to the school over the last 8 years and I am sure you will all join me in wishing her the very best for her future.
Just to remind you about upcoming dates – it’s a very busy few weeks!

• 6^th October – Year 3 – to Caerleon – Gods and gladiators theme
• 6^th October – Local Visit to Pontypridd Museum - 1.30pm -            Cherry Class – Year 1
• 7^th and 8^th October – revisit to school by Estyn Schools’ Inspectorate
• 8^th October – Year 3 to Merthyr Vue – BBC Ten Pieces   
• 9^th October – School Harvest Service
• 10^th October 2014 – Local Visit to Pontypridd Museum – 9.15am -               Willow Class – Year 5/6
• 10^th October 2014 – Local Visit to Pontypridd Museum – 10.30am - Beech Class – Year 4/5
• 10^th October 2014 – Local Visit to Pontypridd Museum – 1.30pm -               Oak Class – Year 6
• 13^th October 2014 – Local Visit to Pontypridd Museum – 12.00noon -  Sycamore Class – Year 4 (please bring a packed lunch)
• 13^th October 2014 – Local Visit to Pontypridd Museum – 1.45pm -               Ash Class – Year 2
• 14^th October – possible closure day due to industrial action by Unison, GMB and UNITE unions.
• Due to the industrial action – Year 3’s visit to the museum has had to be cancelled.

As throughout the whole of RCT, attendance will remain a priority throughout the year.  Parents are reminded that it is essential that their children attend school as often as possible.  We are already only just in line with our school target for attendance and we will all need to work together to ensure that the school aims to reach – and even exceed the targets set for us by the Local Authority.   Please continue to let the school know whenever your child is absent so that we can keep our records up-to-date as well as  any ‘advice’ of  your wish to take a holiday in term time, using the school forms or a letter from yourselves.

 

Only by working together can we achieve our aims

Thanks for your continued support

Mrs J Loveridge - Headteacher