December 2015
Dear Parent/Carer
After a very busy term, we find ourselves hurtling towards
Christmas! I’m sure that if you follow
us on Twitter, you will have seen a number of activities many of the children
have been taking part in over the last few weeks, from visits to Cardiff
Castle, Birds of Prey at school, the panto, visiting Santa and seeing the
premiere of Star Wars!
We have also been treated to wonderful performances / services
from children across the whole school. The fantastic Glee Choir have also
entertained the people of Pontypridd (where we raised a total of £240 for Bobath
Cymru – thanks very much – and to Mr Carter for leading Glee Choir!). Thanks also to all families who have helped
with trips
Microsoft Office Code - If Santa is
delivering any new computers to your homes this Christmas, don’t forget that we
have a number of updated Microsoft Office codes available for those
families who wish to use this free offer. Just send your email address to
school and we can forward the details to you.
Please check on the Calendar on Moodle for updates to the school
diary.
4th Jan 2016 INSET
day – school closed for
children
5th Jan Children
return to school
6th Jan New
Nursery children start school
19th Jan PC
Rob – All Yr 2 – Right or Wrong
9th Feb Safer
Internet Day – Look out for activities
throughout the week – including parents’ workshops.
12th Feb Proposed
INSET Day
15th -19th Feb Half Term
22nd Feb Children
return following Half Term
23rd Feb Year
4 – PC Rob – T.A.S.K.
1st March School
Eisteddfod
16th March Parents’
Evening
17th March Parents
Evening
17th March Class
and team photographs
24th March THURSDAY
– Last day of Term
25th March Good
Friday (beginning of Easter Break)
11th April Children
return to school.
WG Test dates - The Welsh
Government Tests for all pupils in Years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are 3rd -
10th May 2016. Please avoid
taking any absences during this time.
Attendance - This term we are absolutely thrilled that we have rewarded 66
children for 100% attendance. This is
the highest amount for an Autumn Term ever!
Spring term usually gives us the highest amount of 100% attendance
pupils, so we will hopefully see this increase too. Children with the very best attendance also
received a special award in the Summer Term.
We are currently at 95.2% for our whole school attendance. This is slightly below our target set by the Local
Authority. You will all be aware that
attendance is a core feature of the school’s Inspection process. The school has previously had recommendations
to improve attendance, and as such I ask for your continued support in sending
your child to school as often as possible.
Well done to Sycamore and Oak classes
who won the best class attendance of the term, and Holly, Ash and Sycamore who
had the most number of children who achieved 100%.
Please note: if your child is genuinely ill, they should not
attend school - it remains the responsibility of parents to inform the school
on the first day of absence if a child is not well enough to attend
Christmas Fayre - Thank you to everyone who supported the PTA’s Christmas
Fayre. It was great to see so many
families queuing to meet Santa, making Christmas decorations, taking lucky dips
for toys and enjoying sweets and cakes as a special treat! We raised £769
in total with the Fayre and the Christmas Raffle. This will add to the
funds as the PTA save towards providing the school with microphones and
speakers for our concerts!
Parents evening was a fantastic success – 93% of parents attended. If you did not manage to make the evening to
see your child’s teacher, please make an appointment in the Spring Term. A second Parents’ Evening will also be
arranged for the end of the Spring Term.
Following the amazing amount of responses from parents and
Governors with regard to our approach to teaching and learning about ‘Values’,
we have learnt about Respect and Peace this term Next term, the children will be learning
about truthfulness. Year 3 have also worked
with our artist Rhiannon Roberts to help create the beautiful mural in the
hall.
Please send ALL your old
Christmas Cards to school when the children return. We are taking part in a RCT competition to
try to get the most Christmas Cards recycled!
Ask the children to bring in cards from the WHOLE family!!
Please bring your
dinner money in an envelope each Monday.
Unless there are exceptional circumstances, we also ask that your child
maintains the same arrangements for lunch throughout the week. This helps the accurate administration of
dinner money.
Please also bring any money for trips, music
lessons etc. in an envelope marked with your child’s name, class and purpose of
the money.
Please note: all meals must be paid for. If you have any difficulties with payment
please speak to staff in the office.
We have many, many coats, cardigans
jumpers etc. which have remained unclaimed at school. None of these have names on them. Please, please ensure your child’s name is
clearly marked on their clothing so that we can make sure they are returned to
their rightful owners!
