Headteacher Newsletter: Issue 7
FORTNIGHTLY NEWSLETTER: ISSUE 7
SAINSBURYS SCHOOL GAMES KITEMARK
Congratulations to Clavering Primary School who achieved a gold mark!
Congratulations to Clavering Primary School for achieving the Gold Award from The Sainsbury’s School Games Award Scheme for their participation in and work towards the School Games competitions during the School year 2013/14. Throughout the year the children and staff have enthusiastically competed in many sports competitions in both the Newport and North Uttlesford Sports Partnerships. Their sporting attitude and enthusiasm is a credit to the school and it is fantastic for this to be recognised within this award. Thank you to all the parents for their support in these events.
Cross Country
The second Clavering Christmas Cross Country event was held on Wednesday 17th December. The races commenced with Year 6 children completing 5 laps of the field, followed by Year 1 and 2 running 3 laps. The Reception class ran really well twice around the field and were supported by their year 6 buddies. Years 4 and 5 supported the other classes enthusiastically before competing in their 4 laps around the now rather muddy course.
The children all ran incredibly well, but special mention needs to be given to:
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| Reception Boys | Aiden Prizeman | Harrison Bakali | Ted Betts |
| Reception Girls | Alice Elphick | Amber Shaw | Rosie McNaughton |
| Year 1 Boys | Oliver Dyster | Freddie Hill | Ted Davidson |
| Year 1 Girls | Hermione Barker | Matilda Course | Kitty Crabb |
| Year 2 Boys | Sam Macfadyen | Finley Anderson Patmore | Ben Spicer |
| Year 2 Girls | Rose Denyer | Seraphina Harris | Grace Wardle |
| Year 3 Boys | William Crabb | Thomas Dyster | Harry Clark |
| Year 3 Girls | Grace Livesey | Isabella Budden | Petra Joseph |
| Year 4 Boys | Freddie Wardle | Max Sanderson | GeorgeMacfadyen |
| Year 4 Girls | Millie Denyer | Imogen Kocher | Emily Berglund |
| Year 5 Boys | Luke Townsend | Thomas Livesey | James Fanthorpe |
| Year 5 Girls | Heidi Buckley | Martha Collett | Hollie Buckley |
| Year 6 Boys | Elliot Wood | Thomas Berret | Ziggy Wicks |
| Year 6 Girls | Daisy Collett | Maddie Dudley-Scales | Teija Lawrence |
A huge thank you was given to Mr. Dyce, Ms Dunlop and children from Joyce Frankland Academy for their help in organising the event.
Christmas has certainly begun at Clavering Primary school with a number of events that have taken place:
Clavering Primary School Choir
Well done to the Clavering Primary School Choir! The children represented the school extremely well on Saturday 6th December during the Spirit of Christmas event at St Mary’s church in Saffron Walden. A number of schools in the area, primary and secondary, joined the Saffron Walden Choral Society and put on a concert for Christmas. The singing was beautiful and added a special touch to the festive season. Thank you to Mrs Ford and the children for all their hard work in preparing for this event and Mrs Honour for accompanying them at the church.
A special well done to Beth Parker who came joint first in the junior section of the Saffron Walden Christmas Carol Competition. This is an outstanding achievement.
School Choir Sing To The Local Community
On the afternoon of Tuesday 9th December, the school choir joined the Clavering Over 60’s Club at the village hall for their Christmas Carol Service. Once they had performed two songs from the stage, ‘Walking in the Air’ and ‘Rockin’ around the Christmas tree’, the children participated in the communal singing of traditional carols.
As well as enjoying the singing, the members of the club were touched to be given some of the ceramic poppies made by the children at school to commemorate the centenary of WW1 and were told by the chair of the British legion, that one would be used as a symbol of remembrance at future village services.
Christmas Carol Competition With Sue Whykes
As part of the composition element of the Music curriculum, children in years 4-6 took part in a Christmas carol competition during their class music lessons with Mrs Whykes. Congratulations to the winning groups.
Year 4: Ellie Wilkinson, Charlie La Roche, Megan Logan, Harrison Bower
Year 5: joint winners: Rafaella Phipps, Beth Parker, Sophie Hartley. Charlotte Smith, Hollie Buckley, Chloe Davies, Lizzie Bohannon
Year 6: Maddie Dudley-Scales, Lawrence Aggarwal, Harry Chalk, Jack Wilson
Christmas Plays
We have had a wonderful week of Christmas plays. The Key Stage One performance ‘Prickly Hay’ took place during the afternoon of 11th December. The children were fantastic. All of the children managed to learn a lot of lines for the speaking parts and words for the songs.
During the morning of the December 11th the Reception class performed a wonderful Nativity for their parents. It was a great success and the children impressed us all with all the songs and actions that they had remembered.
KS2 performed ‘Hoodwinked’ during the evening. It was an amazing performance. Year 6 had the speaking parts and the acting flowed beautifully and the solos were sung extremely well. Year 5 were the villagers, Year 4 were Robin Hood’s Merry Men and Year 3 were Lords and Ladies dancing. The singing was wonderful throughout the performance.
We were really pleased to be joined by many of our local community members including Revd Davis for either the dress rehearsals or one of the performances.
Well done to all the children for taking part in the Christmas plays and a big thank you to all the staff.
The school productions will be available to buy on a DVD. The order forms can be collected from the school office in January.
Reception Class Visit Father Christmas
All the children in Reception Class enjoyed the traditional visit to Audley End Miniature Railway for a ride on the Santa Express. Everyone wrapped up warm and snuggled under the fleecy blankets as we rode through the woods to find Father Christmas in his grotto. On the way a cheeky elf was playing hide and seek and we caught glimpses of Santa waving in the distance. The tunnels were very dark but luckily Elizabeth and Harry held Mrs Poole’s hands so she didn’t get too frightened! At last we arrived at the grotto where Santa was waiting. He spoke to each child and we told him what we would like for Christmas. Santa gave everyone a special Christmas soft toy and we waved good-bye as we travelled back to the station to take the coach back to school. What a super time had!
Church Service
On Thursday 18th December, the whole school went to the church for a Christmas Service led by the Rev. Davis. The theme this year was the ‘Shepherds’. The children sang carols, listened to the recorder group and prayers written by class 5.
Friends of Clavering Christmas Fayre
Thank you for your wonderful cakes, bottles, chocolates and decorated jars that you all sent in for the Christmas Fayre. The event was a great success and approximately £775.00 was raised. Thank you to the members of the Friends of Clavering who organised the event, in particular Amanda Crabb and Rachel Betts. Thank you to all of you that were able to attend, we are truly very grateful.
The children have also enjoyed a Christmas Shopping Morning and Christmas Entertainment all organised by the Friends of Clavering. The children have had a wonderful time and we would like to thank Amanda and Rachel and the team of parents that organise all these events.
School Menu
Please see attached our new menu for the Spring term. The menu has had to be redesigned to comply with the Mandatory Food-Based Standards as well as the legal requirements for food allergens.
Food Standards were introduced to help children develop healthy eating habits and ensure that they get the energy and nutrition they need across the whole school day and crfeate a pleasant environment where they can eat with their friends.
If there are any queries regarding food allergens, please feel free to contact me via the school office. Sally Gilder, Catering Manager
Clubs for Spring term 2015
There are no clubs week commencing 5th January.
Starting week commencing 12th January
| Monday | Tennis Club – to be confirmed |
| Tuesday | Girl’s Football Years 5 & 6 |
| Wednesday | Boy’s Football Years 5 & 6 |
| Thursday | Fitness – Years 3 & 4 |
| Friday | Library Club – all welcomeHockey Club at Joyce Frankland Academy – Years 5 & 6 (start date to be confirmed) |
Bad Weather
In the event of severe weather conditions and possible school closure a notice will be placed on the school website.
This year BBC Essex and Heart FM will not be announcing or publicising via websites. Parents will be notified via our new school website or the Essex County Council on the ‘Emergency School Closures’ page: http://www.essex.gov.uk/Education-Schools/Schools/Dates/Pages/Emergency-School-Closures.aspx.
Please note that when the school is open in bad weather a path will be cleared to enable you to gain access to the school but care does still need to be taken.
Snow Patrol
It’s getting to that time of year again – if you would like to volunteer your services to help Mr Docking to clear the school grounds in the event of snow, please let the office know so that we can compile a list of names. We are very grateful for any offers of help, so that school can, where possible, remain open.
ACHIEVEMENTS
STAR OF THE WEEK
Week ending December 12th
Reception: Joe Davies – brilliant singing in the Noisy Nativity
Year One: Ruby Akers – for super handwriting when writing her Autumn poem
Year Two: Summer Hilton-Keech – for sensitive responses to poems and for being BRILLIANT in ‘Prickly Hay’.
Year Three: Annie Donker – for keeping her cool and dancing really well in the Christmas play – picking up scarves and coping without a partner
Year Four: Millie Denyer – for her positive attitude to her work and the attention she pays to all activities
Year Five: David Owen – for the big improvement in his writing and being more focussed on his work
Year Six: Joseph Berrett – for his marvellous maths: excellent problem solving
EXCEPTIONAL HEADERTEACHER’S AWARD
Maddie Dudley-Scales – for always going the extra mile to help others as a buddy playleader and as an outstanding Year 6 role model
Isabella Budden – for always thinking of other people and making them smile
HEADTEACHER’S AWARD
For children who have achieved their personal best:
Reception:
Henry Wyatt – for superb independent writing
Alice Elphick – for superb independent writing
Year One:
Ted Davidson – for great improvement in writing
Louis Russell – for great improvement in writing
Year Two:
Eva Sanderson – for careful African necklace painting
Felix Phipps – for careful African necklace painting
Year Three:
Mazie Wicks – for continued outstanding effort and attitude
Orla Russell – for advanced progress and attainment across all subjects
Year Four:
Molly Hill – for consistently presenting all her work with great care, paying attention to appearance and layout
Isaac Bamford – for consistently presenting all his work with great care, paying attention to appearance and layout
Year Five:
Edan Anderson – Patmore – for all the effort he is putting into improving his reading and writing
Levi Draper – for the good progress he has made in mathematics
Year Six:
Ziggy Wicks – for excellent progress and attainment in all areas this term.
Sophie Eldrett – for fantastic progress and attainment in mathematics
IT DIDN’T GO UNNOTICED AWARD
Maya Parker and Grace Livesey – for picking up all the coats in the hall at lunchtime and hanging them up, without being asked.
THE TIDIEST CLASSROOM OF THE WEEK!
Our cleaners are judging the tidiest classroom each week. The winners are announced in assembly on a Friday. The class that has won the most times at the end of a term will be awarded an afternoon with an activity of their choice or an extra playtime.
Winners: Year 6
Week beginning –
8.9.14: Year 6
15.9.14: Year 2
22.9.14: Year 5
29.9.14: Year 3
13.10.14: Year 1
20.10.14: Year 2
3.11.14 Reception
10.11.14 Year 4
17.11.14 Year 1
24.11.14 Year 6
1.12.14 Year 4
8.12.14 Reception
15.12.14 Year 6
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
January 5th Spring term starts
REMINDERS:
Please ensure you have paid for all your children’s swimming lessons (Years 2 and 3). The cost is £4.00 per week, £52.00 per term. Please make cheques payable to Clavering Primary School. There will be no more swimming lessons until the Autumn term.
Parking
Please remember to park sensibly and be mindful of the restrictions. A few cars have been seen parking on the yellow lines. The Community Police are monitoring the situation and can get sent photographs of illegally parked vehicles.
If you have any questions at any time then please feel free to make an appointment.
We wish you all an enjoyable Christmas
Rosalind Allsop
Headteacher
