Headteacher Newsletter: Issue 5       13.11.15

I hope you all had an enjoyable half term. I would like to welcome Daniel Liddle and his family to the school. Daniel started in Year 2 last week.

Children in Need – Pyjama Day – Friday 13^th November.

This year the School Council voted on how we would raise money for Children in Need. Their ideas were: Mad Hair Day, wear PJ’s or Dress as a Super Hero. So this year all the pupils and adults wore their PJ’s to school! Everyone looked very colourful and cosy.

School Council visit the Christian Centre for Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day – Wednesday November 11^th the School Council accompanied by Mrs Perry, Mrs Abusham and Mrs Prentice represented the school at the village Remembrance Day service at the Christian Centre. Luke, Martha , Molly Hill and Ellie read out the names of the 24 young men who died in the First World War from Clavering. At school, 1 minute silence was held in every class at 11 o’clock.

Cross Country – Year 3, 4, 5 and 6

On Wednesday 4^th November all of KS2 went to Joyce Frankland Academy to take part in the annual cross country competition. Clavering ran very well and have 37 children through to the next round on the 18^th November. Thank you to all the parent helpers.

Years 3 and 4 girls football

The girls from years 3 and 4 enjoyed a wonderful morning of football at Joyce Frankland Academy on Wednesday. They were coached in football skills before an enthusiastic and competitive tournament. The girls did the school proud and fun was had by all.

Reception Class Plea – any old cards to donate?

If anyone has any old birthday, anniversary, Christmas or any other cards they would be happy to donate to Reception class we would be very grateful. This is to help with the children’s fine motor skills – we have many who find cutting difficult and cutting out pictures from card would be more purposeful and easier than paper. Thank you.

Waitrose Tokens for Clavering Primary School – raising funds for our outside area

Waitrose supermarket is supporting our efforts to raise funds for the school’s outdoor area. If you are shopping in Waitrose, Saffron Walden, please support us by claiming your green token and putting it in the fundraising box for Clavering Primary School. Please pass on this great fundraising news to friends and family – we have until the end of November to raise as much as possible.

Plants

As some of you may have noticed, work has started on the school gardens. At the far end of the playing field, backing on to gardens in Skeins Way, the heap of rubble has gone, the ground has been cleared and a hedge put in. Bringing together ideas from the whole school community, we are now ready to put in place the first couple of projects. This will be a quiet place of reflection with benches at the top, leading into a Reading Circle – a new outdoor classroom. This will be planted up with trees, kindly donated from The Tree Council, during National Tree Planting Week at the end of November.

Can you help us? We need the following plants for the flowerbeds. If you have any spare, could you pot them up bring them into school, please.

Astrantia major, Dicentra spectabilis (Bleeding Heart), Aquilegia, Anemone x hybria ‘Honorine Jobert’ (white), Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’, Ajuga reptans (bugle), Persicaria bistorta ‘Superba’ (common bistort), Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’, Geum ‘Mrs Bradshaw’, Crocosmia ‘Star of East’, Heuchera (purple), Lychnis Coronaria (either white or pink).

Any help will be gratefully received. Thank you.

Sonja Phipps

School Admissions – Primary and Secondary – Apply Now!!

To apply quickly and easily for primary and secondary school places go online to www.essex.gov.uk/admissions

For primary applications – (child born between 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012) apply between 9 November 2015 to 15 January 2016

An opportunity to raise funds for Clavering Primary School when shopping online:

To raise funds for Clavering Primary School before shopping online –

• please click on easyfundraising.org.uk

• then click on Friends of Clavering Primary School.

Every purchase through many websites (including Amazon and John Lewis) raises a percentage for the school

 ACHIEVEMENTS

STAR OF THE WEEK

Week ending November 6^th

Reception        Oskar Phipps – showing the class how to play ‘Counting Tennis’

Year One         Milana Kacar – for fantastic listening in class

Year Two         Daniel Liddle – for settling in very well into his new school

Year Three      Rose Denyer – for impressive mental maths calculating dates in history

Year Four         Petra Joseph – for always presenting her work with great care and thought

Year Five         Hannah Clark – for learning her times tables well and trying to apply them

Year Six           Hollie Buckley – for super writing in both English and Science work this week

IT DIDN’T GO UNNOTICED’ AWARD

12.11.15         Lilly Mitchell for helping the Midday Assistants and Playleaders

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:

Week beginning

14.9.15:           Year 5

21.9.15:           Year 2

28.9.15:           Year R

5.10.15:           Year 5

12.10.15:         Year 6

19.10.15:         Year 6

2.11.15:           Year 4

 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

13^th November             Sharing Assembly – an invitation for Year 6 parents

17^th November             Bag2School

20^th November             Sharing Assembly – an invitation for Year 3 parents

27^th November             Sharing Assembly – an invitation for Year 2 parents

2^nd December               Parent Consultations 3.30 – 5.30pm

3^rd December                Parent Consultations 5 – 7pm

4^th December                Christmas Fayre

8^th December                Tray Day – 3.15 – 4.00 pm

9^th December                KS2 Dress Rehearsal am, KS1 Dress Rehearsal pm.

10th December               Reception Nativity am, KS1 performance pm, KS2 performance Eve

14^th December              Christmas Shopping Morning

16^th December              Christmas Lunch

16^th December              Cross Country event am.

18^th December              End of term

4^th January                   Spring Term begins

REMINDERS:

• A gentle reminder, please could you ensure that cheques sent into school for payment of school trips, swimming etc are separate from each other and from dinner monies. This is due to separate bank and budget accounts. All money should be sent into school via your child’s class in an envelope stating their name, class and amount enclosed. Thank you.
• Please ensure children bring in coats now that the weather is getting colder

• Swimming for this term is for year 2 and 3 on Mondays.  Please make sure your payments are up to date, the cost is £5.00 per week, £65.00 per term. Please make cheques payable to Clavering Primary School.
• Please note during periods of transition eg primary to secondary, pupils should not be taken out of school to look around schools. Secondary school tours during the school day are meant for parents only. Taster days or entrance tests are an exception to this. If you have any questions at any time then please feel free to make an appointment

• REMINDER – Healthy and Safety notice regarding the wearing of earrings during PE

We have been informed by Essex that The Primary Code states that all jewellery is to be removed for PE lessons and taping over earrings is not allowed.  This means that if pupils cannot take their earrings out they will have to sit out of PE until a time that they can be removed.  Schools have to comply with this guidance.

If your child is about to have their ears pierced it is advisable for it to take place over the summer so that the earrings can be removed for PE ready for the start of the Autumn term.

Have a good weekend

Rosalind Allsop

Headteacher