Headteacher Newsletter Issue 12
FORTNIGHTLY NEWSLETTER ISSUE 12: 13.3.26
Hobbies Week
We have had a great week this week with our visiting speakers sharing their hobbies with the children. They have heard about/experienced – yoga, dog walking, radios, water conservation, fishing, rally driving, showing and breeding shire horses, gardening/allotments and radio-controlled flying. A huge thank you to all our visitors for taking the time to prepare and visit us and thank you to Holli Thomas for helping me organise the event.
Tag Rugby years 3 and 4
Children from year 3 & 4 attended the Tag Rugby final at Carver Barracks last Wednesday. The children showed fantastic playing skills, team work and managed to proceed to the final eight. After competing in the top half of the groups, we managed to secure sixth pace out of 16 teams. Mr Anderson helped referee this event and followed up with an email to the school stating “Just a note to say that I thought the commitment and performances from the kids today was fantastic. Huge effort by them all with great listening and skills on show. Been refereeing the kid’s rugby for school for many years and this bunch showed the best togetherness and performance I have seen to date.” Thank you to Mr Anderson for supporting this event and to Mr Snelling for training the team in preparation for these matches.
Visiting Magistrate for Year 6
Last week, Class 6 were very fortunate to have a visit from the local Magistrate, Elaine Terry. Elaine explained about her role as a magistrate and the differences between the two main courts in England: Magistrate and Crown. The children had to decide which kind of crimes go to a Magistrate Court and which would end up in the Crown. The children listened carefully, asked sensible questions and contributed to discussions. The class found out many interesting facts and how a criminal record can affect your future – university, holidays, job prospects and more.
World Book Day
We had another amazing World Book Day at Clavering Primary School! The children came to school looking fantastic in their costumes and non-uniform, sharing their favourite books with their peers along with completing activities. Children also had the opportunity to purchase pre-loved books from the book sale – A HUGE thank you to Mrs Green for organising this and the volunteers who came in to help. Thanks to your generosity, we raised almost £300 – this money will go towards topic books and books for class libraries – to continue to foster the love of reading across school.
Public Speaking Event
Four children in Class 4 recently represented the school at a public speaking event held at Katherine Semar School. The children wrote and delivered their own speech about endangered animals, choosing to focus on orangutans.
They spent time researching the topic carefully and worked hard to rehearse and refine their speeches, giving up a considerable amount of their own time to prepare. On the day, they delivered their presentation with great confidence and spoke clearly and passionately about the importance of protecting orangutans. They also answered a range of questions from the audience, demonstrating the depth of their research and understanding.
We are incredibly proud of their effort and commitment in speaking in front of others. They were a real credit to the school and should feel very proud of themselves.
SEN Coffee Morning
On Tuesday, our Vice Chair of Governors, Julia Mackintosh, Ms Crosby and Lily from MHST hosted a coffee morning for parents of children with SEN. This was an opportunity for parents to discuss and share ideas and ask for support. If you are a parent of a child with SEN, please look out for the next coffee morning in the Summer term.
Well done Clavering from The National Gallery
As always, the children have been producing some wonderful work in art. We have been honoured to welcome a guest judge to look at this term’s Clavering Art Prize entries; members of the art education team from the National Gallery in London reviewed the submissions and we have received the following response:
Good Afternoon!
Our expert artist educators have all absolutely LOVED looking at all the fantastic artwork from all the entries from Clavering.
Below is the response from Daisy – one of our wonderful art educators here at The National Gallery:
“What a fantastic collection of artwork and young artists! I have loved looking at your range of projects and beautiful responses.
Year 6 – Bella and Yan’s David Hockney drawings show great use of tone and detail – well done!
Year 5 – Issac, Willa and Alfie’s wave paintings are lovely – what great use of colour. I am particularly impressed by Willa’s attention to detail.
The Year 4 William Morris-inspired prints are brilliant, showing amazing pattern-making skills. Great work!
Year 3 – Griff, Sydni and Freddie have done a fantastic job at working in the styles of Van Gogh and Cezanne; I really like Griff’s swirly skies and dotted hills.
The Year 2 shadow photography – wow! Ivy’s shadow of a fan is very cool, and Arthur’s shadow ship is amazing! Bramwell’s shadow of a London skyline really impressed me, how fun and inventive!
Year 1 – Mollie and Charlotte’s Kandinsky circles are fantastic; they show great colour knowledge and painting skills at such a young age.
And last, but not least, Zephy and Alexi’s brilliant Gurunsi house patterns are fun, colourful and show real talent (Reception).
I am so impressed by everyone’s talent and artistry – you are real artists!
My two favourite artworks have to be Willa’s wave painting and Bramwell’s shadow of a London skyline.”
Certificates will be awarded by Mrs Rudkin at assembly next week for the winning entries. Well done to everyone for their amazing work, the children should all be very proud of the art they have produced, whether they have won a certificate or not.
Parking along the private road Vassars Field – IMPORTANT INFORMATION FORM VASSARS FIELD MANAGEMENT COMPANY
The Vassars Field Management Company met with the school last week and would like us to share the information below so that we can all work together to make school drop and pick up times safer for the children –
- The access road and parking areas are private roads owned by Vassars Field Management Company and not the school. We respectfully therefore ask for parents to adhere to the rules put in place to protect the children being dropped off.
- For all parking spaces on the access road, cars need to park FACING Stortford Road
- There are 38 spaces in total including the access road and car park. No cars are to be parked on double yellow lines, the pavements or elsewhere on the private road
- We request cars are parked for no longer than 20 minutes
- The speed limit on the access and loop roads is both 10mph to ensure the safety of the children
- Currently the residents of Vassar Field have found that at times a further 20 cars are parked in addition to the 38 spaces on double yellow lines and pavements. The situation will be monitored until the end of February to see if these practices stop. If, however, no improvement is noted, the residents will have no option than to instruct the services of a parking enforcement company. Please note if this is necessary the parking fines are £100
Please see below a message from the Local Authority regarding seasonal illnesses.
“As we move further into the term, we want to remind all settings of the key guidance available to help manage seasonal illnesses and keep pupils and staff well. “
- Education Hub Blog: Reducing the spread of illness this winter: Seven steps to healthier schools and higher school attendance – a helpful blog for parents and staff.
- NHS Guidance for Parents: Is my child too ill for school? – a useful resource to help parents decide when children should stay at home.
- Preventing and Controlling Infections Guidance: Includes advice on vaccination, ventilation, and good respiratory hygiene.
- A–Z of managing Infectious Diseases: Practical guidance on managing specific illnesses.
Drop off times and key messages for class teachers
If you would like a message to be given to your child’s class teacher, before school, then please catch the person on duty by the gate leading on to the playground. It is usually myself. These messages will be given to the class teacher before school.
Class teachers cannot meet with parents during this time as they are with the children in their classrooms. Appointments or telephone calls can be made upon request at a mutually convenient time.
Thank you for your support with this.
School Absences – sickness and holidays
Following Local Authority guidance, we will be contacting families on a daily basis, even if we have been told there is sickness. Following the same guidance, if it is believed that the family are actually on holiday and not sick then this will need to be actioned as an unauthorised absence. Fines may follow.
Free School Meals Funding
You can register for Free Schools Meals Funding if you meet the criteria below.
If you have a child in Key Stage One and are receiving the free meal, which is part of the universal offer, you could be missing out on this additional funding for the school, which will support your child with their learning, if you meet the criteria below. You have to apply for this funding. If you think you meet the criteria below then please follow the guidance below and contact the school office.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals
Mobile Phones
This is a gentle reminder not to use mobile phones whilst on the school site. This is part of our safeguarding policy for all our children.
Ooo000ooO
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
24th February Friends of Clavering Pancake event
26th February Sharing Assembly – Year 4 parents invited
27th February Public Speaking year 4 at Great Chesterford
5th March World Book Day
W/B 9.3.26 Parent Forum Hobbies Week
10th March Inclusion Coffee Morning
12th March Sharing Assembly – Year 2 parents invited
16th March Tray Day
19th March Governor Focus Morning
19th March FOC School Disco
24th March Choral Festival
25th and 26th March Parent Evenings
27th March End of term
13th April INSET Day
14th April Summer Term begins
ACHIEVEMENTS
STAR OF THE WEEK
Week ending 27th February
Reception Fred – for working hard and being very honest – two of our Golden Rules
Year One Hetty – for coming in to school so sensibly and being ready to learn
Year Two Zara – for trying hard to be an independent learner and fantastic work on odd and even numbers in Maths
Year Three Sydni – for great resilience and effort in all her learning
Year Four Alice – for delivering your group speech with brilliant confidence and clear expression
Year Five Willa – for consistently following our class rules and being a role model to others
Year Six Amelia C – for fantastic fractions and brilliant contributions in English
STAR OF THE WEEK
Week ending 6th March
Reception Emily – for being an extremely kind friend
Year One George – for writing a detailed leaflet full of top tips/advice and always trying the challenge activity
Year Two Artie – for taking on advice to improve his work and amazing effort with sewing this week
Year Three Bella – for fantastic effort in writing her non-chronological report
Year Four Jude – for working hard on his presentation and for writing a thoughtful and creative story in English this week
Year Five Bodhi – for putting so much effort in his writing and Maths this week and for always being a role model to his peers. You are a pleasure to teach Bodhi
Year Six Cheyanna – for always working hard in English with Ms Crosby
If you have any questions at any time, then please feel free to make an appointment.
Have a great weekend.
Rosalind Allsop
Headteacher
