St Benedict’s C of E V A Junior School Benedict Street, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9EX Tel: 01458 831811 Fax: 01458 832261 E-mail: sch.164@educ.somerset.gov.uk ‘We aim to unlock the potential of everyone’
25th September 2012
WELCOME Firstly, on behalf of all the staff here at St Benedict’s School, may I say a very warm welcome to all of you. Through our newsletters we hope to keep you up-to-date with happenings within our school and also of any issues of importance – please take a few minutes to read each newsletter that your child brings home. We try to follow an ‘open door’ policy therefore if you have any queries or feel the need to discuss anything regarding school at anytime please contact Mrs Harris or Mrs Neale in the school office who will in turn put you in touch with the relevant member of staff. If it is a nonurgent issue an appointment would be preferable due to obvious teaching commitments. As I do not have a class commitment I try to see parents when needed. Yours sincerely
Chris Lewis Headteacher
Headteacher: Mr C W Lewis BA
Open Morning On Wednesday 26th September we are holding an open morning, from 9.30 am – 11.30 am, for anyone interested to come and have a look around our school. If you already have children in the school, you are still extremely welcome to come. You will be able to see lessons in action, which cover a wide range of activities and areas of the curriculum. The governors and Mr Lewis will be available to answer any of your questions and look forward to meeting you. We are aware that there are children living in Glastonbury who attend schools outside the Glastonbury area, so if you have any friends or relatives, do please make this opportunity known to them.
Healthy Schools As part of our Healthy school status we would ask that only fresh fruit, vegetables, dried fruit (i.e. raisins, apricots) or nuts (not salted) may be brought in to school for breaktime snack.
Inspire Workshops Your child will soon be bringing home an invitation to attend a workshop. It is important that your child has an adult to work with; that adult can be anyone closely connected with the family. It has been well documented that where parents and school work closely together progress is much improved and in previous experiences the children have been thrilled to have you in school and joining in their activities. These informal workshops will all be held in the school hall. Each one will start at 9am and last between 1 and 1½ hours. Please see the list of dates below for your child’s class workshop. Date Monday 1 October Thursday 4th October Friday 5th October Monday 8th October Thursday 11th October Friday 12th October Friday 19th October Monday 22nd October st
Class 6AE 5PR 5JB 6EC 3JF 3SC 4LW 4SR
We do hope you are able to join your child on this fun, educational occasion.
Headteacher: Mr C W Lewis BA
Harvest Service We will be holding our Harvest Service on Thursday 4th October at 1.45 p.m. in St Benedict’s Church. You are of course welcome to join us but please bear in mind that space is very limited in the church.
School Photographs The school photographer will be in school on Monday 15th October to take individual and family photographs. Please let us know if you do not wish to have your child’s photograph.
This year we would like the children to bring in small donations of money to support our link to a poor community in Ethiopia. Swimming Thank you to all those parents who have already paid for swimming. Please could any outstanding permission slips be brought in to the school reception as soon as possible. Please note that we are happy to take payment in instalments to suit you i.e. termly/weekly. Jewellery It appears that several children are wearing necklaces, bangles and dangly earrings to school. In the interest of the children’s safety we would ask that only stud earrings be worn to school and that children refrain from wearing any other form of jewellery.
Morrisons LET’S GROW From now until 28th October 2012 you will be able to collect Morrisons Let's Grow reward vouchers when you shop at Morrisons. You’ll receive one voucher for every £10 you spend in store. Please bring the vouchers in to school so that we can redeem them for all kinds of gardening equipment which will be used to enhance our fantastic conservation area and courtyard gardens, and generally keep them up together. Remember the more vouchers you collect, the more equipment we will be able to get, so don’t delay, start collecting today.
Please could earrings be removed altogether on swimming days and P.E.days. Thank you for your co-operation .
Uniform issues I have noticed that some children are wearing training shoes instead of black leather – these are not part of our school uniform. I would ask parents to replace worn out shoes as soon as possible.
Headteacher: Mr C W Lewis BA
‘BLITZ ON NITS’ I am aware that head lice is quite an issue already. A lot of children seem to have been affected recently. Therefore I propose a “blitz” on head lice to try to eliminate the problem. This will mean that every child in our school needs to be checked along with their brothers, sisters and anyone else with whom they may have contact. If everyone co-operates then we stand a chance of beating the infestation. The preferred method of treatment now is the wet combing method. The 5 – step detection process involves: 1. Wash the hair well and towel dry. It should be damp, but not dripping wet. 2. Comb the hair with an ordinary comb to remove the tangles. 3. Using a detection comb (nit comb), start with the teeth of the comb touching the skin of the scalp at the top of the head. Comb slowly towards the end of the hair, keeping the teeth of the comb in contact with the scalp for as long as possible. Look carefully at the teeth of the comb in good light. Wiping the comb on a tissue will help to see if any lice have been removed. 4. Repeat this process for 10 – 15 minutes, covering the scalp and hair in all directions. 5. Keep checking the comb. If there are head lice, you will find one or more lice on the teeth of the comb or on the tissue. I have recently been informed of a much improved nit comb. The ‘Nittygritty’ is a stainless steel nit comb with grooved teeth, designed to remove the eggs as well as the lice. Further details may be found at local pharmacies or online at www.nittygritty.co.uk. Road Safety Road Safety Week takes place 19th-25th November and to tie in with this year’s theme of ‘slower speeds = happy people’ I would like to raise your awareness of safety concerns relevant to our school. A child is hurt or killed every 18 minutes on UK roads. We can all play a part in preventing child road deaths and injuries and in doing so make our community a safer, more family-friendly place by simply doing the following: Slowing down and looking out for children when driving near schools and homes - SLOW DOWN TO 20MPH – it’s a life-saver because it gives you a good chance of stopping in time in an emergency. PARK CLEAR OF THE SCHOOL GATES. Do not park on the zig-zags or double yellow lines at the front of the school. It is vitally important that this area around the front of school is kept clear so that children and parents are able to see traffic coming in order to cross safely. CHOOSE THE SAFEST ROUTE – walk on the pavement - do not take a short cut through the car park at the rear of the school as cars are often manoeuvring in and out of spaces.
Headteacher: Mr C W Lewis BA
The Abbey Parishes
HARVEST FUN Food & games (including a “beetle drive”) Saturday 6th October 7 – 9 p.m. In St Benedict’s School Hall Cost of the evening (including food) = £5 (children free) Please bring your own drinks and a pencil.
Please call in to the school office to order your ticket. Attendance We want to ensure that your child receives a full time education which maximises opportunities for him or her to reach their full potential – this can only be achieved if your child attends regularly and punctually. The table below shows how varying degrees of attendance can affect your child’s future progression:
Above 97%: Less than 6 days absence a year Excellent attendance! These young people will almost certainly get the best grades they can, leading to better prospects for the future. Pupils will also get into a habit of attending school which will help in the future. 95%: 10 days absence a year These pupils are likely to achieve good grades and form a habit of attending school regularly. Pupils who take a 2 week holiday every year can only achieve 95% attendance. 90%: 19 days absence a year Young people in this group are missing a month of school per year; it will be difficult for them to achieve their best. 85%: 29 days absence a year Young people in this group are missing six weeks of school per year; it will be very difficult for them to keep up with work and they are unlikely to do their best. 80%: 38 days absence a year The Government classes Young People in this group as “Persistent Absentees”, and it will be almost impossible to keep up with work. Parents of young people in this group could also face the possibility of legal action being taken by the Local Authority. Through attendance monitoring we not only pick up on problem areas but we like to acknowledge positive behaviour too, this is done in the form of termly awards for children with 100% attendance, weekly certificates for ‘best class’ and of course a winning place on the ‘The Attendance Chart’.
Headteacher: Mr C W Lewis BA
Dates for your diary Date Wednesday 26th September Thursday 27th September Monday 1st October Thursday 4th October Thursday 4th October Friday 5th October Monday 8th October Thursday 11th October Friday 12th October Monday 15th October
Time 9.30 – 11.30 a.m. 6 p.m.
Class
9 a.m. 9 a.m. 1.45 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 a.m. 9 a.m. 9 a.m. a.m.
6AE 5PR All 5JB 6EC 3JF 3SC All
Friday 19th October Monday 22nd October Tuesday 23rd October Thursday 25th October
9 a.m. 9 a.m. 8.45 a.m. 9 a.m.
4LW 4SR Yr 6 Yr 5
Event OPEN DAY Parents & Friends AGM & ordinary meeting in school. Inspire Workshop Inspire Workshop Harvest Service in St Benedict’s Church Inspire Workshop Inspire Workshop Inspire Workshop Inspire Workshop School photographer to take individual & family photos. Inspire Workshop Inspire Workshop Year 6 to Taunton cinema to see “Hugo” Year 5 to Yeovilton Fleet Air Arm Museum
Half Term Holiday
Monday 29th October – Friday 2nd November 2012.
October Inset Day
(school closed to children)
Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th
November 2012
November
Inset Day
Headteacher: Mr 1Cst W Lewis BA (school closed to children) Monday November