December 2011 School Newsletter

Clarence Road,Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B74 4LD Telephone: 0121 308 5392 Fax: 0121 308 5061

Monday 5th December 2011 DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES Tue 6th Dec Wed 7th Dec

Thur 8th Dec Fri 9th Dec

Tue 13th Dec Wed 14th Dec Thur 15th Dec

Fri 16th Dec Thur 5th Jan Tue 10th Jan Wed 11th Jan Thur 12th Jan Fri 13th Jan Mon 16th Jan Tues 17th Jan Wed 18th Jan Thur 19th Jan Fri 20th Jan Tue 24th Jan Thur 26th Jan Fri 27th Jan

Parent Council - 2.00pm German Club visiting the German Market Nativity – Year 2 Assembly – KS1 hall, Barnardo and Gandhi – 9.30 am Mandela and Pankhurst – 2.30 pm Lichfield Cathedral Carol Concert PTFA Meeting – 7.30 pm Nativity – Year 2 Assembly – KS1 hall, Mandela & Pankhurst – 9.30 am Barnardo & Gandhi – 2.30 pm PTFA Christmas Disco Christmas Lunch for Parents – Barnardo 11.30am and Gandhi 1.00pm Christmas Lunch for Parents – Mandela 11.30am and Pankhurst 1.00pm 100% Attendance Assembly – KS1 hall Mandela and Pankhurst – 2.00 pm, Barnardo and Gandhi - 3.00 pm Our 3rd Year BA Students finish their practice today, good luck girls Christmas Party and visit by Father Christmas BREAK UP Pupils return to school PTFA Meeting – 7.30 pm Year 2 Parents‟ Meeting – SATs 6.45 pm KS1 hall 2.00 pm Parent Council Years 4, 5 and 6 visit to the Pantomime, Sleeping Beauty Foxes‟ MATHS INSPIRE– 9.00 am to 11.00 am Otters‟ MATHS INSPIRE 1.15 pm to 3.15 pm KS1 and Year 3 visit the Pantomime, Cinderella Zumba Fund raising event in KS1 hall 7pm Swallows‟ Class Assembly - 2.30 pm – KS1 hall Year 2/3/4 Parents‟ Meeting - Numeracy 6.45 pm KS1 hall Swallows‟ Class Assembly - 2.30 pm – KS1 hall “Chinese New Year” Lunch Swifts‟ Class Assembly - 2.30 pm - KS1 hall KS2 Parent Meeting - Internet Safety 6.45 pm - KS1 hall Swifts‟ Class Assembly - 2.30 pm - KS1 hall

PARKING

Thank You

We have had several reports of parents blocking the drives of neighbouring residents. Can we please remind you to park courteously at the start and the end of the day.

Our Police Community Support Officers often monitor the parking outside school and will issue parking tickets to parents who are parking on the single yellow line or zig-zag lines.

A big thank you to all of our children for their super behaviour at this years Christingle Services.

Thanks go to those parents who volunteered to walk with us to the church and to those who attended the services. We hope you enjoyed lighting your Christingles at home.

Thank you for support.

NATIVITIES

Tickets for this year’s Nativities are currently being issued and the children in Year Two are looking forward to performing to packed houses.

Tickets are still available.

If you have been able to secure a ticket for the performance we look forward to seeing you and may we please remind you that admission is strictly by ticket only for Health and Safety purposes.

Book Fair

Thank you to everyone who supported the above event. We made the fantastic sum of £690 from the Book Fair which will buy books for classrooms

.

PANTOMIMES As you know the children are visiting Birmingham Hippodrome to see Cinderella on 17th January (KS1 & Yr 3) and The Crescent Theatre to see Sleeping Beauty on 13th January (Yrs 4,5,6). Thank you to all those parents who sent their contributions into school promptly.

We really do appreciate it. Have you returned your child’s consent form and payment?

Remember children will not be able to attend if the consent form is not returned.

Shop Online and Raise Money!

Have you heard about easyfundraising yet? It’s the easiest way to help raise money for Hill West Primary School! If you already shop online with retailers such as Amazon, Argos, John Lewis, Comet, iTunes, eBay or HMV, then we need you to sign up for free to raise money while you shop!

So how does it work?

You shop directly with the retailer as you would normally, but if you sign up to http:// www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/hillwestps for free and use the links on the easyfundraising site to take you to the retailer, then a percentage of whatever you spend comes directly to us at no extra cost to yourself.

How much can you raise?

Spend £100 with M&S online or Amazon and you raise £2.50 for us. £100 with WH Smith puts £2.00 in our pocket and so on. There's over 2,000 retailers on their site, and some of the donations can be as much as 15% of your purchase.

Save money too! easyfundraising is FREE to use plus you'll get access to hundreds of exclusive discounts and voucher codes, so not only will you be helping us, you’ll be saving money yourself.

We've raised over £20 with easyfundraising so far but we need your help to keep donations coming in. Sign up at http:// www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/hillwestps and start making a difference...simply by shopping.

Thanks!

MILK AND DINNER MONEY FOR NEXT HALF TERM Dinner Money for next half term will be £51.30 up to 10th February or £9.50 per week. You will receive a note of any credits owed to you before we break up for Christmas.

Milk money will be £3.78 up to 10th February.

CHILDREN IN NEED SINCERE THANKS IF YOU MADE A CONTRIBUTION THIS YEAR TO OUR CHILDREN IN NEED APPEAL. WE RAISED A TOTAL OF £260.75

BAGS AND COATS For Health and Safety reasons we would kindly ask that you please ensure that children’s school bags are kept to a reasonable size (the smaller the better). The amount of baggage in our cloakrooms can present a risk and we believe that the smaller the children’s school bags, the more likely it is that bags and coats will remain on the coat hooks.

The Four Oaks Cluster Choir Sunday 11th December 4pm 7.30pm The Four Oaks Cluster Choir are involved in two festive concerts at Sutton Town Hall and these concerts will include the Sutton Coldfield Orchestra and Sutton Musical Theatre Company.

Tickets are priced £9.00, £6.00 concessions or £3.00 children (children under 3 free) Come and see the Cluster Choir performing in front of a full, live orchestra.

If you would like to volunteer to help you wouldn‟t need a ticket!

Please contact: www.fouroaksclusterchoir.weebly.com

POPPY APPEAL Thank you very much for your contributions to our Poppy Day collection. Our contribution has been gratefully received by the Royal British Legion.

100% ATTENDANCE ASSEMBLY We are celebrating pupil attendance in assembly on Thursday 15th December at 2.00 pm for Mandela and Pankhurst and 3.00 pm for Barnardo and Gandhi. During this celebration we will award all those children with a 100% attendance record this term with a certificate. Letters of invitation will be sent out shortly.

BCU TEACHER TRAINEES

Goodbye It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Mrs Duckworth who is leaving us at the end of term.

We would like to thank Jenna Blair-Folland (Otters), Jade Tonks (Badgers) and Tara Calder (Kingfishers) for all their hard work this term. They leave at the end of term and return to University.

We wish them the very best of luck in their future careers.

Mrs Duckworth has been at Hill West for many years and will be missed by staff and pupils alike.

We would like to wish her lots of future happiness and success.

Inclusion Focus - Autism Autism is a lifelong developmental disability affecting the way a person communicates with, and relates to, other people and how they make sense of the world around them. It is a spectrum condition meaning that while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Every pupil with a diagnosis of autism will be different. Some will be quiet, others will be noisy and boisterous, but because all children with autism experience some difficulty with social interaction and communication they can find it hard to learn how to play and get on with others. They cannot fully understand gestures, facial expressions or tone of voice, and can find it hard to „fit inâ€&#x;, often having problems in the classroom and playground.

Because of this lack of understanding children with autism can find the world around them very overwhelming. People with autism think and learn differently and require a different approach and potentially a different application of discipline. Pupils with autism can find it difficult to express their emotions when anxious, leading to other emotions such as anger and frustration in an outburst of unwanted behaviour. It is helpful to look at what has triggered the reaction and increase their understanding of these circumstances. Challenging acts are often related to anxiety because of an inability to understand the behaviour and motives of other people around them. Attention seeking behaviour is often about feeling left out as they have not been able to follow the subtleties of everyday social interactions and jokes going on around them. Whilst not excusing poor behaviour, it is important to understand that punishing a pupil with autism is often counter-productive as their behaviour difficulties usually stem from a lack of real understanding.

PTFA CHRISTMAS DISCO FRIDAY 9TH DECEMBER

CHRISTMAS LUNCHES Thank you for the overwhelming response to our invitation to Christmas Lunch. Tickets will be issued shortly.

If you are joining us on 13th or 14th December for lunch then please refer to your individual tickets for time of arrival.

The PTFA Christmas Disco is on Friday 9th December.

For KS1 and Nursery children the disco will run from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm in the KS2 hall. For KS2 children the disco will start at 7.30 pm and finish at 9.00 pm Children of all ages are welcome to attend the KS2 Disco at 7.30 pm.

All children must be accompanied by an adult at all times please.

Tickets on sale in KS1 entrance 3.00-4.30 on 7th December Adults £2.00, Children £1.00 Family £5.00

PARTY AFTERNOON FRIDAY 16TH DECEMBER Children should come to school on Friday 16th December in their party clothes. By special appointment Father Christmas will be making a guest appearance.

SCHOOL WILL CLOSE TO CHILDREN AT 3.20 PM FOR KS1 AND 3.30 PM FOR KS2

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR The staff would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our families a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year

Computer Xplorers club There will be an additional session of the club for those children who missed out owing to the industrial action which took place on Wednesday 30th November.

This session is on Wednesday 14th December at the usual time and place.

If your child can not attend please let us know.

Thankyou

RECEPTION 2012 APPLICATIONS Parents who have a child who was born between 01.9.07 to 31.08.08 need to make an application for their child to start Reception Class in September 2012 no later than Monday 16th January 2012.

The quickest and easiest way is to make an application online at: www.birmingham.gov.uk/schooladmissions Or by contacting School Admissions and Pupil Placements Service on 0121 675 0555

LETTERS AND PAYMENTS FOR SCHOOL Office Opening Times - 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday Please note that the office staff will be kindly asking you to hand in all payments and paperwork through your child to the class teacher and will no longer be accepting these through the office in the morning.

As previously requested all correspondence and monies should be placed in a named envelope clearly stating what it is for and given to the class teacher by your child.

If you have a query that can only be answered by the Administration Team then please come to the office. It is important that the Administration Team are not tied up accepting envelopes when they need to be ensuring that late children are correctly registered and absences recorded for fire safety purposes.

NEW: Four Oaks Cluster Training Choir This is a brand new choir starting in January and is open to Years 2, 3 and 4 across the Cluster. It is an exciting opportunity to train up younger children in the Cluster for the main choir, which is open to people in Year 5 upwards. We have had quite a bit of interest so far, but still need more people. If you haven't had a chance to read the letter sent home yet, and would like to enrol your child, please contact Richard Jeffries. I know there are lots of keen and talented singers in many schools - don't miss out!

Email: richmjeffries@googlemail.com or visit the main choir's website for more details: www.fouroaksclusterchoir.weebly.com. The new choir will meet on Fridays from 5.15-6.15pm at The Arthur Terry School.

Four Oaks Cluster Orchestra This will be re-launching in January on Fridays at The Arthur terry School from 4pm-5.15pm.

This is a great opportunity for anyone learning an instrument to get to grips with ensemble playing. You will find that their skills will massively improve over the weeks and months!

Please contact me if your child used to be in the orchestra, or would like to start for the first time. Pupils must have been playing for at least one year. Contact Richard Jeffries for details.

Thank you John , the Crossing Warden, would like to thank everyone for their kind words of condolence following his recent bereavement.

It was much appreciated at such a sad time.

School Meals and Packed Lunches Just a quick reminder that children may only swap from school meals to packed lunches at the beginning of term.

Please advise the school office in writing if this is your intention.

Many thanks

Moodle Hill West Primary School are now on Twitter.

Please follow us and feel free to respond to our weekly „Tweet‟.

All children should now be accessing one piece of weekly homework on-line through our virtual learning environment. If you are experiencing any difficult with this please let your child’s class teacher know.

LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL On the 7th of December the Hill West Singers will take part in the annual Carol Concert at Lichfield Cathedral with other pupils from the Four Oaks Cluster. The night will be one to remember and I would like to wish our children good luck for what will no doubt be a magnificent performance.