July 2011 School Newsletter

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

Friday 1st July 2011 HAPPY SUMMER HOLIDAYS We would like to wish our children and parents a very happy summer holiday. We look forward to seeing you all again in September

DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES Monday 4th July Tuesday 5th July Wednesday 6th July

Thursday 7th July Friday 8th July

Sunday 10th July Monday 11th July Tuesday 12th July Wednesday 13th July Thursday 14th July Friday 15th July Monday 18th July Tuesday 19th July

Cluster Day for KS1 Sports Day (weather permitting) Junior Rotary Award Evening Year 6 induction day at secondary school Activity Afternoon for New Reception Transition Parents Evening with Miss Marsh KS1 Hall Reception visiting Twycross Zoo today Cluster Day for KS2 Reports available to Parents on Moodle Mufti Day - Sweets & Bottles for Summer Fayre Activity afternoon for New Reception PTFA Quiz Night PTFA Summer Fayre 11:30am-2:30pm KS1 and KS2 ‘Drop In’ Parents’ Consultation 5:00pm-7:00pm Paper copies of reports available in KS2 from 3:30pm-4:00pm Reserve Sports Day PTFA Meeting 7:30pm Yr 6 Leaver’s Production 9:30am KS1 Hall Y6 Leavers Production - 7:00 pm KS1 Hall Activity morning with lunch for Reception Meet Your New Teacher Y6 Leavers Lunch - 1.00 pm Yr 6 Graduation Ceremony 7:00pm KS1 Hall KS2 Awards Ceremony - 9.00 am - KS1 hall followed by 100% attendance awards KS1 Awards Ceremony - 2.30 pm KS1 hall followed by

100% attendance awards Thursday 21st July Friday 22nd July

Y6 Graduation Ceremony - 7.00 pm - KS1 hall Year 6 out at La Tasca Restaurant this afternoon PARTY AFTERNOON & BREAK UP FOR SUMMER

LOST PROPERTY On the last Friday of term all lost property will be displayed outside on the parents’ seating area. If you know that your child has mislaid an item of clothing could I kindly ask you to come along and look through.

Unfortunately it is impossible for us to keep lost property over the holiday and any remaining items will be disposed of.

LATE CHILDREN Could we ask that all parents report KS1 and KS2 children who are late to the school office and not just take them to their classrooms.

This is so we can ensure all our fire and attendance registers are up to date.

Thank you to those parents who already do so.

It is with sadness that we say goodbye to:

Miss Sarah Brown, Squirrels Class Teacher who has secured a teaching post nearer to home.

Mrs Fiona Barr, Art Specialist and PPA Teacher who has been appointed as a Full Time Year 6 Teacher at Banners Gate School. Mrs Barr has worked at Hill West for many, many years and will be sorely missed.

Miss Robyn Young. Clerical Assistant who is leaving to begin her PGCE at Birmingham University.

We wish them all well for the future and thank them for their hard work and dedication during the time they spent at Hill West.

LOCAL MUSIC EVENTS ‘An Evening with Gordon Giltrap’ an accomplished acoustic guitarist playing a range of pop, rock, blues, folk and classical. On Saturday 2nd July at 7:30pm. Tickets are £10.00 ‘An Evening with the Brumbeat Beatles’ - a local Beatles tribute band on Saturday 16th July at 7:30pm. Tickets are £6.00 Both events will take place at the Bishop Walsh School, and tickets are available from Catherine Murphy: catherine_murphy93@hotmail.co.uk Or telephone 0121 354 5379.

MUFTI DAY - FRIDAY 8th JULY Children can wear their own clothes to school on Friday 8th July in exchange for the following: KS1: Bottles (wine, bubble bath, soft drinks) KS2: Sweets and chocolates All items will be used as prizes for the Tombola for our upcoming Summer Fayre on Sunday 10th July.

Thank you in advance for your support!

WOODPECKERS Places in Woodpeckers for the new school year are very limited and if you think you may need to use the club you MUST go into Woodpeckers and see Mrs Curtis as soon as possible so they can confirm your places. We are already fully booked for some sessions as our capacity is limited to 35 children. We would also like to draw your attention to the fee increase for Woodpeckers and Wagtails which is as follows: Wagtails Woodpeckers 7:30am—8:45am £3.00 7:30m - 8:45am £3.00 3:20pm -4:30pm £3.00 3:30pm - 4:30pm £3.00 3:20pm -6:00pm £6.00 3:30pm - 6:00pm £3.00 Registration fees remain the same. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Curtis (Woodpeckers) or Miss Claire Jones (Wagtails.)

FOUR OAKS CLUSTER CHOIR The Four Oaks Cluster Choir is a real success both locally and nationally. They have recently visited all the school in the Cluster and we were amazed by the quality and talent of the performance. If your child is interested in joining the choir Mrs Balla in the Admin Office has a leaflet which gives full information about their activities and how to join. Mr Jeffries is recruiting more children in September and auditions will take place on Wednesday 7th September at Four Oaks Primary School.

We would also like to say a really big thank you to those children who performed in the Four Oaks Cluster Choir concert on Wednesday 22nd June. Your performance was absolutely fantastic!

TOY LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS Do you have an hour or so to spare each week?

Mere Green Combined School is looking for some extra pairs of hands to assist in their Toy Library.

The library is open on Tuesdays 9:00am12:00pm and Thursdays 1:30pm-5:30pm term time only.

Duties may include setting up the Toy Library and clearing away, making drinks and chatting to Members.

If you think you might be able to help, please contact Fiona Godwin on 07747755497.

KS1 AND 2 SCHOOL AWARDS

This year we will be celebrating the success of our children throughout the year with trophies and certificates as usual. We will be awarding seven trophies per year group for Literacy Achievement Numeracy Achievement 100% Effort Kindness Creativity Sporting Achievement Musical Achievement If your child is due to receive a reward you will be invited to attend via a personal letter. We will also be awarding 100% attendance certificates

BEHAVIOUR FOCUS This month I wanted to congratulate all of our children on their super behaviour. They are true ambassadors for our school and I am regularly contacted by members of the public, teachers and staff at other schools who comment on our children’s moral values of kindness, honesty, tolerance and respect. As ever, well done. You are stars!

GRADUATION Our Year 6 Graduation Ceremony is taking place this year on Tuesday 19th July at 7.00 pm in the KS1 hall. We would like to congratulate our Year 6 pupils and wish them every success in the future. We look forward to welcoming you on the night - drinks and nibbles will be available immediately after the ceremony.

CONGRATULATIONS! I am sure you would like to join with me in warmly congratulating Miss Tracey Dutton our Year 6 Class Teacher, on her impending wedding. On return to school in September she will be known as Mrs Willmore. Congratulations are also extended to Miss Blenkinsop who as from Monday will be known as Mrs Thompson.

A local parent has expressed an interest in making and designing unique Asian style clothes.

If you are interested in having a particular design created please telephone : 0121 308 5329 or 07999336484 Items cost £10.00 and there is a discount available for ordering multiple items.

DINNER AND MILK MONEY FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE AUTUMN TERM Dinner Money for the first half of the Autumn Term will be £66.50 up to 21st October. You will receive a note of any credits owed to you before the end of this half term.

Milk money for KS1 children will be £4.90 up to 21st October.

MEET YOUR NEW TEACHER! The children will get the opportunity to spend some time in their new classrooms with their new teacher on Monday 18th July. We know they will look forward to this.

INCLUSION FOCUS: The Government have just published a Green Paper on SEN provision in schools and consultation on it ended on 30th June.

In it they make a number of recommendations for change.

These include That currently there is over identification of SEN in schools The Code of Practice should be updated to include clear definitions of what constitutes SEN Education, Help and Care Plans should replace Statements Personal Budgets should be allocated to the families of a child with the above plan and families should decide how to spend it Local Authorities should set out services available to families so that they have the maximum choice

LA TASCA TRIP: NEW DATE As you will be aware, due to industrial action on 30th June, the Year 6 trip to La Tasca has had to be re-arranged. The trip will now go ahead on Thursday 21st July.

PARTY AFTERNOON On the last day of school, Friday 22nd July, children should wear their party clothes to school.

They should not, however, bring any toys or games etc from home.

We will end the year with celebratory games and activities.

‘DROP IN’ PARENT’S EVENING Monday 11th July If you have any concerns or queries about your child and their progress in school, then please feel free to attend our KS1 and KS2 ‘drop in’ parent’s evening session on Monday 11th July from 5:00pm 7:00pm.

SPORTS DAY

YEAR SIX LEAVERS’ PRODUCTION Our Year 6 Leavers’ Production this year will be held at 9.30 am on Wednesday 13th July and 7.00 pm on Thursday 14th July.

Further details/ticket information will follow shortly.

Our Sports Day this year will be on Tuesday 5th July for all of our pupils.

The last race of the day will be an obstacle race especially for our Parents. We hope you can join us and look forward to seeing you!

KS2 - 9.30 am KS1 - 1.15 pm

You really are in for a treat!

PTFA SUMMER FAYRE Sunday 10th July - we hope you can make it. It will be a fun packed day with lots of performances by the children as well as events and activities to rake part in.

We would like to inform you that Leanne Byrne our Behaviour Support worker will no longer be working in school from September as she will be returning to Little Sutton. We wish her well in the future and appreciate her hard work with us.

As of September Miss Marsh will lead on all matters in relation to behaviour.

TRANSITION PARENTS’ MEETING This year, we are holding our annual transition evening for the parents of children in our current Reception, Year 2 and Year 6 on Wednesday 6th July and parents will be invited to attend at the following times: 5.30 - 6.00 Reception Parents 6.30 - 7.00 Year 2 Parents 7.30 - 8.00 Year 6 Parents We hope to see as many of you as possible

PLEASE REMEMBER REPORTS HAVE CHANGED This year you will access your child’s report on-line.

Letters will be issued to you via your child on Tuesday 5th July and these will contain your secure password enabling access to the report. This letter is extremely important as without it you will not be able to log on to the secure area and view the report. Although letters are being issued on Tuesday 5th July reports will not be available to view until 12pm on Friday 8th July.

Your on-line reports will also include your child’s class and teacher for September 2012. If your child is away on the day your password letter will be posted.

If you do not have access to the internet then you are welcome to come into school on the afternoon of Monday 11th July between 3:00pm 4:00pm to collect a copy of your child’s report from the KS2 building entrance

Oxfam Water Week - a reminder Oxfam Water Week is taking place at Hill West from Monday 11th July to Friday 15th July. Water Week is a new UK wide initiative that gives pupils the opportunity to learn about global issues, develop their skills and values as active global citizens and make a real difference..

Throughout the week children at Hill West will be thinking about ways they use water at home and at school, learn about the importance of water in people’s lives around the world and think about inequality in access to water.

As well as water awareness activities in the classroom, members of staff along with our Year 5 children will also be running a shop in Sutton Mall all week, selling various items to raise money for Oxfam. We would be very grateful if you could come and visit us in store at some point that week, please send friends and relatives too. We will be opposite WHSmiths!

Leadership Structure as of Setember 2011 We are pleased to welcome some new additions to our team and a clearer focus on roles and responsibilities Beth Clarke Head Teacher - Strategic Lead Fiona Marsh Deputy Head overall responsibility for Behaiour and Citizenship Joy Tombs Assisstant Head for Inclusion / SEN Nichola Leeson Assisstant Head for Teaching and Learning Mrs Tracey Dutton Basic Skills Manager Mrs Lisa Pardo Enjoyment and Enrichment Manager Mr Steve George Strategic Achievement Manager