WEST PARK SCHOOL December Newsletter Thursday 8th December 2016 This newsletter can also be viewed at www.westpark.hartlepool.sch.uk
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
January Wednesday 4th Return to school Wk beginning 9th Y3/4 Junk Rock Tuesday 10th Beauty and the Beast Wk beginning 16th - Science Week Wk beginning 30th - Assessment week February 10th Break up for half term 20th February - school reopens Monday 27th Carlton Week / Story Telling Week March Thursday 2nd – World Book Day Thursday 23rd Parent Consultations Friday 24th Red Nose Day Monday 27th March Parent Consultation Thursday 30th March Parent Consultations Wednesday 15th Governor’s Meeting 31st School closes for Easter Break
CHRISTMAS FAIR A GREAT SUCCESS Thank you to all of the parents and children who supported our Christmas Fair fund-raising evening. The focus for funding this year is Early Years and the purchase of quality resources for independent activities. Thank you to the Friends of West Park School who allowed the Y6 children to run their own stall. This raised over £100 which will go towards reducing the cost of our trip to Carlton Outdoor Centre.
AMAZING PERFORMANCES FROM YOUR CHILDREN! Nearly a thousand visitors have come through the doors of West Park over the last two weeks to see the children perform in our three Christmas productions and Carol Concert. From the comments received, parents and grandparents from nursery to Year Six have been extremely impressed. Many thanks to the children themselves and the teaching and support staff for making the events such a success! After this busy time the children will be enjoying their well-earned parties next week. CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY The children will be enjoying Christmas lunch on Wednesday 14th December. This will also be our Christmas Jumper Day, where children can wear their favourite jumper rather than their school sweatshirt. All money raised will go towards our local Special Needs Support Group.
Merry Christmas!
WHY DOES WEST PARK SCHOOL ..?
It was suggested at a recent Governors’ Meeting, by one of our parent governors, that the school should try to address frequently asked questions (FAQ) through the newsletter. This feature will appear in our Newsletters from now on … Our question for the December Newsletter is … Why do children at West Park School do reading, spelling and arithmetic homework? The children are required to reach an expected level for their age across Reading, Writing, Maths and Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation before they leave us in Year Six. The requirements for this “average” level are becoming ever more challenging. Nationally, only just over half of the children who left primary school in 2016 managed to reach expected levels in Reading, Writing and Maths (53%). At West Park 84% of our children achieved expected level or above for these three core subjects. We feel that homework and support from our parents plays a key role in these outstanding results. The reading tests at the end of year six were accessible by the majority of our children as they are encouraged to read at home from their Early Years and have developed a love of books and stories.
SUPPORTING LOCAL CHARITIES West Park School have supported a number of local charities during the Autumn Term: Hospice - Harvest Festival Hospice - Christmas Teddies Hartlepool Special Needs Support Group Hartlepool Foodbank Requests to support charities come into school on a regular basis and as a school who promotes strong values for its pupils, it is always difficult to say no. We do, however, recognise that parents have made a number of generous donations. Senior staff have decided that the school will continue to support the Foodbank during the Spring and Summer Term. The Y6 children will also hold a fund raising event to raise money for their Carlton Trip and we will be supporting Comic Relief on Red Nose Day in March.
Arithmetic tests have also been introduced and again, our children did exceptionally well as they had developed their knowledge of number bonds and times tables over years of practice with supportive parents, grandparents and carers at home. Spelling has become crucial as tests have developed over the years. Children must be familiar with a statutory set of words if they are to be considered to be working at expected levels for their writing. These, again, can be challenging and children who get extra practice and support at home are much more confident and likely to spell correctly in their independent writing. Additional homework may be sent home with children on occasion. The teacher will always contact parents to explain reasons for this extra intervention. If any child starts to fall behind our expectations, we will do all we can to get them back in line. Additional support will also be in place in school, we can assure all parents of that :) These days, we find that there is data around for almost everything - I must say that I do agree completely with the overwhelming data which proves that a school which has parents who support their children, achieves the best results with confident pupils with high-self esteem reaching their potential. Thanks to all parents and carers who support our pupils with their weekly homework :) .
HARTLEPOOL SPECIAL NEEDS SUPPORT GROUP Thank you to all of the children who sang in the choir to entertain the crowds with Christmas songs during the Special Needs Support Group Christmas Crafts Fair. They performed beautifully, we were all extremely proud of them.