Autumn 2018
Welcome FROM THE HEADTEACHER Dear Parents and Carers, It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to a look back at all the exciting things which we have been up to at Tilstock C.E Primary School and Nursery. We welcomed lots of new staff to our fabulous school in September and as the half term progressed it was exciting to welcome new children to our Tilstock family. Over the first half of the autumn term we have started our daily mile and a whole range of new after
school clubs which the children have enjoyed. During the second half of the autumn term we will be learning lots of new skills, Talbot class will start Welsh lessons and all the children in school will begin working in small groups on phonics and spellings. As we reach the end of the half term we will be working on our Christmas production!
James Spicer Head of School
Vision: ‘Achievement through caring’
Mission: We believe: Successful, creative, lifelong learners participate in a journey of self-discovery. They know how to learn, and acquire skills to be happy and thrive in a changing world with confidence and courage.
Values: Excellence - striving always for mastery and personal success Integrity - consistently acting with honesty, compassion and respect Empathy - embracing and supporting the uniqueness of every individual Creativity - inspiring and challenging through invention, experimentation and exploration Equality - ensuring fair opportunity for all
Tilstock C of E Primary School and Nursery T. 01948 880347
2 Tilstock Lane, Tilstock, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 3JL
E. tilstockadmin@mmat.co.uk
W. www.tilstockprimaryschool.co.uk
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News European Day of Languages This term, the children in Year 5 attended a European Day of Languages at Sir John Talbot’s The children took part in a variety of activities in a range of languages, including Spanish, French, Welsh and Latin. The children were so inspired by learning Welsh that day that we will be offering Welsh lessons to the pupils at Tilstock. The morning was rounded off nicely with a delicious chocolate pancake.
DARWIN CLASS The EYFS class have been learning through our exciting topics and helping each other. We particularly love sharing new experiences, such as trying new foods or welcoming interesting visitors into our classroom. This term our topic in Traditional Tales so we are having lots of fun finding out about both real and fictional tales.
Student and Worship Leaders
We have now appointed Worship and Leadership Council Members. Well done to everyone who was successful. Over the coming weeks, there will be regular contributions to the newsletters from them.
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More News
Coffee Morning
We held a ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support recently and it was a wonderful morning.
The children visited Tilstock Church recently and participated in a contemporary, enjoyable Holy Communion Service. We would like to thank the church for giving the children this opportunity.
8 We will be hosting an Open Evening here on Thursday 15th November. This is an ideal opportunity for parents and carers of children who wish to attend Tilstock Primary School and Nursery in September 2019.
Owen Class
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Owen Class have been enjoying reading about The Hungry Caterpillar as part of their guided reading activities. Year 1 worked in pairs to create a story map of the Hungry Caterpillar. Using their scissor skills they cut the pictures out carefully, then applied their counting skills to order the fruit correctly. Once they were happy with their piece of work, they wrote the title, carefully sounding it out. We hope you are as impressed with their work as we are! Year 2 worked independently, re-telling the story as beginning, middle and end. They then worked on their own caterpillar and improved the sentences in the books by including noun phrases. So ‘one apple’ became ‘one delicious, juicy apple’! We saw some fantastic noun phrases and beautiful handwriting. Year 3 worked independently, re-telling the story from the perspective of the caterpillar. They then worked on their own caterpillar, improving the sentences by including alliteration. So ‘the pear’ became ‘the caterpillar pecked at the perfectly plump pear’. We are super proud of their work!
Redecoration During the summer, we worked hard to give the school a bit of a facelift, with several rooms and corridors redecorated. We would like to thank the staff who helped out during the summer so that when the children returned in September, the school had a comfortable working environment.
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Staff Profiles Mr Spicer You will often find me on the gate in the mornings welcoming everyone to school. This year I will have the pleasure of teaching in all of the classes. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family.
Mrs Kaminski
Mrs Blakemore I am really excited to have been given the opportunity to join such a great team at Tilstock. I live locally and have two children, aged 17 and 13. I love the outdoors, and enjoy hiking, running and mountain biking.
I help lead the school, supporting staff and children to be the best that they can be. I have taught in Shropshire for over 10 years. I really value the school community and the local environment, and the part they play in developing meaningful learning experiences for children.
Miss Parry
I have a wonderful family, including my three children. I love the outdoors, wildlife and walking my two dogs. I keep chickens and spend a lot of time in the garden, I am a huge fan of the theatre and enjoy nothing more than singing along to a musical.
Ms Thorp
Miss Jones I come from Wales and I am sports mad, I love playing football and tennis. I am looking forward to sharing this with Talbot Class.
Mrs Scott I have worked in both English and Welsh schools across KS1 and KS2 for the last 15 years. I am excited to join Tilstock as I love the close bond that is formed with children, parents, grandparents and staff in a smaller community school. I have a passion for art and enjoy cooking and baking.
Ms Dean I am the class teacher for Darwin Class. I have worked with Early Years children for 15 years. In my spare time I enjoy sewing, crochet, reading and gardening.
I work in Darwin class with Nursery and Reception. I have worked with Early Years children for many years. Out of school, I enjoy spending time with my family.
Most of the children will know me well, after being here for approximately 12 years! I have worked with all of the children but now I am in Talbot Class. Outside of school, I enjoy Morris dancing and spending time on my narrowboat.
Mrs White-Culf I enjoy working with the children, parents and staff here at Tilstock. I work in Owen Class with Mrs Scott and the wonderful children in Years 1, 2 and 3. I enjoy art, gardening, camping and spending time with my family.
Miss Hamilton You will find me in the office helping the school to run smoothly. If you have any questions, please come and see me. If I can’t answer straight away, I will always find out for you. Out of school, I spend all of my time looking after the horses and dogs we keep at home.
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New Uniform During the summer term and summer holidays, our new school uniform was introduced. When they returned in September, the children looked incredibly smart in their new uniform.
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Holly Farm Trip Darwin Class had a lovely trip to Holly Farm recently and they enjoyed themselves.
Nursery Places
Jonathan from Holly Farm told the children about the different ways in which fruit and vegetables grow.
Tilstock C of E Primary School have been offering free, full time nursery places to children aged 3 years of age since January 2018. The new arrangements form part of the government’s agenda to provide hard-working parents with greater choice and flexibility over their childcare which is estimated to save families around £5,000 per year on childcare. We are committed to offering free, full time nursery places to eligible children from across Tilstock and Whitchurch. We appreciate the difficulties parents face in juggling work commitments and affordable childcare. Listening to the needs of our local parents we have also made the decision to extend our after school club provision, in the new year, to complement our early breakfast club, and provide wrap-around care throughout the working day. Tilstock C of E Primary School’s after school club will now operate from 3:15pm until 5:45pm where children will have a greater opportunity to take part in a wide variety of activities from football and yoga to developing their IT skills, further enriching the typical school day.
Sir John Talbot’s School, another member of the Marches Academy Trust, currently operates four dedicated mini buses, which are driven by school employees. Payment for the mini bus fare is collected by direct debit, with the cost for the thirty-nine week academic year, collected over ten equal direct debit payments commencing in October each year. There is a standard fee to travel on the mini bus irrespective of where your child catches the bus. The cost is £350.00 for the academic year which is collected in ten equal monthly installments of £35.00 and which equates to approximately £9.00 per week.
At Tilstock we offer before and after school care from 8:00am until 8:45am and then 3pm until 5:45pm. Daily Breakfast Club: 8:00am until 8:45am – £2.50 (this includes breakfast if required). After School Club: 3pm until 4:30pm – £2.50 Extra After School Club: 4:30pm until 5:45pm – £2.50
Should you have more than one child utilising the school transport, fees will be charged on the following basis: First child - 100% of fee (£350.00 per academic year) Second child – 75% of fee (£262.50 per academic year) Subsequent children – 50% of fee (£175.00 per academic year) A Transport Safety Statement is available on the website, which details the minimum behaviour expectations of children whilst travelling on the school provided transport. It is important that you and your child understand that should we have concerns about your child’s behaviour whilst travelling on the school mini bus, we may at our discretion withdraw permission to use the transport.
www.tilstockprimaryschool.co.uk
Autumn 2018