26 November 2010

Jackie Warren

Dear Parents/Carers,

As we prepare for the festive season the children are getting excited with the Christmas activities taking place in school.

Inset Dates
The Inset Dates this academic year are Tuesday, 4 January.  There will be 3 other Inset dates which we will send to you as soon as possible

Mosaic Art Work
The Children, Staff, Governors, Home School Association and National Association for Decorative and Fine Arts (NADFAS) worked together to produce a whole school project in the form of a mosaic. The project was funded by Nadfas and the Home School Association. The school was visited by the High Sheriff of East Sussex, Deborah Bedford during the project who is a supporter of Nadfas in this County. Three of our Year 6 went out together and presented a PowerPoint presentation to the Nadfas meeting in Uckfield Civic Centre Hall. You can see the finished design and piece of art on the outside of the school.

Home School Association
Children, parents and friends of the school had great fun at the Home School Association Firework Evening. Thank you to the HSA for organizing this event and to all the support from parents who helped make the evening such a successful one.  A huge thank you to Mr Murray our caretaker and his fantastic team who cooked and provided the food and to Mr Miller (dad of James Miller in year 6) whose Firework Team provided the spectacular display.

Volunteer Help Needed for hearing children to read at School
If you would like to support the school in the teaching of reading please contact the school office.  We are looking for parents/carers, grandparents or anyone you know who may be able to offer a little time each week to help hear children read.  You will need to complete a CRB check if you do not have one already for volunteering at the school.

Money for School Events, and School Lunches
A reminder to send in money for trips and school events in a named envelope with your child rather than hand it in personally yourself at the school office. The member of staff in charge of morning register will then collect in the envelopes  and send them to the school office for processing. The school office is often not in a position to give change to parents in order for them to pay for school lunches. The office staff feels uncomfortable that they are not able to support parents in this way and would be grateful if the request was not made.  The office staff does not want to appear unhelpful in this but would appreciate your co-operation in this area.

Cross Country Tournament
The school hosted a cross country tournament this week. Ten schools took part.  Our boys team came 5th and the girls team came 2nd. The winning girls team was Southover and the winning boys team was Wallands.  It is the first time we have hosted such an event and it was a great success.  Thank you to Mr Giddey who runs the school running club and Mrs Goldsmith the PE subject leader who helped run the event.

Riding bikes and scooters to School
It is great to see so many children riding bikes and scooters to school.  Please remind your child that if they wish to do so a helmet is a very good idea for bike riders. We also have a rule that school age children should not ride bikes or scooters on the school path but pre-schoolers may do so.  It is often so congested at peak times that it is unsafe to do so.

Outdoor Play Equipment
You may have noticed if you come in to the playground that the new Adventure Trail has been temporarily cordoned off.  This is not because there is a fault with the trail.  Recent weather conditions have made the trail unacceptably slippery for use and until we have decided on a strategy to prevent its use during times when it is out of bounds we have cordoned it off. Please do not allow your children to use the equipment before or after school at anytime.

Our reception classes and Ringmer Nursery also have a variety of play equipment in their garden areas. School children are asked not to play on this equipment unless they have permission to do so by a member of staff.  This includes before and after school.  Our Health and Safety regulations also include children who do not attend the school or Nursery.  I realise that for some children this may be a little strange as they have been playing on it for some time out of school and Nursery hours but please do not allow your children to play on the equipment.  We would appreciate your cooperation in this.

Adverse weather
If due to adverse weather conditions there are insufficient staff able to travel into school or we are unable to ensure safe access and exit to the school site we will need to close the school. If this is the case we will inform Heart FM on 102.4 or BBC Radio Sussex on 104.5 FM. The information will also be on the East Sussex website www.eastsussex.gov.uk and Heart FM website www.heart.co.uk.

Yours sincerely,                                                                           

Mrs. J. Warren

Headteacher