A Very Warm Welcome Back...

Dear Families,

On behalf of all of the staff here at All Saints' Primary and Nursery School, (observe our slightly changed name!) we would like to extend a very warm welcome back - both to our existing and our new families. 

To our existing families, we cannot wait to see how your children have grown over the holidays, and hear about what they have been doing over Summer. For our new families, we are excited to meet you, get to know you and your child and welcome them into our Family. 

Just a few bits of information to share before our full return tomorrow (Tuesday.)

Academisation

As you know, the process of Academisation finally completed on 1st September, meaning we are part of the JTMAT. As a staff, we were already seeing the benefits of MAT support last year, and hopefully this year so will you. However, being part of the MAT also means some significant changes are being made behind the scenes, particularly in the Office. This may mean things take a little longer to resolve while changes take place, so we do ask for your understanding in this regard.

Welcome

I'd like to offer a warm welcome to Mr Minor, our new Year 2 teacher, and Mr Carlin, new TA in years 3 and 4, who officially joined us this week. We are very much looking forward to you being part of our team and our community. 

Also, best of luck to Mrs Ridley and Mr Gibbs who begin in their new roles as Assistant Heads this week.

School Calendar

We have created a calendar with key school dates on for the entire academic year. This should help parents plan when they may need time off work in order to attend school functions. This will be published very shortly. As you can appreciate, these dates have been planned with the best intentions, and we will try our hardest not to have to change them, however there may be unfortunate occasions where this is unavoidable. Furthermore, it is highly likely these dates will be added to as more events are planned in during the year. Please do keep checking Latest News, and the calendar on the website for further dates and information. 

Reminder for KS1 Parents

Just a quick reminder that in the mornings, teachers are very busy ensuring the children get in safely and get started on their morning task. If you need to give a message to the teacher, you can catch them on the door, but please be aware they will only have a short amount of time, particularly if several parents need a word. If a more detailed conversation is needed, I would strongly recommend emailing the teacher and requesting a meeting. Our doors are always open if you need to speak with us about any aspect of your child's education/wellbeing, and we would rather these conversations were not rushed or hurried, or public.

Furthermore, for safeguarding purposes, we politely remind parents that they should not enter the classroom with their child, and should say their goodbyes at the door. 

Homework

Each week, children in years 1-6 will receive homework tasks to complete. The most important of these is daily reading. For children working through our reading scheme, we strongly recommend parents and children to read together every day, and ask for five entries into reading records. Children who are "free readers" should also read daily and parents should sign reading records. This reading may be novels, graphic novels, magazines, newspapers... 

If you are unsure on how to support your child in their reading (what questions to ask, how to help them sound out words, what kind of comments to write, etc.) please do attend one of our upcoming parents Reading Support sessions.

In addition to daily reading, your child will have spellings to learn and a MyMaths activity that links in to current class work. Occasionally, teachers may set optional homework, such as research.

Parent Volunteers/Helpers

Last year, we benefited greatly from the kindness and skills of several volunteers, both parents and people from the community. If you are interested in volunteering at our school, hearing readers and so on, please do let me know. This support is invaluable and this year more then ever, we would appreciate any time you could give us. All we ask is that you are able to commit to a regular morning/afternoon/day. 

The First Weeks Back...

In the first weeks back, teachers will have high expectations of children, but we also want children to feel settled and secure as quickly as possible. If you want to talk to anyone at school about your child, please get in touch with either myself or the class teacher. 

Kind regards,

Miss E Wilson

Headteacher