11th January 2007

• Welcome back to St Peter’s School, and to Lent Term 2007.  The staff and I would like to thank families for their good wishes and gifts received at the end of last term.  Your kindness and appreciative words are greatly valued.
   
• This term promises to be fast moving and eventful, but first and foremost, the onus will be upon teachers and pupils to work together on those curriculum areas and skills identified in the Michaelmas Term report.  In addition to pupils’ personal goals, each class teacher has set an overall class target, and these were related to pupils at the first school assembly of the New Year. 
    

Reception Class- Keep practicing your word cards, and get used to writing these words too.  Be brave about blending all the sounds of simple words together so that you can really start reading on your own!

Year One-Now that writing skills are blossoming, try hard to make work look neater, by keeping writing on the lines, forming letters correctly and remembering punctuation.

Year Two- Your reading is coming on well, so now work hard at reading out loud with expression, using different voices for different characters, and also thinking about what you read more.

Year Three- You worked really hard to learn your spelling lists in Michaelmas Term, but remember that when a word  comes up in a sentence you are writing, you must try harder to spell it right there too!

Year Four- It takes learning and learning and learning of times tables before they are remembered quickly by your brain-so train your brain to remember, and practice the ones you don’t know very well, regularly.

Year Five- There are many better words for ‘nice’, ‘said’, ‘good’, ‘big’ and all the other usual words you tend to use over and over again in your creative writing. Start being brave about using new words.

Year Six- Complex sentences are made up of clauses, therefore using connectives as well as correct punctuation will help you to write better complex sentences. 

• This bulletin accompanies curriculum projections for Lent Term.  Many parents like the opportunity to use these as a basis for activities with their child such as visits to the library, home projects or internet research.
   
• It was encouraging to see their faces light up at Tuesday’s assembly when pupils were reminded about what there was to look forward to during Lent Term in addition to their studies: Art Week, KS2 French Day, the school production of The Button Box, Kettering Eisteddfod, World Book Day and Winter Games Day. I am pleased to report that there is a distinct lack of January blues or winter gloom about the pupils or teachers!
   
• On Tuesday pupils in Year One to Year Six took home a clubs application form for Lent Term.  Please return the reply sheet to school tomorrow if you have not already done so.  Parents whose children are joining a new club will have this confirmed in writing before the club starts.
   
• Throughout Michaelmas Term, children in Key Stage Two were working hard after school each Thursday in preparation for the performances of The Button Box which take place during the week before Lent half term.  In addition, this team met on two Saturday afternoons last term.  After school rehearsals resumed today, and there is a rehearsal on Saturday at 2pm. My thanks to pupils involved so far, for their excellent attendance at rehearsals and good concentration.  Teachers have a habit of praising pupils and then setting them the next target, and I am no exception- next job: learn the words of the songs ‘off by heart’!
   
• Last term Mrs Sant distributed costume requests to parents.  If your child is in the production please ensure their costume is with us in School by Monday 15th January.
   
• Whilst The Button Box has so far been the domain and responsibility of Key Stage Two children and staff attending Production Club, it is this half term that all children in the school will be involved.  Art Week will bring with it projects involving children in all year groups, so that they too can feel they were a part of the production.
   
• Still with The Button Box, Mrs Dreyer has spoken to children in Key Stage Two and asked them to submit ideas that can be used or merged with other pupils’ ideas, to create the show’s logo, which will feature on tickets, programmes and posters.  Pupils are asked to hand these in to Mrs Dreyer tomorrow.
   
• In addition to the music, dance and drama, there is always a great deal of work ‘in the wings’, with music, dance, costume, makeup, set design and sound and lighting, in our bid to present something very special to you all on Wednesday 7th February, Thursday 8th February and Friday 9th February.  The Box Office will open very soon, so purchase your tickets early to avoid disappointment, particularly if you have a child performing in the show.
   
• With the Eccles Shield remaining in our trophy cupboard for another year, it is time to move onto the Small Schools’ Soccer Sixes County Championship, which is due to take place at 3pm on Monday 15th January, with St Peter’s School meeting Milton Malsor School.  Mr Anthony Holmes and his team plan for a good game, and hope for good weather!  Parents collecting children at the end of the School day are warmly welcome to join the masses on the sidelines to provide our boys and girls with fervent support. The date currently scheduled should poor weather cancel the game is Monday 29th January.
   
• Pupils who have been entered for Kettering Eisteddfod’s various recitation or music competitions should be regularly practicing hard at home between now and half term, to top up the work done in school.  Nervousness on the competition day often disappears the quickest from those the best prepared…………………………
   
• The Monday ‘Mother and Toddler’ sessions will now run on set dates rather than every week: 29th Jan, 26th Feb, 19th March, 14th May and 9th July for the ever popular Teddy Bears’ Picnic.
   
• The PTAFA’s Turkey & Tinsel event was a superb night, with a wonderful Christmas dinner kindly prepared for us by Carl and Stella Fountain, the Hall decked in even more than boughs of holly by Mr and Mrs Payne,  and with our special guest singer-Tim Bull, son of our own Mrs Cheryl Bull, adding to the entertainment. Tim is a professional singer, originally trained in opera, who then moved into music theatre, performing key parts in professional productions of Joseph and The Technicolour Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar. This was the first time a PTAFA Christmas meal and entertainment has featured in the life of the School.  My thanks goes to the Fountain family for initiating the idea, to Mrs Fiona Kilsby and members of the PTAFA who helped organise it, as well as the staff and parents who made the whole evening so special by supporting the event. 
   
• The next PTAFA event is the Pudding and Pamper Night, on Friday 19th January. A letter was sent out earlier this week listing the treats that ladies of St Peter’s School may wish to book in advance. The next PTAFA meeting will be on Tuesday 16th January at 7.30pm in Sunnylands Hall. 
   
• The St Peter’s School Newsletter will be distributed next week.  It contains a rundown of the school events of Michaelmas Term, from the perspective of teaching staff involved in and leading them.
   
• The next bulletin will be issued on Thurs 25th January.