13th September 2007

• Having nearly completed a full week, once again I suspect that the biggest immediate challenge at home for some of us is to reinstall the routines of homework and sensible bedtimes!  Homework and class timetables have been sent home over the course of the week.  Please contact the School Office if you have not received your copy…it may well be lurking in your child’s bag.  On this note, parents are asked to regularly check bags…..it is amazing what can lurk within their depths.
   
• There was a good start to swimming lessons for last week for Key Stage Two pupils.  Parents of children in 2SW are reminded that swimming begins for this class tomorrow.
   
• This morning’s School Assembly was on the theme of ‘What have you done today to make you feel proud?’ and was an opportunity for children to reflect upon the pleasure gained from both small and significant achievements, as well as a chance for them to set some personal targets.  It was lovely to hear teachers describing some of what has taken place during lessons that has made them feel proud of their new class. 
   
• Clubs application forms have been returned to School in hefty numbers- my thanks to parents for such a quick return.  We are now in the process of completing confirmation slips for each pupil, detailing the date and time of the club in which they have been placed.  These are being sent out by Mrs Sharp in phases. In the case of clubs which have resulted in a high demand, a ‘take your turn’ basis will be applied.  Your confirmation slip will detail your actual club start date, even if this is later in the term. Please keep this for later referral to avoid telephoning the School Office unnecessarily for confirmation.  Clubs will start next week but please check your confirmation for specific details.
   
• Earlier this week pupils in Key Stage Two enjoyed a session with members of Rugby Evolution.   We look forward to the start of Rugby Club on Monday which is being led by these colleagues, following the success of the club’s introduction during the last academic year.  If you are interested in your child joining this club on Monday, then please contact the School Office as a matter of urgency.
   
• In a bid to further their successes of last year, our netballers met after School yesterday for their first practice.  There was an excellent turnout, which has filled Mrs Van Rensburg and Mrs Marshall with hope for the coming year’s High Fives Netball League, in which we will once again participate.
   
• Most parents should now have returned the off site permission slip that was sent out last week.  If you have not done so, you are kindly requested to return it tomorrow.
   
• Following a request for ‘magic moments’, I share with you all the following…….

Children in Nursery have collected apples from the School’s orchard.  These were washed by eager little hands and then chopped up enthusiastically with blunt knives and plenty of supervision! The children then helped to stew the apples and make them into pies to take home for supper.

Mrs Bull overheard the following in the Reception Class’s toilets from one new student….”I didn’t think school would be this hard”.  Later on however, there were shrieks of delight when Reception Class were set the task of sorting and matching shapes, an activity they clearly relished. 

In 1KS pupils had been looking at how pictures can be made to move.  Mrs Shakeshaft had a real sense of the boys and girls’ enjoyment of the activity, and was so happy with the results, when they each went on to make a picture incorporating a flap.

In 2SW ‘s first Science lesson of the year, the children were thrilled to examine and discuss the contents of Mrs Ward’s shopping basket, sorting food into appropriate groups and using this activity to explore and consider the need to have a balanced diet.

In 3CVR pupils unleashed their creative thinking potential, using mind maps as a spring board.  They also practiced association flows, which drew upon left and right brained thinking.  Mrs Van Rensburg was delighted with the way in which pupils were able to explain their lines of thinking, which encouraged thinking and raised self esteem-both being elements vital for academic and overall ‘life’ success!

Whilst on his way to taking down a group of children to Late Club at the end of the day, Mr Holmes overheard some of his 4AH pupils discussing the merits of ‘look-say-cover-check’.  It is always a magic moment when a teacher hears or sees what they have been working on with pupils being taken up as an idea that merits discussion out of the classroom.

Science is always a subject which draws pupils in quickly.  In 5GM pupils studying the topic Keeping Healthy were part of a lively discussion based on their individual agreement or disagreement with a set of statements about food.  The statements about chocolate drew plenty of opinion……

6LD have voted that their highlight so far has been a session where Mrs Dreyer led them through an exploration of how we learn, and how our brain works-6LD wants to grow more dendrites every day, which is what every Head likes to hear!

6PP have overwhelmed Mrs Payne with their enthusiasm so far.  Whether it was an introduction to The Greeks in History or River Development in Geography, these boys and girls are raring to go-which is just how we like it!

• St Peter’s School Harvest Festival takes place on Thursday 27th September. Pupils are asked to bring in donations of food and /or flowers on Wednesday 26th September. In the past many of our pupils have decorated the box in which they bring their harvest produce to School, so advance notice of Harvest Festival before this weekend and next weekend might give boys and girls the opportunity once again to get creative! 
   
• The produce we donate as a School Community will later be distributed among the local community by Mrs Kerry Flatman, who would be most grateful for help from other parents in doing this.  If you would like to assist her, please contact the School Office and we will pass on your details to her.    With the world community in mind also at this time, envelopes will be distributed during Harvest Festival Week for donations to the Goodwill Village in India.
   
• Still with Harvest celebrations, the PTAFA Harvest Super will take place on the evening of Thursday 27th September.  A letter will be shortly distributed giving specific details. This is a wonderful family occasion, where we meet informally (but with all pupils in school uniform, please!) to sing together, and hear songs and poems from the pupils, as well as enjoy some harvest fare courtesy of Mr Fountain and the merry band of PTAFA helpers he is hoping to acquire.  If you can help him with the catering for this event, please contact the School Office.
   
• On PTAFA matters, the hanging baskets and planters ordered by some of you at the end of last term have been delivered to School and are behind the hedge near the School Office. Please remember to collect your order.  A letter will follow in due course with details of the winter bedding plants that are available for purchase.
   
• The PTAFA’s AGM will be held in Sunnylands Hall on Thursday 20th September at 7.30pm when officers will be elected. Please note that PTAFA meetings are open to all parents and friends of the School, and their aim is to provide social events for the School community, with some fund raising for the School and for charities.
   
• The School Calendar will be distributed at the start of next week. It lists significant dates already planned for the academic year, and new dates and events are detailed in my bulletins throughout the course of the year.
   
• There will be a Reading Meeting after school for parents of children in Reception Class, on Tuesday 25th September.  The aim is to outline the approach we take in School to early reading skills, so that we can share our practice with parents, with the intention of establishing a good home – School partnership in this vital learning journey.
   
• Once again, parents are reminded that the week beginning 1st October is Assessment Week.  Please avoid booking appointments for children during this time. 
   
• Still with the assessment schedule, children in Reception Class will take part in PIPS (Performance Indicators in Primary Schools) over the next two weeks.  Once these are sent off and processed externally, we will be able to plot each child’s current numeracy and literacy level, and then assess it again at the end of the year, so that we can mark the extent to which children’s skills have developed.  It will also be possible to compare these results in the Summer Term with national standards.
   
• Similarly, in Year 4 next week children will take part in CATS (Cognitive Ability Tests) which are useful because they give us a predictor of the potential level each child is capable of in Year Six’s end of KS2 Standard Attainment Tests.
   
• The next bulletin will be issued on Thursday 27th September.