Newsletter 17 - 17th January 2020
Dear Parents
Sarum trip to the Living Rainforest Please make sure your child has a packed lunch on Monday if they are in Sarum class, as they are spending the day near Newbury in the Living Rainforest experience. This is a great trip and they will find out a lot about the topic they are studying this term.
Newspaper article The Gazette and Herald have run a lovely little article about our school this week on the academic success of our school and the great inspection result from the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools. https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/18158355.village-school-near-devizes-top-1-per-cent-nationally-reading-writing-maths/
Mental Health It is becoming increasingly clear that we all need to take care of our mental health in the same way that we maintain our physical health. We talk to the children about “Ten Habits for Good Mental Health” and we encouraging them to make these part of their daily life. These are:
- Ask for help if you feel anxious, depressed, angry, or worried about anything.
- Talk about your feelings. (Can you control your reaction to them so that they are manageable?)
- Spend time in reflection, quiet time or meditation, focusing on the present moment only.
- Eat well and sleep well.
- Spend time everyday doing things that you enjoy.
- Keep in touch with people you like.
- Stay active – go for a walk or kick a ball or jump on a trampoline.
- Do something you are good at.
- Actively reach out and care for others.
- Be proud of your being.
Volunteers We are very lucky to have a team of strong and skilled volunteers who come in regularly to help us in school. Mostly, volunteers listen to children reading on a one to one basis and check comprehension of what they are reading. This is the single biggest help to our work since it is not possible for our teachers to hear every child read every day. They also support us with taking children offsite on trips and help with design and technology projects. We are very grateful for their support.
Links with Old School Nursery Miss Nisbeck and I have a programme of visits each year to visit Old School Nursery to chat to the teachers and managers there and to meet and work with the children who might be coming to our school in September. We are always made very welcome and we are always very impressed with the great work they do with these very young children – the children are happy, learning and having fun and when they come to our school, they are very ready for the transfer. It is very important to us that these links with Old School Nursery are close and useful so that the children make a seamless transition into our school. We also visit other local nursery schools once we know that there are children in those settings who will be coming to our school.
Pupil Premium Funding If you are claiming certain benefits, the school will receive £1320 for your child. This money will be used for various support programmes throughout the school for all children. Your child will also benefit directly as some of the funding will be used to subsidise or pay completely for school trips, music lessons and other additional school costs for your child. All of this work is done in the strictest confidence. Please ask at the office or contact the Local Authority.
Please do check and if you think you are eligible, complete the form so that we can process the claim for the funding. The benefits which attract the funding are:
- Income support,
- Income based Job Seekers Allowance,
- Income related Employment and support Allowance,
- Support under Part IV of the Immigration and Asylum act 1999 (NASS),
- the guarantee element of State Pension Credit,
- Child Tax Credit (you must NOT be entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual income as assessed by HM Revenue and Customs that does not exceed £16,190),
- Working Tax Credit “Run On”.
Lions Club Sports Coaching for children in years 4, 5 & 6. The deadline for returning these is the morning of Monday 3rd February.
Moving carefully around school Please make sure that you and your children move carefully around the school property. We also ask that you make sure your children are strictly supervised at all times while you are on the school site. Please do not let them go off and play without you and please help them to remember to obey all school rules at all times so that we can be sure everyone is safe.
Clothes Recycling We have signed up to the rags2riches4schools recycling scheme, to raise money and help others around the world benefit from our good quality unwanted clothes and shoes. We get 50p for every kilo we collect of reusable items. We have a collection booked on Thursday 6th February so please keep good clothing to donate to us on this date. A rags2riches4schools bag has been given to every child for you to recycle as a family. Additional bags may also be used if needed.
Clean and reusable items that can be donated:
Good quality clothes and accessories.
Adults, children’s and babies clothing such as Jackets, Jumpers, hoodies, trousers, skirts, scarves, gloves, belts, handbags, paired shoes and other footwear etc.
They cannot reuse the following items:
Worn out shoes or clothes, clothes that are wet or have holes in.
Curtains, pillows or duvets, bric-a-brac or books. Personalised items.
Work uniform, School uniform or school sports kit.
If you are unsure what to put in the bags, then STOP AND THINK - WOULD SOMEONE ELSE BUY & WEAR IT? If it isn’t something you’d wear out and about yourself or pass to a friend, then no-one else will want to buy and wear it so unfortunately, it’s not reusable and can’t go in the bag.
Donated clothes and accessories are sent to Europe, Africa and even further away to be sold at market stalls as affordable items for those in real need of clothing.
| Upcoming Events (Calendar of events is available on the website at www. holy-trinity.co.uk ) | ||
| Monday 20th January | Sarum class trip to the Living Rainforest in Berkshire – packed lunches please | Please arrive in school at 8.30am for prompt departure. |
| Thursday 6th February | Stonehenge class to Pizza Express to make pizzas | |
| Friday 14th February | Last day of the half term | |
| Monday 24th February | Everyone back to school | |
| Monday 9th March and Wednesday 11th March | Parent/teacher meetings | Mon: 5.30pm – 8.00pm
Wed: 3.10pm – 6.00pm |
| Friday 3rd April | Last day of term | |
Best wishes
Mercedes Henning
We welcome and value your opinion. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact the Head teacher or Chair of Governors
PFA News
Shed We are still looking for a couple of volunteers to help put up the new PFA shed. It is a basic shed, similar to what you would put in the garden, so we don’t expect it will require more than basic DIY skills. Time and date can be organised around volunteers. Please get in touch if you think you may be able to help.
Save the date reminder The PFA will be hosting a ‘Ladies Night.’ This will take place on Friday 27th March. More details to follow.
To contact us:
Email: holytrinitypfa@gmail.com Facebook page: "Holy Trinity (Great Cheverell) PFA"
You are also welcome to contact us via your class representative.
Many thanks, Your PFA
Read more...Newsletter 16 - 10th January 2020
Dear Parents
A very happy new year to everyone in our school community!
Our thanks Thank you for the thoughtful Christmas gifts, and a special thanks for the lovely notes which accompanied them. It is always very rewarding to have these little comments which let us know that our work is valued and appreciated.
Parental Canvassing Please find published (below on the link) the results of the Parental Canvassing carried out in November. Thank you to all who submitted a form. We take the results of this canvassing very seriously and governors have had anonymised versions of all the canvassing including the comments so that they can take your views into account as we plan for the future. It is very good to see that the overwhelming majority of parents are very satisfied with all aspects of our provision. Again, thank you for your comments, both those that suggest areas for improvement and those that are very positive.
Results of Parental canvassing 2019
Hockey Once again, our hockey players have triumphed, winning the next round against much bigger schools than ourselves! We are delighted with their achievements, the result of hard work, great coaching and real commitment from the children themselves to improve their game. My thanks to Mr Amor whose inspirational leadership has got the teams this far. We will progress to the next round this term.
Thanks to PFA We are very grateful to the PFA who have donated £200 towards the Sarum class field trip to the “Living Rainforest” project later this term so that the cost to parents is reduced. And thank you to all our parents who are so generous with their contributions towards these exciting and valuable trips.
School Curriculum If you are interested in seeing the actual curriculum your child is following, you will find information on our website at http://holy-trinity.co.uk/creative-curriculum/ . In the literacy and maths curriculum you will find very detailed information about exactly what your child will be learning through the year as set out by the Government. It is these areas which are tested in the end of phase statutory assessments. The other curriculum areas have less detail but you will still be able to get an idea of what is done in each subject in each year group. We review these regularly and update our website as we complete the review for each subject. We leave it up to our teachers to decide when and how they wish to teach each element of the curriculum – this allows the flexibility and creativity which brings learning to life. Teachers can respond to current events or the direction the children themselves are taking to adapt their route through the curriculum.
Attending Sharing Assembly (every Friday at 2.15pm) is a good way of following what is going on in school – at this event, children actually share some of their work with the school community. You can see what topics and subjects are being explored and how the learning unfolds within classes and across the school. We also invite parents into school on occasion to sit in their child’s classroom or to take part in some event with their child. This is a great opportunity to find out what it is like to be a child in our school. There are photos on our Facebook page and our website which give more information about what is going on in school. And, of course, you can always chat to your child about their learning, using open questions such as “What was the best thing that you did today?”, “Did you learn anything that surprised you today?”, “Which subject did you enjoy most today?”
Themes for the coming term: Silbury: The Titanic, Avebury: The Iron Woman and the Water Cycle, Sarum: The Rainforest, White Horse: Antarctica and Penguins, Stonehenge: Food, Glorious Food.
Free Time for Children A recent study has shown that children often work longer hours than their parents, once their school time, homework, clubs and other organised activities and duties are taken into account. There is a recommendation that children have between three and four hours a day of “Down time” with no clubs or organised activities and no television or iPads or other electronic devices – time when they have to entertain themselves and even when they might start out being bored. During this time, they do essential learning and consolidate all that they have absorbed in the day and they develop the creativity and independence that will be such a great asset later in life. It might be interesting for parents to calculate how much time in each day their child has to play freely – outdoors, or with friends, with lego, with cardboard boxes and blankets, pens and paints, clay, climbing equipment, balls, or with other simple resources that they can use imaginatively.
School Dinners Please note that from next week, no child will be given a school dinner unless it has been ordered – the surplus that allowed us to give occasional meals to those who forgot to order will no longer be available. Please make sure your orders are placed in good time. This applies to free school meals as well.
Cyberbullying Please make sure that, if your child has an iPad or a phone on which they engage in online chatting, you check their devices regularly to ensure that they are neither sending nor receiving messages that are harmful or hurtful. It is strongly recommended that children do not take their phones to their rooms when they go to sleep, as so many children have very disturbed sleep due to late night messaging. We also remind parents to ensure that they have some form of parental controls on the phones and that they monitor all activity carefully – this could save your child’s life. It is not an invasion of their privacy, it is good and careful parenting. Children are tech-savvy but naïve and are at huge risk in the on-line world.
No Smart Watches in school Please do not let your child come into school with a Smart Watch – the kind that takes photos, videos and has games on it. These are not appropriate for school.
Music Lessons: If you would like your child to have piano lessons, brass instrument tuition, guitar or recorder lessons, please let the office know. These lessons happen within the school day and children will miss 15 – 20 minutes of a classroom lesson to have their music lesson. We also offer a Ukulele club as a fee-paying after-school club.
Primary School Applications Please remember to apply for a primary school place for your child if they will turn 5 between September 2020 and August 2021. You application must be with the Local Authority by 15th January 2020.
Rags2Riches Just top post notice that we are having a clothes recycling collection on Thursday 6th February.
| Upcoming Events (Calendar of events is available on the website at www. holy-trinity.co.uk ) | ||
| Monday 20th January | Sarum class trip to the Living Rainforest in Berkshire – packed lunches please | |
| Thursday 6th February | Stonehenge class to Pizza Express to make pizzas | |
| Friday 14th February | Last day of the half term | |
| Monday 24th February | Everyone back to school | |
| Monday 9th March and Wednesday 11th March | Parent/teacher meetings | Mon: 5.30pm – 8.00pm
Wed: 3.10pm – 6.00pm |
| Friday 3rd April | Last day of term | |
Best wishes
Mercedes Henning
We welcome and value your opinion. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact the Head teacher or Chair of Governors
PFA News
Happy New Year everyone. We are looking forward to some new plans and events this term, so please get involved if you can.
Shed As you may have noticed, the old PFA shed has now been removed and plans are in place for a replacement. We have had one volunteer to help erect the shed but we could still do with one or two more helpers. If you, or a family member or friend, has some DIY skills and is able to help with this we would be very grateful.
Save the date! We are pleased to announce that PFA will be hosting a ‘Ladies Night.’ This will take place on Friday 27th March. More details to follow, but this is set to be a fun evening.
Are you interested in becoming more involved? The PFA is for all parents and friends of the school and we are grateful for all the people who volunteer on an ad-hoc basis and who support the events. If you are interested in becoming a little more involved, whether that be through contributing ideas, helping to plan or host events or setting up fundraising activities, you are very welcome to come along to any PFA meeting and/ or to request to be part of the extended committee. The next meeting date will be announced shortly.
To contact us: Email: holytrinitypfa@gmail.com Facebook page: "Holy Trinity (Great Cheverell) PFA"
You are also welcome to contact us via your class representative.
Many thanks, Your PFA
Read more...Newsletter 15 - 20th December 2019
Dear Parents
We wish all our families and the wider community a very blessed Christmas and a happy new year!
We shall see you all back at school on Monday 6th January, refreshed and ready for an exciting Spring term.
Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools We are delighted to announce that our school was awarded the highest level of “Excellent” in all areas at our recent inspection! It is lovely to see how much of the evidence for excellence comes from the inspector’s conversations and meetings with children. Amongst the comments by the inspector were the following: “Eloquent pupils show great maturity of thought…” and “The exemplary Christian ethos of inclusion ensures that all groups of pupils achieve and succeed academically and personally.” Please find a copy of the inspection report with your usual Newsletter email, on our website at http://holy-trinity.co.uk/information-for-parents/ofsted-and-siams/ and hard copies of the report are available from the office as well. My thanks go to our inspirational and highly skilled staff team, to our committed governors, to our engaged parents, and most of all, to our outstanding children. This is a tribute to our whole school community and we can be very pleased with the outcome.
Christmas Plays What wonderful performances our children gave in their Christmas plays this year, showing huge talent and enthusiasm! We are so proud of them all for their commitment to excellence. We also thank Mrs Edwards who gives so generously of her time to rehearse with and accompany the KS2 children, Mrs Heath who prepares the Handbell players, and all our teaching and support staff, and all the volunteers, who put so much into these events, ensuring that children continue to enjoy themselves right up to the end.
The collection on the door raised a huge £622.83 this year, half of which will go to the Mathieson Trust for their work with the poorest children in Kolkata and the other half will go towards buying our own stage lights. Thank you very much for your generosity. We have also had another very generous donation towards the stage lights, so we are now over half way towards our £800 target for the lights.
Christmas Party Thank you to our amazing PFA for organising the Christmas celebration on Thursday – and to all the parents who donated food for this event. Our thanks also to Mr Amor and Mr Gyllenspetz who supply energy and great organisation for the very noisy party games that follow. The Christmas party is a highlight of the children’s year.
Christmas Service All of us walked down to the church on Thursday to have a few moments of reflection in the midst of the busy Christmas celebrations. Our thanks to Rev’d Marion Harrison, Rev’d Harold Stephens, Rev’d Andrew Sinclair and Steve Dewar who supported us with this worship, to our school choir with Patrick and Gwynnifer Williams and to all our parents, carers and wider community who joined us for this event.
Homework A reminder that your child should be reading to you every day, if possible, or at least five times a week. They also should be learning their spellings and their times tables. We hope that every child is completing at least twenty minutes of homework a day. To help with reading comprehension, we are sending out general comprehension questions which can be applied to different types of text. These are presented as a laminated “Bookmark” and we hope that you will use this to support your child’s understanding of their reading. Decoding the written word is only half of reading – children must understand what they are reading. Please keep up with reading over the holidays. There are lots of activities on our website to support you if you wish to do a bit more with your child at home – maths, reading and writing activities are suggested on http://holy-trinity.co.uk/learning-at-home/.
Please keep the layby outside the school for “Stop and Drop” in the mornings! It is really important that we can offer this for parents who are not coming into the school grounds with their children.
Thanks to PFA Our thanks to our amazing PFA for the refreshments provided through the Christmas performances, for the Christmas party, the Christmas Fair, the decorations, the raffles, Christmas cards, tea towels and all the other great events they have managed this term. We are very grateful to Adrienne Conlon and her team for their outstanding contribution to our school – their work really enriches our children’s experience.
Thanks to Dauntsey’s We thank Dauntsey’s school for all their outreach, which helps to add to our children’s experience. They always lend us stage lighting for our Christmas plays, their sports coaches support our PE provision and provide opportunities for interschool tournaments, and many other events are provided through their programmes.
Library Books We make a plea that you check your child’s book shelf over the holiday and return any books that belong in school (they will have a school stamp inside the front cover).
Complying with Safeguarding and General Data Protection Regulations A reminder that NO parent may go into a classroom at any time unless invited by the class teacher or TA, particularly if there are children getting changed after a club. You should pick your children up from the playground. Children might run in to change or pick up their bags, but parents may not follow them into the classroom unless invited to do so and accompanied by a member of staff.
| Upcoming Events (Calendar of events is available on the website at www. holy-trinity.co.uk ) | ||
| Friday 20th December | Last day of term & Christmas dinner by Lataca | Finish usual time: 3.00pm |
| Monday 6th January | Everyone back to school | |
| Friday 14th February | Last day of the half term | |
| Monday 24th February | Everyone back to school | |
| Monday 9th March and Wednesday 11th March | Parent/teacher meetings | Mon: 5.30pm – 8.00pm
Wed: 3.10pm – 6.00pm |
| Friday 3rd April | Last day of term | |
Best wishes
Mercedes Henning
We welcome and value your opinion. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact the Head teacher or Chair of Governors
PFA News
The PFA have had a very busy and successful term. There have been Christmas cards and tea-towels made and sold, the Christmas Fair and school party and presents for all the children arranged. We have also made head-way with sorting out a new PFA shed as well as organising the making of Christmas crackers, decorating the school for Christmas and providing refreshments at the choir concert and plays.
Thank you to everyone who has helped out in any way, large or small, this term. It has helped us to raise funds for the children of our school and has also meant that we have been able to contribute to fun activities for the school community.
Our particular thanks to all the volunteers who have given their time in what is a busy month for everyone. We would like to give a special shout out to John Ferneley, James Gaiger and Kevin Cleveley who have removed the old PFA shed and are sorting out a new one for us.
PFA Communications
Our main ways of communicating with parents are via the newsletter, our Facebook page and via Class Reps on WhatsApp. We also occasionally send emails or put leaflets into book bags. If you would like to be added to the email list, please send an email with your details to us holytrinitypfa@gmail.com
The Facebook group "Holy Trinity (Great Cheverell) PFA" is also open to any parent or member of the school community who would like to join, please look us up!
Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas
Many thanks, Your PFA
Read more...Newsletter 13 - 6th December 2019
Dear Parents
Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) Thank you to all the parents who came along on Thursday to talk to the inspector. And thank you to the wonderful team of our staff and children who work with such joy to achieve their very best at all times and in all areas. Although we are not yet allowed to release the details of the judgement, the inspection was very successful and we are delighted with the outcome. The final report will probably be published after the Christmas holidays and we shall send it out to parents as soon as we receive it.
Hockey team We are very proud of our hockey teams who won the recent interschool hockey tournament held at Dauntsey’s school last Saturday. Both the A team and the B team won every game and did not concede a single goal! This is the first time in the 15 years of the tournament’s history that such a feat has been achieved. It is a great moment for our children to be able to hold up the trophy as the best hockey players in the area! We were proud of the dignified and courteous way in which they won, a tribute to their good sportsmanship. Well done to all. Our thanks to Mr Amor who gives up his Saturday mornings to organise and accompany the children to these tournaments.
Following this victory, our team then went on to win the Devizes area tournament on Wednesday, also without conceding a goal, against the bigger schools in Devizes and surrounding area! What a tremendous achievement! We are so proud of them all, and of the coaches.
Bedtime Story for Stonehenge Class Children in Stonehenge class are invited back to school tonight at 5.00pm for an hour to have hot chocolate and a bedtime story. They can come in their pyjamas so that they are ready for bed when they get home. Please be prompt picking your children up at the back door at 6.00pm as they will be tired – and so will the teachers! My thanks to Miss Nisbeck and Mrs Trusler who have organised this event on their Friday evening.
Christmas Fair Thank you to our wonderful PFA for organising the Christmas fair in the Pavilion this afternoon. They have been very busy this term with all the Christmas events, including decorating the school, preparing for the Christmas Party on 19th December, organising the Christmas cards, the tea towels, the refreshments for the performances and concerts, and much more. Please do offer your support to the PFA – their work enriches our children’s education and provides a lovely opportunity for socialising as well.
Times to drop off and pick up for evening Christmas Performances:
KS1 children: Drop off at 4.40pm at the back door of the classrooms. Pick up at 6.00pm at back door of classrooms.
KS2 children: Drop off at 5.50pm, to come in through back doors of their classrooms quietly as the other performance will still be in progress. Pick up at 7.10pm at the double doors from the hall into the playground.
Please remember that EVERY person must have a ticket to attend – even babies and young children. This is to comply with our Fire Safety protocols. Children from Old School Nursery and all children at our school will have seen the KS1 production at the dress rehearsal and all in our school will have seen the KS2 dress rehearsal.
Christmas events Our children will have a Christmas service at St Peters in Great Cheverell on Thursday 19th December at about 9.30am – everyone is welcome to join us for this lovely event, with singing, storytelling and quiet time for reflection. After that, we will have our Christmas party, with food provided by the PFA (and our generous families), and noisy party games organised by Mr Amor and Mr Gyllenspetz. Children are allowed to wear their party clothes on this day, providing they are warm and they have sensible shoes, as there is the walk to the church in the morning. Children will not need a lunch on this day as it will be provided for them.
On the last day of term, we will have a quiet meditation with candles in the morning and then we will have our Lataca Christmas dinner – most children have this dinner, but if your child prefers a packed lunch, please feel free to send this in. Please order the Lataca dinner if your child wants one. Then, after that, we have the Science Boffins in for an afternoon of education and entertainment before the holidays begin. NO SHARING ASSEMBLY on the last day of term.
Christmas Crackers As part of our work towards reducing pollution and waste, the PFA have spearheaded a project for children to make Christmas crackers for the Christmas Party this year, rather than importing them from China, involving huge travelling distances, and then throwing them away after a few moments of fun. A pack was sent home with each child on Tuesday, with the instructions and some bits and pieces for the crackers. We do ask that you help your child with this project and send them as soon as possible so that we can ensure that we have enough for every child to have a handmade cracker at the party. Our thanks to the PFA for this great initiative and to all those families who have already made their crackers and sent them in!
Lost Property We shall recycle the lost property over the Christmas holidays. So if you are missing anything that belongs to your child, please come in and go through the Lost Property basket before the holidays. The basket is full!
| Upcoming Events (Calendar of events is available on the website at www. holy-trinity.co.uk ) | ||
| Wednesday 11th December | Handbell and Choir Christmas concert in school hall | 5.00pm – all welcome |
| Monday 16th December | Christmas Performances | KS1 – 10.00am
KS2 – 1.30pm |
| Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th December | Christmas Performances | KS1 – 5.00pm
KS2 – 6.15pm |
| Thursday 19th December | Christmas Service at the church and Christmas Party at school | 9.30am for service
12.00pm start of party |
| Friday 20th December | Last day of term & Christmas dinner by Lataca | |
| Monday 6th January | Everyone back to school | |
| Friday 14th February | Last day of the half term | |
Best wishes
Mercedes Henning
We welcome and value your opinion. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact the Head teacher or Chair of Governors
PFA News
Thank you
For all the donations for the Christmas Fair and for the people who have generously offered their time in organising, setting up, manning a stall or tidying up after this event. We hope everyone has a great time!
Hand Bells and Choir Concert
The PFA are providing refreshments for this concert on Wednesday 11th December. Please remember to bring along some money in exchange for a hot drink or mulled wine and a mince pie.
Christmas Party
The children’s Christmas party will take place during the school day on Thursday 19th December. Food contribution lists will be put on classroom doors towards the end of next week. Please add your name next to the food you will be bringing for the party. Thank you.
Urgent Call for Volunteers
The PFA would like to serve refreshments between the KS1 and KS2 evening Christmas plays which take place on Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th December. In order for this to happen, we still need volunteers to step forward to help with this please. If you are able to donate an hour of your time (possibly less!) on either of these evenings then please get in touch with us.
To contact us you can email:
holytrinitypfa@gmail.com or join our Facebook page "Holy Trinity (Great Cheverell) PFA"
Many thanks,
Your PFA
Read more...Newsletter 12 - 29th November 2019
Dear Parents
Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) As a church school, we have to be inspected through the SIAMS framework every five years. Our turn has come and we will be inspected in this framework next week. They will inspect, amongst other things, the academic outcomes of our children, their spiritual development (whether they are people of faith or not) which includes how well children reach out to those in need, how we help them hone their moral compass, children’s vision of their place in the community, their courageous advocacy, and so on, and they also look at their Religious Education – are they theologically literate and are they forming their own philosophy, whatever that might be?
Follow this link to find out more: https://www.churchofengland.org/more/education-and-schools/church-schools-and-academies/siams-school-inspections
The inspector, Lizzie McWhirter, would like to talk to as many parents as possible when she comes to our school on Thursday 5th December. She will be in our hall from 3.00pm and you are all most welcome to come along and chat to her. We encourage as many people as possible to contribute to this inspection.
Results of canvassing for Breakfast Club and Afterschool Club - Number of forms returned: 17
(Some parents would only want one or two hours for Afterschool Club and would only pay accordingly on each afternoon requested. We have counted these as needing the full afternoon even though it would not be. One family is interested but did not give any idea of days or times they may be interested in – we counted this family as needing full cover, even though it probably would not be. So this analysis gives a slightly inflated view of the probable take up.)
| Breakfast Club
Number of children interested |
Afterschool Club
Number of children interested |
|
| Monday
|
12 | 9 |
| Tuesday
|
10 | 8 |
| Wednesday
|
9 | 9 |
| Thursday
|
8 | 8 |
| Friday
|
7 | 5 |
Because we need about 20 children in each session to cover the costs of staff, insurances, share of services, resources, licences, food, training and so on, we cannot feasibly offer this service at this time. The school does not have the funding to subsidise the service – it must be self-sustaining. We will continue to canvas parents regularly to see whether we get to the point where we can offer wrap around childcare which will be sustainable.
Christmas Play Rehearsal will NOT take place after school on Wednesday 4th December as some of the children are taking part in a hockey tournament.
Dishcloth raffle As part of our fund raising efforts for our link school/orphanage, the Mathieson Music Trust, in India, our Crochet Club have spent the term crocheting dish clothes from special “Dishcloth” thread. The children will hold a raffle for these dish clothes, starting at Sharing Assembly today. The raffle tickets will be on sale each morning in the playground before school for a fortnight, and the box will be at the office at all other times. Each ticket costs £1. The draw will be held in Sharing Assembly in a fortnight. There should be about 20 lucky winners of a handmade dishcloth!
Anup Biswas, the director of the Mathieson Music Trust, visited us this week, giving the children a taste of both classical western music and of music from the Indian subcontinent. (Anup is a world famous cellist and earns money for his work at the Trust.) He also told us about the work they do for these very disadvantaged children and the success that they have. We always enjoy his regular visits to our school and he always invites us to visit them in India – any parents thinking of a trip to India would be welcome to visit the school and spend a few days there.
Collective Worship This week, we reflected on the start of Advent and how we spend this time preparing for Christmas – with a generous spirit, helping others and making the world a better place through our peaceful and positive actions.
Winter is here Please be aware of the poor light conditions at this time of year if your child is walking or cycling home in the evenings – they will need high visibility jackets to keep them safe if they are on the roads.
In the event of snow, we do allow children to sledge down “Sledge Hill” onto the playground under adult supervision. If you would like your child to be part of this, you will need to have completed a permission slip.
Super Stars Our holiday club providers are offering a 15% discount for parents who book early for the holiday club events. Their flyer has been posted on the Parent Portal. We know that our children always enjoy these holiday clubs which include lots of sports and fun. If your child will be attending, please have look on their website and book in early. www.super-stars.org.uk/holiday-courses/
Easter Holidays: Monday 6th - Thursday 9th April
Summer Holidays: Monday 10th - Friday 14th August
Christmas stories and festive craft session - Saturday 14 December at Devizes Library 10.30-11.30am
For children age 4-8 years. Book your place now as places are limited. Tickets £1.50 for library members, £2.00 for non-members. Children remain the responsibility of their parent/carer and children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.
| Upcoming Events (Calendar of events is available on the website at www. holy-trinity.co.uk ) | ||
| Friday 6th December | Stonehenge class – Back to school for a bedtime story and hot chocolate! | 5.00pm – 6.00pm |
| Wednesday 11th December | Handbell and Choir Christmas concert in school hall | 5.00pm – all welcome |
| Monday 16th December | Christmas Performances | KS1 – 10.00am
KS2 – 1.30pm |
| Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th December | Christmas Performances | KS1 – 5.00pm
KS2 – 6.15pm |
| Thursday 19th December | Christmas Service at the church and Christmas Party at school | 9.30am for service
12.00pm start of party |
| Friday 20th December | Last day of term & Christmas dinner by Lataca | |
| Monday 6th January | Everyone back to school | |
| Friday 14th February | Last day of the half term | |
Best wishes
Mercedes Henning
We welcome and value your opinion. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact the Head teacher or Chair of Governors
PFA News
Thank you Thank you to everyone who has brought contributions towards the Christmas Fair this week. It is really appreciated. The box will remain in the entrance hall next week, so there is still time to donate teddies, chocolate, mince pies or mulled wine if you haven’t yet had the opportunity to do so.
Christmas Fair Lots of people have come forward to help with the running of the Christmas Fair. We are still looking for helpers to run stalls and /or help with the packing away at the end. If you are able to help out with this, then please get in touch via your class representative or our Facebook page.
PFA Shed It has been agreed that the PFA shed is beyond repair and needs to be replaced. Plans are being coordinated to get this done. In the near future we will require a small shed building team. If anyone is willing and able to be involved in this task, please let us know.
To contact us you can email:
holytrinitypfa@gmail.com or join our Facebook page "Holy Trinity (Great Cheverell) PFA"
Many thanks,
Your PFA
Read more...