Welcome back to new babies, and exciting plans. We have enjoyed hearing the children’s holiday news and getting back into the swing of things this week. Please remember school starts at 8.30 when classes are registered – not 8.40 when the gate closes!
Parents informal drop in Friday 15th November 1-2pm
We have set Friday the 15th November as an opportunity for those parents who wish to pop in and see their children’s work and ‘check in’ with the class teacher. This is primarily for those parents who have not already done so this term. You will have a chance to chat informally to your child’s class teacher to be able to hear their feedback as well as see children’s work. This is instead of the usual five minute slots that we used to hold at the start of the school year.
We feel these are more effective ways of engaging our parents, and allow the children to play a more active part. If you have any concerns that you would like to discuss in more detail please don’t hesitate to make a separate appointment. Pupils can be taken from school from 1.45pm. Remember to bring some change for refreshments as we will be donating proceeds to Children in Need.
‘What makes a great scientist?’
We are already thinking about the curriculum for next term, and have decided due to the huge success of STEAM week last year (STEAM is Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) to extend the theme across the whole term. Our key question (above) will form the basis of the topic. To prepare for this the staff will have their release days as follows and we plan all backfill for planning time from staff already known to the children:
- EYFS released on Friday 27th November
- Y1/2 released on Monday the 2nd December
- Y3/4 released on Tuesday the 3rd December
- Y5/6 released on Wednesday the 4th December
Teachers are released in the mornings and assistant teachers join them in the afternoons.
The theme will be launched in January with a whole school WOW. We are very excited about the learning opportunities and will share the curriculum with you when we have finalised plans.
School lunch money
We have sustained the same £2 per meal cost this academic year for the highly popular school dinners, and we know these are the cheapest in Cramlington! However despite this we have one or two people who owe money to the school for dinners. For people who have a persistent debt, school does not have the resources to follow up on a regular basis and so all outstanding monies will be referred to a solicitor to start legal recovery proceedings by the end of November this year. This will only affect a minority of families but we want to be very open about this approach as the loss of dinner monies impacts on school funds. If you think you might be entitled to free school meals please don’t hesitate to speak to the school office where our business manager, Angela can set up a payment plan for you to pay back what is owed to the school.
School Christmas dinner tickets
These are now on sale at the great value rate of £6 per adult, same price as usual for children of £2. Maximum of one ticket per child.
Fireworks
We were sad this year (and last) not to be able to afford money for the firework event that we have organised in years gone by. Thank you to those who asked – but you will know from the national picture that finances are challenging for schools and we just couldn’t justify the hundreds of pounds it costs that isn’t covered by parental donations. We are interested in setting up a parent fundraising group – as we are sure that some of the local businesses might sponsor an event if we had anyone who could coordinate this. Let your class teachers know if you can contribute time to fundraising projects at school.
Thanks to our team who care for the pigs and chickens
A huge thank you to the avid team of carers who look after our pigs and chickens in the school holidays especially. The care and support that they give is truly outstanding and we really appreciate what they offer to the animals allowing our children to enjoy some really positive experiences. We love the photos they post onto the facebook page. Please let the school office or Allison Morton know if you would like to be added to the team.
CVPS Family news
Congratulations to Willow and Amelia We were delighted to hear about the safe arrival of two new babies at CVPS. Beau a healthy brother for Willow in Year 2 and Grayson another bouncing brother for Amelia in Y3. Congratulations to both families! Goodbye to Sam and William Owen who are moving to Wales next week. The boys will be sorely missed as they are both popular with lots of friends in their classes and across school. We look forward to staying in touch and hearing all about how their Welsh lessons go as they will be learning Welsh for ten weeks before starting their new schools. We know you will both always carry a big bit of CVPS in your hearts though – as everyone does who is touched by our CVPS ethos. Good luck to you all!
Reception places (September 2020)
Applications are now open for those who need a place for the reception classes. Even if your child attends our nursery, you still need to apply separately, so please do not miss the application window. Let us know if you need more information.
Children in Need (Fri 15th Nov)
We are offering cake stalls to raise money for children in need at the parent drop in next Friday. Children can wear odd socks too!
School nurse Jane Crudace
Jane taught Y6 how to manage those body changes that demand more attention to personal hygiene! Some of our children were shocked to hear that it would be hygienic during puberty to take a short shower every day! They were able to ask lots of questions, and Jane was impressed with
their openness. This is something we often hear from visiting adults. We put their openness down to the fact that they feel comfortable with us, and safe enough to be open with us.
Sleep Workshop Mon 18th 2.30-3.20pm at CVPS
Jane will be running a sleep workshop on Monday the 18th November from 2.30-3.20 in the community room. Please put your name down for this at the school office or email info@villageprimary.org if you wish to be considered for a free place!
Attendance and Punctuality
- YR 93%(2)
- Y1 100%(4)
- Y2 94%(5)
- Y3 95%(2)
- Y4 98%(3)
- Y5 97%(3)
- Y6 90%(2)
Well done to Y1 for 100% attendance this week.
Achievement awards
Kindness Champions – Holly Armstrong and Aston Anderson
Ashleigh’s Outdoor Idea
This week I would like the children to collect a range of leaves. You could talk about the size, shape, colour and tree their leaves come from. We are going to use these in Forest School next week to help us identify trees around our Forest School area.
Dates for your diary
Please check all the dates below as there is lots happening this coming term.
