The newsletter of

Malmesbury CofE Primary School Headteacher: Steve Heal BSc, PGCE, NPQH

Tetbury Hill MALMESBURY Wilts SN16 9JR 01666 823514

Wednesday 12th February Primary Post 210

Already, we’re approaching the half way stage of the school year. Spring is here and summer will be here before we know it. Parents’ evenings are taking place

now to review that first part of the year and re-set objectives for the coming months.

The biggest change to teaching and learning this year is our focus on maths mastery teaching. It’s an approach that is being widely adopted in schools and it has a lot of elements. There’s an information evening on the 3rd March at 6.00 in the school hall. We’d love to see you there—please contact the office if you’d like to come.

You can’t have missed our Apple Distinguished School poster proudly displayed on the Pod at the front of the school. A programme of IT investment continues, so that we now have new touchscreen Smartboards throughout the school and a bright new projector in the hall. The children have been most fascinated, however, by the people on the roof. Unfortunately, some repairs were necessary, but they were completed just in time for the windy weekend. The good ship MPS sails on!

Mr Heal

SUCH A BUSY TIME!

At Easter, our Foundation Stage Leader Mrs Hamilton

will begin her maternity leave. We are delighted to say

that we have recruited a teacher to replace her while

she is away. We are especially delighted that this will

be Mrs Sarah Driver, who will be known

to many of you because she previously

worked at Malmesbury Primary School

for ten years. Welcome home!

Foundation Stage Maternity Leave

On Friday morning we again had a very

difficult and dangerous situation in and around

Poole Road. Please drive very slowly and with

extreme care, because children can step out

unpredictably. Please also do not park on the

pavement, lining the road or blocking the drives

of residents. This puts everyone’s

children in danger because it makes it

more difficult for drivers to see

pedestrians, especially small ones.

Traffic and Parking

Reflecting on faith

The children in Early Years had their first field trip this term, when they headed up the hill to Malmesbury Abbey. Here, they met Andrew Beebee and astounded him with their Paxman-style questioning about the abbey. They asked him many questions, including why we have features such as a big cross in the abbey, when and why was it built, what was the monks' life like, and how are stained glass windows made?

The children then had a fun hunt around the abbey for various features, such as the organ, altar and the pulpit. The trip is the culmination of a term’s worth of RE learning on the theme of helping hands and we would all like to thank Andrew very much for giving the children a fascinating afternoon.

NEWS FROM EYFS

Girls' Football Team

Huge congratulations to the Y5 and 6 girls’ football team, who came through two rounds of inter-school competition to represent us at the Wiltshire County finals on the astroturf at Stanley Park. The team reports:

Out of a clear blue sky, the weather turned to wind, rain, hail, sleet and snow. It was a dramatic experience – but we got hot chocolate and free cookies and cakes! The team’s talisman (talisgirl?) Charlotte wasn’t well, but she came anyway and made it though the first few games. There were some great saves from Anna, brilliant teamwork and everyone fought to the end without giving up. Izzy and Anneleise scored goals. We played 5 other teams and came 4th, scoring in every match except one, including a penalty following a handball. Many lessons were learned about the importance of outdoor clothing, but everyone has now recovered!

MALMESBURY PRIMARY SCHOOL GO TO THE GYM COMPETITION!

On Tuesday 28th of January 2020, Malmesbury Primary Gym squad went to Malmesbury gym competition at The Activity Zone. When we got there, there were lots of other schools there already bursting to get started. First of all, we warmed up in a big group and did lots of stretching. Then, we went over to the secondary school and there were lots of fun ac-tivities for us to do such as ropes, balances, handstand wall, climbing frame, trampoline and vault. When we were finished at the secondary school, we headed back over to the Activity zone. Next, we went to the beam and practiced some tricky routines. Lots of people fell of once or twice but we all got back up again had another go and had lots of fun. We then went onto the uneven bars. Lots of people were scared doing this because it was high up and a new thing to them but we all had a go and again had lots of fun! After that, we walked over to the rolling mat where we could do rolls such as handstand forward roll, teddy bear rolls, forward rolls and backward rolls. We were all very tired so we sat down and ate our snacks had a drink and took a few photos. Then it was competition time! The pressure was now on. We all practiced our vault routine and many of us were nervous and worried they were not going to make it over the vault but none of us backed out and we gave it our best shot when we came over to perform in front of the judges. Now it was time for floor. The last event. We held our breaths as the line got shorter to the row of mats. When it came to the first person’s go we all let out a big cheer! Everyone was amazing and we all did our very best but there could only be one winner! We sat down and squeezed each other’s hands. Finally, they got to 3rd place and they still hadn’t said our name! We were so happy when they finally announced us as 2nd place! We were all amazed! With a smile on our faces we walked back to school, got changed and had our lunch which we needed so much, we were so hungry. Everyone was happy with not coming first because we came 2nd and had loads of fun! Written by India Richards and Jessica Duckett

Full Job vacancy title Named Pupil Teaching Assistant

Salary range Grade E Point 6-8 £19,171 - £19,945 pro-rata (£9.94 - £10.34 per hour)

Hours of work: 12:15 to 3.15 pm, Monday to Friday. 15 hours per week. Contract type: Long term temporary contract (named pupil funding) Closing date (and time): Tuesday 3

rd March, 12:00 midday.

Interview date: Friday 6th March Commencement date: As soon as possible A full job description, person specification and application form can be found on the school’s website,

https://malmesburyprimaryschool.co.uk

Malmesbury C of E Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All applicants will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check before appointment is confirmed.

CURRENT VACANCIES:

UPDATED SCHOOL ADMISSIONS POLICY 2020-2021

Dear parents and carers

In order to comply with the School Admissions Code we would like to inform you of our new admissions policy for 2021-22. There are no significant changes from last year, but the policy has to be updated every year.

Details can be found on the school website under Information—Admissions—Final

Admission Arrangements 2020-2021.

Thank you.

Polite Notice

Can we please remind parents how important it is to keep the school up to date with their child’s Emergency Contact details, and any medical requirements/allergies.

Pease also let the school office, or your child’s teacher, know if they stop taking any regular

medication or no longer have a medical condi-tion.

Thank you for your cooperation

The Wiltshire Dyslexia Association is delighted to welcome the British Dyslexia As-

sociation to Wiltshire with guest speakers from Microsoft, John Hicks and BDA

CEO Helen Boden.

Saturday 7th March : 10.30am – 4pm

Location: Sheldon School, Hardenhuish Lane, Chippenham. SN14 6HJ

The BDA are providing the main speakers:

“What is dyslexia? – Supporting your child’s needs” - Helen Boden, CEO, BDA

“Empowering Potential – Using IT” - Arran Smith - Microsoft

“How Does my Child’s Dyslexia Affect Me?” - John Hicks

Full details of the programme and the facility to book free places at: https://

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/events/free-pop-up-roadshow-wiltshire

FREE dyslexia event in Chippenham

14/2/20—Y1 Sharing Assembly

21/2/20—LEGO Club Expo

24/2/20— Y5 Swimming - Mrs Hampton’s class (first session)

25/2/20—Montana Mark, Circus Clown w/ KS1

3/3/20— Maths Evening for Parents

5/03/20 – World Book Day

11/3/20— Class photos

27/3/20—EYFS Sharing Assembly

27/3/20— Jump Rope for Heart - sponsored skip—Milepost 2/3

1/4/20— Y5/6 Trip to ‘We the Curious’ in Bristol

3/04/20 – Easter Service to school at 9.30am and to parents in school in afternoon (TBC)

Yr 4 Braeside 22-24/04/2020

Parents evening 06/05/20 – 5.00-7.30pm & 11/05/20 – 4.00-6.30pm

20/05/20 – School Disco

1/6/19 — TD DAY

17/06/20—Sports Day (reserve date 24/06/20)

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Dogs

A reminder that the school is a no-dogs site, except for assistance dogs.

Please do not bring dogs into the school grounds. Dogs can be tied up to the rail-ings outside, but please ensure they are far enough from the gates and pathways that they do not worry people coming through.

Peas in the Pod – September booking

Due to the ever-growing popularity of Peas in the Pod we are currently reviewing the booking system for September. We can-not expand the size of the provision because other spaces in the school are already in use before and after school. This means that for the time be-ing at least, we have to find the fairest possible way of allocating places. We will have a new booking system in place for mid-April, which is when parents are in-formed of school places for new starters. Shortly after this, we will open bookings for next school year, so that people have time to make other arrangements if they need to.

FUN AT THE ABBEY

FOUND: JACK JONES COAT ,

BLACK /GREY, SIZE MEDIUM.

Please come to the school office.

Thank you!