Call us: 0 1922 682583 Email us: postbox@st-francis-p.walsall.sch.uk

BRYNTYSILIO/SECONDARY SCHOOL MEETING Thank you to all parents who attended the

Bryntysilio and Secondary Transfer meetings on Tuesday 30th September.

-------------------- NUT ALLERGIES

Thank you for helping us to guarantee that the school is a nut-free zone. Given the severity of a

pupil’s allergy, this is essential. --------------------

ATTENDANCE POLICY

For important charging information, please see

overleaf.

Holiday Dates 2014 School closes for the half term holiday on Friday 24th October 2014 at 3.15pm. School re-opens for pupils on Monday 3rd November 2014.

Term Dates 2014/15

Mon 1st Sept and Tues 2nd Sept – Training Days Weds 3rd Sept: school re-opens for pupils Fri 24th Oct –Fri 31st Oct 2014 Half Term Fri 19th Dec 2014 – Fri 2nd Jan 2015 Christmas Holiday Fri 13th Feb – Fri 20th Feb 2015 Half Term Fri 27th Mar –Fri 10th Apr 2015 Easter Holiday Mon 4th May 2015 Bank Holiday Fri 23rd May – Fri 29th May 2015 Half Term School closes for Summer Holiday - Mon 20 Jul 2015.

3rd October 2014

Diary Dates

FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS MASS 11 am Sunday 5th October

YEAR 6 VOCATIONS MASS Tues 7th Oct 1.30 pm YEAR 1 AUDIOLOGY VISIT Wed 8th Oct 1.30 pm

SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS – Wed 15th Oct 1.15 pm

PARENTS’ EVENING – Thursday 23rd October DROP IN EVENING

Message from the Acting Head Teacher

Express and Star: 29th September 2014 We are happy to report that there was a write-up about the school in the Express and Star this week, following

our recent Ofsted letter.

Under the heading, ‘Improved schools praised for action’, the paragraph about St Francis Catholic Primary

School read:

“At St Francis Catholic Primary School, inspectors said the quality of teaching was improving because ‘teachers

and teaching assistants have conscientiously followed good-quality advice and effective training provided by

the support school’.”

Thank you for your on-going support.

WRITING As part of our strategy, we must drive up standards in

Writing, in particular, as you know.

A pupil came up to me this week and told me that he had started to write a book.

I was impressed.

Then he showed me several pages that he had

completed already. His work was imaginative, personal, well-presented and well-illustrated.

I was delighted!

I know that many of you regularly encourage your

children to discover the joy of writing – and reading – for pleasure. It is a truly wonderful thing for them to do

and will surely give them life-long satisfaction (and hopefully a great career, too).

Thanks everyone: let’s keep our children writing!

PLEASE SEE OVER

SAFEGUARDING The following information has been passed to all Walsall

schools by our Safeguarding Team. It is a message about an incident that happened in Birmingham that we should all be

aware of:

‘A warning has gone out to parents after it emerged an individual may have been masquerading as a truancy officer in order to speak to young people.

West Midlands Police are investigating a suspicious incident in which a man claimed to be working for Birmingham City Council’s Pupil Watch scheme last Wednesday (September 24).

The police’s Safer Travel team was carrying out a routine patrol of the bus network when they had cause to speak to a man stating he was from Pupil Watch, and asked to see the man’s ID card, which he was unable to produce. Further inquiries revealed he did not work for Pupil Watch - and now police are investigating the matter.

The warning comes after some schools mistakenly told parents the man was professing to be a police officer.

Now the police and Birmingham City Council are advising schools and parents that their joint Pupil Watch Safeguarding patrols ended in July, although police officers can still approach youngsters to find out why they are not in school.

A warning letter sent to schools and to the Observer, advised: “Pupil Watch patrols have now ceased. If [pupils] are approached by any individual stating they work for Pupil Watch, they must not give any personal information. They should bring this approach to the attention of their parents, school staff and West Midlands Police.”

“If any individual, stating they work for Pupil Watch, requests that the pupil leaves the location with them then they must refuse to go and should seek assistance as a matter of urgency from parents, staff and West Midlands Police.

“If any pupil is approached by a Police Officer, even if they are in full uniform then they are strongly advised to ask to see their warrant card and if in doubt seek assistance.” Information is power. Safeguarding is paramount. It will be important not to worry (as such) – but to be vigilant and aware.

ATTENDANCE POLICY The Governing Body has adopted the standard Walsall approach to discouraging pupils from taking holidays

during term-time.

You would be charged £60 per child, per parent for unauthorised absence. This would escalate in the event

of non-payment.

Please refer to the school’s website for a copy of the Attendance Policy for full details of all charges.

PiXL

Some of you may have heard your children talking about ‘PiXL’.

It is a national organisation that provides

tried-and-trusted ways of improving schools and pupil achievement.

PiXL provides a framework for the forensic

diagnosis of individual pupils’ learning needs by identifying precise gaps in children’s

knowledge and understanding.

By addressing these specific gaps through targeted therapies, the school’s team can

remove pupils’ barriers to learning; helping them to understand their next steps, to

master concepts, and then to move on to their next learning challenge.

In order to be certain that each child has

really mastered the key concepts, they have regular gentle testing in different contexts.

Of course, there is much more to PiXL than this, and we will share these ideas with you over time so that you can help to support

your children as they go along.

PiXL provides us with a range of useful resources and materials to support and

embed high-quality learning.

For more information, please see www.pixl.org.uk

At the moment, we deliver PiXL fully only in

Year 6, but we hope to roll this out to the other year groups over the coming years.

Watch this space for PiXL updates and

opportunities for parents to get involved.

Family Mass – Sunday 5th October 11:00am (the feast of St Francis of Assisi)

Please join us on Sunday for our first family mass. It will be led by the children and families

of our school and we hope to see as many of you as possible there.