Dates for your Diaries (please keep checking the web page for new events)

Wed 9th January Listening Club starts

(every Wednesday lunchtime)

Tues 15th January Cool Kids start

Parent Workshop with School Nurse

Wed 16th January Y2 trip to Warwick Castle

Open the Book Assembly

Tues 22nd January Young Voices Choir at Genting Arena

Thurs 24th January Netball match v Woodfield

Fri 25th January Governors Surgery 9am

Wed 30th January Finance Governors

Tues 12th February Network Maths Challenge (Y5/6)

18-22nd Feb Half Term

Wed 27th February Y1 Safari Park visit

Fri 1st March FOW Spring Discos

Tues 12th March Poetry Workshop (PL Writing Stars)

Parents Evening

Thurs 14th March Parents Evening

Wed 20th Mar Full Governors Meeting

Fri 22nd March KS2 Gym Competition

15th—26th April EASTER HOLIDAYS

Mon 29th Apr Children Return to School

Thurs 2nd May School closed for Polling Day

PUPIL ABSENCE LINE

If your child is unable to attend school due to illness, we

would now like you to ring and

leave a message on our pupil

absence line 01902 551236 Please ring before the start of school, the earlier the

better!

WARSTONES PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Spring 1 2019 Welcome back! We hope everyone had a happy and relaxing holiday and are ready for all that 2019 brings. This term is a very important one in school. It is the time when most progress can be made in the children’s learning, as everyone settles down to work hard and banish the blues! Please help your child do the best they can by reading at home, practising spellings and tables and by making sure they get plenty of sleep! Attendance is really important but so is being on time so as not to miss the important first session of the day. Quite a number of children are regularly late to school and this does put them at a disadvantage. Below this is some information on our new signing in system which you need to be aware of should your child be late for school.

Governors have reviewed our residentials and reluctantly felt the need to reduce the number we offer to support families with rising costs and staffing concerns. We want to make sure we do maintain some as we do feel it is an important part of our curriculum, giving children a wider range of learning opportunities, socially as well as academically. This year we are offering residentials in Years 2,4 and 6. It is hoped that with two years between them, families will be able to manage the rising costs and we can support with two year payment plans if it would help.

We welcomed Miss Diamond on to our staff last term, covering the maternity leave in Nursery and this term we welcome Mrs Money, who is supporting in Year 3 temporarily. It is wonderful to have them on the team and hope they enjoy their time at Warstones! Many of you will be aware that Mr Laurie has not been in school lately. He is currently on leave to care for his mother who is very poorly. We wish them both well and hope to see him back soon.

With the cold weather, comes warm woolly hats and gloves. Please

can you make sure they are all named to avoid losing them .

New signing in system at school!

In keeping with virtually every other school in the city, we have now got an electronic signing system for staff, visitors and for children

coming in and out of school during the day for appointments. It links in with our attendance system, so children who are late for school will

need to sign in with this rather than the book. This is a far more secure way of ensuring we know who is in school in case of

emergencies .

IT IS NOT SOMETHING A CHILD CAN DO THEMSELVES.

If your child is late to school, an adult will need to come to the office to sign them in. There can be a queue so I do encourage everyone to

make the effort to be on time in the morning to avoid the need for this.

School Nurse Drop ins

Every month, the school nurse is available in the Family at the Front Room from 8.30-9.30am if anyone has any concerns or questions they would like some help with. The dates she will be in till the end of the year are:

Feb 5th, March 5th, April 2nd, May 7th, June 11th,

July 9th

She is also running a Parents workshop on

‘Bedwetting and Constipation’

on Tuesday 15th January at 2pm.

All are welcome, especially parents of younger children who are experiencing difficulties supporting their

children with this.

PE/games kits in school

A number of children, especially in KS2, are not bringing in their PE and games kits to school to avoid having to participate. PE is a statutory part of the school curriculum and plays an important role in keeping our children healthy.

The school PE kit is a white T shirt (or house colour), black shorts and plimsolls. As the weather is colder, children will need a tracksuit to wear over their PE kit and trainers for outside games. All of this kit is available at Lads and Lasses or most supermarkets. PLEASE do not send your child in with team football shirts or other casual clothes, as they may not be suitable for the activities they are doing or can cause upset and arguments.

All kit can be brought to school in a small bag, preferably draw string, to hang in the cloakroom and be left there during the week or even half term, so that it is always available. I have also included in this newsletter, the days your child’s class will be doing PE if you prefer them to bring it in on the day. Games sessions are usually alternate weeks so you would need to check which week it is on if you are bringing kit on the day rather than leaving it in school. We do have some spare PE kit in school for children to borrow if they have forgotten but this is for one off occasions, not every week. (Also a large amount of this has gone missing. Please can you check to see if any has been taken home by mistake—it will have Warstones School embroidered on the top).

Please ensure every piece of kit is named so we can return lost items.

KS1 Days need PE kit in school KS2 Days need PE kit in school

Indoor kit Outdoor kit Indoor kit Outdoor kit

Year 4 Tuesday Wednesday Year 1 Monday/ Thursday Friday

Year 2 Tuesday/ Wednesday Friday Year 5 Thursday (one class swimming, one PE)

Friday

Year 3 Tuesday/ Friday Wednesday Year 6 Monday Friday

Our School Improvement Priorities 2018-19 1. Improve outcomes on ELGs where children are not yet reaching ARE. 2. To embed and improve on current outcomes to achieve at least national expectations in all areas (RWM) in statutory tests with positive progress indicators. 3.To maintain quality of teaching across school to show appropriate challenge and differentiation so as to support all abilities and needs. 4. To develop shared leadership opportunities across school and the professional skills of staff 5. To improve the school environment to promote good behaviour and safety of all stakeholders on site.

Reception Thursday. Please can children come to school in Games kit for the day!

School Dinners are CHANGING!!!!

In April, we will be moving over to a new company to provide our school dinners along with Springdale. Other schools who have done this have found that the quality of dinners have really improved and more families are using the facility. It is

also anticipated that this will keep the costs of dinners as low as possible. Mrs Porter and Mrs Feeney will be doing some tasting sessions this term to pick the

best provider!!!

Much of the school budget is worked out on the number of children who are entitled to free school dinners, especially those who actually have a school dinner on school census day. With the universal free school dinner for KS1, a number of children who would normally be entitled to free meals are ‘missed’ and so the school does not get all the budget it is entitled to, reducing what support we can provide in school.

If you are eligible for benefits of any kind, PLEASE can you ask at the school office to check to see if you meet the criteria. All we need is your national insurance number. Or click on the button for Free school meals at the top of the school webpage.

It does not mean your child has to have school dinners—you can send in sandwiches if you prefer. But it would be extremely helpful to the budget if as many children as possible opt for the school

special dinner we are offering on School Census Day—Thursday January 17th.

Menu January 17th: Hot dogs or burger, chips, baked beans/sweetcorn/salad Iced sponge and sprinkles/fresh fruit/yogurt

Send in your reply slip to the office to book a dinner! This really does make a huge difference to the way we are able to provide support for all the children in

our school. Thank you for your support! Thank you!