Only two days into the new school year and already so much has been packed in!
A warm and friendly welcome to all of the new children in Reception and the new children joining us across the school. I can honestly say how impressed I have been with their confidence to leave parents at the door and jump straight into school like, here at Trimley St Martin. With a new term comes a lot of change. You will be receiving letters about our new look maths homework, our new spelling scheme and a lot more information about how Trimley St Martin will stay great and continue along the path to the dizzy heights of 'Outstanding'. I would like to take this opportunity in advance to say thank you for all the support, advice and encouragement that I have already had and of that in future. REMEMBER... I am pleased to inform you of the excellent news that Mrs Stockdale is expecting her first child, later this year.
Mrs Stockdale is planning to commence her maternity leave from the end of July 2016 and so there will be no expected impact on MacArthur Class. Mrs Stockdale has informed the children today before handing out letters to the MacArthur Class parents. Thank you to those parents who came along to the meeting to discuss KS1 SATs and how the school is approaching the statutory tests. Below is a copy of the presentation slide used for the meeting. If you have any further questions, please make contact with Miss Thurlow. ![]()
Thank you to year 5 and 6 for helping to brighten up the playground with their art work. The work was supported by local artist Bea Farrell and links directly to the dressing up bibs we have in our 'make believe' box. The art looks very effective!
Today the children benefitted from an assembly about Fairtrade. Steve led the assembly and helped the children to understand who really benefits from the sales of banana, oranges etc. The children were surprised to hear that the supermarkets are the ones who benefit the most and even more surprised to hear that the workers are the ones who receive the least (despite working the hardest) a total of 3p in every pound versus a massive 45 - 55p earned by the supermarkets. A very thought-provoking assembly! Thank you Steve.
Since January we have been trialling using the field at lunchtime with selected year groups. In the past the field has been out of action during the wetter months as it can become quite muddy and damp or in the Autumn and Summer where there has been overnight rain. Year 5 and 6 were given the chance to bring in an OLD pair of trainers that are stored in the labelled bucket in their classroom. At lunchtimes, this bucket is carried to the doors leading to the field where the children have been changing out of their school shoes in to their OLD muddy shoes. The trial has worked well... it has meant that children wanting to play football or using the climbing frames have had the chance, and in turn making the playground less busy meaning the younger children have a more enjoyable lunchtime too!
As the older children in the school, training them to swap shoes over has been reasonably straightforward. Feedback received from parents is that they want their children to 'let off steam' at lunchtime and therefore are more than happy for them to change in and out of shoes and can cope with a little bit of mud on their child's trousers. At the beginning of March we introduced Year 4 and we are now in position to trial this with the current Year 3. The school has already purchased the buckets for the classes (1 for boys trainers and 1 for girls). If you would like your child to go on the field in the colder months / wetter weather then please send a pair of OLD trainers into school that are clearly labelled with your child's name. Any trainers sent in will be your child's responsibility. THE SCHOOL WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOST OR DAMAGED TRAINERS. Please note : - Some children do get mud on their trousers after being on the field. The children are responsible for ensuring they do not get mud on their clothes. If children have consistently been coming home with excessive amounts of mud on them then some of the of the parents have been sending in waterproof trousers that they put over the top of their school trousers. You may also suggest to them that you would rather they didn't go on the field. If children in Year 3,4,5,6 do not want to go onto the field - it is not compulsory. However, they cannot swap back and forth between the two nor can they play football in the playground. The younger year groups will be allowed on the field in the summer months, when the field is dry, as the need to have a change of shoes will not be there. |
CategoriesAuthorHead teacher. Archives
July 2024
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