End of Spring Term One Feb 26

Dear families,

We have reached the end of Spring term one and it seems to have gone rather quickly! The children will return to school on Monday 23rd February and break up for the Easter break on Thursday 26th March (Friday 27th March is an INSET day).

For those children entitled to benefit-related free school meals, vouchers will be issued for the holiday period. You will receive £10 per child, and they can be accessed via text or email that will be sent out today. If your child does not currently receive benefit-related free school meals, please check the following website for eligibility criteria and to apply online: https://www.dudley.gov.uk/residents/benefits/free-school-meals/. Benefit-related free school meals are different to universal free school meals, and you will only receive the voucher if you have applied for and are in of receipt of benefit-related free school meals (this can be confusing, so please contact the school if you need any support with this).

Well done to Ash Class. They have had the highest-class attendance this half term and as a result they chose yesterday to have a film afternoon. Cherry class and Beech class came joint second and so all three classes were able to wear their own clothes to school today.

For your child to get the most out of their education, it is imperative that they are in school and on time every day. When children miss time from school, they miss chunks of their learning, and this can create difficulties for the child in the future. There is a strong correlation between high levels of attendance and excellent educational outcomes. As a parent of a primary aged child, it is your responsibility to ensure your child is attending school regularly. If you are having any difficulties with getting your child to school each day, you must speak to us so we can support you. Lack of attendance at school is a safeguarding concern, and fines of £1000 can be issued by the local authority as well as possible court action. For any of our children who have excellent attendance and punctuality next half term (98%+ and on time every day) we will have a selection of prizes that they might be able to win.

Thank you to the parents who attended our e-safety workshops on Monday. We understand that keeping your child safe in the real world is hard, and the added addition of the digital world adds to these complexities. There is lots of information available to support parents to navigate the digital world and we will add this to our school website. Please do speak to us if you want any advice and support.

There are lots of events and trips going on next half term, please check the school calendar on teh school website. Letters with more information regarding trips and parents’ evening will be sent out early next half term.

On Wednesday, we said a sad goodbye to Miss Grasby, who has now safety arrived back in Wales with her family. She sent many thanks for your kind words and well wishes. We wish Miss Grasby the best of luck for the future.

This week we have also said goodbye to Mrs Flanigan, who for health reasons has now decided to start her retirement. Year one will miss having her as their lunchtime supervisor and we wish her the best of luck as she moves into this next chapter.

We wish all our families a wonderful break, and we look forward to hearing about the children’s adventures on their return.

Yours faithfully,

Miss Walters