A Review of Last Half Term

The spring term is traditionally one when a great deal of work is done. The children have all responded well to this and in many classes there has been the opportunity to benefit from working in small groups. Those of you who have joined us at Good Work Assemblies will have seen the wide range of work that the children have been proud to display.

Years 2, 5 and 6 had some road safety training, year 3 had a visit to the Thackray Museum and year 6 had the opportunity to work at Roundhay School at least once and they also visited a local synagogue.

The year 6 indoor football squad played an excellent match against Chapel Allerton losing narrowly.

The PTA Quiz Night was enjoyed by all, especially the staff team who surprised everybody by winning!

School Photographs

Thank you for your comments about the recent school photographs. They have all been passed on to Fotek. The class photos will be taken by Fotek on Wednesday 19 March and again a different payment system will be used. After that we will review the Fotek package before making decisions about next years' arrangements.

SATs

As you know, children from year 2 upwards will be assessed between Easter and Spring Bank using national tasks and tests. This half term, especially in years 2 and 6, much of the work will be helping children to prepare for this.

Those of you who were able to come to the Parents' Meeting about SATs will have heard how you can help your child. If you were not able to come on that evening, the following points may be of help.

· Take an interest in all work done at school.
· Support set homework. If this is done, there should be no need to set any more at home.
· Please don't buy books of past papers.
· Ensure your child gets plenty of exercise, fresh air and sleep to maintain good health.
· Reduce TV time. Be especially mindful of what children watch in their bedrooms.
· Don't worry - if you do, your child will.

Term Time Holidays

You will be aware from the media that there is a big move to reduce the number of school days lost to term time holidays. Days lost can be detrimental to children's progress and as you know, we do not authorise any holiday absence for yr 2 and 6 children until SATs are over.

Thomas Cook Plus at Crown Point Retail Park are offering some good deals on family holidays booked for school holiday time. This may be of interest and benefit to you.

Lunch Time

We are amazed at the fantastic range of things children bring for packed lunches - many of the children's lunches look much more exciting that the staff ones! Could we ask you to make sure that your child can get into the packaging of what is brought; lunchtime staff are not always able to spend the time opening plastic packaging or peeling fruit.

We were sorry to lose Mrs Rathore from our lunchtime team at half term but are pleased to welcome Mrs King to replace her. Our lunchtime team do a wonderful job in looking after your children and it is important that the children know to give them the same respect as they give to class based staff.

Prayer Group

A group meets regularly to pray for the school. Next meetings are on Wednesday 12 March and Wednesday 9 April at 1.45 p.m.

Please contact David or Julia Thompson (2402036) for venues and more details. All are welcome, including pre-school children.

Traffic and Parking

The situation on the school drive and North Lane is still very congested before and after school and we are very concerned for the safety of your children. Please do not leave cars in the dropping off bay; this is simply a safe place for children to get in or out of a car before you drive off again. Three point turns in the drive are also causing hold-ups.

The best way to ease congestion is to reduce the numbers of children who come by car. Do you live within ¼ to ½ mile of school? Could you walk instead of drive to school, especially now spring is almost here? Please consider this carefully.

Playground Comics

As the weather gets warmer the children enjoy sitting on the benches reading books and comics during the lunchtime break.

If anyone has any comics suitable for KS1, but especially KS2, which are no longer needed, we will be very grateful to receive them in school.

Please send them in to Mrs Hodges. Thank you very much.

Sprints - Recycling Old Cartridges

Please remember to keep saving those old cartridges. Dates will be announced soon when they can be brought into school and placed in boxes, ready to be collected and points awarded to the school.

Changes of Address, Telephone Numbers

Please inform Mrs McKenna in the office of any changes that need to be made to information held on the school computer.