Copdock Weekly Update 01/03/19

Newsletter – 1^st March 2019

THIS WEEK:

Cross Country:  This week saw the start of the KS2 after school club, unfortunately there were not many participants.  If your child would like to participate, it is not too late!  Please contact the office and send them in on Monday with their kit and the £15 to take them up to the Easter holidays.

Guitar Lessons:  On Thursday lunchtime pupils began their guitar lessons.  Please note that the session on the 14^th March will not be running – parents will be refunded.  Further information is contained further down the newsletter.

Shared Learning:  Thank you to all parents and carers who came into school this afternoon to share their child’s learning and to those who came in a little earlier to join our coffee and chat session, we hope you found it useful.  We value your thoughts and would welcome your feedback.  Please email the office with your comments.

NEXT WEEK:

Menu Variation:  Please be reminded that the dessert on Monday will be shortbread rather than cupcakes.  Also, on Thursdays in week 2 for the remainder of this menu rotation, the main meal will be chicken and sweetcorn pasta and not chicken and broccoli.

Kitchen Visit:  On Tuesday, our head pupils will be visiting Beaumont Primary School Kitchen to see where our school dinners come from and to gain an insight into the provision of meals both onsite and off!

Lego Club:  A new round of the Lego club starts next week.  Pupils in years 1-3 are eligible to attend.  Please see the letter on the school website for instructions on how to book with Kids With Bricks.

World Book Day:  For WBD this year we are running a competition involving potatoes!  Rather than the children dressing as their favourite book character, we challenge them to dress a potato as their favourite book character instead!  Here are some examples.  Please ensure the children wear uniform to school on World Book Day.

OTHER ITEMS:

• You may have seen some disturbing reports in the news this week about the latest internet threat.  This has been discussed in school with the children.  We have put some advice on the school website regarding this particular trend known as MOMO – on the online safety page and also on the local clubs and events section.  Please be reminded how important it is to check what your children are doing online and be present when they are.
• As we have recently had the road swept and the yellow zig-zag lines are now clearly visible, please ensure they are not parked on outside school.  We appreciate your cooperation in keeping the children safe in and around our school site.
• Please keep collecting those Lego Tokens from the East Anglian Daily Times and Ipswich Star until 3^rd May.  We now have a box in the office for tokens to be posted into.
• Foxes and Woodpeckers children and parents have been notified this week of staffing changes from September.  As you are aware, since September this year Mrs Parnell reduced her teaching commitment to three days a week.  This was to support a more relaxed approach to life before considering the final step into early retirement.  Well, the time has now come for us to officially say goodbye at the end of the school year in July.  Mrs Windmill will be working with Foxes from September.  We will shortly be advertising for a replacement for Mrs Parnell, who has been with us since 2000, to work with Woodpeckers.
• Please pop in your diary that parents are invited into school on Wednesday 3^rd April at 9am to be entertained by the Foxes Flute Recital Assembly.
• Another date for the diary – Tuesday 19^th March at 2:30pm – Year 1 parents are invited in for a Phonic Screening Meeting with Mr Ross.
• As you will have seen on the dates for your diary section, Woodpeckers and Foxes will be at Copdock Village Hall all day on Thursday 14th March for a Science Day.  All Woodpeckers and Foxes will need a packed lunch on the day but KS1 children will be able to order a hot dinner as they will be in school as usual. The day will be dedicated to science, investigations and inventions.  Please drop your child at the relevant venue between 8:45am and 9am.  If you arrive before 8:45am, please stay with your child; we had a lot of children being dropped off and left before the start of the day the last time we held a special day at Copdock Village Hall.  Copdock Village Hall has a one way system and parents need to park properly and bring their child into the village hall, not just let them out of vehicles; this is for the safety of the children as there will be many moving vehicles at that time.  There is a large car park to the rear of the village hall as you follow round on the one way system.
  Parents of Woodpeckers and Foxes children are warmly invited to come and join us from 2pm to see our inventions in action.  Children need to be collected from the village hall between 3pm to 3:15pm.  We also need to know if your child will be attending after school club that day as we will need to make sure we have enough capacity to transport them to the pre-school.  We also need to know if your KS2 child will be attending breakfast club to ensure we have capacity to transport them to the village hall.  Please let us know by next Thursday, 7th March, if you intend to use breakfast club or after school club on the 14th March.

• Guitar lessons will be cancelled on Thursday 14^th March as the majority of the participants will be at the village hall – parents will be reimbursed for this session.

• We are currently reviewing our Food Policy and would like to take this opportunity to thank parents for supporting our guidelines about providing children with healthy lunch boxes and snacks.  It is important that sweets are not part of the lunchtime meal and it is great to see many children eating a range of fruit and vegetables as healthy alternatives.  Part of our work within the curriculum encourages children to develop awareness of how food is produced and packaged, evaluating the impact of their intake on their health and well-being.  We also discuss what a balanced diet looks like so children are prepared for making healthy choices as they grow up.
  As you are aware, there are specific foods which can cause severe reactions for people with particular health needs, which is why we insist that nuts are not part of snacks or food brought into school.  As some of our children also have specific dietary requirements we make adjustments to cater for their needs where possible too.  On some occasions, children may wish to bring 'treats' into school to share with friends as part of a birthday celebration.  Whilst we are supportive of this practice we would encourage all parents to check with their child's class teacher or the school office before doing so.  This will allow us to discuss any potential issues which may arise.  It is important that this is planned for in the end of the school day so parents can monitor their own child's intake and any particular dietary needs.  Thank you in advance for your support with this.
• We are still keen to recruit new governors to help shape the future of our federation. We currently have a vacancy for a parent governor and 2 other vacancies.  Please chat to the school office or Dennis Kell ([email protected]) for further information.
   

For further term dates please check the website…

http://www.bentleycopdock.co.uk/

For PTA information please see their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CopdockprimaryschoolPTA