Post on 23-Mar-2016
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Clarence Road, Four Oaks,
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B74 4LD
Telephone: 0121 308 5392 Fax: 0121 308 5061
DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES
Tue 7th Feb Parent Council Meeting - 2.00 pm
Wed 8th Feb Gymnastics Festival for Four Oaks Cluster - 2.30 pm
Thur 9th Feb ―Valentines‖ Lunch
Fri 10th Feb BREAK UP FOR HALF TERM
Mon 20th Feb Back to School
Thur 23rd Feb PTFA Meeting – 7.30 pm
Sat 25th Feb Community Aspirations Day 10.00 am - 2.00 pm
Tue 28th Feb Year 4 Boys and Girls Four Oaks Football Tournament at Four Oaks School
Fri 2nd Mar Whole School Takeover Day
Mon 5th Mar Book Fair Week
Parent Council Meeting - 2.00 pm
Tue 6th Mar Reception at Birmingham Nature Centre
Four Oaks Cluster Cross Country at Hill West - 4.00 pm
Parent Consultations KS1 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm
KS2 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm
Wed 7th Mar Parent Consultations KS2 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm
KS1 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm
Thur 8th Mar Rabbits‘ Class Assembly – 2.30 pm KS1 hall
Fri 9th Mar Rabbits‘ Class Assembly – 2.30 pm KS1 hall
Tue 13th Mar Four Oaks Cluster Cross Country at Hill West - 4.00 pm
Thur 15th Mar Spring Musical Evening – 7.00 pm KS1 hall
Tue 20th Mar Year One out at Conkers
Wed 21st Mar PTFA Meeting – 7.30 pm
Thur 22nd Mar Year 2 visiting the Botanical Gardens
Tue 27th Mar Easter Lunch for Parents
Barnardo and Gandhi - KS1 hall
Easter - Yr 4 Assembly - 2.30 pm
Wed 28th Mar Easter Lunch for Parents
Mandela and Pankhurst – KS1 hall
Easter - Yr 4 Assembly - 2.30 pm
Year 4 Football Tournament at Four Oaks Primary School
Thur 29th Mar Reception Easter Bonnet Parade—2.30 pm followed by
100% Attendance Assembly
Fri 30th Mar Easter Egg Rolling am
Easter Egg Hunt pm
BREAK UP FOR EASTER HOLIDAY
Friday 3rd February 2012
LATE ARRIVALS IN THE MORNINGS
Children who arrive too late to line up in the playground with their class MUST report to the
school office so that we can put their name on our late list. This enables us to update the
class registers so that should there be a fire drill all the children are accounted for.
We would therefore request that parents of KS2 children do no take them to the front
entrance of KS2 but bring them to the school office for registration. Similarly, parents of KS1
parents must not go through to the classrooms with their children but must stop and report
to the school office.
ATTENDANCE
The local authority is taking a very tough line
on holidays in term time because of the significant
impact such absence has on pupil attainment. They
have asked us to promote a strong and consistent
message to parents which is:
“Parents who take their children out of school during term time without the authorisation of the Head
Teacher not only damage their children’s educational opportunities but also risk being issued with a penalty notice, being prosecuted in court and
losing the children’s place at the school of their preference”
Therefore I urge you to make your requests for leave
of absence at least 6 weeks in advance and
substantiate your request with valid reasons. I
know many of you do this already and would like
to thank you for this.
FORTHCOMING PTFA MEETINGS
Thursday 23rd February 7.30 pm Wednesday 21st March 7.30 pm Wednesday 18th April 7.30 pm
Monday 14th May 7.30 pm Tuesday 19th June 7.30 pm Tuesday 10h July 7.30 pm Please feel free to come
along and join us
PARENT
CONSULTATION MEETINGS
We are holding parent
consultation meetings during the week beginning Monday 5th March.
We look forward to seeing you.
PARKING
Parking Enforcement Officers will be patrolling Clarence Road and
neighbouring streets in an attempt to improve parking by parents at the
start and end of the day.
Some parents are still stopping on School Clearway (zig zags) which is
extremely hazardous when children are trying to cross the road.
We have also received a number of complaints regarding parents parking
their cars across driveways, preventing residents from being able to leave
the house.
Please respect our neighbours and park responsibly.
MILK AND DINNER MONEY FOR NEXT HALF TERM Dinner Money for next half term will be £57.00 up to and
including Friday 30th March or £9.50 per week. You will receive a note
of any credits owed to you or amounts owed for school meals before we
break up. A letter has gone out to all children for you to order milk for
next half term. Orders MUST be received by 9th February as we are
not able to order extra milk after that date. Please collect a letter from
the school office if you have not received one.
WELLY BOOT APPEAL
Please can you bring in any unwanted wellington boots for use by our KS1 children
when working outside.
All donations gratefully received.
NEW INTAKE
SEPTEMBER 2012
If you have a child who is due to start school in September
2012 you should by now have returned your preference form to the Admissions and Appeals
Office at Birmingham City Council.
If you have not done this
please contact the Admissions and Appeals Office
on 675 0555 as a matter of urgency
MEDICINES IN SCHOOL
Can I take this opportunity to remind parents that all medicines coming into school need to
be accompanied by a “Request for School to Administer Medicines” form.
We are only permitted to
administer PRESCRIBED
medicines that have to be taken FOUR OR MORE
times a day. LOST PROPERTY
We have an increasing amount of lost property
in school, including uniform, water bottles, PE
kit and shoes.
With over 400 pupils it is impossible to return
items that are not named.
Please ensure that all uniform, shoes, bags,
water bottles and lunch boxes have your
child’s name clearly written on them if you
would like them returned.
This applies to second hand uniform as well,
we have a some items labelled with
ex-pupils names
HELP STILL NEEDED
We are still desperately seeking someone to lay
the paving slabs which were donated to school.
Your time and skills would be greatly
appreciated.
TEACHER DAYS/SCHOOL CLOSURES
REMAINING TEACHER TRAINING/
BANK HOLIDAY/ELECTION DATES THIS YEAR
Monday 16th April (Training Day)
Thursday 3rd May (Local Elections)
Monday 7th May (Bank Holiday)
NEXT YEAR’S TEACHER TRAINING DATES
Monday 29th October 2012
Monday 7th January 2013
Thursday 28th March 2013
Monday 22nd July 2013
Tuesday 23rd July 2013
Community Aspirations Day Saturday 25th February
CALLING ALL EX PUPILS OF HILL WEST PRIMARY SCHOOL
Were you a pupil at Hill West or do you know anyone who
attended the school? We would like to know what you decided to do
after you left school.
Whether you left 10 years or 40 years ago please come and share
your experiences with us on Saturday 25th February 2012.
We will be serving coffee, tea and cake and it will give you the
opportunity to meet up with old friends. Drop in anytime between
10.00 am and 2.00 pm. We will have a professional photographer
on site to make a permanent record of the day.
YEAR THREE SWIMMING
This year we have six weeks
swimming at Wyndley.
We will shortly be sending out
further information about which
class will be swimming on which
days.
THANK YOU
Thank you to everyone
who has been sending their
slips and envelopes into
school via their children
rather than coming straight
to the school office. The
queues have decreased
which means we are able
to deal with parents queries
quicker.
We have noticed that there
are an increasing number
of children who are not on
the playground before the
start of the school day.
We will be writing
regularly to the parents
of those children in an
effort to improve
timekeeping
PERSISTENT LATECOMERS
INCLUSION FOCUS
The role of the Educational Psychologist in School
Educational Psychology is the discipline of observing and helping pupils with difficul-
ties. A school psychologist usually supports those children who have either special edu-
cational needs (SEN) or who have behavioural difficulties which do not allow them to
interact with their fellow pupils in a manner befitting of their surroundings.
The problem may of course stem from an emotional problem which could be triggered
by a traumatic event within the family, such as the death of a loved one or the break up
of the family unit. These events are unfortunately very common and therefore are two of
the most commonly diagnosed reasons for behavioural and emotional problems within
the school environment.
A school psychologist will spend time with a pupil - or group of pupils - and try to es-
tablish reasons for their behaviour or their inability to learn. Then once they have estab-
lished reasons for these problems they will then present their findings to teachers and
parents. If you think your child may benefit from such assistance please speak to your
child’s class teacher, Mrs Tombs or myself, Miss Clarke
Behaviour Focus: Challenging inappropriate
language
Sometimes in school children call each other inappropriate names. This is hurtful and can be quite upset-
ting for the child it is said to. Sometimes these names stem from certain prejudices and refer to chil-
dren‘s height, weight, hair colour, hygiene or colour of their skin.
Racist language can sometimes be used in Primary School naively e.g. ‗you are black‘ however at other times
it can be used in a derogatory manor to offend. This language is challenged immediately and the children
are told that what they are saying is ‗racist‘. Homophobic language in Primary Schools is often used to re-
fer to something or someone as inferior. Phrases such as ‗those trainers are gay‘ for example, may be used
to insult someone or something, but without referring to actual or perceived sexual orientation. Interven-
ing when young children use homophobic language, including the use of the word gay to mean inferior, cre-
ates a school culture where homophobia and homophobic bullying are not tolerated. At Hill West the staff
recognise that they have a duty to safeguard the wellbeing of all young people in their care.
Failure to respond to inappropriate name calling can have an impact on pupils‘ confidence and self-esteem,
as well as their attainment in school. In the same way that staff at Hill West ALWAYS challenge racist
language, staff also feel confident to respond to a range of other inappropriate phrases whenever neces-
sary.
By working together we can reduce the incidents of name calling. Has your child been called inappropriate
names or has your child used inappropriate language to others?
EASTER BONNET PARADES
RECEPTION CHILDREN ONLY
The Reception children will take part in an Easter Bonnet Parade on
Thursday 29th March at 2.30pm in the KS1 Hall.
We will be sending out further
details nearer the time.
100% ATTENDANCE ASSEMBLIES
Our 100% attendance assemblies will be held at the end of this term
on Thursday 29th March.
If your child maintains 100% attendance we will write to you
so that you can share in the celebration.
Congratulations to Mrs Willmore who is
expecting her first baby. I am sure you will want to share in
sending her your best wishes.
NEW: Four Oaks Cluster Training Choir This is a brand new choir which started in January and is open to Years 2, 3 and 4 across the Cluster. It is an exciting opportunity to train up younger children in the Cluster for the main choir, which is open to people in Year 5 upwards. We have had quite a bit of interest so far, but still need more people. If you haven't had a chance to read the letter sent home yet, and would like to enrol your child, please contact Richard Jeffries. I know there are lots of keen and talented singers in many schools - don't miss out! Email: richmjeffries@googlemail.com or visit the main choir's website for more details: www.fouroaksclusterchoir.weebly.com. The new choir will meet on Fridays from 5.15-6.15pm at The Arthur Terry School. Four Oaks Cluster Orchestra This re-launched in January on Fridays at The Arthur terry School from 4pm-5.15pm. This is a great opportunity for anyone learning an instrument to get to grips with ensemble playing. You will find that their skills will massively improve over the weeks and months! Please contact me if your child used to be in the orchestra, or would like to start for the first time. Pupils must have been playing for at least one year. Contact Richard Jeffries for details. - Email richmjeffries@googlemail.com to register your interest.
BE ON TIME - TEN TO NINE
SCHOOL GATES
Please note that the school gates will be
closed each morning from 8.30am to 9.30am and 3.00p m to 4.00pm (as usual) to ensure the
safety of pupils arriving to school.
If you require access to
the site for a specific reason then
please
contact the school.