As parents, we always hope that our children will behave themselves on family days out and

that others will see us as ‘good parents’.

As a school we always hope that our children will behave and manage themselves well and we will be seen as ‘good teachers’.

We all aim for the same and often we are reassured by comments and responses we receive from others. The email received from Rolls-Royce on the second page is typical of the response we often get when visiting places or receiving visitors. Well done, Year 6. Why were they ‘surprisingly shocked’ – we weren’t!

Have a good rest over Easter.

Mrs Linda Sullivan - Head Teacher

Term Dates for 14/15

Break up for EasterFriday 27 March 2015

Back to SchoolMonday 13 April 2015

Bank HolidayMonday 04 May 2015 Break up for half termFriday 22 May 2015

*NEW DATE* INSET Day Monday 01 June 2015

Back to SchoolTuesday 02 June 2015

Term dates are continued on the next page.

MARCH 2015

DALE NEWS

As part of World Book Day, Foundation Stage children dressed up as ‘Pete the Cat’. Mrs Rai is seen applying face paint to turn one of her class in to Pete!

HEAD’S

SPOT

Term Dates cont. INSET Day Friday 19 June 2015

Break up for SummerThursday 23 July 2015 All term dates are also on our website at: http://dale.derby.sch.uk

Learning Mentors

Please remember that holidays are not authorised. Parents may be fined and children may lose their space at Dale. See the article on the back page for more reasons why your child should not miss school.Please make sure that boys do not have patterns cut into their hair. This is not acceptable for school. Rolls-RoyceYear 6 took part in a day of activities with Rolls-Royce apprentices. Mr Iqbal received an email from them with some glowing feedback: “We were all surprisingly shocked how polite, enthusiastic and well behaved all students acted; it was a real pleasure to deliver the day.

Foundation Stage News

WOW! We have had a very busy half term. We have been baking and eating lots of new foods. We learned all about Chinese New Year and tried some yummy traditional Chinese food. We have also learned about eggs and baby animals. Our classrooms turned into jungles and we learned about different wild animals. We dressed up as Pete the Cat for World Book Day. We are excited to learn more about animals after the holiday when we visit a farm. The children are trying very hard in Phonics and with their Reading. Please support them all you can at home by practicing reading and writing their sounds and words and reading their reading book with them. Let’s get them ready for Year 1!

Year One News

We have had an amazing half term! Science week was great fun. We learnt about how to clean and look after our teeth. In literacy we have been reading and writing stories and we enjoyed following Traction Man’s adventures.

For our topic learning, we went around the area to look at the different types of houses, special buildings and street signs. Next half term we are looking forward to learning about animals.

Year Two News

This half term we have been learning about Florence Nightingale and how she changed hospitals and nursing forever. Mrs Parr’s classroom ‘magically’ turned into Scutari Hospital, where the children saw what life was like for the injured soldiers there. They then ‘witnessed’ Florence Nightingale and her nurses in action, and saw the improvements that they made. In geography we have used atlases to discover information about the United Kingdom, continents and oceans of the world. In literacy, we have been learning about different types of characters and personalities by reading Little Miss and Mr Men books. The children designed their own Mr Men character ready to sew as a hand puppet after the Easter holidays. Any extra help with sewing (running stitch) over the holidays would be much appreciated.

Sports News

•Basketball City and County Finals

•Athletics – Year 3 / 4 •Cycle Cross at Markeaton Park

•Football at DW Sports – Year 3 / 4 Girls

•Hockey at Woodlands •Tag Rugby at Chellaston

•Netball at Derby Moor •Football at Derby University – Year 6 Girls

•Cycling session at Derby Arena (before official opening!)

•The Big Pedal – thanks to all who have cycled/scooted to school!

•Sustrans Super Hero Day

PE Kit Please can we remind all parents to bring PE Kits in on Mondays and take home on Friday to be washed over the weekend.EarringsKey Stage 1: earrings must be taken out at home or taped over at home before school.Key Stage 2: earrings must be taken out.

Year Three News

It has been a very busy and exciting half term for Year 3. Our Daffodils are growing for us to sell and raise money for Marie Curie. We are very excited about raising money to help others who need our help. Quite a few of us have gone to the kitchen to do some baking with the cooks which was very exciting. We have also been exploring persuasive letter writing and have been successful in preventing Arboretum Park from closing. In our DT and Science we have been looking at gears, levers, pulleys and lots of different forces so that we can make our own park called ‘Strutt Land’.

Year Four News

Year 4 have had a very busy half term. We really enjoyed our trip to Beaumanor Hall even though the weather was not kind to us. The children who did not stay overnight at Beaumanor made musical instruments as part of the Sound topic. The children who stayed overnight had a great time making shelters- we will be prepared if we ever have to survive in the wild! A number of children from Year 4 took part in a dance performance with Miss Williams and football matches with the PE Team. We are

ready for a well deserved rest.Year Five News

Year 5 had a fantastic visit to the Derby Museum this half term. We learnt how to write in Viking runes, how a soldier would be buried with his armour and how to use artefacts from the past to learn about our ancestors. We made our own versions of Viking longboats to remember what amazing explorers and adventurers the Vikings were too.Year Six News We are still ‘Claude Crazy’ in Year 6 with the children writing their own Claude adventures. Mrs Collins has even been Tweeting the author Alex T Smith! He was very impressed with the ideas the children came up with and said that they were ‘AWESOME’! Science week was all about Teeth this year and we looked at the effects of gum disease and how to prevent it. Our current topic is all about the Victorians. After Easter, we will be dressing up to re-enact what a Victorian school would have been like.All the children have been working very hard in preparation for SATs this term. There will be a meeting after Easter to share the timetable for SATs week and to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you to you all for working hard together in school this term -

everybody... staff, pupils and parents. We are a BIG family, and as we work together we

show something of how our local community can look - a wide variety of people of different cultures and nationalities, living and working together, with care and respect for one another. This is something we are very proud of at Dale. Hopefully this can also be how we live our lives outside school as well. We may not see things the same way, we may do some things differently. Sometimes there may be things we don't like, but we can all show respect and cooperate. And as we pull together, we help make our school and our community great places to be. Have a good Easter break. The summer term will soon be here!Mr Anthony Adams - Chair of Governors

GOVERNOR’S

SPOT

School Information Please be aware that only FS and Year 1 parents can bring children inside the school building. Parents of all other year groups must leave their children on the playground. If you need to speak to a member of staff and do not see them on the playground please call at the School Office to make an appointment. Please look at the school website: http://dale.derby.sch.uk for more information and pictures of school life. Lost Property is kept outside Mrs Sullivan and Mrs Foster’s office. Please do not ride bikes in the playground at busy times – before and after school.

Parents are responsible for their children once the teacher has handed them over. Please leave the site ASAP.

How to contact us:

Telephone 01332 760070

Email admin@dale.derby.sch.uk

Address Dale Community Primary School Porter Road, Derby. DE23 6NL

Head Teacher Mrs L. Sullivan

Department for Education research based on pupil absence and exam results data reveals the link between attendance and achievement.

•Even short breaks from school can reduce a pupil’s chances of succeeding at school by as much as a quarter.

Primary:

•Pupils missing up to just 14 days of

school in Key Stage 2 are a quarter less

likely to achieve Level 5 or above in

reading, writing or maths tests than

those with no absence.

•Pupils with no absence were around

1.5 times more likely to achieve the

expected Level (Level 4 or above),

and 4.5 times more likely to achieve

above the expected Level (Level 5 or

above) than pupils that missed 15 to

20% of Key Stage 2.

ATTENDANCE