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.

Children’s reading group

at

Mere Green Library

Interested in books?

Aged between 9 and 12?

Would you like to join the

library’s children’s reading

group which meets on every 3rd

Saturday between 2-3pm?

Ask a member of staff for more

details or sign-up at the library

counter.