Dear Parent/Carer, STAFFING UPDATE

Miss Kohlman – Congratulations to Miss Kohlman who is expecting a baby. She will be with us for the rest of this academic year, before she starts her maternity leave.

LITTLE OWLS PARTNERSHIP Over the last few months North Town and Little Owls Pre-School have been working together to develop a Partnership Agreement. This partnership, entitled The Owls Partnership, enables us to share facilities and join together to share special events such as Christmas, Easter and some assemblies. This summer the Owls Partnership will be developing a new transition process for those children who are due to transfer from Little Owls to North Town in September. Over the coming months, the children will be involved in a variety of activities such as shared story times, visiting the Early Years environment and meeting staff and children in readiness for next year. We are very excited about this new development in our relationship with Little Owls and look forward to an even more successful future for our children. POLLING DAY – SCHOOL CLOSURE I would like to remind you that the school will be closed to pupils on Thursday 7

th May as the school is being used

as a Polling Station for the General Election. NORTH TOWN ELECTIONS In order to celebrate the Elections in May we are running a mini-election campaign in school. Children in Year 5 were invited to write a manifesto about changes that they would like to see happen at North Town next year. Eight children presented their fantastic ideas to School Council this week and Katy, Rudy, Skye and Andrew were chosen to take part in the final election. They will be running their campaigns over the next few weeks. The school election will take place on Friday 8

th May and the

winning candidate’s manifesto will form part of the School Council’s action plan for next year.

WARM WEATHER UNIFORM OPTIONS Just a reminder that your child is now able to wear the ‘Warm Weather’ options for our school uniform (see below). Please could I remind you to clearly name your child’s uniform as we always have lots of

lost property that cannot be returned because the owner’s name is not on it.

SUN CREAM & SUN HATS With the warmer weather approaching, please would you apply sun cream to your child before they come to school and provide your child with a cap/sun hat to wear as we like to take our learning outside of the classroom whenever possible. Please ensure the cap/sun hat is clearly named. Also, sun glasses are not permitted unless for medical purposes. Please note that the children should not bring sunglasses into school. Many thanks. LIBRARY We were amazed by the wonderful book character's costumes that helped celebrate the library’s first birthday. Well done everyone. A set of signed books from our visiting inspiring author, David Lawrence Jones, are now available in the library. Please do follow the library news on Twitter @NorthTownLib. Thank you. MUFTI MONDAY Thank you to everyone who wore Mufti on the first day back this term. We raised a total of £230. Due to the Bank Holiday and Year 6 SATs, there will be NO Mufti Monday in May. Therefore the next Mufti Monday will be Monday 1

st June 2015 and we would be very grateful for donations of chocolate for our Chocolate Tombola Stall at the

Summer Fair. Cont’d…

Warm Weather Options (Between April and October at parents’ discretion) Green & white gingham dress Grey short trousers White short sleeved shirt (NOT polo shirts) Ties will still be worn, but the Head/Senior Leadership will decide on a daily basis if the weather is warm enough for them to be removed.

MRS HEYWOOD’S ART APPEALS We are taking part in the Go Create Summer Arts Festival in Taunton and are planning a giant sculpture made of recyclable items. With this in mind I am appealing for as many clean and empty, clear plastic

bottles as we, as a school, can gather! A collection point will be in Tree Bottoms, so if you are able to contribute please take them straight there when you are able and watch out for news on our creation.

Other items we will need:

Different coloured carrier bags Any colour, unwanted nail varnish Any unwanted National Georgraphic magazines

GARDENING CLUB The new club members have accepted their first gardening challenge. It is science half term and we have decided to build a bug hotel to investigate habitats. We have 4 wooden pallets that we are going to fill with tubes, pipes, bottles, logs, twigs, straw etc. If you have anything that you could contribute please do bring it in for Mrs. Yates. Do follow our progress on Twitter @NorthTownGarden. Thank you SAINSBURY VOUCHERS We are still collecting the Sainsbury’s Active Kid’s Vouchers which will enable us to buy additional sports and play equipment for the children. The promotion will be ending on 5th May, so please do collect as many, as possible and post them in the designated box outside the main school office. We have collected 4,801 vouchers so far! Please can you ensure that only current vouchers for this year’s promotion are included in your donations. Thank you as always to Mrs Cook for counting them for us! PARENT FORUM MEETING E-MAIL ADDRESS The next Parent Forum Meeting will take place on Monday 27

th April. The Agenda will be e-mailed shortly.

Minutes from the last Parents Forum Meeting have recently been sent home by Parentmail e-mail. If you would like a paper version, copies are available in the letter rack in the foyer outside the main school office. CLASS PHOTOGRAPHS This year our class photographs will be taken by Ward Hendry Photography on Tuesday 16

th June.

YEAR 6 LEAVERS’ SERVICE This year our Year 6 Leavers’ service will take place on Friday 19

th July at 10am and will be held at St James’

Church. We will be celebrating the children’s time at North Town. On this occasion, the whole school will be attending this service.

AWARDS Congratulations to the following children who have achieved their Bronze award for receiving 50 house points – Iris, Callum, Harry, Katie, Frankie, Ze, Chloe, Charlie, Zak, Layla, Jacob, Rhys, Katelin, Sasha, Tyler, Calum, Freya, Louis, Thomas, Kean, Thomas, Oliver, Maliha, Bray, Dillon, Anna,

Summer, Harrison. House points are awarded for good behaviour and an excellent attitude towards learning. Congratulations also to Samuel, Beth, Lily and Sienna who achieved their Silver Award by attaining 75 house points. Due to the Bank Holiday Monday and Year 6 SATs tests, there will be NO Key Stage 2 Celebration Assembly on Monday 4

th and 11

th May. We will endeavour to present certificates to the children as quickly as possible.

Apologies in advance if your child has to wait a little longer than normal to receive their certificate. Yours sincerely

Mike Snowden Head teacher

Cont’d….

SCHOOL DISCOS Our next PTA Discos will be held tonight in the school hall. Entry will be £2 and the times are as follows:

Pippins, Court Royal, Kingston Black and the Russets will be 5.30pm - 6.30pm Year 3 and 4 will be 6.45pm - 7.45pm Year 5 and 6 will be 8pm – 9pm

Please remember to bring your child’s completed permission slip with you with the £2 entry. PTA MEETING - The next PTA Meeting will take place on Thursday 4

th June at 6.30pm in the Meeting Room. All

welcome. RAG BAGS – The next Rag Bags day will take place on Tuesday 2

nd June. We would be grateful for donations of

any clothing, shoes, hats, handbags, accessories, jewellery, toiletries, CD’s, DVD’s, games, soft toys, household textiles (curtains, bedding, towels, material items). Please take any donations to class in a disposable bag and we will only accept items on that day. We will receive money for the items we collect and a percentage of the money will also be given to BIBIC. PTA SUMMER FAIR – This year, our Summer Fair will take place on Friday 12

th June straight after

school. A sign-up sheet for volunteers to help run a stall will be put up nearer the time, however, if anyone is interested in running the BBQ, please let myself or Paul in the school office know as soon as possible. Thank you. END OF YEAR/LEAVERS DISCOS – Our End of Year and Leavers Disco will take place on the evening of Friday 10

th July. More information will follow later this term.

Thank you. Caroline Tidmarsh - P.T.A Chair

Cont’d….

SPORTS TEAM REPORTS – WRITTEN BY MR TEMPLETON – P.E LEADER Hockey On Tuesday 17

th March we took two teams of hockey players to Bishop Fox’s School for a central venue league

tournament organised by SASP. Richard Huish College provided the referees for the event. Over the past few months, 27 different children have represented the school in both friendly and competitive tournaments. Some of these have decided to join out of school hockey clubs. Fantastic news! The teams were: Jack, Marinet, Courtney, Molly, Tyler, Louis and Charlotte P. This team played very well, making progress in each of their games and competing very strongly. Well played! Autumn, Daisy, Myla, Ben, Jake, Iona and Thomas M. This team won the Taunton Area title and represent Taunton at the School Games finals at Millfield. Well done!

Players from both teams at the end of the tournament. The winning North Town team with their trophy. Somerset School Games Report: 17

th April 2015: Millfield

On Friday 17th April we took two teams to the Somerset School Games finals at Millfield School.

Our hockey team and our futsal team both won their Taunton leagues and were entered into the county finals to play against the other winners from different parts of Somerset. The event was organised by SASP and officiated by young leaders from Somerset including Richard Huish College. After the opening ceremony we travelled off to our venues and competition began.

The hockey team: Daisy, Autumn, Ben, Iona, Jack, Jake (after futsal had finished!), Myla and Thomas. The team enjoyed the challenge of competing at the next level. They won, drew and were defeated, eventually finishing in 6

th place out of 9

teams. They played extremely well, rising to the challenge and following the School Games values closely. A huge thank you to Mrs Merrifield for looking after the team while I was at the futsal and the parents / carers for their support. Futsal team: Frankie, Ben, Lewis, Finlay, Edward, Jake and Daniel.

The futsal team played in some very close matches against the other schools. The level of skill on display was extremely high and the action fast. After losing their first game, the team remained unbeaten for the rest of the tournament. This was enough to secure the runners up spot in the league. Well done team! Thank you to the parents / carers for their support and also to Matt Fevin for his extra coaching sessions to prepare the team for the tournament. #WeareNORTHTOWN

Cont’d….

#Intraschoolcompetition Summer Term: Year 3 On Friday 17

th April we had the first of our summer term intra school competitions. This term it is multi event

athletics and the groups represented their houses to compete in four different events. An individual sprint, a team longer run, a jumping event and a throwing event. The points gained by these would be added together to make an overall winner for the year group. Everyone in Year 3 took part in the events to score points for BLACKDOWN, BRENDON, MENDIP and QUANTOCK.

The scores at the end of the competition were:

POSITION HOUSE POINTS

1ST BRENDON 352

2ND BLACKDOWN 350

3RD QUANTOCK 333

4TH MENDIP 323

This means that the winners for Y3 are BRENDON The overall points for the year are:

POSITION HOUSE POINTS

1ST BLACKDOWN 501

2ND BRENDON 494

3RD MENDIP 472

4TH QUANTOCK 468

Cont’d….

SUMMER TERM 2015 EVENTS CALENDAR Please see below our Summer Term Events Calendar:

Event Date Time Venue

PTA Discos Friday 24th April 5.30pm to 9pm School Hall

Parent Forum Meeting Monday 27th April 3.30pm Meeting Room

Year 3 Residential visit to Kilve

Wednesday 29th April to

Friday 1st May

N/A Kilve Court

Year 4 Visit to Bristol Zoo Thursday 30th April School Hours Bristol Zoo

Bank Holiday Monday – School Closed

Monday 4th May School Closed N/A

Year 5/6 Girls Kwik Cricket CVL Tournament

Tuesday 5th May 3.50pm to 5.30pm Taunton Vale Sports

Club

Year 5 Strike and Field Festival

Wednesday 6th May School Hours Castle School

Year 5/6 Boys Kwik Cricket CVL Tournament

Wednesday 6th May 3.50pm to 5.30pm Taunton Vale Sports

Club

Polling Day School Closed to pupils

Thursday 7th May School Closed N/A

Year 6 SATs Test Week Monday 11th May to

Thursday 14th May

School Hours North Town

Golden and Royal Russets – Parent Sharing Afternoon

Friday 15th May 2.30pm Classrooms

Quad Kids Athletics CVL Tournament

Monday 18th May 10am to 12.30pm

(Years 3 & 4) 2.30pm to 5pm (Years

5 & 6)

Castle School

Year 5/6 Girls Kwik Cricket CVL Tournament

Tuesday 19th May 3.00pm to 5.30pm Taunton Vale Sports

Club

Year 3 Wildlife Workshops Wednesday 20th May School Hours North Town

Year 5/6 Boys Kwik Cricket CVL Tournament

Wednesday 20th May 3.50pm to 5.30pm Taunton Vale Sports

Club

New Rock Pippins, Golden Pippins, Kingston Black and Court Royal Parent Sharing

Afternoons

Wednesday 20th May 2.45pm Classrooms

Year 3 Parent Sharing Afternoon

Wednesday 20th May 3.30pm Classrooms

Year 4 Parent Sharing Afternoon

Thursday 21st May 2.30pm Classrooms

Year 6 Parent Sharing Afternoon

Thursday 21st May 2.45pm Classrooms

Year 5 Kwik Cricket Tournament - TBC

Thursday 21st May 3.00pm to 5.30 Taunton Vale Sports

Club

Year 5 Parent Sharing Afternoon

Friday 22nd

May 3.15pm Classrooms

Summer Half Term Holiday School Closed

Monday 25th May to Friday

29th May

N/A N/A

First day of Summer Term 2 Monday 1st June School Hours North Town

MUFTI Monday Monday 1st June School Hours North Town

Year 3 Willow Workshop Monday 1st June School Hours North Town

PTA Rag Bags Day Tuesday 2nd

June School Hours North Town

SEND Parents Meetings Wednesday 3rd

June School Hours North Town

Year 3 Athletics Festival Wednesday 3rd

June School Hours Castle School

Health Week Monday 8th June to Friday

12th June

School Hours North Town

Year 6 Bikeability Course (Day 1)

Monday 8th June School Hours School Playground and

local roads

Year 6 Business Project Monday 8th June to Friday

10th July

School Hours North Town

Early Years Sports Day Tuesday 9th June 1.00pm to 3.00pm French Weir Park

Year 5 and 6 Sports Day Wednesday 10th June 9.30am to 11.30am French Weir Park

Year 4 and 5 Sports Day Wednesday 10th June 1.15pm to 3.15pm French Weir Park

Event Date Time Venue

Year 6 Games Festival Thursday 11th June School Hours Taunton Vale Sports

Club

Year 4 Modified Rounders Tournament

Thursday 11th June 2.15pm to 3.45pm Castle School

Year 6 Bikeability Course (Day 2)

Friday 12th June School Hours School Playground and

local roads

PTA Summer Fair Friday 12th June 3.30pm to 5.30pm

Year 5/6 Visit to Manchester United Legends v Bayern Munich All Starts Football

Match

Sunday 14th June 8.00am to 10.00pm Old Trafford Football

Stadium, Manchester

Year 5/6 Girls Kwik Cricket Monday 15th June 3.50pm to 5.30pm Taunton Vale Sports

Club

Phonics Check Week Monday 15th June to Friday

19th June

School Hours North Town

Class Photos Tuesday 16th June School Hours North Town

Multiskills Sports Festival - Kingston Black, Court Royal

and Russets Classes

Wednesday 17th June School Hours Castle School

Year 5/6 Boys Kwik Cricket CVL Tournament

Wednesday 17th June 3.50pm to 5.30pm Taunton Vale Sports

Club

New Parents Evening Wednesday 17th June 6.00pm to 8.00pm North Town

Year 6 Production – Technical Rehearsal

Tuesday 23rd

June Times to be confirmed Castle School

Year 4 Orienteering Festival Wednesday 24th June School Hours Norton Manor Camp

Year 6 Production – Dress Rehearsal

Wednesday 24th June Times to be confirmed Castle School

Induction Morning for new Reception Children (Sept 15)

Thursday 25th June School Hours North Town

Year 5 Outdoor Education Festival

Thursday 25th June School Hours Norton Manor Camp

Year 6 Production Thursday 25th June Times to be confirmed Castle School

Year 4 Modified Rounders Tournament

Monday 29th June 2.15pm to 3.45pm Castle School

Year 6 Children Induction Days at Secondary Schools

Tuesday 30th June and

Wednesday 1st July

School Hours Allocated Secondary Schools

Induction Morning for new Reception Children (Sept 15)

Tuesday 30th June School Hours North Town

Induction Morning for new Reception Children (Sept 15)

Thursday 2nd

July School Hours North Town

School Reports sent home Friday 3rd

July School Hours North Town

MUFTI Monday Monday 6th July School Hours North Town

Pippins Multi Skills Festival Tuesday 7th July School Hours Castle School

End of Year Discos and Leavers Evening/Disco

Friday 10th July 5.30pm to 9.00pm North Town

End of Year Final Assemblies

Class Swap Morning Monday 13th July School Hours Classrooms

Parents Meet the New Teacher Meetings

Monday 13th July 3.30pm to 4.30pm Classrooms

Early Years Prizing Giving Ceremony

Tuesday 14th July 9.15am to 10.15am School Hall

Key Stage 2 Prize Giving Ceremony

Tuesday 14th July 10.30am to 11.30am School Hall

Summer Term House Treat Wednesday 15th July School Hours TBC

Year 6 End of Year Visit Thursday 16th July School Hours TBC

Leavers Service Friday 17th July 10am St James’ Church