20 Mar 2008 - Broadgate Newsletter - Easter 2008
Dear Parents,
Another very short term and a great deal of news to report! I hope you enjoy reading about the many events that have taken place over the last few weeks.
Staffing news
In January, it was wonderful to welcome back Lisa Dyer following the birth of her second child, Joel. She has settled back into her teaching role very quickly and is really enjoying working in Y1.
We were delighted to welcome Heather O’Hara onto our staff at the beginning of this term. Heather, has replaced Vicky Garside as the Nursery Nurse in our Nursery. She has quickly become a valuable member of the Foundation Stage team.
During the summer term, Kirsty Brewster will be leaving us to have her first baby. She will return to Broadgate later in 2009. I feel sure you will want to join me in wishing her the very best. We will all really miss her.
Well done three members of staff who have received professional awards recently! Helen Wade became a Higher Level Teaching Assistant, Sue Scholes a fully qualified STEPS trainer and Louise Bennett from "Butterflies" was awarded a NVQ Level 2 in Childcare.
Congratulations to Helen Turner. Not a member of staff, but a valuable member of our team none the less, Helen, one of our Parent Governors, has given birth to her fourth child, Jessie.
School work
It was wonderful to meet so many of you at our recent Parent' Evenings. Those who didn’t or couldn’t attend have missed a real opportunity to learn about your child’s progress and what exactly he or she is being taught. At Broadgate we have a large number of policies which not only cover all aspects of the curriculum, but also other important areas such as Child Protection, Fire Safety and Risk Assessment. These are available for parents to examine at any time.
Recently, many of our policies have been reviewed or revised, including Maths, English, Science Modern Foreign Languages, History, PE and SEN. Why not pop into school and ask if you can have a look at any, or all of our policies? At the same time, any of you who didn’t come along to our Parent’s Evening could perhaps book a separate appointment with your child’s class teacher. Staff are always keen and willing to meet with parents, and children love it when you come in.
Don’t forget to visit our website too. Terry Madeley, husband of Vicki, one of our Parent Governors, has made huge changes to it, and it now contains a wealth of important information, including all letters sent home to parents, and before long, many of our important policies. The web address is www.broadgate.ik.org.
We really value your opinions
A big thank you to all parents who took the time to complete the questionnaire entitled, "What can we do better?" We were delighted to read that parents seem to be very pleased with our school, particularly the friendly and approachable staff, the newsletters, the excellent pastoral support and the amount of homework given. Some really good ideas did emerge, and I have listed a number of these below:
- Send lunch menus home in advance.
- Open the Out of School Club during holidays.
- Give more notice about events.
- Make lessons and homework available on the web site.
- Restrict cars and taxis coming into school.
- More activities out of school for KS1 children.
A typical comment from one parent was:
"Our children are both happy and learning well which is the most important thing for us".
Another idea we are seeking your opinions about is the intention to restrict swimming lessons after Christmas in future to our non-swimmers and weak swimmers only.
The Government is insistent that all children must be able to swim 25m before they leave primary school. At present approximately 20% of our pupils fail to meet this target for a variety of reasons. Therefore, if in future we take all Y4 children swimming during the first term in that year group, and then for the remaining two terms take poor or non-swimmers only, we will be able to really concentrate our efforts on to these children. What do you think? Please let me know via e-mail, letter or the website.
Building work
Despite the fact that only 11 school weeks have passed since I last wrote a newsletter, an enormous amount of building work has taken place at Broadgate.
In and around the main school building a new fire alarm has been installed, all of our glazing has been examined for safety, a new telephone system is now operating and new windows have been ordered for the dining room.
However, it is the Children's Centre which has seen the most changes. The building was recently handed back to us and everyone who has been in it has been incredibly impressed. The new Nursery and Reception classrooms look fantastic, the offices, meeting rooms and conference rooms are spacious and extremely well furnished, the toilets have been completely remodelled and modernised, and the rooms for 2 year olds and babies are "ready for the off!" Paul Trusswell, our Member of Parliament, was full of praise for the work we have had done, when he visited recently.
The Children's Centre is now entered at the back of the building via a new footpath. Within the next couple of weeks a new traffic barrier will be installed near to the zebra crossing, thus restricting the new car park to staff cars only. However, the car park near to the school entrance will in future be available for visitors to the school and the Children’s Centre, and this should ensure that fewer traffic snarl ups occur at the beginning and end of the school day.
PLEASE NOTE: Parents dropping their children off, or collecting them after school, should still park on the road and NOT come onto school premises. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Additionally, our school now has full use of the bungalow which was previously occupied by the Superintendent. We have ambitious plans for it, including converting rooms into a new library and an art facility. I will be in a position to tell you far more about it in our next newsletter.
Use of the Children’s Centre
I know many of you have already met up with Helen Higgins, our new Children’s Centre Manager. She has made a most impressive start and has worked tirelessly with the staff, at first in the temporary accommodation, and lately in our brand new Children’s Centre. Already, a wide range of activities has been arranged within the Children’s Centre, and these are being added to daily. In addition, our "Butterflies" Integrated Childcare facility is now operating 5 days per week for 51 weeks per year. It is available for all children under the age of 7 and not just for those who attend our Nursery.
We offer 50 places per session in our Nursery now, with 26 of these being free, 3 hour sessions and the remainder fee paying. Before long we are planning to accept 2 year olds, and soon after that, babies. Please contact any member of staff for further details.
As well as the many courses arranged in the Children’s Centre, Sue Scholes also organises an impressive range of courses and workshops for parents.
During the summer term, the following courses and activities will be available:
Contact:
Homeopathy Sue Scholes
Keeping up with the children Sue Scholes
Yoga Sue Scholes
Writing, Job Search and CV skills Sue Scholes
Art and Craft Sue Scholes
ICT Sue Scholes
SHARE Sue Scholes
KIDSCOPE Sue Scholes
Baby Café Helen Higgins
Women’s Support Group Helen Higgins
Counselling Helen Higgins
Please contact the person named above for further details, or look on our web site.
SHARE
Parents are always asking us how they can help their children at home. The answer is quite simple – come to SHARE. These sessions are held every Tuesday morning starting at 9:00 a.m., for KS1 parents. Please see Sue Scholes or Maralyn Pollard for further details.
Charity work
I have spoken many times about the wonderful charity work we do, and thanked you for your very generous donations. This term it has been the school’s turn to dip its hand into its pocket as recently we donated 20 of our old, but still serviceable computers and monitors to a school in Zimbabwe. Although these computers were too old to operate on the modern network we have at Broadgate, the school in Zimbabwe, a very impoverished country in Africa, can certainly find a use for them. We are really looking forward to hearing from the children there, but unfortunately they will not be able to use email as they don’t have access to it in the remote village where this school is situated!
Broadgate’s Got Talent....
It certainly has! The Talent Show organised just before half term was a roaring success. Many parents attended and enjoyed being entertained by some really talented children. We shall certainly organise another one next year. Who knows, we may have a world class talent in our midst!
And finally......
Have you noticed on the front cover the award we have received for class Y5/6P’s behaviour during a school trip. Over 24,000 children visit the Thackray Medical Museum each year, so we are extremely proud to have been presented with the certificate and letter by their staff.
Don’t forget to check whether your child has been awarded a “Homework Award”. Theses are presented at the end of each term to children who have completed all of their homework. If it’s a SILVER award your child has received, this indicates that he/she has completed all homework for two consecutive terms!
Thank you for allowing your child to join in with our World Book Day celebrations. The children and staff looked fantastic in their nightwear.
Please remember to return the “Bag2School” you were sent last week. We are paid 20p for every kilo of second hand clothing etc. that is sent in, and this is immediately spent on your children. The final date for returning bags is Wednesday 9th April.
Have you thought about sending your child(ren) to our popular Breakfast Club? A few places are available at the bargain price of 50p per 3 course breakfast. For further details, or to book a place for your child, please contact Rachel Dawson, Gill Hodgkins or Sue Scholes.
All Horsforth schools will be involved in a “Health Week” starting on Sunday 15th June. It is being arranged by the Extended Services Co-ordinator based at the High School, assisted by Helen Higgins, and will involve many healthy activities for children and their parents. Look out for further details which will be delivered to all Horsforth households.
We are extremely grateful to the parents of Alyaan Mahmood, who donated £50 to school, the entire proceeds of their stall at the Christmas Cracker. An extremely large “cheque” is now on display in my office.
Please don’t forget to support our “Sponsored Event” this year, which takes place during the week commencing 21st April.
May I remind you that during the summer months girls may wear green and white gingham or striped dresses, and boys may wear grey shorts with white polo shirts. No other changes to our school uniform are permitted.
School closes at 3:05 p.m. today and re-opens at 8:50 a.m. on Monday 7th April. Have a very enjoyable Easter break!
Yours sincerely,
Alan Tootill