Dear Parent,
Swine Flu Information
We have been informed that a suspected case of swine flu has been diagnosed within the school community. It is important for parents to note that the majority of cases from this particular strain of flu will experience only mild symptoms and there is no cause for concern.
Please would you also note the following government guidelines;
In line with current guidelines and a statement issued by government on Friday, the school will not close. Any individual having swine flu symptoms should contact NHS Direct or their GP by telephone.
Transmission
Flu is transmitted through droplets from coughing and sneezing and direct or indirect contact with infected people. The virus can survive, and be transferable, for up to 24 hours on hard surfaces and 15 minutes on soft furnishings. Once on hands the virus survives for 5 minutes.
Control measures
The main control measures rely on good hygiene:
· Cover nose and mouth with a tissue every time you cough or sneeze. Dispose of used tissues carefully, in a sealed bin bag.
· Wash hands frequently with liquid soap and water for a minimum of 30 seconds or use alcohol based gels/solutions.
· Children will be reminded of this and these measures are already implemented rigorously in school.
The symptoms of flu
· Fever, dry cough and abrupt onset
· Headache, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, aching muscles and joints and extreme tiredness also possible
If you suspect your child has flu, keep them at home and seek medical advice as stated. Individuals, including siblings who are not showing symptoms should continue their daily routine and attend school.
I thank you for your assistance and support at this time.
Yours sincerely,
Gillian Brinded.
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Friday 16th October 2009
Dear Parents/Carers,
We can’t believe that it is nearly Half Term. The children have been very busy and have worked so hard. Some members of the Pupil Council went to the County Chambers to discuss how councils work. Later we attended a Wickford Pupil Council meeting where our Councillors discussed the Collaborative Learning Centre that is being built on the site of
Harvest Festival
Once again we will be collecting food to distribute to charities in Wickford. We do appreciate your generosity and we look forward to receiving your donations (please check dates on foodstuffs etc.)
Our assemblies will be held on:
Wednesday 21st October 2.15 p.m. KS2 Harvest Festival
Thursday 22nd October 2.15 p.m. KS1 Harvest Festival
This year because of the numbers of children we will only be able to have one parent representing each child. This is due to fire regulations. I ask for your understanding in in this matter.
F.A.P.s
Thank you to F.A.P.s Committee for all their hard work on Sunday 27th September. It was a magnificent effort from all of you. We were so fortunate with the weather and we raised a total of £2,000. This was a wonderful amount of money so thank you for your generous donations and the support you give to the school
Parent/Carer Questionnaire
There will be a questionnaire sent out to all of you next week. There will also be a copy on the website. As part of our school self-evaluation we value your comments and this will enable us to improve even further. I do urge you to respond. Ofsted inspections have changed recently and this information will help the school greatly.
Governors
Recently Mrs. Sharon Patmore (parent of children in Years 6 and 3) was elected as Chair of Governors. Denise Gardner was elected Vice Chair. I wish them well in their posts as Governors have a big responsibility today. Many thanks to Gary Baker who was Chair for a number of years.
Child Protection/Safeguarding
Recently I attended further training on Child Protection. The staff have also undergone training. Safeguarding is now a large part of the Ofsted process and we have to ensure that all incidents are reported. We will put our Child Protection Policy on the website for you all to see. You will be aware from the media of measures that need to be in place. All our staff are C.R.B. checked, and parent volunteers are too. We do ensure that there are measures in place to address any potential incidents that may occur.
Pathway
As I am sure you are all aware our pathways are in a rather poor state of repair. I am currently in negotiations’ with the Local Authority to try and get them to pay for these much needed repairs or at the very least secure a contribution. From Monday (19th October) we shall be locking the gate to this pathway due to Health & Safety Regulations. Please be patient with us whilst we try to secure funds for these much needed costly repairs. I will keep you up to date with our progress.
Kitchen Award
Recently, our staff in the kitchen were awarded a 5 Star Gold Award for the quality and nutritional value of our meals. People can log on to the internet to check out an eatery before dining there. So if you eat at Abacus you can be reassured that you are eating in one of the top restaurants! It is great news for the school, so many thanks to Ms. Clark, Ms. Kettlewell and Miss Stevens for all their hard work in producing a high standard of school meal service.
FAPs Activities
FAPs will be writing to you to make you aware of further fund raising acitivities. Please watch out for the newsletters.
We wish you all a very relaxed half term, and look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday 3rd November. Please note that Monday 2nd November is a non-pupil day.
Yours sincerely
Gillian Brinded
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Wednesday 9th September 2009
Dear Parents/Carers,
I trust that you all had a very good summer break and that you and your family enjoyed a change of routine and that the holidays were relaxing and enjoyable!
The children have settled down really well in school and they all look so smart in their uniforms. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new parents/carers and children who begin this term. We wish you a very happy time with us and hope that the partnership between home and school is a successful one. This is very important to us and our whole ethos is based upon the partnership and communication between parents and staff and that we all want the very best possible education for your children. This has never changed nor will do. All our children are special and our aim is to ensure that they thrive whilst at the school.
Expectation Evenings
I do hope that you will attend the expectation evening meetings which provide you with an opportunity to meet the class teacher and keep you informed as to what is happening in your child’s class. These do iron out any small issues you may have. Please see dates below:
Foundation Miss Danniells/Mrs. Jones 6.30 p.m. Wednesday 30th September
Year 1 Mrs. Lee 6.00 p.m. Thursday 24th September
Year 1 Miss Corbin 6.45 p.m. Thursday 24th September
Year 2 Mr. Harris 6.00 p.m. Tuesday 22nd September
Year 3 Mrs. Tredgett 6.30 p.m. Wednesday 23rd September
Year 4 Mrs. Fitzpatrick/Mrs. Mansell 7.15 p.m. Wednesday 23rd September
Year 5 Mr. Williams 6.30 p.m. Tuesday 22nd September
Year 6 Mrs. Shaw 7.15 p.m. Tuesday 22nd September
I apologise in advance with regards to the error which was made on the original letter to parents regarding bringing their child with them to the expectation meeting unfortunately, under Health & Safety Regulations we are unable to cater for children on these evenings and also feel that this is an important meeting with lots of information for parents and so feel that it would be more beneficial for parents to attend without any children, and so would kindly ask that prior arrangements are made – many thanks for your co-operation.
Parent/Teacher Consultations
These individual meetings are an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress so far this term. Dates for these will follow shortly.
Friends of Abacus Primary School (FAPs)
Please remember that every family is a member of FAPs. The Committee organise events to raise money to purchase special equipment that the school cannot afford. Also FAPs do subsidise the educational visits that we provide. This does help to keep our costs down and the fund raising is crucial to this aspect of our curriculum.
So please do come along and support the Autumn Fayre on Sunday 27th September (1.00-4.00 p.m.) We do need further help running stalls. Please contact Bonnie Waters (Alfie Aves mum – Year 4) if you can help in any small way. Remember, your child will benefit! Community spirit is vital, especially today and we do not want to see our association struggling for support. Please consider this when we hold a meeting for the FAPs AGM, which will probably be in October. I look forward to seeing many of you on 27th September.
School Lunches
Once again our school lunches are proving to be very popular. We are so fortunate to have such talent in our kitchen! To help us to provide a better quality service we would appreciate all monies being sent on Mondays only. This ensures that the ordering of quantities of food is correct and that we do not have waste. Please ensure that there is some credit on your child’s account in case of emergencies. If you wish, you can pay half termly – it would be much appreciated. If you require any further assistance or are unsure whether you qualify for free school meals please contact Julie King in the Office. This is kept strictly confidential and no child in school has to divulge that they have free school meals. Those days are gone!
Texting Service
Our usual service which is so valuable will continue during this academic year. All families who wish to be part of the scheme should send in £5 towards the cost (the school does subsidise this service. Please ensure the office are informed of up-to-date telephone numbers, as well as any other changes of contact details, in order that we can maintain accurate records.
Uniform
Please label all clothing – we sent quite a lot of lost property to charity shops last term. Children do not need to bring lots of bags etc. to school as the cloakrooms are not very large and lots of things end up on the floor. We do also ask that jewellery is kept to a minimum and only small studs should be worn. Rings and necklaces are not allowed due to Health and Safety. Also no nail varnish to be worn.
Only under extreme circumstances should a child have a mobile phone. We insist that all phones are handed in to the office and a letter explaining why it is required. Once again, we do not want any incidents or property lost. I do ask for your full co-operation in this matter.
End of school day
May I remind parents that lessons finish at 3.15 p.m., therefore children will be leaving the class just after that time.
NSPCC Fundraising
The children really enjoyed the fundraising activity in the Summer Term and learned about children less fortunate than themselves. You as parents are so generous and the school raised the sum of £1,198.22 We did receive a lovely letter acknowledging our response. Once again, thank you.
Water bottles
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Dates for the diary
Please make a note of the following dates on your calendar:
Tuesday 22nd September Individual school photos – during the school day
(photographs to be taken with siblings – 8.00 a.m.)
Wednesday 21st October 2009 2.15 p.m. – KS2 Harvest Festival Assembly
Thursday 22nd October 2009 2.15 p.m. – KS1 Harvest Festival Assembly
Other events will be put on the website and details made available as dates are arranged.
Yours sincerely
Gillian Brinded
Friday 3rd July 2009
Dear Parents/Carers,
What a hectic few weeks it has been at school!!
Firstly, I would like to thank you for attending our Sports Day and enjoying watching your children having fun. There was a lovely atmosphere and from your comments it was a great success. It was beautiful weather and a great family occasion. Many thanks to all of the staff for their brilliant organisation and variety of events. Let us hope we can be as fortunate next year. I felt that there was true community spirit.
Year 4 Wat Tyler Visit
Year 4 had a special assembly to show their parents what they had achieved at Wat Tyler through presentations, singing and speaking about the different activities. It was wonderful to see the parents’ reaction to some of the activities their children had participated in, e.g. washing up, cooking and cleaning!! I was moved by the children’s honesty about what they have learned about themselves as young people. This culminated in an afternoon tea for everyone. Many thanks to Ms Clark in the kitchen. Once again, many thanks to Mrs Mansell, Mrs Fitzpatrick, Mrs Gray and all other staff members who helped to make it such a great success.
The Rangers who have hundreds of children visiting said that this particular class were the best ever in terms of knowledge, co-operation and good manners, and what a credit they were to both the school and their parents – so very well done to you all year 4!!
Arts Week
During Arts Week the children worked on various art activities. I hope the children mentioned the painter we used as an inspiration. The work will be on display at our Open Evening and we hope that all our families will come along to see the school. Many thanks to Mrs Shaw. for organising the event. The end results are superb.
Open Evening : Wednesday 8th July 5pm – 7pm.
School Lunches
As most of you have tasted our lovely lunches we hope that from September you will continue to support our service. The school operates this totally independently and as with any service if we don’t use it, we lose it. For us, lunchtime is an important occasion and we hope to continue to provide the best service possible. However we need to re-organise our collection of monies for school meals and we would like to try from September having one day only for payment. This would be Monday (apart from bank holidays/inset days etc). Therefore, we are asking the parents to assist us in this process. We also would like to begin ordering a week in advance. This enables the kitchen be more cost effective and producing less waste. Many thanks for your co-operation.
Gardening
Are there any volunteers out there who would like to help the children on a regular basis with a gardening club (e.g. retired grandparents/other family members etc)? Now the new build has been completed we would like to organise a kitchen garden near the amphitheatre. If anyone can help us we would love to have you in school. Please contact the office for more details. Thank you.
End of Year Assemblies
Please note the following dates:
Wednesday 15th July 2.00 p.m. Key Stage 2 (Years 3, 4 and 5)
Thursday 16th July 2.00 p.m. Key Stage 1 (F1, F2, Year 1 and Year 2)
Friday 17th July 9.30 a.m. Year 6
We do hope that you can join us to celebrate a very successful year.
Arrangements for the last day of term
Please note that the school will close at 2.00 p.m. on the last day of term, 17th July. Year 6 will, however, finish at the earlier time of 1.00 p.m.
District Sports
We will have 15 children representing Abacus at the finals of District Sports at Goucester Park on Tuesday 7th July. Considering we are still quite small in numbers our children have done really well, and we wish them every success in their events!
Texting Service
This has proved to be a really valuable service for both parents and the school. We believe it is a way of sharing good news with you too. From September we are asking for a contribution of £5 per family (we do subsidise this from our budget) to assist us with the cost. I know that many of you find it a valuable service. Overall it works out only at only a few pence per week for you and your family. Forms will be sent out in the first week of September.
NSPCC fund raising
Considering the recession and people finding life tough at the moment, I always admire our parents’ generosity towards others less fortunate than themselves. Up to the closing date of all the NSPCC sponsor forms the school raised a total of £954.22 and further forms have since been collected which will increase this figure.
I have received an email from Janet Stark, the NSPCC Schools Organiser for South Essex commenting that “this is a great achievement for the school and I have requested a certificate from Head Office in recognition of this”. A really big thank you to you all.
Mobile Phones