Good morning, 

It has been a very busy week with many of the year 6 pupils visiting their high schools and our pupils meeting their new teacher, teaching assistant and pupils. 

Staff update

Yesterday, we were extremely pleased to welcome Miss Meredith to our school and she will be teaching in KS2.  

It was a pleasure to welcome Mrs Beard, who will join our school as a teaching assistant in reception. 

New classes

Most parents are aware of how classes are chosen for each pupil and this is a reminder and information for parents new to our school. 

We have places for 45 pupils in each year group and class sizes in KS1 can’t be above 30. In some year groups we have 45 and other 30, therefore we are always going to have mixed aged classes. All pupils are different , we pride ourselves on putting the needs of the pupils first and taking them from where they are to where they needed to be in term of social interaction, learning and all the other many aspects of school life. Pupils are placed on a variety of criteria; relationships with peers and staff, friendships and the best class to ensure all pupils make the maximum amount of progress. I cannot emphasise enough that classes are not based solely on ability and all classes have a broad range of pupils from the year group cohort. For example, if we have a Y6 and a Y5/6 class , the year 6 pupils in the Y6 class are not have a higher ability than the the Y5/6 class. It is inaccurate and demotivating if parents and pupils believe that classes are based solely on ability. 

We look forward to seeing everyone at our summer BBQ tonight from 4:30pm. 

Have a great weekend.

Craig

Important dates for the next two weeks

Good afternoon, 

I hope you are well and ready for the weekend. 

The visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture park was hugely successful and the pupils and staff had a great time. 

Year 6 transition

The year 6 pupils have their transition to the high school over the next few weeks and most are looking forward to it. It is perfectly natural for the pupils to have a mixture of feelings, from being really excited to a little bit nervous. They are all ready for this transition and they will be fine, when they return to school we will support them. The hoodies have arrived, they have been given out and can be worn on transition and in school until the end of term. The only conditions are that they wear normal school uniform and don’t wear the hoods up inside. 

School transition

Our school transition day is Thursday 6th July and the pupils will spend the day with their new class teacher. One of the teachers will be new to our school and the pupils will meet Miss Meredith on Thursday – you may have seen her around school this week. We are very lucky to have her teaching in our school and we look forward to welcoming her to our team. 

A lot of time and thought goes into placing the children and we go through a lengthy process to try and get it right. We place pupils based on our knowledge of them, ability, friendships, relationship with staff and therefore giving them the best chance to succeed. Because we have up to 45 pupils per year group, our classes change yearly and the pupils understandably get excited and anxious in equal measure about their new class. Please support your child and our decisions. It is normal for them to be anxious and if you do wish to talk about it, please contact me directly. 

Have a great weekend.

Craig

Good evening, 

I hope you are well and read for the weekend. 

The next few weeks are going to become very busy over the coming weeks and there will be lots of events happening. They are on the ‘term dates’ tab and I will list them weekly below. 

Staff update

Mrs Gleeson has asked me to notify all parents that she has been diagnosed with the early stages of breast cancer. The prognosis is very positive for a full recovery, she will have an operation in the coming weeks and will not be school for a while. 

We are fully supporting Mrs Gleeson and her family and we are looking forward to welcoming her back in school after a full recovery. 

The children in Mrs Gleeson’s class have been told that she needs to have an operation and will be back as soon as possible. We would be grateful if you could convey the same message if you talk about this with your children. 

Industrial action

Please be aware that the NEU union have industrial action planned for Wednesday 5th July and Friday 7th July 2023. I will notify you with which classes will be closed. 

• Mr Hannan’s class will be closed on Wednesday 5th July and Friday 7th July 2023.

Have a great weekend.

Mr Woodward

Dates

Today is national thank a teacher and school day. If you would like to thank a member of staff in school, please fill in the form below. 

We really appreciate your continued support and thank you for recognising the hard work of our team. 

Thank a teacher form

Mr Woodward

Good afternoon, 

I hope you are well and ready for the weekend. 

It has been a busy and hot week, many pupils have brought their work to me and I am very proud of them. Year 5/6 have had a very successful residential to the Hollowford Centre in Castleton. Mrs Allan’s and Mrs Cox’s class really enjoyed their trip to Whistlestop. 

Thank you for supporting the clothing giveaway this week. We will be having a clothing giveaway termly and we will ask for donations before each event. We have taken all of the clothes that you have donated to the Hummingbird Project and they are very grateful. 

Weather next week

The forecast for next week is to be cooler with some rain. Please make sure pupils have a water bottle, sun cream applied before school if the forecast is hot and a coat if it is due to rain. 

Uniform

The vast majority of the pupils are coming to school in the correct uniform for school and for PE. However, some pupils are coming into school in football kits or non-uniform. This is making them stand out from the other pupils and is not in our policy. If there is a problem, such as the washing machine has broken or there is a confidential matter, please make me or the class teacher aware. If there is a genuine reason, that’s fine but I don’t want to have to start phoning parents to bring in the correct uniform. 

Lateness

The gates open at 8:45am and the register closes at 9:00am. If pupils are late, they miss a vital transition to the day with their peers and phonics or English. There has been a lot of lates this week and a lot of lost learning time. If there is a genuine reason and it is a one off, that is fine. If there is a reason or confidential matter that you would like to discuss with me, please make contact. From W/C 19th June 2023, we will be following the school policy and a fixed penalty notice could be issued if your child is late and a legitimate reason is not given. 

Thank you for all of your continued support and the reminders above are simply there to make your children’s time at school the best it can be. 

Have a great weekend. 

Craig

Date for the Summer term

Please see the poster below about our informal chat and brew sessions with our family support team. 

Thursday 29th June and Thursday 13th July 2023 at 9am – 10am in school. 

Everyone is welcome, come for a chat, ask any questions and have 10 minutes with a brew and a biscuit. Remember the rule, the only daft question is the one you don’t ask. 

Mr Woodward

Whitfield St James’ drop in Family Support

Good Evening, 

I hope you are all ready for the weekend, the forecast is sunshine. Please see below for dates for week. 

Have a great weekend. 

Mr Woodward

Good evening, 

This has been a very busy week and the year 6 pupils have worked incredibly hard in completing their SATs tests. The atmosphere in school has been really calm and we are all really proud of them all. A massive thank you to all the staff, pupils and parents who have worked so hard to make SATs week a really positive experience.  

Entrance to the garages

The garage owners have had  lots of complaints about parents blocking the garages. This is private property and they have installed a chain which will be put across at the start and end of the school day. Unless you are the holder of a blue badge, please don’t drive down Chadwick Street as there will be nowhere to turn around. 

There have also been a lot of minor accidents and near misses. Not using Chadwick Street will reduce the risk to our pupils. 

The police will be patrolling regularly and they have been clear that anyone parking dangerously, illegally or double parking will be prosecuted.  

Dates for W/C 15/05/2023

There are no dates you need to be aware of for next week. 

Have a great weekend and see you all on Monday. 

Mr Woodward