Bayton C of E Primary School ‘Be the best you can be’

6th September 2017

Dear Parents/Carers,

It is with great pleasure and excitement that I am introducing myself to you as the new Head Teacher here at Bayton C of E Primary School. I am sure you will join me in wishing Mrs Hoarle very best wishes and thanks for the work which she has done during the last year.

For those of you who were unable to attend the Meet the new Head Teacher meeting in June, let me tell you a little about myself!

I live in Worcester with my partner who is also a Head Teacher and my two children aged 10 and 13. I have been in education since 1999 in which I have worked in a range of different school settings. Prior to Bayton I was a Deputy Head Teacher for 4 years as well as taking on a role of Acting Headship.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to spend a number of days in school prior to the start of the new academic year and have seen the school in ‘full swing’. During the forthcoming term, I will continue to familiarise myself with the day to day running of the school, and keep you well informed of any changes or important information.

I look forward to working in partnership with you and meeting you all in due course but, if in the meantime, you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

With very best wishes

Jolanda Simmonds Head Teacher Welcome Back!

Welcome back! I hope that you have all had a wonderful break and are raring to go and get back into things here! It’s been lovely to see the children smiling and excited about being back in school where their teachers have planned some exciting new learning opportunities for them! We have spent a productive two days on staff training and looking at ways to further develop our school. I will endeavour to keep you updated on any of these as we go through the academic year.

Meet the Team! Please find below the staffing structure for this academic year. Staff will be writing out to you with useful information about the year ahead, such as expectations, PE days, homework etc. They will also be inviting you to come along to an information session in which they will outline the year ahead and explain the curriculum expectations for subject areas. Dates to follow! Looking ahead, staff will also be inviting you to attend a ‘stay and play’ session in which you will be able to learn alongside your child in a lesson! Again, dates to follow shortly.

Ms Jolanda Simmonds – Head Teacher In the office: Mrs Adele Walrond Mrs Rebecca Bayley Class Teacher Teaching Assistant EYFS Mrs T Wooldridge Mrs Bristow Y1 & 2 Mrs S Claxton * Miss Davies Miss R White Mrs S Keegan Y3 & 4 Mrs M Harris (Monday & Tuesday) Miss Mole Mrs S Lewis (Tuesday – Friday) Mrs Wallace Y5 Miss J Chambers Mrs Evans Y6 Miss L Farr Mrs Smithson Teacher Release Cover HLTA – Mrs S Brown *We would like to congratulate Miss Claxton who got married during the summer holidays! Her married name is Mrs Harris, but as we already have 2 members of staff by the name of Mrs Harris, Miss Claxton has decided to be known as Mrs Claxton!!

Clubs Staff are in the midst of organising after school clubs for the children, information with regards to what’s on will be sent out in due course.

Diary Dates We are just finalising some of our dates for the Autumn term, as soon as we have these, they will also be sent out.

Behaviour policy You will also have received an information letter regarding the changes made to the current ‘Good to be Green’ behaviour systems in school. Please ensure that this is read to enable a consistent understanding. Many thanks

Uniform It’s been lovely to see the children returning to school looking so smart! We are having a real drive on presentation of work, standards and uniform. Children will be expected to wear full school uniform at all times as per our school uniform page on our website. Shirts will also be expected to be tucked in at all times during the school day. We will be talking a lot about how we can show our school motto ‘be the best you can be!’.

Before & after school arrangements At the beginning of the school day, children will be expected to line up in class lines when the bell rings. Can I ask parents to make their way to the back of the playground during these times to enable the children to settle quickly to come into school. They will be met each morning by their class teacher who will then lead them into school. At the end of the day, class teachers will lead their classes in a line onto the playground. Each child will then be released individually once an appropriate adult has been seen. It is our priority that the children are kept safe at these busy times and that staff ensure that each child has been handed over to their adult. Please ensure that any changes to arrangements with regards to school drop off or collection are shared with the class teacher. We will not allow children to go home with another adult unless we have been notified. We thank you for your support in this matter.

Praise Assembly We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in our weekly Praise Assemblies on a Friday afternoon at 2.45pm. This will start on Friday 15th September.

Christian Value This term our Christian value will be friendship. In our school entrance hall there is a new Prayer Tree. We actively encourage children to add their own prayers about friendship to the tree! We will also be challenging the children to produce a piece of homework to capture the value of ‘friendship’, look out for information coming soon!