St Chad’s School Newsletter

Merry Christmas, everyone! are still raving about how much they en- and eve- Every term is a roller coaster of exciting joyed the trip. ryone things and term 2 has been no exception. As part of supporting safety in the wider had a We started with Years 2 and 3 having an world we have been holding pedestrian great author visit, meeting Tom Percival training and Level 1 cycle training time; (@TomPercivalsays) which was a great which as always has had a huge take up. some have even said they want to do skat- ing as a hobby! experience. Since our big push on writing Non-uniform day was a great success we have increasing numbers of pupils who in collecting for the Christmas tombola so This week has seen the productions, with want to be authors, so it was great for thank you to everyone who brought in an EYFS / Y1 Christmas production on them to chat with a very popular and suc- something. Monday, a Y2 Christmas production on cessful author to find out what it is like. Tuesday night, and a KS2 Carol Service in We have just held our first whole school On the 8th of November we held our first the Church on Wednesday night. I think house Spelling Bee Competition, everyone agrees that when you have pri- open morning. We had many parents, (following on from the success of our lan- carers and grandparents on site all having mary age children it really helps to remem- guages / culture quiz and sports events ber what Christmas is about, and these a great time. You can read their unedited held in term one). As one child said after- responses here: http://bit.ly/2g52nh7 and I event were funny, brought a tear to some wards “I didn’t know spelling was so much eyes, and were caring and joyful. Well have selected some of the comments to fun!” put inside this newsletter (in yellow). The done all of the children at St Chad’s who overwhelming responses were how im- St Chad’s school have been working with were brave enough to perform as well as pressed the visiting adults were with the Debs, an outreach worker from St Chad’s they did. high level of behaviour, how polite and church, to create outdoor Christmas deco- For our traditional Christmas dinner, we kind the pupils (and the teachers) are to rations to be displayed in the local ar- invite many adults back with a number of each other, how capable and independent ea. Once we know where they will be we St Chad’s ex-Head teachers, some ex- pupils are at all ages and how much high- will let you know. staff, Governors, some of the Friends and er level the pupils work at than people Our Choir is going from strength to staff who support us throughout the year realised. There will be further open morn- strength, both growing in size and also in all coming along to say Merry Christmas! ings throughout the year so look out for skills. They were superb at their recent It is far and away the most popular dinner the letters. Clifton performance, both in of the year with virtually all pupils having a Book at Bedtime was another roaring (or their immaculate behaviour and beautiful hot meal. It is a wonderful lunchtime, with snoozing?) success with over ¾ of the singing; well done Choir! all sorts of fun! school returning to listen to some super We have only just had another superb In its second year, the staff pantomime to stories, drink chocolate milk and have an the school is becoming a key feature and excuse to wear nightwear to school! Christmas fair, we think the most popu- lar we have ever run. We had the largest this year’s “Adventures of Dory” (written by Please remember sport will be mentioned number of adults through the door we Chelsea Smith, see meet the staff) was in sports own slot later in the newsletter, have ever had, and we were also joined by probably even better than last years there’s been lots and lots as always. families from many other local schools (Chelsea wrote that one too, so I can say Mad science assembly is something including Little Stoke, Stoke Lodge, Conis- that!) the pupils all love. This is where we look ton and Callicroft, but who can blame We will round off 2016 with another non at an aspect of science (this time changes) them? With Santa’s grotto being stunning, uniform day and the end of year Christ- and explore some of the fun and wacky games and stalls everywhere you look, a mas disco. things that can happen. From this we run huge collection of prizes to be won, Christ- a mad science club starting after Christ- mas trees on sale and a mas. stunning café as well. A Our choir at Clifton Cathedral huge thank you to the Children in Need day is always a great Friends that put together event, and this year it was made even the fair, they worked incred- more impressive by a visit from the real ibly hard, but I am sure you Pudsey! Pudsey came to kick of the day in agree it was worth it. our opening assembly and as you can imagine the children were really quite ex- Now we are into the Christ- cited! mas events fully, we have had Ice Skating for Y5 and Before the holiday Y3 went on their Stone- 6 at the Mall as their Christ- henge trip and this term it has been the mas treat. It was great to turn of their history topic partners Y4 who know everyone got involved

Pudsey’s visit with winners of Pudsey’s competition Star of the Week this term We have had the themes of Trust Do remember every winner is nomi- and Forgiveness since the last nated by another pupil in assembly

newsletter. Winners have been: and often there are many nomina- Harry Sprake, always being able to tions to choose from. It is not just be trusted to keep a secret or to do about winning the trophy, but also

something important; Marzia Malato about the way you are around for showing forgiveness to others; school. We have been so proud to Myles Maggs for forgiving a friend see so many pupils making a huge

when they accidently broke some- effort to show the theme of thing meaningful; Abinaya Bhanu- the term and doing them- goban for forgiving her friend when selves and the school

they both fell out. proud.

Supportive EYFS and Y1 ready for their nativity performance parents group South pro- vide a service under the name of Supportive Parents (www.supportiveparents.org. uk ). This group is for par- ents of SEN pupils, or pupils with need, providing infor- mation & support. There are informal meetings with oth- ers who experience the same as you. People who have been have commented on how useful it has been, and how supportive the “I was very impressed with the quality of the groups and friendships they answers and responses from the children. This and their children have can only suggest they are enjoying and fully made through this group. engaging with the lesson.” A parent after open morning. Parent helpers Santa on the Run Sunday 11th December, well done pupils staff and parents who represented St Chad’s Are you interested in Y3 food tast- so well! helping out with reading or ing and making other activities in school? We are always happy for extra people to get involved, Book at Bedtime and those who already are, Below are some Christmas Decorations very much enjoy it! Some in the community, working with Debs parents come on a regular basis, some every now and Williams from St Chad's Church. then. We have people who come to read, people who like to work with groups in class, some who share specific knowledge (such as experiences of certain events, or cultural sharing) and many more. Anything you can think of really! We are happy to discuss with you times and things you might be interested in Camp and School funds have been audited and doing. If this does interest we have an obligation to let you know that this you, please see your child’s has been the case and they are available for class teacher, Mrs Rogers, inspection. Now you know! or myself.

Not sure what When Santa came to visit our Christmas Fair face paints Christmas Fair we do in school? This is a parent friendly website describing the new curriculum and things that can easily be done at home to help your child achieve. https:// miss- “I found the way the lesson was planned out interesting. I really liked how it was broken down to suit everyone. As buddblog.wordpress.com/ a visitor I also understood and didn’t feel confused. Very impressed!” A parent after open morning. “Honestly I personally felt that I imagined something else because our kids only told us that they leaned “this” in literacy and “that” in maths but I couldn’t have imagined how interesting and fun it was doing reading and writing.” A parent after open morning.

Term 2 – Sport at St Chad’s This term, the children have continued to participate in intra-school competitions against other children/classes within the school. Competitions have included: *Year 1 and Reception dance and a balancing competition. Year one won the dance ! The result for balancing was a draw with 2 points to each year. Judges an- nounced best balancers: Bethany, Maggie, Megan and Byron. A fantastic effort. *Year 2 and 3 will be competing later this week in a rotation of games that will involve leadership from Year 3 children. More details in next newsletter. *Year 4 have taken part in a hula hoop competition this term with being victorious! Well done! Year 4L have also been making super progress with their swimming showing great determination; their last session will be on Thursday 5th January. Y4R will start their swimming from Thursday 12th January. *Year 5 & 6 took part in a dance competition showcasing their skills learnt this term on Thursday 15th December. Children performed dances they had put together as a team, based on the theme of Bridges. Further details in next term’s newsletter. 15 children from Year 1 participated in a multi-skills inter-school sports competition against other schools in the local area at Patchway Community College on Thursday 17th November. The children performed brilliantly and demonstrated super teamwork. The children came 1st overall! A fantastic result for all involved. Thank you to Miss Davies for attending as team manager and to the parents of these children for taking the time to bring them and show support. As you know, one of our aims is to develop the children’s leadership skills in sport. They have been focusing on these skills in PE/Games lessons and have also received specific leadership coaching from Jamie (one of our Future Stars coaches). Year 6, 5R, 5L and 3 have all delivered a competition they have planned (taking into consideration warm ups/cool downs, health and safety, skills development and equipment) to another class. Year 4 will do the same this next term. Last term, we reported that Year 6 had participated in a Tag Rugby tournament against other schools in the county on Thursday 20th October. As every year, this was a fantastic event and the children demonstrated some fantastic rugby playing skills and teamwork. One of our teams narrowly missed out on the semi-final by 1 point! A super effort by all involved. Mr Hayward (the Chairman of Aretian’s Rugby Club) volunteered his time to help coach the children during the tournament and as a follow up to the event, Mr Hayward has continued to coach Y6 voluntarily on a Wednesday afternoon, along with Mrs Hayward and Mrs Sargent. The chil- dren have thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and learnt a great deal from the coaching. A big thank you to all coaches for providing such a fantastic opportunity. Year 3 will receive coaching from them in term 3. Aretian’s RFC are always keen to recruit new players. If your child is interested in joining, please go to their website for more details www.aretiansrfc.co.uk. They run beginner classes for 4-5 year olds and under 7 tag rugby, under 8 tag rugby, under 9,10,11 and 12s mixed rugby. At Aretians, they base all rugby on fun and engagement - all children get equal game time! All children aged 2-5 play free. All children aged 6 and over have their 1st season free then it's £30 per annum there- after. All children also get free sausage and chips after Sunday sessions. It seems a long time ago now, but on our ‘Children in Need’ Spotty dress up day, all children were buddied up with children from other classes to take part in a hula hoop challenge. This was a fun workshop where children were challenged to ‘hula’ for as long as possible, see how far they could roll their hoop and see how many times they could pass a hoop around a circle without breaking the link. Children were mixed into house teams to compete and received house points for their success- es/demonstration of perseverance skills. Pudsey was very impressed with their skills! 7 children and some staff members took part in the ‘Santas on the run’ event on Sunday 11th December, where they ran around Harbourside dressed as Santa in a festive 2k run! Well done to everyone who took part. Running club in the last week of term also involved children and staff dressing up as Santa and running in the local area! A super effort by all. As a school, we are part of the Sainsbury’s School Games Mark scheme (www.yourschoolgames.com). We are currently working towards the ‘Gold Mark’, which involves focusing on raising the numbers of children who participate in extra-curricular sporting clubs, the numbers of children in- volved in leadership and numbers competing against other schools in tournaments after school. We have a whole range of sports clubs running after school at St Chad’s. These will continue next term. Our sports clubs look at developing a range of skills, including sporting skills learnt in PE/Games lessons, competitive skills, teamwork skills, perseverance and many of our school values. Competitions against other schools are often planned if children attend the clubs to receive coaching for the events. If you would like any more information on joining any of our clubs, please contact the office who will be pleased to help.

House point totals so far (as we go to print): Wesley (yellow): 3270 points Cabot (red): 3027 points Banksy (green): 2803 points Brunel (blue): 3094 points January Dates for your diary “I really enjoyed today and feel it was a (see website for more) fantastic idea to invite parents in. I have Tuesday 3rd January INSET Day (4 of 5) – school closed to pupils. a much clearer understanding of the school day. Thank you.” A parent after Wednesday 4th January 9.00 a.m. School re-opens for pupils. open morning. Thursday 5th January Y5&6 London trip, 7.30 – 8.00 (or later, texts will keep parents up to date on the night). Thursday 12th January Y4R (Mrs Harvey) Swimming “I didn’t know a lot, but having spent the morning here it’s been Wednesday 18th January Y4s safer fitter greener workshops. (PM) great to see the support the teacher/ school gives the children and W/C 23rd January RE week. the use of thesaurus on tables, words and help around the room. February Really good class and loved the encouragement of working to- gether.” A parent after open morning. Tuesday 7th February Parents’ evenings 4.30 to 7.00 p.m. Wednesday 8th February Parents’ evenings 3.45 to 6.00 p.m. Thursday 9th February South Glos Festival of Dance (late night) details TBC Friday 10th February 3.30 p.m. School closes – Term ends Monday 20th February 9.00 a.m. School re-opens -Term starts. March Wednesday 1st March Y5 pedestrian training 1pm (and following two Wednesday PMs – helpers needed please) Thursday 2nd March World book day – look out for letter, a special theme for school this year! April Friday 7th April 3.30 p.m. School closes for the Easter break “It seems as though the children are learning and interacting at a level that came a bit later in my school life.” A parent after open morning. Monday 24th April 9.00 a.m. School re-opens – Term starts. Well done Olivia Olivia Gillett, who is part of Harriers Gymnas- tics club, was picked to represent the club and “I didn’t realise they did so much UK and got to travel to to compete in an learning, especially in front of international gymnastic competition. She each other. They are all very re- competed against children of a similar age in spectful of each other’s learning.” floor work gymnastics. At the age of 8 years, A parent after open morning. Olivia made it all the way to the world finals and came 7th in her age group overall. To get to this level we all know takes practice and dedication. This is a huge achievement I am sure you will agree, and we congratulate Oliv- ia on her outstanding performances! Well done Olivia and we look forward to seeing you perform in many future events; who knows perhaps even the Olympics?

Above Y5 working out the best way to support a load, for later DT work. Right, Y4L at Stonehenge.

Attendance For more detailed information, please see last term’s newsletter (which can be found on our website or from the office). You all know we are aiming to be above 97%. Last year was the first year for some time we were not even above 96%. This will have an impact on pupil learning, for all pupils in the school, see below. Fines I have to remind you that unless for illness or exceptional circumstances, absence during term time (including holidays) will be recorded as unauthorised, and once more than 10 sessions have been recorded (with there being 2 sessions in a day) you may be liable for a fine. Please see the letter sent out in September and term 1 newsletter for further information, or please speak to the office . We are pleased to say it has been a number of months since South Gloucestershire have issued any fines for unauthorised absence of a child in St Chad’s and we are pleased to continue to work with families to help avoid this. For the vast majority, this will never be an issue and instead we can celebrate successes; there are many pupils still with very high percentages and many with 100% again this month, so well done to you all. I have included some data on our historic attendance. You will note that it is slowly decreasing. The reasons we want to have high attendance is because we can only teach your children if they are here, missing even one day does have an impact on learning as the volume of work pupils now do is much more than it has ever been in the past (do see the comments from the open morning parents who all agreed this). The reason we achieve so well in St Chad’s is because we all work together for the best for all pupils; the ab- sence of one or two pupils impacts all (catch up, for example), impacts individual’s progress and friendships. Thank you everyone who works so hard to support having 2013 -14 2014 -15 2015 -16 your child in School 96.4% 96.5% 95.8% school. National 95.9% 95.8% 96%

Meet the staff Glamorgan University, which ing in South America. lead me to finding a job with Staffing update I have made such wonder- Super Stars. After teaching Lynsey Wing, a TA for ful friends being here and drama and PE for two years, EYFS, has been on mater- Chelsea Smith will miss everyone; thank I moved over to teach inter- nity leave and is returning at Hello, many of you know me. you for such a great expe- ventions in St Chad’s. the start of next term, so we I have been working in St rience. look forward to having her In my spare time, I run with Chad’s for nearly three back. years. I have loved every my running club and this year Michelle Viner (KS1&2 TA) who has been minute, working with such I completed the Cardiff half recovering from a serious illness is also fabulous children and a marathon in 1 hour and 59 due to return near the start of next term great team. I don’t think my minutes. I have a house rab- and we are glad that she is all better now! commute from Cardiff bit called Willis who lives in Chelsea Smith (see left), who has been with us for nearly 3 years now is taking would have been so enjoya- my house (luckily my family some time out to travel the world, so we ble had I not known I would are going to look after him while I am away). Sadly, this (enviously) wish her lots of fun and will be greeted everyday with see her in June. Sian Ellis will be taking is my last week in St Chad’s, such a warm and enjoyable her place and we warmly welcome her. atmosphere. as I am about to embark on Congratulations to Mrs Harvey for passing an adventure. I leave the UK I studied Early Years and her Master’s National Award for Special on the 18th January and developmental psychology in Educational Needs! Very well done! head around the world start-