<p> Newsletter December 2016</p><p>Seasons Greetings from us all at Thornford School</p><p>Halloween Disco:-The children enjoyed their Spooky Halloween Disco. Our thanks go to the FTS for organising this.</p><p>Also thanks to the FTS for providing the lights for the Christmas tree in the old Hall.</p><p>Dorchester Museum:-Elm Class had a great day visiting Dorchester Museum. They happened to be there on the day the BBC were recording an item about Dippy the Diplodocus from the Natural History Museum which will be starting its 2018 tour of the UK in the Dorchester Museum. </p><p>SPAG Workshop:-The SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) Workshop was well attended and appreciated by those who came. We will send the hand-out home to those families who were unable to come.</p><p>Non Uniform Day:-This raised a fantastic £102.97 for Children in Need. Car Parking:-Please limit the parking outside school while the building work is going on. Concern has been raised about the number of cars parked on Boot Lane and The Drove. Please use the Village Hall car park if possible.</p><p>Parents Forum:-The responses to the items raised at the Parents Forum are attached to this Newsletter.</p><p>Christmas Treat:-The children are having a visit from Andy the Magic Man on the afternoon of December 12th.</p><p>Dates for your diary:-</p><p>1st December:-Oak Class Carol singing for Alzheimers’ Group Sherborne</p><p>1st December:-1.10pm Thornford’s Got Talent</p><p>2nd December:-FTS Christmas Fair – don’t forget to purchase the Christmas crafts and cards made by the children.</p><p>7th December:-Oak Class Carol singing for residents of The Hayes Care Home Sherborne</p><p>7th December:-Sherborne Area Indoor Football Tournament at the Gryphon School at 4pm</p><p>9th December:-Oak Class Carol singing for St James’ Care Centre </p><p>9th December:-KS2 Parents Assembly</p><p>12th December:-Monday 10:00am KS1 Nativity in New Hall for children only</p><p>12th December:-Visit of Andy the Magic Man</p><p>12th December:-Parents Feedback Forum 3.15pm in the Staff Room</p><p>13th December:-Tuesday 6:00 pm KS1 Nativity in New Hall for parents </p><p>14th December:-Whole School Christmas Lunch</p><p>15th December:-Christmas Parties</p><p>16th December:-Last day of term. Carol Service in Thornford Church at 9.30am</p><p>4th January:-Children return to School</p><p>As always, if you have any issue to discuss, please contact myself or my staff at the school. Neela Brooking (Headteacher) [email protected] 01935 872706 Parents’ Forum Friday 18 th November 2016</p><p>1. Provision of the Cycling Proficiency Test. </p><p> This has been organised for Y5/6 Summer term 2017</p><p>2. Communication: a parent commented that they sometimes found it confusing with information coming from various different sources (white board, text, leaflets, web page...). sometimes paperwork (e.g. FTS circulars...)is not in every pupil’s book bag</p><p> If there is time in advance, letters are sent home or items put in the newsletter </p><p> Dates are put on the website so parents are aware of events coming up in advance</p><p> If we do have notification of events at short notice, a text will be sent</p><p> We will make sure new parents have more details, if necessary.</p><p>3. Sport organisation School (seems) not very organised , with info out late on sports</p><p> Apologies for the fixture letter which came out less than a week before the date </p><p>4. Y5 Tag Rugby fixture was disorganised. No full kit was available. </p><p> We are struggling for tag rugby kit as kit hasn’t been returned to school (we are still waiting for 4 kits from the latest Y5 tag rugby tournament!)</p><p> A new tag rugby kit will be ordered for next year</p><p> Socks are often left unwashed and constantly go missing so we will ask parents to supply these in future</p><p> Miss Hanley has now numbered all of the kits and prepared a sign out sheet </p><p>No prior rugby practice before the fixture. Could practices be incorporated into PE lessons to promote confidence and pride in playing for their school team. </p><p> Oak Class have had weekly tag rugby training from Premier sport’s coach: The Y6 had 5 weeks of coaching (and half a term last year) before their tournament and the Y5s had 10 weeks</p><p> We would love for there to be a club for tag rugby, if any parents are willing to run this , otherwise we recommend Sherborne Rugby Club at weekends</p><p> Invasion games, including: Football , Netball , hockey, basketball and tag rugby are all included in the Y3/4 and Y5/6 PE curriculum during the year</p><p> We would like parents to note that with the same amount of Tag rugby PE lessons and the same staffing input last year, our Y6s were joint winners of the Sherborne Area tournament along with Sherborne Abbey and the year before, our Y5 team were winners of the Sherborne Area tournament</p><p>The children were not given any tactics or team talk at the tournament  Mr. Gareth Lewis, who is a very experienced teacher and tag and football coach and Miss Hanley (our Sports Apprentice) both gave coaching tips to the team</p><p> Coaches were asked by the tournament organisers specifically not to have a team talk at half time as this would make the tournament run on too long</p><p> The two referees: Mr. Bartle and Mr.Siggins coached the children throughout the matches of the tournament</p><p> The children are lucky that everyone, who would like to, gets the chance to play for the school team. They learn life skills such as: the importance of exercise to stay healthy; it’s OK to make mistakes; perseverance; discipline; respect for others; how to win and lose with dignity</p><p> This year’s sports apprentice is a huge asset to the school. She is learning how to coach a wide variety of sports and all the teachers have praised her hard work and initiative. She is also an excellent netball coach.</p><p>5. Celebrating post Year 2 SATS. There is significant celebration of completion of the Year 6 SATS which is good but not so well reflected in celebrating post Year 2 SATS and so not necessarily a fair reflection of the hard work that goes into them</p><p> Year 2 SATS tests, although statutory, are only a part of the overall assessment process at the end of Key Stage 1. They are one element of the extensive evidence required to ‘prove’ whether a child has attained the age-related expectation by the end of the year. The children generally enjoy the tests as a change from the usual routine and a chance to tackle a different sort of challenge. To provide a break and ‘reward’ for their hard work and concentration, they participate in extra art and sport activities during the week in May that they take the tests. However, the assessment period continues until the end of June (almost the very end of term), so a party to celebrate the end of SATs week would be inappropriate. The children get this opportunity with the Year 6 party, which also marks the end of their primary school assessments and a milestone in their education.</p><p>6. Sport provision for KS2 Y3/4 </p><p> Y3/4 have 2.5 hours of curriculum PE a week-including daily wake and shake</p><p> This term. they have the opportunity to take part in Footie 4Dorset and Y4s can go to weekly football; Archery; Dance; Yoga and Tennis (in the Summer)</p><p> All of our teachers run a club during the year. We would love to do more, but there is only so much we can do as a small school</p><p> I have approached Premier Sport about running a multi skills club (including netball and football) funded by the school for the Spring Term for Y3/4 </p><p>7. Follow up from this parent’s forum ahead of and tied in with the next one. A Suggestion box was an idea for those who missed it / had to run, both for comments they'd like considered this time and in advance of next, to give a starting agenda.  A parent questionnaire was given out in the summer term for any suggestions</p><p> There is a feedback forum organised for 3:15pm on 12th December 2016 in the Old Hall- do come along if you can</p><p>8. Could all the classes try to be out at 3.30pm? </p><p> We are aware that classes were previously coming out later than 3.30 and this year, have made a concerted effort to ensure that classes are all out and ready for pick up by 3.35 at the latest</p><p> We hope that this will help parents to arrive at 3.30, with the knowledge that their child (ren) will be ready.</p><p>9. It wasn't clear where forum was as too informal</p><p> We will make this clear in future</p><p>10. Could French/language lessons be extended to other year groups or an after school club</p><p> French is not statutory for KS1, however there is a possibility of an after school club.</p><p>11. Swimming lessons - does the school have plans for this? </p><p> Currently only Oak Class has swimming, although now that we have 2 qualified swimming coaches on the staff, there is a possibility of organising sessions for Y3/4 in the future. </p>