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DECEMBER 2013

‘LITTLE NATIVITY STARS ’ After a great deal of hard work, patience and practice,

forty nine foundation children demonstrated such

confidence performing their Nativity Story to parents last

week. They were fortunate to be able to act out the

traditional Christmas story to a full audience in the

beautiful setting of the Warboys Parish Church. For ones so

young, their ability to project their voices when singing and

speaking was absolutely amazing. In just 12 weeks these

foundation children have all become ‘little stars’ in their

own right after settling into school so quickly making good all round progress in such a

small space of time.

Years 1/2 completed 3 separate performances of their version of the nativity story ‘A

Midwife in Crisis’. As is usual children have spent time auditioning for parts, making props,

learning songs and dances. Each performance oozed enthusiasm, confidence and

cooperation. A huge well done goes out to all of the children and the staff for such a

successful production.

At the beginning of the month representatives from the school choir brought something

special to the traditional switching on of the Warboys lights. They sang a range of Christmas

carols to families and friends making it a festive family occasion.

Over the past half term there have been many opportunities for parents to come into school.

The school held it’s first open coffee morning enabling parents to talk to the inclusion leader,

pastoral worker and Zoe Holland our school link for early intervention support for parents.

Some parents of children in Y3/4 also took the opportunity to join in a reading café where

they shared a book and made story boards with children. This was a successful session and

Miss Savins will be repeating this with other year groups next term.

New Year Reading Book Amnesty During the holiday period, please check under beds, in school

bags and in cupboards for any school reading books children may

have tucked away. We ask for all books to be returned to school

so they can be logged into the new Junior Library system. A book box will be left in the

school entrance for books to be returned with ease.

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The Inspector Calls OFSTED inspectors paid a visit to Warboys school back in October when the school

was given the grade Requires Improvement [RI]. It is usual for the HMI inspectors to

undertake follow up visits, the first being within 4– 6weeks, but we still await the first of

these. As agreed at the post Ofsted parents meeting, updates on the School Develop-

ment plan will be included in each School Newsletter. The key targets for this year are:

attainment to close the attainment gap between school data and national averages;

improve teaching so that it is consistently good across the school enabling all children,

regardless of their start, to make good progress; and children’s behaviour and attitude

towards their learning.

Achievements: The challenging targets for the end of KS2 in July 2014 for Level 4 are

shown below and we are now well on track to meet these targets set by the local

authority. During the autumn term our main focus has been maths. In the spring term the

whole school area for development is writing. There have been several intervention

groups taking place over the term giving additional support to

help some children ‘catch up’ and, starting in January, a few

Year 6 children will be invited to ‘Booster Classes’ to give them

additional help in particular areas of work.

Parent drop in Coffee Mornings will continue next term giving

parents the opportunity to come and talk through any issues, so

look out for the advertising posters around school. The leadership

team, together with the local authority, have continued to be

rigorous monitoring teaching & learning across the school.

Behaviour and Attendance: This term children and staff have been involved in reviewing

the school behaviour policy and, as a result, changes are being made to the rewards

and sanctions. With a ‘no tolerance’ approach staff should now be more consistent

when responding to all levels of behaviour. As a school we never broadcast if a child

has been given an isolation period or a fixed term exclusion so it is often perceived by

some that sanctions are not upheld. Every incident is assessed following the policy and

exclusions have been imposed when needed. Developing positive behaviour, especially

towards each other, and attitude to learning will remain a focus for the spring term.

As you will be aware, the government is intending to introduce free hot school dinners

from September 2014 for KS1, so next term the school will be reviewing the structure for

lunch and lunch time activities.

School attendance is judged as part of the OFSTED behaviour criteria. To be graded

‘good’ attendance needs to average at least 96% , attendance this term is 95.01%. Sad-

ly, the number of days lost through unauthorised holidays in term time remains high at

120 days. The school is working closely with our Educational Welfare Officer [EWO] who is

now tracking 8 families whose attendance is below 85% .

We will continue to keep you updated with school developments each half term.

Level 4b Level 4

Reading 86 % 90%

Writing 82% 89%

Maths 86% 94%

Pupil Premium.

Did you know that just registering your child for Free School Meals means that the school gets extra

money? Register now to make sure we don’t miss out.

The Government is giving money to schools to help children from lower income families do their very

best. This funding is called a ‘Pupil Premium’. For every child registered, Warboys School gets £900 this

year. With this money we could provide more one-to-one tutors, support smaller classes and further

improve ICT. If you are registered for Free School meals you could also get help with school trips. And if

your child doesn’t want school dinners, they can still continue with packed lunch as usual, but the

school, and your child, still benefit from the extra Government funding.

For further information you can visit: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/ under the section Children and Families.

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/

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PTA

Warboys School

PTA needs the

support of it’s

parents.

Our next meeting

will be advertised

on the New Year.

All are welcome..

Thank you for your continued support! 3

YOUR PTA NEEDS

YOU!

CAN YOU HELP?

FIND OUT ABOUT THE

FUN IN FUNDRAISING!

AND BEST OF ALL,

WE’RE FRIENDLY

TOO!

Dear Parents and Carers

I would just like to start by saying a big Thank you to KS2 Chil-

dren and Parents who made such fantastic cakes for our

cake sale. We sold out in record time and even though we

were down on last years takings we still made £125.00.

The Christmas cards and Bags 2 school were a great success

and raised just over £450.00.

The Christmas Hampers so far have made £600 with the chil-

dren’s hampers having been drawn in assembly on Thursday.

In the New Year we can look forward to our popular Quiz

night and new for next June, a Ceilidh.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a really big thank

you to all the committee for all their hard work.

Thank you for your continued support.

We always welcome new members.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and

A Happy New Year

From Warboys PTA.

Christmas Hamper Winners.

1. Lorraine Hope

2. Simon Godwin

3. Mrs R Martin

4. Cliff Smith

5. Wendy Haywood

6. Danny De Pau

7. A Atkins

8. B Duke

9. Donna Powell

10. Karen Bazzant

11. Paul Jackson

12. Lorrain Britten

13. Andy Glen

14. Tania Hope

15. Abbie Cole

16. Mr/Mrs Barham

17. Mrs Griggs

18. Mrs Tufts

19. Mrs Hembrow

20. Mark Kiely

21. Mr Bainbridge

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Whales Class Assembly

Wow what a busy half term! It all started when we got a delivery from the Cambridge

Toy Shop. In the box was Traction Man. He loves to go on adventures and has been up

to all sorts since he arrived. There was a point where he even went missing... but by

following clues we found him at the doctor's.

While we had been worried he had been

having the time of his life exploring the village.

We have also been practicing our socks off to

get ready for the Christmas production and the

tickets have gone like hot cakes! Whales class

were so amazing at practicing not only this but

for their class assembly. They did really well and

made all the adults proud especially

learning makaton signs to a song in such a short

space of time, well done super Whales.

Miss Deaves

Early Years Foundation Stage

In Foundation we have had a very busy half term. We have

been learning about different celebrations and festivals. We

learnt about Diwali and how it is celebrated, we made

fantastic diva lamp holders, using clay that we decorated.

We held a Diwali party and invited all the school staff; we

were fantastic hosts and served the wonderful cakes and

biscuits that we had decorated. After that we talked all

about how we celebrate birthdays and made birthday

cakes that we shared. As Christmas approached we were

very busy preparing for our amazing production, learning

all the songs and our words. We have also learnt all about

how Christmas is celebrated and talked about what we are going to be doing with our families during the

festive period.

Whole School Christmas Lunch

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Pumas Class Assembly

As we have been studying the Tudors this term, we decided to

have a Tudor themed assembly. Henry V111, played by Sam,

was questioned by all six of his wives on a television pro-

gramme that was like the Jeremy Kyle show but with Ant and

Dec hosting it. Sam was very good as Henry, and he had to

put up with lots of his wives, played by Angel, Ellen, Isabella,

Libby, Amber and Lauren, shouting at him and asking why he

had their heads cut off. There were also commercial breaks in

the programme, with adverts form Dr Timothy who was

selling all kinds of horrible Tudor cures for lots of illnesses.

We had learnt all about these when we went to Burghley House earlier in the term. We loved our

assembly, thank you to Mr Gooch for organising it.

Sam and Lauren.

Sports Report.

Tag Rugby.

On Tuesday 19th November, the Warboys Tag Rugby team went to Huntingdon Rugby Club to play in a

round robin tournament. Our first opponents were Eynesbury and we played well and won the match.

Lucky for us we won our next match against Roundhouse, 7-6. In our third game our luck changed and

unfortunately we lost against Brampton. We also lost our fourth game against Holywell. We then played

a third place play-off against Priory which we won. Overall we came 6th out of 20 schools. Our team

was Henry, who was captain, Ryan, Jai, Alex, Daniel, Jamaal, Kye, Olivia, Lily and Hannah. We scored

the most tries but also conceded the most tries. Overall we all played really well.

Henry.

Football.

On Wednesday 6th November, Warboys school set out to St Helens for

a cup match. It was a cold and wet day so we needed a good warm up.

We got the game off to a great start when Myles scored the first goal

and then Daniel quickly scored the second. By half time, thanks to being

set up by Lewis and then Henry, Myles had scored two more goals to

make it 4-0 at half time. 5 minutes into the second half, St Helens

scored their first goal with Henry quickly getting one back. St Helens

scored again but then Myles scored his fifth goal. Kye went on to make

a wonderful save and the final score was 6-2 to Warboys.

Henry and Myles.

Healthy Eating Week.

Just before half term we had a week focusing on healthy

eating. Everyone kept a food diary during the week where we

recorded all the food that we ate and then discussed what was

healthy and what wasn’t. A lot of us eat too much chocolate!

We had a display from a karate instructor and some people

came in from Pidley gym to talk about fitness. Three rugby

players visited us from Northampton Saints which was

exciting. We also had a talk from a doctor who specialised in

sports injuries who told us how to look after ourselves whilst

doing sports. It was a very good week.

Tegan, Andrew and Hannah.

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Some of our Christmas

Photos

Singing at the switching on of

the village Christmas lights

Christmas Lunch

Foundation Stage

Nativity

KS1 ‘A Midwife in Crisis’

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Governors Parents

Karen Glen (Vice-Chair)

Sally-Anne Tomkins

Simon Mead

Claire Eeley

Steve Dodds

Community

Lou O’Rourke (Chair)

Nigel Graham

Jan Attwood

Vacancy

Vacancy

Local Authority

Casey Scott

John Pennington

Vacancy

Staff

Angela Boxall (Headteacher)

Caroline McKeating

Sadie Simpson

Karen Harding

Jo Spittle

Clerk

Loren Bradley

Interested in

becoming a

Governor?

Ready to give

something back to

your community?

Contact us for a chat.

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Dear Parents/Carers, As we approach the end of 2013, we have, once again, been running

an election for parent and staff governors. This is following the

resignation of Natalie Foster and the end of term of office for Sally-

Ann Tomkins and Sadie Simpson. We are very pleased to announce

that we have now recruited two new parent governors, Claire Eeley

and Stephen Dodds and that Sally-Ann has also been re-elected for

a second term. Sadie Simpson has also been re-elected and Jo

Spittle has joined us as a staff governor. We would like to take this

opportunity to welcome all the newly elected governors and thank

Sally-Ann and Sadie for their continued support.

Following the Ofsted inspection, the governing body is working

closely with the school to act upon the points raised within the

report and governors have been busy visiting school and gathering

evidence of work undertaken against each of the four key areas of

the framework:

1. Raise achievement by accelerating pupil’s progress so standards

rise. Governors continue to focus on those pupils eligible for pupil

premium. The school is working towards accelerating progress

using intervention programmes, for example with year 5/6 maths

now running in school. The Inclusion Leader is developing a report

which will assist in the monitoring of progress over the period of an

intervention programme to accurately track progress and ensure that

identified pupils are achieving.

2. Improve teaching, so that it is good or better. A number of

classroom based visits have taken place looking at the teaching of

maths in years 1/2 and 3/4, a visit looking at the teaching of ICT in

school and an opportunity to talk to pupils in the ICT suite, and also

a visit looking at increasing attainment in writing.

3. Promote positive behaviour, including pupils’ attitude to

learning. Sally-Ann Tompkins and Claire Eeley have recently

undertaken a learning walk in school, visiting various classes to see

pupils participating in lessons and their attitude to learning.

4. Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management so that

pupils make better progress. This term governors have asked staff

members to complete an Ofsted survey which will allow us to fully

understand where staff feel strengths are within in school and also

provide the opportunity to suggest areas that could be improved.

Governors have also met with representative staff members to

discuss the appraisal system, staff objectives and to increase links

between the staff and governing body.

On behalf of all Governors I would like to thank all staff for their

enthusiasm, dedication and hard work throughout this year.

As a full Governing Body, one of our targets is to continue to

improve our visibility to parents, carers, staff and pupils. We have a

Governor profile’s board in reception where you can come and

have a look to find out who we are and what inspired us to

become a governor.

I wish you and your families a very happy and peaceful

Christmas and a prosperous New Year

Karen Glen

Vice-chair of Governors

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Diary Wednesday 8th January 2014 Start of Spring Term

Monday 13th January 2014 Swimming tuition starts for Yr 5

Wednesday 29th January 2014 Owls Class Assembly

Wednesday 12th February 2014 Seahorses Class Assembly

Monday 17th February - Friday 21st

February 2014

Half Term

Thursday 6th March 2014 World Book Day

Wednesday 19th March 2014 Lions Class Assembly

Saturday 21st March 2014 PTA Quiz Night

Wednesday 2nd April - Friday 4th April

2014

Yr 4 Grafham Residential Trip

Friday 4th April 2014 End of Term

Wednesday 23rd April 2014 Start of Summer Term

Tuesday 6th May 2014 Class Photographs

Wednesday 7th May 2014 Tigers Class Assembly

Monday 26th May - Friday 30th May

2014

Half Term

Wednesday 11th June 2014 Hawks Class Assembly

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Dolphins Class Assembly

Wednesday 7th July 2014 Turtles Class Assembly

Wednesday 23rd July 2014 End of Term

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www.warboys.cambs.sch.uk