Queen’s Hill Primary & Nursery School

Newsletter January 2016

Welcome back to a brand new year and the start of the Spring

Term. On behalf of all the staff, thank you for your kind cards and

Christmas gifts. We hope that you had a good break.

This term is historically the time when we get the dreaded sickness

bugs doing the rounds and when the weather can cause issues –

especially if we have snow at Queen’s Hills.

For those parents new to the school, please can we ask that if your

child does have sickness and/or diarrhoea that you keep them off

for 48 hours to ensure it doesn’t get passed on to other children

and staff. Please also make sure you remind your child about

routines of hygeine e.g handwashing after toileting and putting

their hand over their mouth when they cough etc.

It is also important that you know that our aim is to keep the

school open. Should we get any snow this year that causes

disruption we will do everything we can to remain open as we know

many parents need to use the school as childcare.

You may have seen on the news recently the announcement that

primary school children will be tested on their times tables up to 12

x 12 in Year 6 from 2017. Please speak to your child’s class teacher

to find out how you can help support your child in learning their

tables. There are lots of really good websites and games that we

can signpost you to. You may also recall that the school issued all

children with a times table CD that can be played at home or in the

car; a great way to reinforce times tables. We still issue children

with these CDs on arrival so do please make use of them. Wishing

you all the best for a successful 2016.

Michael Roughsedge – Deputy Headteacher

Christmas Fund

Raising

Thank you to everyone who

kindly made donations. We

are really pleased to have

£252.59 at the raised

Nativities and £109.13 Carol

Singing, making a

Grand Total

of

£361.72 which will be donated to

Clic Sergeant Cancer Charity

For the health of our

children, visitors are

requested not to

smoke on the school

premises(this includes

electronic devices)

Thank You

As you may have already

heard, building work start this

year to expand the school so

that it can accommodate the

additional children that will be

moving onto the estate over

the next few years. Please be

assured that the school

staff are very experienced in

working with builders and

learning will continue as

normal!

A PASSION FOR

LEARNING

All staff have been

really impressed with

the positive attitude the

children have shown on

their return. Year 6

children especially are

showing grit and

determination and are

keen to attend booster

classes starting next

week.

Kayla & Bethanie L

Seb’s Friends of

the Week

during December for showing

a positive attitude to their learning

Congratulations!

Parent Support Advisor

My name is Barbara Peek and I am working as a Parent Support

Adviser with The Benjamin Foundation. I started work at Queen’s

Hill Primary School before Christmas and have had a really positive

and welcoming start.

I have had a variety of roles within education over 12 years

including:-

Running nurture groups, breakfast and after school clubs

Teaching Assistant in Junior Schools

Supporting a SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator)

Working in a School Office

Speech and Language

Working with children with English as their second language

I have also worked for Nelson’s Journey and as a volunteer for

Youth Clubs.

Being a parent isn’t easy, and at times things can get tough. My role

in the school is to help families deal with any issues, worries and

concerns which they may have. I may not have all the answers, but

together we can explore the different options available.

I am really looking forward to getting to know the school, meeting

families and becoming part of the Queen’s Hill community.

Please feel free to contact me on 07825 130002 on Tuesdays,

Wednesdays and Fridays.

Would you like to

save over

£350 per year?

Dependent upon your family circumstances,

your son/daughter may be entitled to a

free school meal every day or when they

choose to participate in our Special Meals

(Christmas lunch, Family lunch week etc).

If this is the case, the local authority has funds

allocated for this purpose.

Please contact the School Office this week and

ask for Form FSM1.

All information is completely confidential.

Families of children who are entitled to free school

meals may also be able to receive additional support

and help. Please see the ‘Pupil Premium’ page on our

school website.

This term we welcome two new members of staff, Miss Glaister, who

was with us shortly before Christmas, working as a Teaching

Assistant and Mrs Macare-Cook who is a Higher Level Teaching

Assistant specialising in drama and dance.

We say Farewell to Mrs Katie Severson at the end of this week.

Mrs Severson will be starting a new job with the NHS and we wish

her every success and happiness in her new role.

Jarrold Charity Challenge

We were delighted to receive a cheque from the local independent

retail store Jarrold for £1000 to purchase flexible outdoor reading

areas for all the children to enjoy during the school day and

lunchtime. We are looking forward to unveiling these areas during

our Book Festival on the first week of March. Look out for the

timetable of festival events in next month’s newsletter and on school

website.

If you have any spare rugs or cushions that could be used in reading

corners, both inside and outside of the classrooms, they would be

greatly appreciated. Please bring any donations to Mrs Maskell in

the School Library.

Author's Chairs

Wow! - I think you will all agree they were amazing and thank you to

the Friends of Queen's Hill who supported the event and the

teachers and children who made such a good job of decorating

them.

The Friends and visitors of the school had the difficult job of

judging the chairs; below are the winning classes by phase:-

Early Years - Les Chenilles

Key Stage 1 - Les Souris

Key Stage 2 - Les Hiboux

The overall winner –

Les Lapins

Congratulations!

We have two new additions for the Library in the front entrance, if

you haven't had the chance pop in and have a look. One chair is to

celebrate 150 years of Alice in Wonderland and the other a tribute

to the Beano comic.

We are all looking forward to seeing some amazing writing this term

and find out …

Who gets to sit on the author's chair today?

Diary Dates January 2016 Wednesday 13th Flu Immunisation for Year 1 and Year 2

Friday 15th 2.30pm – Year 6 Show & Share Assembly

Monday 18th Mobile Library

Friday 22nd 2.30pm – Les Renards Show & Share Assembly

Friday 29th 2.30pm Les Taupes Show & Share Assembly

February 2016 Friday 5th Les Hiboux Show & Share Assembly

Monday 8th Safety Awareness Day

Tuesday 9th 8.30 – 9.30am Nursery AM Stay & Play

8.30 – 10am – Reception Stay & Play

12 – 1pm Nursery PM Stay & Play

Friday 12th Les Herrisons Show & Share Assembly

LAST DAY OF HALF TERM

Monday 22nd PUPILS RETURN TO SCHOOL

100 Day at School

Friday 26th Les Souris Show & Share Assembly

Term Dates

2015/16

Spring Term 2016

Tuesday 5th January to Thursday 24th March

Half Term holiday: Monday 15th February to Friday 19th February

Summer Term 2016

Monday 11th April to Wednesday 20th July

Half Term holiday: Monday 30th May to Friday 3rd June

(May Day Bank Holiday: Monday 2nd May)

2016/17

Autumn Term 2016

Monday 5th September to Friday 16th December

Half Term holiday: Thursday 20th October to Friday 28th October

Spring Term 2017

Thursday 5th January to Thursday 31st March

Half Term holiday: Monday 13th February to Friday 17th February

Summer Term 2017

Monday 18th April to Friday 21st July

Half Term holiday: Monday 29th May to Friday 2nd June

(May Day Bank Holiday: Monday 1st May)