A U T U M N T E R M 2 0 1 5 - holytrinitypri.dorset.sch.uk

A U T U M N T E R M 2 0 1 5 2 Message from our Headteacher, Fiona Daykin

Newsletter

I love this time of year. The fairy lights are twinkling, the carpets are covered in glitter and the children are getting excited about how many ‘sleeps to Santa’. It really is a magical time to be working in school. The Nursery, EYFS and Y2 Nativity plays were enchanting, and focused our thoughts away from Christmas shopping, turkeys and tinsel, and on to the true meaning of Christmas. The performers looked fabulous. They remembered their lines, the words and actions to the songs, and when to get on and off the stage! There were many lovely moments in the performances (angels with troublesome halos comes to mind!) but notably, the singing was beautiful. Many thanks to your wonderful children for making the performances so lovely.

There have been lots of other events this term that have made the learning enjoyable for the children. I am so glad that many of you have been able to join in with some of these. The Year 5 Victorian Tea Room was very well attended, and the children provided excellent catering, waiter and waitressing services. The food was delicious. Another exciting event this term was the Y6 WW11 exhibition and experience days. The children were immersed in the era, and the work they have produced shows how much they have learned. Their costumes were fantastic, thank you. It really helped to bring it all to life. Year 4 have been busy making ‘stop frame’ animations and will be producing some short movies starring their favourite characters. There will be an opportunity for you to view these next term. Year 3 had an artist workshop and from this, they made some beautiful replica stained glass. The results are stunning. Year 1 have been busy learning and practising some new songs and we are all looking forward to their carols around the Christmas tree. Our Year 2 and KS2 choirs have been engaged in singing at the church fair, our school fair, Highclere House, and the Hope Church Christmas Tree Festival. They have been exceptional representatives of our school.

I am sure that you would like to join with me in thanking our hardworking staff for all that they do for the children, every day.

I would also like to thank you all for supporting your child with their homework this term. The teachers are noticing that it is having a really good impact on the progress the children are making at school. If you have problems with any aspects of the homework, please speak to your child’s Class Teacher or Year Leader, who will be happy to help.

You will be receiving the school’s Attendance Policy, which provides greater clarity on our expectations, which we will be strictly enforcing. Nationally, across all Primary schools, attendance levels are over 96%, whereas at Holy Trinity, our attendance last year was only 94%. This year we are aiming for 97%. Children cannot access learning in school if they are not here. Statistically, children who are poor attendees attain much lower GCSE results. It is essential to get the children into the right habits from early on, for which we need your help.

At the end of term, we wish Mrs Hill well, as she starts her Maternity Leave. We look forward to seeing baby Hill in the New Year. We also wish Mrs Franklin good luck, as she will be leaving us to take up a new position in St Osmund’s Middle School. Mrs Franklin has given 7 years of service to the school, for which we thank her. We will be welcoming Mrs Johnston as the new Year 5 Leader in January. She is a highly experienced Year Leader so the children will be in very capable hands. The class will have a chance to meet her this week, and parents will be able to meet her in the New Year.

We would like to send our warmest wishes to Father Philip as he takes up his new position as Team Vicar of the Benefice of Bincombe, with Broadwey, Upwey and Buckland Ripers. He has led assemblies, helped run Church Club and attended Governor meetings at the school. He is popular with the children and will be missed.

Finally, it remains for me to wish you all a Joyful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

97%

Thinking about a New Year’s resolution?

Let’s all make sure we are on time and at

school every day!

Attendance

Our school target is:

We really appreciate your support to enable

your child to have the very best learning

opportunities by having good attendance. Presently attendance is 94.6%

Council

column

School Council members have

been discussing which charities

our school pupils want to support.

They have agreed that we will

support one global charity and

one local charity in addition to

Children in Need and Red Nose

Day. This year our school will

support Cancer Resarch UK as

our global charity and

Julia’s House as our local charity .

Chesil Education Partnership

School Council Conference 2015

Mr Joy and members of our School Council

attended the annual conference and worked

with School Council representatives from other

CEP schools.

Tilly reported that they had played games

about co-ordination and spoke about what

could be done to improve each school. Isaac

said they think perhaps a buddy bench would

be a good idea.

Christine James, Mayor of Weymouth & Portland, cut the

red ribbon and officially opened our new ICT Suite. This

exciting new facility adds additional technology learning

opportunities for our pupils to access.

We need your help! The school car park is for staff and parents who have been issued with a

parking permit to park in a designated bay. Unfortunately we are finding

that staff are unable to get to work and coaches/instructors who come at

the end of the school day cannot access the school to come and teach

because parents who do not have permission to enter the drive and car park

have done so. If you have been parking here, please ensure that you park

elsewhere as this inconsiderate parking is preventing children’s learning and

after school activities. Did you know that it is quicker to

park a little distance away and

walk to school rather than join

the congestion in Cross Road?

Why not try it? You will find you

save time and benefit from the

additional regular exercise!

We enjoyed a visit by Local Author

Jane Hurdiss when she shared her

new book The Surprise in the Old

School bus with us.

Year 3 displayed their amazing work on

The Stone Age

Have you seen the

beautiful painted

birds on the MUGA

fence?

This beautiful

artwork is by our

Year 6 pupils. Take

a look—every bird is

different!

Help make our school site safer for everyone!

Come and read

our notice

board by the

office to see

our School

Councillors.

Year 6 Sports Captains

Thank you! We were very proud to raise over £1,300 for Children in Need

and thank you for your enthusiastic support. Pupils were sponsored to be

silent, took part in an art competition, brought a donation to wear

non-uniform and thought of unusual fun ways to raise money! Weymouth

College provided Pudsey biscuits for us to sell after school and we sold out

of wristbands and Pudsey key rings!

Dates for your diary

Mon 4 January 2016 First day of Spring term

Fri 12 February School closed for staff training

Mon 15—Fri 19 February Half term holiday

Fri 25 March-Fri 8 April School closed for Easter holiday

Mon 30 May—Fri 3 June School closed for half term holiday

Tues 19 July Last day of summer term

Wed 20 July School closed for staff training

Reading Rewards

Applications for a place in a reception class for

September 2016 need to be made

by 15 January 2016.

Applications can be made online via

www.dorsetforyou.com/schooladmissions or

you can ask for a paper copy of the form at the

school office.

Fynn walked backwards all the way to school to raise

money for Children in Need!

Thank you for supporting our appeal to

support the Link Romania Shoebox

appeal. We sent off 122 boxes this year!

Class 5P

had fun

on

Children

in

Need

day

Thank you to Goulds

Garden Centre, who

generously donated the

‘real’ Christmas tree to us.

It looks beautiful!

Each half term teachers identify a child in their class who has

made the most progress in reading. In a special assembly

those children were given a certificate and they chose a

book to take home. Well done to all those pictured below

who were awarded certificates and books on 11 December.

Bling your bike to school!

Mrs Jones will be organising a special

day on Wednesday 13 January when

pupils are invited to bring in their

decorated (blinged) bike. You might

want to save some of your Christmas

decorations for that day!

More details next term!

We use a text and email service to contact parents quickly with messages and information. Have you given us your mobile

number and email address so you don’t miss out? Please don’t forget to let office staff know if your contact details change!

Governors Eve Cafferkey's four year term as parent Governor finished in mid December. Eve has been a

keen supporter of the school working on both curriculum and premises issues. Eve will be

missed by the Governing Body and we would like to express our thanks to her for all her work.

Our clerk Natalie will be advertising the vacancy for a new parent Governor in the new term. If

anyone is interested but would like to discuss the role first, please let us know so that we can an-

swer your queries. Our current parent Governors are Luke Anderson, Lisa Clark and David Mot-

son – any of them would be happy to help.

The Governors would like to wish the pupils, parents, carers and staff a happy Christmas and

thank everyone for their continuing support for the school.

Holy Trinity Church

Come and share the celebrations at Holy Trinity Church, by the bridge.

Sunday 20 Dec—Messy Christmas Church 4.30p.m

Tues 22 Dec—Carols on the church steps 10.30a.m.

Thurs 24 Dec—Christmas Eve—Christingle Service—6.00pm

Fri 25 Dec—Christmas morning, Holy Communion 10.00am

Every Sunday during 10.00am service:

LITTLE PEBBLES: Do you have children aged 3 – 8? If so, perhaps they would like to join us in the Crypt every

Sunday morning at 10.00 am. Our time together is based on the same theme as the service upstairs but we have

stories and things to make, drawing and colouring, games, and most of all, we have fun!

SUNDAY SCHOOL: for older children, aged 9 upwards. There is a group which leaves the service through the

Vestry door just before the sermon, to talk about the theme of the day – the children say it’s much better than

having to sit through the sermon!

The Friends

Thank you to everyone who supported our recent Christmas Fayre. We

raised over £2,000 which will be used to provide additional resources for our

children to enhance our their learning. It was great to see so many families

enjoying themselves at one of our most popular annual fundraising events.

A big thank you all those parents and

volunteers who have been practising every

Sunday afternoon to put on a pantomime at

the end of this term.

They have worked extremely hard to ensure

that their production of the Dancing

Princesses will entertain all pupils in school.