Dear Parents and Carers

 

It seems that Christmas is certainly drawing near with the wonderful decorations around school that the children have made, our Christmas tree in the hall and the fabulous preparations for our Christmas Nativity and play. The children and staff have excelled themselves this year and are really looking forward to putting on their performances for you.

 

Today we have had a visit from Mr and Mrs Fraser and their lovely baby, Callum Michael. It was great to see them and Year 4 really enjoyed their special time meeting Callum and talking to Mr and Mrs Fraser.

 

With our best wishes for the weekend

 

Yours sincerely

 

 Mr MJ Shaw

Headteacher

 Admissions Consultation for September 2016

The Local Authority last week published its annual Consultation on Admission Arrangements, in this case to take effect in September 2016. The documents can be accessed on the Council website www.stockport.gov.uk by inserting ‘Admissions Consultation’ in the Search box. Paper copies can be available on request if you do not have internet access.

It is of particular interest this year because, consequent on the determination from the Office of the School’s Adjudicator in November 2013 and the opening of the additional Key Stage 2 provision for St. Thomas’s at Peel Moat, it proposes to reduce the size of the Tithe Barn and Norris Bank catchment areas. It also proposes to add an additional admissions category for a temporary period for younger siblings of current pupils who live in the area affected by the proposed change.

The closing date for responses to the Consultation is 8 February 2015 and any final decision will be taken by April 2015. It is a public consultation, and individual parents and others can respond to the Local Authority.

The Governing Body will also be considering the likely impact on the School, and responding to the Local Authority in the new year. In order to help inform that response it would be helpful if any parental responses to the Local Authority could be copied to the Chair of Governors (mikefitzjohn@aol.com). Mike will also do his best to answer any questions.

In passing, I would remind parents/carers intending to apply for the admission of a child to Reception in September 2015 that the closing date for such applications is 15 January 2015. All relevant details are on the Local Authority website.

 

Festive Family get together and a chance for your little ones to visit ‘Santa’s Grotto.  

On Monday 15th December at 3.15 pm we would like to invite you to join in a festive family get together and a chance for your little ones to visit ‘Santa’s Grotto.

Bring along friends and family to celebrate the festive season and join the school community to enjoy some traditional festive fun. Mince pies, mulled wine, gingerbread and treats will be available. You will be entertained by some traditional wassailing from our fabulous Laurel Lane choir and you can join in with a few old favourites to toast this festive season. Our school orchestra and musical talents will share a few songs and some festive treats and stocking fillers will be for sale.

Father Christmas will be joining in the fun and children and siblings can visit his grotto, where you can tell Mr. Claus all your Christmas wishes before leaving with a lovely gift. Visits are £2.50 and all proceeds will help our school. We hope to see you all so hurry to book your slot as Santa will be very busy!  Tickets are available to buy tonight at the school discos and next week in the playground at the end of the school day. However, please book soon so we can make sure Santa has all the presents!

Everyone is invited to join in and there is no age limit on visiting Santa. Please join us in celebrating this festive season and looking forward to a wonderful and successful new year at our school.

 Parent e-Safety Workshop

 Last week we had an excellent workshop on keeping your child safe online and the Stockport School Health and Wellbeing advisor, Tanya Cross, gave parents some really invaluable advice about your children’s safety. She recommended that all parents make use of the materials on the CEOP website and share them: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/Parentsold/ On the CEOP website, you can also download a CEOP Report button so that we can all help children stay safe online. If someone has acted inappropriately towards your child online, or to a child or young person you know, you or they can use the CEOP button.

We also strongly advise that the children do not use social networking sites, particularly those that are aimed at older people, such as Facebook. Whilst there are very few children in the school who do access such sites, our work during Anti-Bullying Week did highlight a number of children who were doing so. The minimum age for many of the sites is 13 years and as such, are not aimed at younger children.

Winter Wonderland Hair and Fashion Show

Next week at 1930 in the Town Bar, there will be an awesome hair and fashion show at the Town Bar. The fashion show is a charity night to raise funds for our Lucas memorial garden. If you would like to attend, tickets are available from Eternal Envy at £6 each.

 

Christmas Dinner/Christmas Cracker

Our school Christmas dinner will be held on Wednesday 17^th December. If your child normally has a packed lunch and you would like them to have a cooked Christmas dinner, please return your request slip by 10^th December. We would be grateful if you could provide your child with a Christmas Cracker for this lunch.

Christmas Performances

 If your child is taking part in the KS2 Christmas performance on Wednesday evening, they will need to arrive at 1800 to get into their costumes for a 1830 start. Thank you.

School Development

You will notice that work is well underway in our Reception Outdoor Classroom on our new path to the school entrance. The path should soon be finished and Ground Designs will then start work on installing the new play equipment in this area.

 Clubs

Next week Laurel Lane, Karate and football club will not be taking place.

Tubs4Tablets

We are collecting Flora and Stork vouchers which are available from Tesco stores now. If you send in your tokens, we will be able to exchange them for Samsung Galaxy Tablet devices.

Key Dates for your diary

December

Monday 8^th December                        School Pantomime visit to Stockport Plaza

Tuesday 9^th December                        Year 2 visit to Staircase House

KS2 Christmas Play matinee performance, 2pm

Eternal Envy Fashion Show, 7.30pm

Wednesday 10^th December               Reception/KS1 Christmas Nativity, 9.30am

KS2 Christmas Play evening performance, 6.30pm (performers arrive 6pm)

Thursday 11^th December                    Reception/KS1 Christmas Nativity, 2pm

Friday 12^th December                         Year 3&4 Christmas Party

 

Monday 15^th December                     Infants Christmas Party

FOTB Festive Family Get Together and Santa’s Grotto, 3.15pm

Laurel Lane Carol Singing

Tuesday 16^th December                     Year 5&6 Christmas Party

Wednesday 17^th December               Christmas Lunch

January

Monday 5^th January                             Term starts for Children

Friday 9^th January                                 In-Service Day – school closed

 

Monday 12^th January                           Visit from Stockport Mayor

Wednesday 14^th January                    Happy Puzzle Maths Workshops

Thursday 15^th January                         Deadline for Primary School Applications for September 2015.