Dear Parent/Carer,
We have had another brilliant week in school this week. There has been lots going on, as ever, and lots of evidence of great learning and great teaching going on all around our school. I would like to give a special mention this week to Miss Oxley for her fabulous work in setting up our Bug Hotels and Bug Blog… all the more remarkable, given her feelings towards bugs… and to Mrs Friar once again for the extraordinary work that she is doing with our garden areas. Mrs Friar and Miss Oxley are also working together on our EcoSchool credentials, helping us to improve our recycling, become more self-sufficient and offset our carbon footprint. My thanks to O2 who have generously provided soil and bins to help us with this effort.
Red Nose Day
Red Nose Day is next Friday, 18th March. As is usual, we have a non-uniform day and ask children to bring a donation for the Red Nose Appeal. All money raised goes direct to the charity. We ask children to wear something red on the day, or wear a Red Nose Day T-Shirt. Red Nose Day is always a fun day for all.
Miss Gascoigne
We wish Miss Gascoigne a safe and enjoyable trip as she heads off for Senegal next week to meet with our colleagues and partners from Uganda and Senegal.
Training Days
As I am sure you are aware, our remaining Training Day this academic year will be taken on 8th July.
Next school year (2011-12), our Training Days will be on:
Mon 5 Sep '11, Tues 6 Sep '11, Mon 3 Jan '12, Mon 16 Apr '12 and Fri 6 Jul '12.
These dates appear on our website (Parents Section) and will, of course, appear on the online newsletter blog. We aim wherever possible to link Training Days to school holidays and/or weekends in order to minimise the disruption for families and to provide as much advance notice as possible.
The Education Leeds Calendar for 2011-12 is available from their website www.educationleeds.co.uk We will be in the strange position again in 2012 of finishing school for the Summer Holidays on a Monday... which is the third time in the past four or five years.
Holidays in term time
I am asked about holidays in term time around this time every year, as all our thoughts turn towards Summer Holidays. Our Attendance Policy is available for download from our website: http://www.robinhood.leeds.sch.uk/parents/policies.php The Attendance Policy is common to all schools within Rothwell and is based upon the policy recommended by Education Leeds. Our policy requires that parents seek permission before booking a holiday and that holiday permissions will usually be granted, except:
• Where a holiday absence request exceeds ten days;
• Where attendance is below 90%;
• Where a previous holiday absence request of five days or more has been agreed during the same or the previous academic year.
The rule of thumb is if your child had a holiday absence of five or more days in one academic year, a holiday absence request the following year will not be granted.
Parent Consultations
Our next round of Parental Consultation Meetings will take place during the week commencing 28th March. Information on appointment times, etc will be issued shortly.
Scoot to School
My thanks to those parents who returned the School Travel Surveys. They have been returned to Leeds City Council for analysis and we await their findings and support in encouraging alternate means of travelling to school. We will be holding a Scoot to School Week on the first week back after Easter, week commencing 18th April. If your child has a scooter… why not Scoot to School that week?
Coffee Mornings in the Community Annexe
Our next Community Annexe Coffee Morning is on Tuesday 15th March where we will be holding a Jamie Oliver Cookware Sale. Tea, coffee, juice, biscuits and toast will be on offer. My thanks to Julie Austin-Lee and everyone who supported our first meeting on the 1st. All funds raised at Community Annexe events will be donated to the school. Mrs Hambling’s Rocky Road biscuit was certainly a big success last time around… and luckily there was enough left over for staff to sample. Some sampled it more than once…
Have a lovely weekend,
Mr Wilson
