Dear Parent/Carer,
As ever, there was lots of activity going on in school during the Half Term... Air-conditioning in our Year 34 classrooms, electrical work, carpentry work, new storage in our Reception classroom and new furniture in Friendly Faces. I would like to thank of Mr Reynolds and his team, Mrs Nash, Mrs McGrail, Mrs Wyman, Mrs Hick for their heroic efforts.
Further congratulations are due to Mrs Nash and the kitchen team, who achieved a Five Star Hygiene Rating in a recent kitchen inspection.
Friendly Faces
I was delighted to see children and staff really enjoying themselves when I dropped in on a couple of days to Friendly Faces during the holiday. Questionnaires about provision were distributed to parents and children this week. If you are interested in Holiday Clubs and/or Before and After School Care at Friendly Faces, please contact Louise Parker on 07810071148. We are currently talking to the children who use the service about the kinds of things they would like to do at our Holiday Clubs and we will be offering an even wider range of exciting activities at the Holiday Clubs soon.
School Links
Happily, Miss Thackeray, Miss Hinton and Miss Lambert returned safely from their trip during the final week of last Half Term to Austria where they met with our European colleagues. Our Year 34 children are now working on the next phase of our pan-European project. I received very positive feedback about our school after a recent lecture that I gave to teacher trainees at Trinity and All Saints College. The College are very keen to develop a partnership with Robin Hood because of the quality of our teaching and curriculum. It is pleasing that the school receives recognition for its excellence within the educational community, to the extent that colleagues from the Swedish Teacher Training programme have expressed an interest in placing trainee teachers with us (!) Miss Hinton is currently working on a number of exciting projects with the BBC. We have had a long and fruitful association with the BBC. Links like these help us to improve as a school and to provide exciting new opportunities for our pupils and staff.
Mrs Wood
Mrs Wood, until recently our Chair of Governors… and Governor of twenty years standing at Robin Hood, achieved a significant birthday this week. We celebrated with her by sending a card from all of the staff and flowers. Mrs Wood is, and has been, a very active member of the local community and has served on many Public Bodies for the benefit of the community over many years. We are, and have been, very fortunate to have Mrs Wood’s wisdom and loyal support as a Governor at Robin Hood to draw upon. Good Governance is vital to the success of any school. Mrs Wood has played a key part in the success at Robin Hood over many years. I am sure that you will join me in wishing Mrs Wood a very happy birthday and in thanking her for her contribution to the pupils, school and community.
Mrs Dale
We will be welcoming Mrs Dale back on Monday morning after her Maternity Leave. Mrs Dale will return to join the Year 56 team.
Walk to School
You may remember me reporting in a previous newsletter that I was contacted by Vicki Franks, Transport Planner at Leeds City Council, who informed me that Robin Hood falls in the top 5% of Leeds schools where pupils live within 0.8km of the school and travel by car. I met with Vicki to discuss what additional support and encouragement we can give to reducing the number of car journeys required to get our children to and from school. The ideas discussed included a Walking Bus, Walk Once A Week (WOW!), School Walking Week, Bike Week and Scoot 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…
PTA Update
It is unfortunate that key PTA events that we have become used to, including Race Night, Easter Egg Tombola, Mothers Day Flowers and Summer Fayre, will not be going ahead this year due to the lack of recent support for and contributions. We have a very dedicated and hard-working group of supporters who have consistently taken responsibility for PTA events, but they are few in number. An active PTA is always of great value to a school, from a social and community point of view. PTA’s also raise much needed funds that enhance the provision for children that can otherwise be offered on tight budgets. Any help, encouragement, support or ideas that you can contribute, please contact Jenny Curgenven, tel:01924 822363.
Notification of Absence
Please ensure that you inform us before 9.30am if your child will be absent from school and in advance if they have an appointment that will mean either late arrival or early departure during the day. Please do not expect that we will be able to deal immediately with a request to take a child out of school without advance notice and a valid reason.
Thanks to The Halfway House
Customers at The Halfway House held a raffle on behalf of the school recently and as a result made a donation of £90.00 to School Fund. We are very grateful for their generosity.
Welcome back and have a lovely weekend,
Mr Wilson
