Lane End Primary School

February - Newsletter 13 (9th February 2016)

Dear Parents/Carers,

Non-uniform Day this Friday – On Friday 12^th February we are having a non-uniform day in order to help raise money for the PTA. As it will be almost Valentine’s Day and, as the rhyme goes, ‘Roses are red, violets are blue’, children can wear red, blue or purple (violet) if they wish – if not, standard non-school uniform is fine! Please can children bring in a donation of £1 (or more if you wish!) to help fund the excellent work the PTA are doing for the children. Year 2 have their superhero day on Friday and so are dressing up as superheroes – you are very welcome to contribute to the PTA as well if you wish!

Thank you for your support – the PTA raise much needed funds for the school which all of the children benefit from.

 Well done to our Year 6 children who took part in Operation Eagle Eye along with some of the children from Ramillies Hall School last week. Working with Stockport Road Safety Team and Greater Manchester Police, the children have been observing traffic and using police speed guns to record the speed of motorists on Ramillies Avenue and Station Road.  They recorded the number of times they saw offences such as driving without a seatbelt on, using mobile phones at the wheel, speeding and parking illegally or inconsiderately, such as on Keep Clear, double yellow and yellow Zig-Zag markings. The PCSOs have spoken to drivers to advise them about any motoring offences observed by the groups and two parking tickets were also given out by the police.  The children will be collating the results of their observations and producing a report which will be published on the school’s website. I have already put some photos showing Operation Eagle Eye in the ‘Our School – School Events’ section and we will add to this with the report. The children want the roads around our schools to be safe places to walk and travel. Please support this by driving and parking safely and considerately. Please also have a look at the Operation Eagle Eye website (www.stockport.gov.uk/eagleeye)- you can click on the link to make a safe driving pledge and you will receive an Operation Eagle Eye car sticker which you can display to show your support. The children showed great commitment to the project, arriving early to observe the traffic before school. The PCSOs and Road Safety team commented on how well our children behaved, how sensibly they took part and what a credit to the school they were.

The Year 6 children are currently enjoying their residential at Robinwood Activity Centre  and are continuing to show determination, courage, commitment and teamwork during the challenges on offer such as climbing, the trapeze, caving and ‘nightline’.

Sainsbury’s Active Kids Vouchers – please bring in your vouchers if you shop at Sainsbury’s. There is a box for the vouchers in the school entrance. They are very helpful for buying sports and cooking equipment. Thank you for your support.

 Today is Safer Internet Day – we are talking to the children about using the internet and technology safely during assemblies and in class during the week and it is also a good opportunity to do this at home too. We can particularly recommend the Think U Know website to help your discussions: www.thinkuknow.co.uk

World Book Day http://worldbookday.com/– We will be celebrating World Book Day on Monday 29^th February (it is officially on Thursday of the same week but there is too much going on with Year 6 assembly, sports coaches etc. for it to work well so we’re going for the Monday!). The children can come dressed up as a book character (we will have a competition for best fancy dress book character). All children will receive a £1 World Book Day book token on the day. Most book shops stock a range special World Book Day books during this week which cost just £1, the voucher can also go towards £1 off another book. The £1 books this year are:

We will also be holding a Great Book Swap on Monday 29^th February. Children can bring in a book from home (in good condition) which they think someone else would like to read and swap it for another book which has been recommended by another child. We will ask the children to think about who they would recommend their book to. If they don’t have a book to swap they can bring £2 for a book instead (which will go to ‘The Book Bus’), however it will work much better if most children have a book they can swap!

Since 2008 The Book Bus has been working in Zambia bringing the joy of reading to thousands of children. The Book Bus visits local community schools each week to help improve literacy. It visits our partner schools in Kitwe, Zambia. Whilst I was there I was lucky to see a reading session in action – the children loved the opportunity to read such quality books which they just didn’t have access to in school.

If you would like to make a contribution to this worthy cause you can go to their website - http://www.thebookbus.org/ or send a donation in to school in an envelope during World Book Day week and we will donate it for you. We sometimes forget how lucky our children are to have all of the books they do at their disposal – we need to make sure they make the most of their opportunities and get the most out of the books they have; use World Book Day Week to talk to your child about your favourite books, enjoy hearing your child read and enjoy reading some favourite books with them.

The Book Factor – Our Year 4 and 5 class are taking part in ‘The Book Factor’ again this year which will start on Monday 29^th February too. We are working with 5 other Stockport schools and Simply Books in Bramhall (a good place to browse and for your child to spend their £1 book token). The children will read and judge 5 different books and vote for their favourite. They will also put together a presentation which will be shown at the final which is at Stockport Plaza (more information will come home to Year 4 and 5 parents soon) – we look forward to unveiling the 5 books to the children on 29^th February.

We break up for the half term holiday after school on Friday (12^th February) and the children are back in on Monday 22^nd February.

Yours sincerely,   James Twigg