October - Newsletter 5 (13th October 2015)

Dear Parents/Carers,

School Admissions: Stockport School Admissions team are accepting application for Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools. Visit www.stockport.gov.uk/schooladmissions to choose your preferred list of schools then create and submit your application using Stockport’s online admissions system. The closing date for Secondary School is 31st October 2015, Nursery 31st March 2016 and Primary School 15th January 2016.

Please be aware that if you already have a child in school you must still apply for a place for your younger child.

If you have any queries you can ring the Admissions Support and Advice Team on 0161 218 1151.

Year 3 Parents Evening – Mrs Tweddle and Miss Leach are holding their parents evening next week (Monday and Wednesday) as Miss Leach finishes covering Miss Preskey’s maternity leave at half term. Please can Year 3 parents sign up for Parents evening if they haven’t done so already. We will be very sorry to see Miss Leach go as she has been such an excellent teacher for us in her year at Lane End. It is the nature of covering a maternity leave though and unfortunately we don’t have jobs for all of the great teachers we’ve had in school. We are also very much looking forward to welcoming Miss Preskey back after half term – she is spending some time in school over the next two weeks as well to help ensure a smooth transition.

All other Parents Evenings are on Monday 16^th and Wednesday 18^th November and you can sign up from 8am on Thursday 5^th November – either come in to school or phone from this date.

Harvest – thank you for the excellent response and donating the food for our harvest assembly and to Reverend Peacock and Emma Coe for coming in to speak to the children for the assembly. Our wonderful teaching assistant, Mrs Gilbert, who does some volunteering at the Wellspring Kitchen, will be taking the food there this week.

My Trip to Zambia – I had an inspiring week visiting our Zambian partner schools. I saw such determination to learn with comparatively little resources and equipment in the schools. The staff and children were so welcoming to us and, like us, clearly greatly appreciate our link. There was work and letters from our children up in each of the three partner schools (Buntungwa, Parklands and SOS). I wrote an email to the children each day explaining what I had been doing that day and this was shared in assembly by Mrs Love and Mr Toyne. You can see all of these emails and photos of the visit on our website – click on ‘Our School’ and then ‘Connecting Classrooms’. I’ll also put a link on the homepage for a short while.

PTA – a PTA newsletter is attached, please do have a good read through for upcoming events and PTA news including the new 20/20 draw. We need to sell more tickets for our PTA Quiz Night this Friday. If you haven’t already responded but would like to come then please reply by Thursday, thank you. It’s a great night and helps raise money for the PTA projects which benefit all of the children.

Forest Schools – we are pleased to let you know that the local authority are allowing us to develop some of the woods at the back of school for Forest Schools work – an extension of the ‘Muddy Mondays’ and ‘Welly Wednesdays’ we do in Reception and Year 1. Mrs Chamberlain is being trained as a Forest Schools leader and this work will give us another way of providing enriching experiences for your children - team work, knowledge and understanding of the natural world, personal development and development of character are some of the aims of the Forest Schools program. There is a useful link to the principles of Forest Schools here: http://www.forestschoolassociation.org/full-principles-and-criteria-for-good-practice/

The PTA have agreed to help fund this development and we will be looking to put up fencing, a secure gate from the school site and then to develop the area so that it is safe and appropriate to work in for the children and staff. Developments will include log seating, creative use of the natural resources and an inspiring entrance to the Lane End Forest. We have experts helping us such as an arboriculturalist who specialises in trees and plant experts to help us ensure it is all safe for the children.

Walk to School Fortnight – it is lovely to see so many of the children (and parents) walking to school – thank you for your support, to Mr Vallance for organising the event and to our Year 4 passport control officers. Keep walking and remember to bring the passport to school each day - these will be entered into a draw and some children will

win prizes.

Community Herb Garden – We have an established herb garden within the school garden, containing rosemary, oregano, mint, bay leaves, sage etc. Please feel free to visit and collect any you need for cooking when you pick up or drop off for school!

We break up after school on Thursday 22^nd October as the Friday is an INSET day. Thursday 22^nd is also a non-uniform day for a donation of £1 to fund the Christmas parties later this term. Millie’s Trust are coming in to do first aid training with the staff on the Friday INSET day. We currently have a large number of first aiders in school but this training will cover a great deal more staff members – teachers, teaching assistants, dinner staff and office staff.

We aim to be approachable and work in partnership with parents, so if there is anything you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to come and talk to us.

Yours sincerely,

 James Twigg

October 2015

PTA Newsletter

Dear Parents & Carers,

I hope your children are all enjoying the new trim trail, it’s taken us a while but we are all really pleased with how it looks. The opening ceremony, for those that missed it, was a great event and we were very pleased that the Mayor of Stockport officially opened it for us.

Our next major project will be the development of the woods behind the school field. Stockport Council have handed over some of this to school to develop for Forest School work with the children and we will initially purchase new fencing and a gate (with the school financing the clearing) then we can look at how we develop the area for the children.

We are also purchasing new sports clothing, this will be for any children to wear when they represent the school it will include a football kit, tracksuits and hoodies.

If anyone runs a local business and would like to sponsor any of this kit please speak to myself or Mr Twigg.

New 20/20 Club

Enter our new lottery for this year with a chance of winning either £100, £50 or £25 – entry form attached.

Class Assemblies & Coffee Mornings

We will continue the coffee mornings before every class assembly, everyone is welcome not just those waiting for the assembly. The dates so far are:-

Thursday 26th November – Class 5

Any donations or cakes and biscuit are always welcome.

PTA Facebook Page

If you’re on Facebook have you linked into our Facebook page? LANE END PRIMARY SCHOOL PTA It’s a great reminder for upcoming events and a handy site if a shoe has gone missing after a sports club! We do have a set of guidelines over posting messages, please have a quick read before you post any messages. Thankyou.

Christmas Charity Appeal

As a school we are always very generous when it comes to supporting charity events and we would like to start an annual Christmas appeal. So for this year we have decided to support the Key 103 Mission Christmas appeal. It aims to make a difference to disabled, disadvantaged, poorly and vulnerable children across Greater Manchester. Details to come home nearer the time.

AGM – Tuesday 10^th November 7:30pm in the staffroom ***PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE***

Want to know a bit more about what we’ve done? or want to get a bit more involved? This is the meeting to come to. All committee posts incl. Chair, Treasurer and Secretary and all deputy posts will be elected tonight as well as planning for the Christmas Fair and other events.

If you have an idea but can’t make the meeting please contact myself or your class point of contact.

Class point of contact - Got an idea, comment or a question for the PTA? We’ve set up a point of contact for each year group so you can ask someone you know. Contact details on the next page.

Christmas Cards - The design form is also attached for any children who wish to design a Christmas Card this year. This is open to non Lane End children too - just add your details for the contact for any queries.

Christmas Fair – Saturday 28^th November 12-3pm

As this is our big fundraiser of the winter it does take a huge amount of organising. CAN YOU HELP?

We need shoppers, wrappers, help with collecting raffle prizes, putting up posters, setting up on the Friday before, setting up on the Saturday morning and of course manning the stalls on the day. The rota will be in the reception from the 2^nd week in November, if you can spare ½ hour (or more) on either the Friday or Saturday. THANKYOU!

We are in also in need of people doing face-painting & glitter tattoos, would you like to learn?

Point of contact

Dates for your diary

DON’T FORGET ALL DETAILS OF EVENTS ARE ON THE PTA NOTICEBOARD ON THE COMMUNITY ROOM WINDOW

Details of other events will be sent home nearer the time, but if you’ve got any questions beforehand please email, text or catch me in the playground on a Wednesday and Thursday.

Yours sincerely   Bev Sangster   07967 823526 or bev.sangster@ntlworld.com