Autumn 2016 - Newsletter 1
Gabalfa Primary School Newsletter website - www.gabalfaprm.co.uk Friday 9th September 2016
Dear Parents/Carers. Welcome to the first newsletter of the new academic term! We have had a super start to the new school year and I would like to thank all pupils and parents for doing such a good job of being in school on time. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new pupils and their parents and hope that they feel part of the Gabalfa family. We have a lot of information to share with you so please read the whole of this newsletter very carefully – you don’t want to miss anything!!
CLASS ORGANISATION – 2016-17 Foundation Phase:
Mrs Royal/ Mrs Bibi– Dosbarth Bedwen – Nursery pupils Miss Jones – Dosbarth Poplys – Reception pupils Miss Sourlis – Dosbarth Onnen – Reception pupils Mrs Walker – Dosbarth Helyg – Year 1 pupils Mrs Routledge/ Miss Griffiths – Dosbarth Derwen – Year 1 + Year 2 pupils Miss Harding – Dosbarth Celyn – Year 2 pupils
Key Stage 2:
Mrs Sandford – Dosbarth Cerien – Year 3 + Year 4 pupils Mrs Dawe – Dosbarth Ceirios – Year 3 + Year 4 pupils Mr Allinson – Dosbarth Castanwydden - Year 3 + Year 4 pupils Miss Hector – Dosbarth Ywen – Year 5 pupils Miss Wilsher – Dosbarth Collen – Year 5 + Year 6 pupils Miss Waind – Dosbarth Llwyfen – Year 5 + Year 6 pupils
Harvest Foodbank Collection Next week, to remember Harvest, we will be collecting food to support the Cardiff Foodbank. We ask you to contribute one or two tins of food to support this fantastic charity. The food bank is currently in need of tinned tomatoes tinned custard
tinned vegetables (no baked beans please) tinned potatoes
Members of our School Council will then sort and collate the donations before taking the tins to the food bank at the end of September.
Follow us on Twitter - @GabalfaPrimary
Attendance Sadly, our attendance last year was very poor and we missed our target by quite some way. Attendance is one of the indicators used by the Welsh Government to categorise our standards group. It would be such a shame if the taking of holidays during school time impacted upon the high standards achieved by pupils, resulting in a lower Welsh Government category. I ask you to support the school in two ways: 1. PLEASE take you holidays during the school breaks. Should your child’s attendance drop below 95% you will receive a letter from the school Attendance Officer who closely monitors pupil attendance. Prolonged absence may result in you losing your child’s place at our school. 2. PLEASE make sure that your child has a healthy diet and lifestyle. We know that children tend to pick up coughs and colds from time to time. However, we have a high number of children who repeatedly have colds, high temperatures or stomach aches; this is of major concern to us. Children who eat a wide range of fruits and vegetables tend to have fewer illnesses. 3. Should your child feel a bit ‘under the weather’ in the morning, please bring them to school. Often, once your child is with their friends, they become so engrossed in learning that the ailment they reported at home disappears. We all care deeply for your children and should any child exhibit a raised temperature, or become unwell, we will call to ask you to collect your child. I draw your attention to the table below: Your Child’s Attendance 100% - 95% 94.99% - 90% Below 90%
National Guidelines Optimum chance to achieve well. Your child is taking full advantage of every learning opportunity. Satisfactory, although your child may have to spend time catching up with work they have missed. Cause for concern:1. Your child may be at risk of underachieving. 2. Your child may need extra support from you to help catch up with missed work. 3. Your child may be missing out on a broad and balanced education.
Free School Meals
- If you think you are eligible for Free School Meals, please apply as soon as possible. The provision of free school meals is confined to families in receipt of Income Support Income Related Employment Support Allowance Income Based Job Seekers Allowance Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit Child Tax Credit with an income less than £16,190 (Any Families in receipt of Working Tax Credit do not qualify). Please contact Cardiff County Hall on 029 2087 2938 or email: [email protected] for further details.
Extra-curricular clubs will start week beginning September 19th.
Reminders... Uniform We remind you that your child should wear our uniform to school each day. This comprises of a pale blue polo shirt, navy jumper, ‘hoody’ or cardigan, navy or black trousers, skirt or pinafore, and black shoes. No other clothing should be worn. Jewellery Pupils are allowed to wear one pair of stud earrings and a wristwatch. No other jewellery is permitted. On P.E. days it is advisable that earrings are not worn to school. P.E. Please ensure your child wears black or navy shorts, a white polo shirt or T-shirt and white trainers, for PE this year. Your child’s teacher will let you know on which days P.E. lessons take place. Bicycles and Scooters We encourage pupils and parents to cycle to school but ask that you dismount when entering through the school gates. Children and adults MUST NOT ride their cycles or scooters on the Junior yard when waiting for older siblings at the end of the day. Late Pupils Please can we ask all parents/carers that if you drop your child/children off late to school, please ensure that you sign them in, in the Late Book. Collection of Pupils If pupils are going home with other adults at the end of the day, please can you let the school know in person, by a note or by telephoning the school office 029 2062 4615. Dinner Money - £11.50 next week. If you are switching from school meals to packed lunch or vice versa please can you inform the School Office either by calling in, by letter or email. Should your child require a vegetarian meal, you should request this in writing, addressed to Mrs Henrickson our School Cook. Any special dietary requirements require a signed medical certificate. Dinner money is £11.50 per week. Please pay dinner money on time – every Monday for the forthcoming week. Cheques are payable to Cardiff County Council.
With thanks for your support - Mrs C. L. Jenkins - Headteacher
FUTURE DATES FOR THE DIARY TERM DATES Term
Begins
Autumn 2016 Spring 2017 Summer 2017
Academic Year 2016-17 Half Term Break
Thursday, st September 1 2016 Tuesday, rd 3 January 2017 Monday, th 24 April 2017
Monday, th 24 October 2016 Monday, th 20 February 2017 Monday, th 29 May 2017
INSET DAYS
Friday, th 28 October 2016 Friday, th 24 February 2017 Friday, nd 2 June 2017
Ends Friday, th 16 December 2016 Friday, th 7 April 2017 Friday, st 21 July 2017
May Day Bank Holiday
Thursday 1st September 2016 Friday 2nd September 2016 Monday 7th November 2016
Monday 1st May 2017 All schools closed for the Bank Holiday.
Plus 2 additional days to be decided.
EVENTS
September 29 - Open morning
October 10 – Start of Eco-week
CLASS ASSEMBLIES All class assemblies start at 9:00am in the Junior Hall.
October 17/18 - Parent Consultations
November 14 – Start of Anti-bullying week
November 30 - Winter Fair
December 5 - Winter Ball
December 13/14 – Concerts (am & pm)
December 15 - Parties
September 16 - DosbarthLlwyfen
September 23 – Dosbarth Collen
September 30 – Dosbarth Ywen
October 7 – Dosbarth Castanwydden
October 14 – Dosbarth Cerios
October 21 – Dosbarth Cerien
November 4 – Dosbarth Celyn
November 11 – Dosbarth Derwen
November 18 – Dosbarth Helyg
November 25 – Dosbarth Poplys
December 2 – Dosbarth Onnen
Put this page on the fridge so you don’t forget that important date.
Dear Parents/Carers. Welcome to the first newsletter of the new academic term! We have had a super start to the new school year and I would like to thank all pupils and parents for doing such a good job of being in school on time. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new pupils and their parents and hope that they feel part of the Gabalfa family. We have a lot of information to share with you so please read the whole of this newsletter very carefully – you don’t want to miss anything!!
CLASS ORGANISATION – 2016-17 Foundation Phase:
Mrs Royal/ Mrs Bibi– Dosbarth Bedwen – Nursery pupils Miss Jones – Dosbarth Poplys – Reception pupils Miss Sourlis – Dosbarth Onnen – Reception pupils Mrs Walker – Dosbarth Helyg – Year 1 pupils Mrs Routledge/ Miss Griffiths – Dosbarth Derwen – Year 1 + Year 2 pupils Miss Harding – Dosbarth Celyn – Year 2 pupils
Key Stage 2:
Mrs Sandford – Dosbarth Cerien – Year 3 + Year 4 pupils Mrs Dawe – Dosbarth Ceirios – Year 3 + Year 4 pupils Mr Allinson – Dosbarth Castanwydden - Year 3 + Year 4 pupils Miss Hector – Dosbarth Ywen – Year 5 pupils Miss Wilsher – Dosbarth Collen – Year 5 + Year 6 pupils Miss Waind – Dosbarth Llwyfen – Year 5 + Year 6 pupils
Harvest Foodbank Collection Next week, to remember Harvest, we will be collecting food to support the Cardiff Foodbank. We ask you to contribute one or two tins of food to support this fantastic charity. The food bank is currently in need of tinned tomatoes tinned custard
tinned vegetables (no baked beans please) tinned potatoes
Members of our School Council will then sort and collate the donations before taking the tins to the food bank at the end of September.
Follow us on Twitter - @GabalfaPrimary
Attendance Sadly, our attendance last year was very poor and we missed our target by quite some way. Attendance is one of the indicators used by the Welsh Government to categorise our standards group. It would be such a shame if the taking of holidays during school time impacted upon the high standards achieved by pupils, resulting in a lower Welsh Government category. I ask you to support the school in two ways: 1. PLEASE take you holidays during the school breaks. Should your child’s attendance drop below 95% you will receive a letter from the school Attendance Officer who closely monitors pupil attendance. Prolonged absence may result in you losing your child’s place at our school. 2. PLEASE make sure that your child has a healthy diet and lifestyle. We know that children tend to pick up coughs and colds from time to time. However, we have a high number of children who repeatedly have colds, high temperatures or stomach aches; this is of major concern to us. Children who eat a wide range of fruits and vegetables tend to have fewer illnesses. 3. Should your child feel a bit ‘under the weather’ in the morning, please bring them to school. Often, once your child is with their friends, they become so engrossed in learning that the ailment they reported at home disappears. We all care deeply for your children and should any child exhibit a raised temperature, or become unwell, we will call to ask you to collect your child. I draw your attention to the table below: Your Child’s Attendance 100% - 95% 94.99% - 90% Below 90%
National Guidelines Optimum chance to achieve well. Your child is taking full advantage of every learning opportunity. Satisfactory, although your child may have to spend time catching up with work they have missed. Cause for concern:1. Your child may be at risk of underachieving. 2. Your child may need extra support from you to help catch up with missed work. 3. Your child may be missing out on a broad and balanced education.
Free School Meals
- If you think you are eligible for Free School Meals, please apply as soon as possible. The provision of free school meals is confined to families in receipt of Income Support Income Related Employment Support Allowance Income Based Job Seekers Allowance Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit Child Tax Credit with an income less than £16,190 (Any Families in receipt of Working Tax Credit do not qualify). Please contact Cardiff County Hall on 029 2087 2938 or email: [email protected] for further details.
Extra-curricular clubs will start week beginning September 19th.
Reminders... Uniform We remind you that your child should wear our uniform to school each day. This comprises of a pale blue polo shirt, navy jumper, ‘hoody’ or cardigan, navy or black trousers, skirt or pinafore, and black shoes. No other clothing should be worn. Jewellery Pupils are allowed to wear one pair of stud earrings and a wristwatch. No other jewellery is permitted. On P.E. days it is advisable that earrings are not worn to school. P.E. Please ensure your child wears black or navy shorts, a white polo shirt or T-shirt and white trainers, for PE this year. Your child’s teacher will let you know on which days P.E. lessons take place. Bicycles and Scooters We encourage pupils and parents to cycle to school but ask that you dismount when entering through the school gates. Children and adults MUST NOT ride their cycles or scooters on the Junior yard when waiting for older siblings at the end of the day. Late Pupils Please can we ask all parents/carers that if you drop your child/children off late to school, please ensure that you sign them in, in the Late Book. Collection of Pupils If pupils are going home with other adults at the end of the day, please can you let the school know in person, by a note or by telephoning the school office 029 2062 4615. Dinner Money - £11.50 next week. If you are switching from school meals to packed lunch or vice versa please can you inform the School Office either by calling in, by letter or email. Should your child require a vegetarian meal, you should request this in writing, addressed to Mrs Henrickson our School Cook. Any special dietary requirements require a signed medical certificate. Dinner money is £11.50 per week. Please pay dinner money on time – every Monday for the forthcoming week. Cheques are payable to Cardiff County Council.
With thanks for your support - Mrs C. L. Jenkins - Headteacher
FUTURE DATES FOR THE DIARY TERM DATES Term
Begins
Autumn 2016 Spring 2017 Summer 2017
Academic Year 2016-17 Half Term Break
Thursday, st September 1 2016 Tuesday, rd 3 January 2017 Monday, th 24 April 2017
Monday, th 24 October 2016 Monday, th 20 February 2017 Monday, th 29 May 2017
INSET DAYS
Friday, th 28 October 2016 Friday, th 24 February 2017 Friday, nd 2 June 2017
Ends Friday, th 16 December 2016 Friday, th 7 April 2017 Friday, st 21 July 2017
May Day Bank Holiday
Thursday 1st September 2016 Friday 2nd September 2016 Monday 7th November 2016
Monday 1st May 2017 All schools closed for the Bank Holiday.
Plus 2 additional days to be decided.
EVENTS
September 29 - Open morning
October 10 – Start of Eco-week
CLASS ASSEMBLIES All class assemblies start at 9:00am in the Junior Hall.
October 17/18 - Parent Consultations
November 14 – Start of Anti-bullying week
November 30 - Winter Fair
December 5 - Winter Ball
December 13/14 – Concerts (am & pm)
December 15 - Parties
September 16 - DosbarthLlwyfen
September 23 – Dosbarth Collen
September 30 – Dosbarth Ywen
October 7 – Dosbarth Castanwydden
October 14 – Dosbarth Cerios
October 21 – Dosbarth Cerien
November 4 – Dosbarth Celyn
November 11 – Dosbarth Derwen
November 18 – Dosbarth Helyg
November 25 – Dosbarth Poplys
December 2 – Dosbarth Onnen
Put this page on the fridge so you don’t forget that important date.
