ST. ALOYSIUS' FEDERATION NEWS
ST. ALOYSIUS’ FEDERATION NEWS MR. N. CONWAY FEDERATION HEAD TEACHER Tel. 0191 4832274
e mail [email protected]
3 September 2014 Dear Parents Welcome back. It has been a pleasure to see how calmly, quickly and happily the children are adapting back to school life. I hope that you have enjoyed a lovely summer. This week we are welcoming the new Reception children into school. We also welcome some new members of staff. Firstly we welcome Miss Kathryn Fenwick who is our new Deputy Head in the Infants. As well as this we welcome Miss Dionne Dunn who is is based in Year 6. Following absence we are thrilled that Mrs Susan Gatens will be with us full time and Miss Cavanagh (who got married over the summer and is now Mrs Foster) will be working three days a week in Nursery. Finally we welcome Mrs Vicky Woodhouse into Year 1 alongside Mrs James. Welcome to them all. New Uniform Thank you for all your understanding regarding the new uniform. We were all delighted when it turned up on Friday and the children look fantastic. It is wonderful that both schools have one uniform. If you would like to purchase additional jumpers/cardigans or polo shirts please see Mrs Hood in the Infants School as we have most sizes in stock, except for the larger jumpers and cardigans. A quick reminder that the only items that we expect to be branded are the jumpers/cardigans and polo shirts. The school uniform is as follows: Pale blue branded polo shirt Navy blue branded jumper/cardigan Grey trousers (boys and girls), grey skirt/pinafore dress/blue gingham dress Plain tights (grey/black/blue) Black shoes PE Kit: Navy blue shorts Plain white t-shirt (no logo e.g. Nike etc.) Trainers If the girls would like to wear cycling shorts then this is acceptable but no leggings, i.e. over the knee. Jewellery is not allowed except for a wrist watch. No child is allowed to wear earrings or nail varnish.
Doors Open 8.45 The school doors are open and staffed from 8.45 every morning. Hopefully this will ease the traffic congestion on a morning. The official start to the school day is still 9.00 (Infants) 8.55 (Juniors) but children are welcome to come into class to complete quiet activities in their class room. Teaching Groups for English and Maths This year we have employed additional staff to enable us to reduce the adult/child ratio in key year groups. Year 6 will be taught by one of three teachers for English (Mr Rogers, Mrs Dunn and Mrs Godfrey). This will mean that children will be taught in class sizes of approximately 20. In Maths Year 6 will be taught by either Mr Rogers, Mrs Dunn or Higher Level Teaching Assistant Mrs Soulsby or Mrs Whyte. Year 5 will enjoy a three way split in Maths. The Year 5 staff will be Mrs Gatens, Mrs Higgins and Mrs Whyte. In Year 2 Miss Fenwick will be teaching Maths and English to enable us to reduce the adult/child ratio. We have employed more teaching assistants so that all classes will enjoy smaller groups and a more personalised curriculum. After School Club A quick reminder about the After School Club which started this week, running from after the school day until 5.15 pm. Following feedback, we will look at extending the hours until slightly later. Please contact the office for a booking form. Parent, Teacher and Friends Association Everyone is invited to the first Annual General Meeting to be held on 15 September at 6.30 pm. It will take place in the Junior School. The PTFA is a really friendly group of parents who have organised a number of well attended and lovely events. Please attend if you can. Some Sad News This week two of our staff had family members who died. Mrs Jackie Watson and Mrs Karen Dow have both had bereavements in the family. We send them our prayers and thoughts during this sad time. Whilst I am not sure when they will return, cover for Mrs Dow’s absence will be our new Deputy Head Mrs Fenwick until Thursday. Following this, Mrs Margaret Holliday will cover until Mrs Dow’s return. New Phone Number We now have one telephone number for the school. It is 0191 4832274. I look forward to working with you throughout the year and I look forward to a highly successful year for your child. Yours sincerely N Conway Head Teacher
e mail [email protected]
3 September 2014 Dear Parents Welcome back. It has been a pleasure to see how calmly, quickly and happily the children are adapting back to school life. I hope that you have enjoyed a lovely summer. This week we are welcoming the new Reception children into school. We also welcome some new members of staff. Firstly we welcome Miss Kathryn Fenwick who is our new Deputy Head in the Infants. As well as this we welcome Miss Dionne Dunn who is is based in Year 6. Following absence we are thrilled that Mrs Susan Gatens will be with us full time and Miss Cavanagh (who got married over the summer and is now Mrs Foster) will be working three days a week in Nursery. Finally we welcome Mrs Vicky Woodhouse into Year 1 alongside Mrs James. Welcome to them all. New Uniform Thank you for all your understanding regarding the new uniform. We were all delighted when it turned up on Friday and the children look fantastic. It is wonderful that both schools have one uniform. If you would like to purchase additional jumpers/cardigans or polo shirts please see Mrs Hood in the Infants School as we have most sizes in stock, except for the larger jumpers and cardigans. A quick reminder that the only items that we expect to be branded are the jumpers/cardigans and polo shirts. The school uniform is as follows: Pale blue branded polo shirt Navy blue branded jumper/cardigan Grey trousers (boys and girls), grey skirt/pinafore dress/blue gingham dress Plain tights (grey/black/blue) Black shoes PE Kit: Navy blue shorts Plain white t-shirt (no logo e.g. Nike etc.) Trainers If the girls would like to wear cycling shorts then this is acceptable but no leggings, i.e. over the knee. Jewellery is not allowed except for a wrist watch. No child is allowed to wear earrings or nail varnish.
Doors Open 8.45 The school doors are open and staffed from 8.45 every morning. Hopefully this will ease the traffic congestion on a morning. The official start to the school day is still 9.00 (Infants) 8.55 (Juniors) but children are welcome to come into class to complete quiet activities in their class room. Teaching Groups for English and Maths This year we have employed additional staff to enable us to reduce the adult/child ratio in key year groups. Year 6 will be taught by one of three teachers for English (Mr Rogers, Mrs Dunn and Mrs Godfrey). This will mean that children will be taught in class sizes of approximately 20. In Maths Year 6 will be taught by either Mr Rogers, Mrs Dunn or Higher Level Teaching Assistant Mrs Soulsby or Mrs Whyte. Year 5 will enjoy a three way split in Maths. The Year 5 staff will be Mrs Gatens, Mrs Higgins and Mrs Whyte. In Year 2 Miss Fenwick will be teaching Maths and English to enable us to reduce the adult/child ratio. We have employed more teaching assistants so that all classes will enjoy smaller groups and a more personalised curriculum. After School Club A quick reminder about the After School Club which started this week, running from after the school day until 5.15 pm. Following feedback, we will look at extending the hours until slightly later. Please contact the office for a booking form. Parent, Teacher and Friends Association Everyone is invited to the first Annual General Meeting to be held on 15 September at 6.30 pm. It will take place in the Junior School. The PTFA is a really friendly group of parents who have organised a number of well attended and lovely events. Please attend if you can. Some Sad News This week two of our staff had family members who died. Mrs Jackie Watson and Mrs Karen Dow have both had bereavements in the family. We send them our prayers and thoughts during this sad time. Whilst I am not sure when they will return, cover for Mrs Dow’s absence will be our new Deputy Head Mrs Fenwick until Thursday. Following this, Mrs Margaret Holliday will cover until Mrs Dow’s return. New Phone Number We now have one telephone number for the school. It is 0191 4832274. I look forward to working with you throughout the year and I look forward to a highly successful year for your child. Yours sincerely N Conway Head Teacher
