SCHOOL GROUNDS DEVELOPMENT
The company who laid the field are still in dispute with South Gloucestershire about the quality of the grass. Too much sand was added to the original mixture because of a spring under the ground and as a result, there are no nutrients in the soil. We hope that there is no further disruption to our use of the field for the rest of this year.

DEVELOPING AN OUTDOOR CLASSROOM SPACE
The lower end of the field will soon be excavated and some seating areas will be constructed. Each year group will have some planting space for flowers and vegetables to add to the existing garden space. This area will be part turf and part slate so that it can be used when the ground is wet and the PTA have kindly donated £1500 for additional items to enhance the area.

COMMUNITY GARDEN
When the weather improves, Mrs Arblaster will start gardening club again. We are hoping to turn the garden into a community garden where neighbours and parents help with the whole area, including the pond. At the moment, when the children grow things, the produce often goes to waste during the summer holiday. We are looking to recruit some helping hands and increase community involvement in the school.

LET’S GET COOKING
Mrs Arblaster & Mrs Flanagan have successfully secured a grant for cooking in Key Stage 2-currently with Y5 pupils. This is part of the ‘Let’s Get Cooking’ project. We think that this is a real bonus for the pupils and they really enjoyed the training days. It
has also provided us with additional equipment for cooking.

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS
This year sees our usual high number of extra-curricular events taking place.  Children enjoy the clubs so much.  Please remember to let the school know if your child is unavailable to attend.  This prevents us having to ring home to check on their safety. There are a lot of children picked up late from clubs-please be on time. Your child should know the end time of their club.
     
If you are able to run or support an extra-curricular event please let us know as we are constantly searching for new opportunities to enrich the pupils’ learning.  One parent has run a hockey club and several parents assisted with the KS1 cooking club.

CAR PARK
A reminder that the car park is for authorised personnel only.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AWARD
We have a range of nationalities in school, including a new pupil from Thailand. We have developed links with many schools abroad. Currently we link with schools in Uganda, Slovenia and China and we are engaged in a partnership with several European schools. We have been awarded an Intermediate Award  in International education and we are working towards the full award this year.

PTA
The PTA ran two successful discos on Friday evening. They made a profit of over £300 which is outstanding. The members of the PTA work so hard to raise funds, please support them and if you are able to come along to meetings, you would be made most welcome. Please telephone the school for details.

SCHOOL COUNCIL
The School Council is led by Mr Hutton. There are representatives from each class. When they meet, they discuss suggestions about the curriculum, fund-raising, competitions, playground issues and healthy eating-as well as a range of other things. Governors attend the meetings from time to time to hear the views of the children.

PARENTS FORUM
Parents who attended the Forum meeting felt that it was held at the wrong time of day. As a result, the next meeting will be held at 2.45pm so that parents can attend then pick their children up.

FIRST AID TRAINING
Frenchay Accident & Emergency department came into school for the day to train our Y5 pupils in First aid and artificial respiration. Great fun was had by all and hopefully the children can now administer basic first aid!

Y6 PERFORMANCE
Year 6 performed ‘Snow-White and the Seven Jockeys’ in an effort to include some fun and drama into what is a packed term academically for them. And a great job they did too! Thanks to Ms Porter for artistic direction and Mr Owen for talented bass playing on his guitar.

Y2 FIELD TRIP
Y2 went on a field trip to Mangotsfield Station on the Common - thank you to the army of parents who accompanied them!

Y1 VISITED BLAISE CASTLE - which they were very excited about.

Y4 RECORDERS
Y4 have had twenty weeks of Recorder lessons and we are hoping to hear them perform to the rest of the school in the next few weeks. This is a noisy lesson each week but well worth it in the end!

RECYCLING AND USE OF PUPIL GROUPS
We have a ‘Green Team’ in school, whose job it is to recycle paper from classes and offices. The PE squad are responsible for the PE cupboard and equipment. Our ‘techies’ run the laptops and computers as well as setting up for Assembly and the School Captains have a range of responsibilities throughout the school. We try hard to involve the pupils at all levels and they rise to the challenges well.

MORNING BELL & LOST PROPERTY
We have had many comments from parents and carers to say how pleased they are with the new morning arrangements as they feel that it is safer for the children. Thank you very much for making it work so successfully. If you need to look for lost property, please come into school at the end of the day to look in the lost property bins. Any items that are named are returned to their owners by the school fairly promptly. We cannot take responsibility for un-named items.

SPORT RELIEF
On March 19th we will hold a ‘Keep Spinning’ Hula hoop challenge. We will encourage the children to wear Sport Relief socks, available from Sainsbury’s and other outlets for £2. A proportion of the money will go to the Haiti appeal.

DISCLAIMER
We regularly send out flyers for events in the local community. Please note that unless an event is specifically organised by the school, we are unable to guarantee that all staff are CRB checked and appropriately qualified.

RUN A MILE
On Sunday 21st March, Ms Porter, members of the PTA and other staff are entering the ‘Run a Mile’ race in Broadmead on 21st March 2010. We are inviting parents and children to join in and a meeting place will be provided soon. NB Parents are responsible for registering and staying with their own children.