Newsletter 3 ~ April 2017

Dates for the diary:

24/04/17 ~ School Opens to pupils 25/04/17 ~ Bags 2 School Collection (fundraising event) 26/04/17 ~ Tempest Photography (Class Groups) 27/04/17 ~ No Y4 Swimming Lesson 01/05/17 ~ School Closed to pupils (Public Holiday) 04/05/17 ~ School Closed to pupils (INSET DAY – POLLING STATION) 08/05/17 – 12/05/17 ~ KS2 SATs Week 11/05/17 ~ No Y4 Swimming Lesson 16/05/17 ~ Governing Body Committee Meeting 18/05/17 ~ NSPCC Online Safety Parent Session (further information to follow) 26/05/17 ~ Y6 Passport to Safer Cycling (Cycle Checks) 26/05/17 ~ School Closes to pupils 05/06/17 ~ School Opens to pupils 06/06/17 - 09/06/17 ~ Y6 Passport to Safer Cycling (Practical Sessions) 07/06/17 ~ Rec ‘17 Welcome Afternoon 12/06/17 ~ Rec ’17 Story Session (Gp 1) 13/06/17 ~ Y2 visit to Blackpool Zoo (further details to follow) 13/06/17 ~ Governing Body Committee Meeting 14/06/17 ~ Y5 Taster Session at HHS (am) 15/06/17 - 16/06/17 ~ Y6 First Aid Session 17/06/17 ~ Joseph Cast Rehearsal at HHS (am) 19/06/17 ~ Rec ’17 Story Session (Gp 2) 24/06/17 ~ Joseph Cast Dress Rehearsal at HHS (am) 27/06/17 ~ Joseph Performance at HHS (1) 7pm 28/06/17 ~ Joseph Performance to school (no evening performance) 29/06/17 ~ Joseph Performance at HHS (2) 7pm 30/06/17 ~ Joseph Performance at HHS (3) 7pm 01/07/17 ~ Joseph Performance at HHS (4) 7pm 04/07/17 ~ Rec ’17 Half Day Visits 04/07/17 ~ Y6 HHS Day Visit 04/07/17 ~ Full Governing Body Meeting 19/07/17 ~ Leavers Disco (Y3 - Y6) 6.30-8.30pm 21/07/17 ~ No Acorns Club PM Session 21/07/17 ~ School Closes for Summer Holiday 31/08/17 – 01/09/17 ~ School Open for UNIFORM ORDER COLLECTION (9.00am-4.30pm) 01/09/17 ~ INSET Day (School Closed to Pupils) 04/09/17 ~ School Opens to pupils 27/10/17 ~ INSET Day (School Closed to Pupils) 27/10/17 ~ School Closes for half term holiday 06/11/17 ~ INSET Day (School Closed to Pupils) 07/11/17 ~ School Opens to pupils 22/12/17 ~ INSET Day (School Closed to Pupils) 22/12/17 ~ School Closes for Christmas holiday Visit the school website at www.helmshoreprimaryschool.co.uk for up to date ‘dates for diary'

IMPORTANT MESSAGE - Measles, Chickenpox and Shingles

We wish to make you aware that one of our infant pupils is currently receiving medical treatment for

cancer which puts them at risk if they are exposed to illnesses such as measles, chickenpox or shingles.

It is therefore VITALLY IMPORTANT that you make school aware of any suspected cases of measles or

shingles in your household and if you suspect your child of having chickenpox please inform school

without delay, as the pupil receiving cancer treatment would need to be given an injection within three

days of contact. You can contact school on 01706 213756 or by email to office@helmshore.lancs.sch.uk.

Your child is not at any risk whatsoever from this situation, however, the health and bell-being of our

pupil who is at risk does depend on the co-operation of all other parents and your support would be

appreciated.

School Uniform and Hair Styles

Please ensure your child wears the appropriate school uniform, shoes and hairstyles for school. Training shoes should not be worn and extreme hairstyles including Undercuts, Skinfades and tramlines are not appropriate styles to be worn for school.

We also ask that children do not wear nail polish and jewellery and they do not bring toys, gadgets, mobile phones and Pokémon cards to school. These items detract from the children’s learning and can cause conflict between pupils.

PE Kit

Please ensure that your child has a PE Kit (shorts, T-shirt & pumps) in school at all times. PE is scheduled for each class, but occasionally the timetable is altered to take into account other activities in school. Please ensure all school uniform is named!

School Uniform ~ Gooddies Schoolwear

School Uniform can be ordered direct from our suppliers ‘Gooddies Schoolwear’ by visiting http://helmshore.gooddies.co.uk. (Sweatshirts from £9.25, Polo Shirts from £7.45, Fleece Jackets from £11.75 and Coat from £17.49). Payment can be made by debit or credit card and by PayPal. Deliveries are FREE if delivered for collection from school or a delivery charge will be added for deliveries to your home address. Further information and sample uniform sizes are available from the school office. We must make you aware that uniform items ordered from the online shop can only be returned if found to be faulty - if

the incorrect size is ordered you may be unable to return this item. A full range of sample uniform items are available at the school office.

Orders placed online by 30th June 2017 can be delivered to school FREE of charge before the Summer holiday period. We can’t guarantee that orders placed after this time will be delivered to school during the holiday period. Home delivery service is available for orders placed after 30th June 2017.

Reading at Home

Please hear your child read at home as often as possible. Those children who do read at home regularly to an adult benefit a great deal from this in terms of their confidence in reading and their progress in both reading and writing. Thank you to all those parents who write regularly in children’s reading/homework diaries. It is an enormous help to both your child and their teacher and is a valued channel of communication.

Implementing Accelerated Reader - We need your help!

We would be grateful if you could return ANY school reading books you may find at home. We are implementing Accelerated Reader in school at present and this requires all our books to

be coded and sorted in a specific way in order that they can be used in our new system. If we can access all our books now we can complete this task more effectively. If your child returns a book it can be replaced by one already operating on the new system. Any additional books can be left at the School Office if necessary.

Thank you for your support!

Art Attack 2017

This year our whole school “Art Attack Project” will be based on the topic “COLOUR” linked with

this year’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat”. This project will

involve weaving with a variety of yarns, material strips, buttons, cellophane etc in large

structures and sheets of fabric. Each year group will have a designated main colour for their

items of work but will incorporate different shades of that colour in a flexible way. The hall

display colours for each year group are:

Blue: EYFS

Yellow: Year 1

Green: Year 2

Red: Year 3

Brown/Orange: Year 4

Grey/Neutral: Year 5

Black/Dark Grey: Year 6

We shall also be exploring colour in nature and other related themes. If you have any scraps of fabric, yarns or items of haberdashery that you no longer need please save them for school. If you are able to sort them into colours then even better.

Parking In Gregory Fold – IMPORTANT NOTICE

We ask that parents dropping off and collecting children from school park considerately on Gregory Fold and on surrounding roads and not to block the driveways of residents. Residents need access to their driveways at all times. We try our best to keep up a good relationship with local residents and we would ask you to support us with this by parking with care and consideration to our pupils and local

residents alike! Furthermore we would ask parents to please refrain from dropping their children off on the yellow zig-zag lines near the yellow warning signs at the front of school and mounting the kerb on the approach to this area.

We continue to receive complaints from parents who have reported their concern that children could easily be knocked down by careless driving, inappropriate parking of vehicles and mounting the pavement. Please be aware that the registration numbers of vehicles felt to be parking inconsiderately and being driven in an inappropriate manner are taken and reported to Lancashire Constabulary if felt appropriate. Nobody wants an accident to happen! Thank you for your support!

Attendance and Punctuality

As a school we regard attendance as critical to pupil progress and we continue to invest a great deal of time and effort into improving our pupils’ attendance. The morning bell goes at 8.45am for school to commence at 8.50am and anyone arriving after that time is late. Any child arriving after the front gates are closed should enter via the main front entrance where office staff can record their arrival. We would be grateful if you would inform us as soon as possible if your child is going to be late or is unwell and unable to attend school. If you expect your child to be absent from school for more than one day please indicate this in your

communication. Please telephone school on 01706 213756 or email office@helmshore.lancs.sch.uk - you can leave a recorded absence message at any time. Administrative staff will contact you regarding your child’s absence if we do not hear from you. We thank you for your continued support in this area.

Attendance that is below the Government’s target

The DfE states that pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. The minimum attendance level which is expected of all primary aged children nationally is 96%. Good attendance at school is vital because even short periods of absence can mean that a child's ability to keep up with school work may be significantly reduced. Friendship groups can also be affected by time away from school and this can be upsetting for children.

In order to assess our progress in meeting this challenging target we review the attendance of individual pupils at least once every half term. Despite our attendance reward scheme being very successful for most pupils, there are a small number of pupils whose attendance and punctuality is a concern as it is below the Government target of 96%. We ask that all children attend school whenever they are able to. This is a challenging target that requires commitment from both parents and school if it is to be met.

Remember our Attendance scheme and how it operates?

Children are rewarded for good attendance and punctuality during the year with prizes and vouchers. Pupils are awarded a mark/chart sticker each week for full attendance and punctuality which they can save or trade for prizes. When they have thirteen marks/chart stickers they will receive a voucher that they can trade for a bronze prize or bank towards a better silver prize after 26 weeks or possibly a gold prize after 38 weeks which rewards pupils

with 100% attendance. Prizes will range from pencils, badges, key rings, money boxes to £5 shopping vouchers.

Healthy snacks and lifestyles

We are keen to encourage the children to bring healthy snacks whenever and wherever possible. We teach about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles as part of the curriculum and would be grateful if you could support us in this venture.

We acknowledge that it is very important for children to drink regularly and so every child is invited to bring a drinks bottle to school to keep in their classroom. Children are allowed to drink water at intervals throughout the day and fill up their bottle as necessary with water from our chilled filtered water dispensers situated in the infant and junior corridors. Please ensure that your child’s bottle is labelled with your child’s name and class.

We are also having a problem coping with the amount of litter dropped on the school premises, especially sweets wrappers, crisp packets and other items of packaging. This looks unsightly and clogs up the drains. A reduction in unhealthy snacks would help with this problem too!

‘Bags 2 School’ Fundraising Event – Tuesday 25th April 2017

Thank you for your continued support with our ‘Bags 2 School’ collections to help raise additional funds for school. Our next collection will be on Tuesday 25th April at 9.00am. We will be paid by the weight of the bags collected. Bags of good quality clothing, shoes, hats, belts, handbags, ties and soft toys (sorry no bedding, curtains, towels, household linen or bric-a-brac) can be brought in to school from Monday 24th April for collection on the Tuesday morning. Thank you for your support!

Meeting the needs of Children with Medical Needs

Please note that school policy states that members of staff are not permitted to administer medicine to pupils. We realise that this has the potential to cause problems for some parents but this decision is made in the interest of the Health and Safety of pupils and staff. We ask that wherever possible, children are medicated out of school hours. Sometimes doctors are able to prescribe medication that can be taken at times around the school day.

We also strongly request that you do not send any medication to school with children in lunch boxes and reading bags. This includes over the counter drugs such as throat lozenges, Calpol etc. as these can pose a Health and Safety risk to young pupils and staff are not always aware that these medications are in school.

Where children have a long term medical condition we do make provision for the child to self-administer in the presence of a member of the office staff and formulate a Care Plan agreed with the parents and the School Nurse. In order for the staff to address particular medical needs relating to a pupil in their class, it is important that parents and carers keep us well informed about those needs and any changes to circumstances. It is very important that

any medication held by the school is in date and clearly labelled with the child’s name, dosage etc. If you have a medical concern about your child please share it with us in the interest of your child. Any changes to medical information can be recorded on the pupil data sheet being sent home with your child or put in writing for the attention of the class teacher.

Head Lice Alert!

From time to time we experience cases of head lice in school and would ask parents to check their child’s hair on a regular basis and inform school should they detect the presence of head lice. The NHS leaflet for ‘The prevention and treatment of Head Lice’ can be found on the school website or a copy can be collected from outside the office. If we are informed of a case of head lice in your child’s year group we will inform you by text message.

EYFS

The Reception children have really enjoyed our exciting theme of “Cave Baby” by our favourite author! We have enjoyed lots of adventure stories about caves and extended the theme by learning about dinosaurs and fossils. This has been very popular and the children have written some fantastic facts about dinosaurs. Some have even announced they would like to be palaeontologists!

The children have continued to make super progress at the early stages of reading and writing and we continue to receive many positive comments about the standard of our independent writing in Reception from visiting colleagues, which is lovely!

Our ongoing thanks go to all those Reception parents who are supporting and encouraging their children with phonic work at home. Reading regularly at home really does make a difference. It is always lovely to read comments in Home/School Activity books about their experiences at home. Some parents are also being inventive at home with Maths; devising simple maths quizzes and games for children to practise their addition and subtraction, which is a great idea. Thank you!

We are posting weekly EYFS updates on Twitter regularly (visit @helmshoreschool or follow the link from our school website), which is proving popular with parents who have said it is lovely to find out more about what their children are doing at school when they say they “can’t remember” or it is “top secret”!

Mrs Perry and Miss Thomas

Pupil Council

Our Pupil Council have continued to work very enthusiastically and have recently worked on new ideas for our playground screen. They are now working on new ideas for the Pupil Council section of our school website. The children take their roles on Pupil Council very seriously and we have lots of fun at the meetings, too!

We are also still trying to encourage children and parents to make healthy choices and bring mostly healthy snacks to school. As always, it is so lovely to see a range of age groups working together from our youngest to our eldest children.

Chairperson: Elliot Vidler

Secretaries: Ava Baker & Antony Griffiths

Class Representatives: Rec - Dominic Cox & Ethan Shannon Wallace Year 1 -Tianna Bleakley & Maisie Johnston Year 2 - Alisia Barton & Freya Hannay Year 3 - Austin Willis & Freya Lax Year 4 - Laurence Vidler & Evie Hargreaves Year 5 - Meisha Gamble & Ralph Botham Year 6 - William Harding & Harvey Bell

We are posting updates on Pupil Council work on Twitter regularly - look out for our news. Thank you very much to our lovely team for all their enthusiastic ongoing work.

Mrs Perry

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” production

The children are working hard in preparation for our production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. We have a lively and enthusiastic cast! Tickets for the show (27th June – 1st July 2017) will be on sale nearer the time, so come along and support us!

Key Stage Assessments (Y6 KS2 SATs 8th May – 12th May 2017 / KS1 & Y3-Y5 Assessments 15th May – 19th May 2017)

Just a reminder of how important it is that Year 6 pupils attend school during test week May 8th – 12th May 2017. All our pupils are working very hard at their own level and making great progress and it would be a real shame if they weren’t able to demonstrate their progress because they were absent for the National Curriculum Assessments. We try to make the experience of Key Stage 2 tests a rewarding experience and view it as part of the learning and growing process.

You will find some useful information and video clips on the school website or by selecting the link below:

Information for Parents: 2017 national curriculum tests at the end of KS1 and KS2 Video: Information for Parents: 2017 Key Stage 1 Tests Video: Information for Parents: 2017 Key Stage 2 Tests

Epidemiology Survey

A number of our pupils in EYFS and Year 1 recently took part in a dental survey in school. We are

pleased to have received positive feedback about the condition of the children’s teeth and gums

and were asked to pass this information on to parents. Well done to all those pupils who took

part in the survey!

Sainsbury’s Active Kids Voucher Scheme (collect vouchers until 2nd May 2017)

We are taking part in the Sainsbury’s Active Kids Vouchers again this year and would be grateful for your support! We have been very lucky in past years to have been able to obtain lots of new equipment using the voucher schemes. Vouchers can be posted in the collection boxes outside the school office. Vouchers will be available in store until the 2nd May 2017 and you have until the 30th June 2017 to donate them to school to enable us to redeem them for some lovely new resources.

Easter Entertainment “Here Comes the Sun”

On Wednesday morning some of our children played an accompaniment on their guitars to “Here

Comes the Sun” organised by their Lancashire Music Service teacher Mr Johnson. The children

played extremely well, showing off their strumming skills and speedy chord changes. Very well

done everyone!

Year 4 Tapas Trip

On Monday 27th March Year 4 enjoyed a fantastic visit to Levanter and Baratxuri, Tapas

restaurants in Ramsbottom. Whilst there the children made pinchos and non-alcoholic sangria,

they listened to Spanish music and learnt lots more about the different regions of Spain. A

fantastic afternoon was had by all. We thank the owners of the restaurants for the opportunity

to visit.

Young Voices 2017 ~ Friday 10th February 2017

Almost all our Year 5 and 6 pupils attended the Young Voices event at the ‘Manchester Arena’ in Manchester early this term. The children had a fantastic time and were part of a choir of over 7,300 children. This is a super event that provides a wonderful opportunity for all the children. The songs are varied and some are challenging but singing as part of such a large choir is a truly moving experience. Thank you to all those parents who attended and made the occasion even more special. Very well done to all those pupils who took part! We were all proud of their abilities, behaviour and team spirit.

Order a copy of the Young Voices DVD (£12.50 + £1.50 shipping) by visiting youngvoices.co.uk and click BUY DVDS ~ see your child amongst thousands of children and teachers as they perform alongside some of the UK’s leading artists in their very own DVD version of their Young Voices Concert (Manchester 10th February 2017).

Can you help? Helmshore Primary School Allotment

We are looking forward to working on a new project for the school as we have agreed to take

over the Incredible Edible Rossendale allotment plot on Holcombe Road. This will be a great

opportunity for the children and is already very well equipped. Do you have a little spare time or

expertise that you can share with us to help develop the plot and possibly help to maintain

during holiday periods? If you are interested in helping please contact the school office by email

office@helmshore.lancs.sch.uk or on 01706 213756. Thank you for your support!

Are you interested in working in a school kitchen – part-time/term time only? Please contact Lancashire

County Commercial Group (Maria on 07717 543792) or visit www.servinglancashire.org.uk for further

information.

NSPCC Speak Out Stay Safe & Tom Hamer Visit – 9th March 2017

The NSPCC, UK’s leading children’s charity, visited school on Thursday 9th March to deliver their Speak out. Stay safe. Programme. This is a nationwide programme for every primary-

school-aged child in the UK and Channel Islands. With the help of their friendly mascot Buddy, they presented an assembly to the children and completed workshops for Years 5 and 6 children later in the day. The charity brought along two times Paralympic silver swimming medallist, Tom Hamer, for the assembly to speak to the children and answer any questions they had. The young swimmer spoke with maturity and was quite inspirational about his own experiences and how he found his time at school challenging. The NSPCC will return to school in May to deliver an Online Safety session for parents – further details will follow.

School Meals

The Spring/Summer school meal menu is now available – you can request a printed copy from the school office. All Infant children are entitled to a FREE school meal and the cost of school meals for the remaining children in school is £2.20 per day/ £11.00 per week.

Please send dinner money to school at the beginning of the week (cheques made payable to Lancashire County Council or LCC) either directly to the office or via your child’s class teacher. To assist office staff we would ask that you place dinner money in a sealed envelope clearly labelled with your child’s name and class. We would remind parents and carers that a one week notice period is currently required if you wish to change your child’s regular meal pattern. Please ensure that your child is aware of their lunchtime meal pattern to avoid any confusion. Regretfully we are unable to provide lunches on an ad-hoc basis. We thank you for your support with this matter!

Free School Meals ~ Are you entitled?

Since September 2014 all pupils in KS1 have been entitled to receive a free school meal. Some pupils have a statutory entitlement to free school meals i.e. those pupils whose parents/carers are in receipts of certain benefits. We've listed these below for your ease. If you let us know

about your entitlement the school can benefit from additional funding. This is known as the Pupil Premium. This is worth over £1300 per pupil. Even if you have older children already receiving free meals, let us know about any younger children who will be starting primary school in September. We can then receive this additional funding to support your child. It is easy to register – just contact the school office or the Area Education Office (East) on 01254 220711 or 01254 220614 in confidence providing us with some basic details (name, address, DOB and NI number). The school can qualify for the pupil premium if you are receiving one of the following:

Income Support Income Based Jobseeker's Allowance Income Related ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 Child Tax Credit and with an annual income of less than £16,190 and not receiving Working Tax Credit. Working Tax Credit 'run on' – the payment you receive for a further four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit Universal Credit

Community Events: Visit www.primarytimes.net/lancashire for information on activities and events in the local area.

School Holidays ~ Academic Year 2017/2018

AUTUMN TERM 2017

School opens School closes

Monday 4 September 2017 Thursday 26 October 2017

Tuesday 7 November 2017 Thursday 21 December 2017

SPRING TERM 2018

School opens School closes

Monday 8 January 2018 Friday 9 February 2018

Monday 19 February 2018 Friday 23 March 2018

SUMMER TERM 2018

School opens School closes

Monday 9 April 2018 Friday 25 May 2018

Monday 4 June 2018 Friday 20 July 2018

In addition the school will be closed on the following days ~

Thursday 3rd May 2018 (Inset Day – Polling Day) Monday 7th May 2018 (Public Holiday)

SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disablities) Provision in School

At our school, we believe that knowing children well as individuals and meeting their needs sensitively in

class is the best way to support children with additional needs. We will continue to meet the needs of all

children and where we feel it is necessary will fund specialist testing and specialist teacher advice.

Unfortunately, there is no longer the facility within the Local Authority to access Educational Psychology

assessment and advice. (The school’s “link” Educational Psychologist is deployed to carry out specific

tasks as required by the Local Authority rather than work within school requests.)

It is always important to remember, however, that as a fully inclusive school, teaching staff and teaching

assistants are experienced and proficient in meeting a wide range of needs and we will do our very best

to ensure that your child’s needs are met in school.

Additional support

Many children in school benefit from carefully planned intervention sessions with our additonal teachers.

Currently, Mrs Trickett, Mrs Bond and Miss Morton all currently work on targeted work with groups of

identified children in collaboration with class teachers. This may be for a short period of time until the

support is no longer needed or for extended periods where appropriate.

Our highly valuable team of experienced and skilled teaching assistants continue to be allocated to

classes to give support to children under the direction of class teachers. Many children work in small

intervention groups or one to one on a daily basis in order to meet their needs. Our teaching assistants

have recently benefitted from further training in Reading in addition to their previous training and regular

training in areas such as First Aid , Safeguarding and E Safety). Specific training in using Social Stories has

also been undertaken recently and we are looking forward to Numicon training soon, which will benefit

lots of children in understanding mathematical concepts.

Speech and Langauge Therapy (SALT)

If you are concerned about your child’s speech or understanding of language, please talk to us. We can

refer children for SALT if you feel this would be helpful. We can also support your child in class with SALT

programmes and targets; just let us know.

SEND Newsletter

March 2017

Talk to us!

If you have a concern about your child, please arrange to come into school and talk to us. Your child’s class

teacher is your first point of contact and often a friendly chat can reassure you about your child’s needs.

Mrs Perry (SENCO) is always happy to help parents with any worries about your child’s needs and

can be contacted via the school office email. (office@helmshore.lancs.sch.uk). It is so important

that we work together to support your child.