Welcome Back

 Welcome back to a new school year at William Barcroft Junior School.  I would like to start by thanking everyone for the warm welcome in my first few weeks as Head teacher.  I have met and chatted with many of you and hope to get to know all of you well in the coming years. 

 As I am sure that your children have told you I am happy to be called Mrs C. as a shorter, easier version of Mrs. Constantopoulos.  I try to get out on the playground before school and after school and I’m always more than happy to discuss anything regarding your child either then or during the school day.  My office is located directly off the reception area of the school at the front of the school. 

Name Badges

All school staff now wear name badges showing their full name and job title.  Whilst I felt it was right to include staffs first name could you ensure that surnames are used by the children and yourselves. 

 Shoe Changing policy

I am sure you are now aware that the school policy on shoes in school has changed.  I felt it more beneficial to the children to keep their shoes on during the day.  Some children were walking around with no shoes on, which not only is a health and safety risk but also very cold in the winter. The shoe boxes were unhygienic and the time required to change shoes wasted valuable learning time.

 Dinner

We now have a new school meals provider.  The dinners are very good.  Each day a member of staff eats in the hall and we are working hard to make the lunch times an enjoyable social occasion.  In the future you will be invited to come into school to enjoy dinner with your children. 

 Dinner Money

From now on dinner money MUST be paid weekly to the class teacher.  Daily payments will not be accepted and the front office will not take money. 

 Attendance

Unfortunately the attendance figures at the school over the past years have been very low.  It is extremely important that the children are in school in order to learn.

Holiday requests will be looked at in line with LA policy and will only be agreed to if the request complies with the four criteria laid out by the Local Authority and your child’s attendance is above 95%.  Please bare this in mind before booking holidays. 

It is also very important that you gain permission to take your child out of school for medical appointments.  You must bring the appointment card with you.

 Lates

Children who are late for school are also monitored with the Education Welfare Officer.  From Monday 21^st September if your child is up to 10 minutes late they will no longer be admitted through the front door but must go through the year four door, where Mrs. Snell will record the reasons.  If you are more than 10 minutes you will need to come to the front entrance but may be required to speak with the Head teacher.

 Lost Property

We have a lot of lost property which is left over from last year.  This will be displayed in the hall on Tuesday 22^nd at 3.15.  Please visit the school hall and take any clothing that is yours. 

 Term Dates

Thursday September 3^rd   to            Friday October 23^rd                 Term One

Tuesday   November 3^rd   to             Friday December 18^th            Term Two

Tuesday January 5^th          to             Friday February 12^th              Term Three

Tuesday February 23^rd     to             Thursday April 1^st                    Term Four

Tuesday April 20^th             to             Friday May 28^th                        Term Five

Tuesday June 8^th                to              Thursday July 22^nd                 Term Six

Request for help

We are keen to encourage parents to come into school and help.  If you would like to come in and get involved in any way please let us know.  This could be anything from reading, artwork or gardening.  Please let us know, we would very much appreciate it. 

Have a good weekend

Claire Constantopoulos

Head teacher

On Thursday 11^th of June, Harry Cook, Kaishia Charlton, Mrs Snell, Ms Cook and Miss Charlton all attended a food tasting session at Old Clee Children’s Centre.

The object of the taster session was to get the opinions of the children and parents on the food that two providers were offering. 

The providers were Cygnet and Mellors.  Both providers were offering hot meals for us to taste. 

Kaishia tried everything on offer from Cygnet; her favourite was the Chicken Pie.  Harry tried the Chicken Curry and the Beef Bolognaise.  Harry’s favourite dish was the Beef Bolognaise.  There were also vegetables to accompany these meals, these included carrots, potatoes and broccoli.  There was also rice on offer to go with the curry.

There were two puddings available from Cygnet for us to try, a mixed fruit crumble with custard and a chocolate and pear pudding.  Kaishia liked the chocolate pudding.

The other provider, Mellors had several hot dishes to try and a range of puddings.  They also offered sandwiches, salad and fresh fruit.  All of these items would be available to children who stay school dinners if Mellors win the school meal contract.

Kaishia tried all the hot dishes which included a Cottage Pie, Tomato Pasta and a Quorn Lasagne.  Kaishia enjoyed most of them except the Tomato Pasta. 

Mellors were also offering an apple crumble which both Harry and Kaishia really enjoyed.

Harry and Kaishia really loved the Fairy Cakes that Mellors had on offer, this was their favourite item. 

Mellors also offered fruit juice which both children enjoyed.  They also enjoyed the fresh fruit that was on offer.

Both of the providers said that the ingredients they used would be sourced locally and neither of them would be using frozen meat products. 

Mellors also told Mrs Snell and Ms Cook that they used the Red Tractor system; this means that they can identify which farm their meat or fruit and vegetable products have come from.  (For more info go to www.myredtractor.co.uk) 

Mellors also seemed very keen to engage children and parents in various activities to encourage them to have school meals. 

Harry’s mum and Kaishia’s Aunt were both very impressed with the food that they tasted.  Harry’s mum is vegetarian and was pleased to see so many vegetarian choices on offer. 

Overall we preferred Mellors because we liked the choices of food they had on offer and in particular we liked the fact that there were sandwiches, salad and fresh fruit to choose as well as hot meals.

There were three other schools at this event and all of us were asked to fill in evaluation forms as we went round.  We had to rate the food according to its appearance, taste, smell and portion size.  All of the information that they collect from the taster session will help the council to make the final decision about who cooks our school meals from September.

You can find information on both company’s by going to the following websites:

www.mellorscatering.co.uk or www.cygnetfoods.co.uk

School will close on Friday 22^nd May at 3.05pm and will re-open for children on Monday 1^st June at 8.50am.

 Year 6 Photographs

On Wednesday 10^th June, year 6 children will be having their photograph taken.

Open Afternoon

Our annual open afternoon and art gallery will take place on Wednesday 8^th July.

Year 4 Swimming

Swimming will begin on Wednesday 3^rd June for our year 4 pupils and will take place every Wednesday until the end of term.

Breakfast club

The school breakfast club is continuing to do well. Any parents who would like their child to come to the club each morning are welcome.

Summer Sports

Our children will be taking part in a number of out of school sports activities next half term including cricket, cross country, and skipping. Sports Day will take place this year on Thursday 18^th June.

Year 6 Leavers

Our year 6 children will this year be performing ‘Grease’ on Wednesday 15^th July. They will have a leaver’s trip to Flamingo Land and a Graduation Ball at the end of term.

Parent Survey

When we return in June, we will be sending out our annual parent survey forms. I would appreciate it if parents could complete the survey and return to school by the given date in the envelope provided.

Thank you.

New Curriculum

Staff have been working hard on developing a new, exciting curriculum for our children, to start in September 09. A letter will be sent to explain this in June and a meeting will be held to answer any questions parents may have.

S Sargent      (Acting Headteacher)

As you are aware we had to cancel the disco in February due to a snow storm, it has been moved to Thursday 5th march 2009. It starts at 6pm and ends at 7.30pm, tickets are still valid if you have kept them but dont worry as we have a list of all those that bought a ticket if you have lost yours. 

Breakfast club

During the past few months, the number of children attending breakfast club has dropped. In order to try and avoid having to close the breakfast club, we are looking to recruit more children to it.

We have bought a microwave oven, so that we can provide beans on toast as an alternative to cereal and have purchased a range of games and two WII fits, to encourage a healthier lifestyle, as well as to entertain the children.

Breakfast club starts at 8am and the last serving is at 8.30am. The cost of breakfast is 50p per day, to be paid at the door. The children are supervised by 3 Teaching Assistants who prepare the food and supervise the activities afterwards.

All children are welcome. If you would like your child to attend the club, please complete the slip attached to the letter that was sent out 03 03 09.

 Celebration day

As you know, we have had to re-schedule celebration day. This will now take place on Monday 23^rd March. Parents are invited to come into school for a brief assembly at 10.15am. During the assembly, I will introduce you to the task and explain what you will be doing whilst you are in school. The theme for the day is ‘Design a sun shade.’ This is a competition which has been offered to children through the Local Authority and which we thought could involve the whole family. This would involve you and your family designing and making a sun shade for the playground. The winners of the competition get a sun shade for the school playground. Refreshments will be available at playtime and parents are welcome to stay for lunch. If you are intending staying for lunch please complete the attached slip and return to school with the payment of £2.85  by Friday 13^th March.  

Open Evening

Open evening will be held on Monday 30^th March, 6-8pm and Wednesday 1^st April, 3.30-5.30pm.

 School closure

The school will close on Friday 3^rd April at 3.05pm for the Easter holidays. It will re-open for children on Tuesday 21^st April at 8.50am. Monday 20^th April is a training day for staff.

School Meals

From 1st April 2009, the cost of school meals will rise from £1.65 per day to £1.75. A full week’s cost will be £8.75. This is an increase of 50p per week.

 Television screen

You may have noticed that in the entrance, brackets have been put up to house a large plasma television screen. This will show aspects of school life including:

• a plan of the school
• staff who are working in schools
• work produced by children
• a video taken by Y6 children showing life in school
• a video of the school in Gambia which we sponsor

 If there is any additional information which you would like to see displayed on the plasma screen which would be helpful to parents, please let me know.

If parents would like to make comments about any aspects of school life, they can do so by e-mailing me at headteacher@wbj.tlfe.org or by writing to me.

Dear parents and carers,

At the beginning of this month I was offered the post of Headteacher in an all-through primary school in a neighbouring local authority.  I have now accepted that offer and the governors of William Barcroft yesterday accepted my resignation from my current post of head at this school.  I start my new job after the Easter holiday.

I am proud to leave the school in good shape:  The best level 4+ results ever; the third highest school in the local authority in terms of the proportion of pupils making at least two levels progress; and finances in a healthy state. 

 The feedback from parents’ and children’s questionnaires is highly positive, showing that, though children are expected to work hard, they enjoy their learning, they feel safe, and they are taught how to live healthily.  Both parents and children agree that the teaching is good and that children are well cared for at the school. 

 I am leaving behind a highly committed and highly skilled staff team.  They have worked tirelessly to ensure the personal development and educational achievement of each and every child in this school.  In addition, governors have created and maintained the culture in which William Barcroft has flourished.  Without this the school would not be where it is now.

 At the core of the school are the children and their parents and carers.  The successes of the school, and of each child in it, belong to you.  Together we have invested our care and skills to help each child on their learning journey – realising ambitions and overcoming difficulties.  I thank you for that.

 Of course, I will miss everyone when I leave.  After a decade in the job though, I believe it is right for all parties that I move on.  I still have so much to learn and so much to do.  I believe that the Head Teacher is also the Head Learner and continuing my own learning journey is the example that I leave.

 As Deputy Headteacher, Mrs Sargent will act as Headteacher from the start of the summer term.  Governors will decide when the permanent post of Headteacher should be advertised.

 Yours sincerely

 Christine Lacey

Headteacher

We need your help!

Dear Parents/Carers

As you know it will be the Christmas Fair soon.  We would like your help with donations for the raffle and the tombola please.  We are trying out a new game this year and would like donations of empty screw top wine bottles and one or two full ones please!  We are also sending home bowls for you to fill with sweets or stationery items etc; a Christmas theme would be good. 

The top prize in the raffle will be £100 so it’s well worth having a go.

Thank you in advance for your support and look forward to seeing you on the 9^th of December, 2:30-4:00pm.

This year there will be tea and coffee available for the first time!!!!

Friday 14th November was Children in Need day and a chance for pupils and staff to ‘Do Something Different’.  This year we decided to dress up as famous film or pop stars and have our own Oscar ceremony or in this case the ‘Billy’s’.  We celebrated everyone’s efforts by awarding the best dressed celebrities their very own ‘Billy’ (all be it a chocolate one)

The staff did their bit and teacher’s performed a new Wake Up Shake Up routine to music from High School Musical.  We christened them the Barcroft Cheerleaders!

Over break time cakes were sold that had been donated by staff and there were three Pudsey Bears on the stage waiting to be filled with change.

The day was a fantastic success, everyone had a lot of fun and we raised £220.27 for Children in Need.

Well done to everyone who took part and a big thank you.

Staff have a training day on Friday 24^th October.

 After school clubs If your child takes part in an after school club, please could I ask that you collect your child from outside the main reception at the front of the school.

We have had a number of parents walking around the school, and this is posing a safety problem. 

Celebration Day is on Tuesday 21^st October. The theme for the day is ‘Music from around the World.’

Parents/grandparent or other family members are invited to come into school at 10.20am to join us in whole school assembly.

You will then have the opportunity to take part in class lessons for the rest of the day.

Coffee/tea and biscuits will be available in the new classroom at break time.

We look forwards to seeing you there.

 SHOE BOX APPEAL

 This year we will again be supporting the Operation Christmas Child Appeal.  Your child should have brought a leaflet home explaining what to do.  Items to be packed in shoe boxes include: toiletries, small toys and stationary.

This is a very worthwhile cause so when you are doing your shopping pick up an extra tube of toothpaste or a flannel.  Every little helps.

Visit: www.samaritanspurse.org for more information.

 It is CHILDREN IN NEED on the 14^th of November.  As usual the school will be helping to fund raise.  This year we will be asking the children to dress up as a Film or Pop star.  There will be a charge of 50p to take part and there will be other activities during the day.  Further details will follow later.

HALLOWEEN DISCO

 Thursday 23^rd October

6-7:30

£1.70 to include Witches Fingers in bread roll with optional Vampire Blood.  (Hot dogs!)

COME IN FANCY DRESS

Tickets available from Monday,

see Mrs Snell after school.

Drinks will be on sale.