Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a great week in school exploring our connections with each other and with our community as part of Children’s Mental Health Week. Today, our Dress to Express Day has been fabulous and prompted lots of connections between children and adults as they have talked about how everyone has chosen to express themselves. It has been good to see children’s interests represented (characters from film and books, baking and football to name a few), children’s aspirations for the future (Space travel and becoming a vet were two examples) and also to see children and staff just wearing clothes that made them feel comfortable and relaxed. Mrs Melia looked especially cosy in her onesie! Thank you for your support and don’t forget that there is ongoing help and guidance from various reputable websites including the NSPCC and Place2Be

https://www.place2be.org.uk/our-services/parents-and-carers/supporting-your-child-s-mental-health/

Finally congratulations to our team from Years 5 and 6 who attended the Primary School Sports Hall Athletics Tournament at Leasowes High School on Wednesday. They finished a very creditable third! Well done to Freya, Eden, Isabelle, Violet, Ben, Jakob, Wilf, Harry, Evan and Theo and thanks to Mr Lamb, Mr Ludlam and Miss Thompson for arranging and accompanying the team.

Kind regards

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

We have set our final INSET Day for Friday 10^th March. School will be closed to pupils on this day while staff will be working in school to further develop our curriculum.

A reminder that school is also closed on Monday 1^st May (Bank Holiday) Thursday 4^th May (Local Elections – Remote Learning Day) and Monday 8^th May (Coronation)

The school governors have had a busy few weeks. Last week governors on the Finance and Premises Committee met to review the current school budget and look towards the financial decisions that need to be made as we prepare for the coming financial year. It will be no surprise to hear that in common with most schools, we find ourselves in a very challenging position. Within this context, we are extremely grateful to The Ridge Friends Association who help us provide the little extras!

This week governors have had training from our School Improvement Advisor focussing on the role of governors in monitoring the work of the school. Everyone agreed that it was a very useful session. Finally governors have been involved in shortlisting for our new Kindergarten Teacher and will help with the interviews next week.

We are very grateful for the time that these volunteers give to help our school develop.

A reminder that the RFA are hosting a Valentine’s Disco on Wednesday 15^th February and tickets are now on sale from the school office.

Reception and Key Stage 1 - 5.45 to 6.45p.m. (Tickets cost £2.50 and include a drink and a biscuit) Key Stage 2 Disco - 7.00 to 8.00 p.m. (Tickets cost £2.00, with refreshments available to buy).

Please note the earlier finish time for the Key Stage 2 disco.

Please can we ask parents to remind children that they must not bring toys or trading cards (including Pokemon cards) in to school unless there is a specific arrangement to do so or teachers have explicitly asked for them to be brought in as part of the curriculum.

We are running Football Card club on a Monday and so it is fine for albums to be in school for that purpose having agreed that the cards will not be out at any other time on a Monday, but aside from this, other toys and cards should not be in school. (A small number of children, as part of an Individual Education Plan, do have an attachment object and obviously, this is not affected by this)

Thank you for your support.

Thank you to those of you who have contributed uniform for our Uniform Swap Shop. The rail of preloved uniform is now in the entrance hall (under the stairs). Please feel free to come and look for items for your child. If you see something you can use you are more than welcome to take if. A donation to school fund or a swap of an outgrown item of uniform is very welcome but is not required. Further donations of clean, tidy items of uniform which still have plenty of life in them would be very welcome.

This Weeks attendance 

Whole School - 94.69%

Reception - 95.67%

Year 1 – 93.00%

Year 2 – 96.67%

Year 3 – 94.29%

Year 4 – 97.33%

Year 5 – 95.86%

Year 6 – 90.00%

Well done Year 4!

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Mrs Hudson is the Designated Safeguarding Lead and any concerns should be shared with her or the Deputy Safeguarding Leads – Mrs Hadley and Miss Beddoes.  Where child protection concerns are raised, the school has a statutory duty to refer these concerns to children’s social care.

Teaching the children how to stay safe in both the real world and the virtual world is a significant part of our curriculum, and over the past few weeks we have had visitors in school to share some important  messages. You will already be aware that we have had representatives from The Dog’s Trust talking to the children about how to be safe around dogs. Last Friday children in Kindergarten, Reception, Year 1 and 2 all took part in a road safety workshop with Dudley Road Safety Team. They were reminded how to keep safe on the roads and practised crossing an imaginary road with a zebra crossing. Next week we have members of the RNLI coming to talk to all year groups about water safety. They will be looking at how to stay safe when visiting local canals and the seaside. Please ask your children what they have been learning.

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