Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that you had a good half term break. The clocks going back, darker nights and chill in the air has certainly marked the start of the second half of the Autumn term and that indicates that Christmas preparations will soon be upon us! Thank you for sending your children back to school in their winter uniform: they all look very smart!

Thank you too for your support with our Remembrance Wall of Poppies. I am sure that you will agree that the display looks striking on the fence and they proved a valuable focal point for our commemorations. Well done to Years 5 and 6 who joined students at Ridgewood for their Act of Remembrance at 11.00 a.m. on Monday morning. Our pupils made a wreath which was laid ahead of the Last Post and two minutes silence.  They showed great respect and were a real credit to themselves and the school.

It was good to see so many of you for the ‘Book Look’ on Monday and at consultation meetings with teachers on Wednesday. If you were unable to make either, please contact your child’s teacher to make alternative arrangements. We will let parents of pupils in Year 6 know when their meetings will be, once we have a clearer idea of when Miss Crowson will be back at work following her surgery.

Don’t forget that we have an INSET Day on Monday and school will be closed for pupils. Have a good weekend.

Kind regards

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

We are conscious of the number of events that we are asking for your support with and recognise that it is an expensive time of year. However, we want to show our support for the fundraising Charity Football match being organised by Withymore Colts Girls Football  Club on 24th November to raise money for Birmingham Children's Hospital.

The hospital does amazing work and over recent years has supported a number of children and families associated with The Ridge. Currently one of past pupils, whose family is still a part of our school community, is receiving treatment at the hospital.

We want to join them in showing our support for the wonderful care that the hospital offers. There will be collecting buckets on the playground at the start and end of Thursday and Friday next week (21st and 22nd November).

Thank you for your on-going support for ‘Foodbank Friday’. Our collecting boxes are available every day but the School Council would like to encourage you to donate on at least one Friday each half term.

Thank you also for supporting Children in Need today along with bringing donations for our own school fundraising via our Christmas Fayre.

This week was a busy week on the sporting calendar.

On Tuesday evening our boy’s football team cruised to the top of the league at the year 4 football festival, winning all four of their matches, scoring twenty goals and only conceding five. Jack R our main talisman, scoring an incredible twelve goals. They will return in March to play their second round of fixtures. Great start boys, keep it up!

On Wednesday, the girls were in similar territory making it through to the semi finals  of the WBA Regional PL Primary Stars Tournament. The girls were narrowly nudged out by a physical Grove Vale side, which was the only goal that they conceded all tournament. They were unbeaten the group stages, and scored eight goals, with Poppy P claiming four goals a top scorer, one of which was an outrageous strike from outside the box. However, the girls did come home with some silver wear, for being recognised for their fair play, conduct, and fantastic footballing ability. What an achievement. Well done girls. So proud.

Yesterday we took a small group of children to Windsor High to compete in an Archery Festival. The children had a lovely morning with Finley scoring a fantastic twenty one points with four arrows, and Phoebe being one of the only participants to hit the bullseye. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Ruby in Year 5 who was recently selected to take part in a Karate tournament.  Ruby won gold at the event in Lincoln last week. She has competed at three consecutive tournaments and has been placed first each time for her Kumite (fighting)! Very well done, Ruby: we are all very proud of you!

And finally, there are free water safety sessions being held for either weak or non-swimmer Year 5 and 6 children.  See below for details.

This Weeks attendance 

Whole School - 94.22%

Reception - 95.00%

Year 1 – 98.00%

Year 2 – 97.14%

Year 3 – 90.97%

Year 4 – 96.33%

Year 5 – 85.56%

Year 6 – 96.00%

Well done Year 1!

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 Ms Gledhill.  Where child protection concerns are raised, the school has a statutory duty to refer these concerns to children’s social care.

The theme of this year’s Anti-Bullying Week is ‘Choose Respect’. When disputes arise amongst children, insults and rudeness can sometime follow. It is vital for us to show them a better way.

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