A message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been great this week to formally welcome our new reception children to The Ridge. Following their induction days last week, they all started as a class on Wednesday. They have all enjoyed meeting their Year 6 buddies, who have risen admirably to the task of helping our newest pupils settle in to school.
This week has marked the first full week back and the starting up of a range of activities. Year 4 have had their first clarinet lesson and they have been swimming today. We have made a change to the swimming provision this year and the staff who accompanied them have given high praise to the provision at Wordsley School.
Over the years we have developed a link with Pens Meadow Special School in Wordsley, a school for children for pupils with complex needs, severe learning difficulties, including autism, and pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties. As part of our curriculum, the first group of children from Year 5 visited the school yesterday. They took part in activities alongside the children in yellow class at Pens Meadow. They came back full of enthusiasm and the experience has already proved very valuable for all the children involved, enhancing our PSHE curriculum.
‘What Your Child is Learning’ videos for this term have been uploaded to Class Dojo, please do take a look to familiarise yourselves.
Kind regards
Mrs D Hudson
Headteacher
Coming Up
Dates for the year have been uploaded to the school website. As always, we are happy to issue these early on however, dates can be subject to change.
Tuesday 26th September
- the photographer will be in school to take individual and sibling portraits.
Friday 29th September
- McMillan Coffee Morning. 9.00a.m. – 10.00 a.m. in the school hall. Please come along and support this very worthwhile cause. Donations of cakes, both bought and home baked would be very welcome.
The Ridge Friends, our PTA, will be having a planning meeting straight after the coffee morning to start looking at fund raising and social events for the rest of the year, starting with the Christmas Fayre. Please do come along. You will be made very welcome.
The School Governors
The school’s governing board is a bit like a board of directors. With the headteacher, the governors have overall responsibility for the strategic running of the school. The board is made up of representatives elected by the parents, a representative elected by the staff, a Local Authority Governor and members co-opted onto the board because of their relevant knowledge, skills or expereince.
Governing bodies have three core strategic functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils; and
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Over the summer, one of our Parent Governors, Sally-Anne Tyler, has indicated her intention to step down and so we will soon be looking to recruit a new parent governor to join the board. No special qualifications are needed and the most important thing is to have a keen interest in the school and be prepared to play an active part in the governing body’s work. However, we would particularly welcome nominations from parents with the following skills:
- Experience of building management
- Knowledge of health and safety
- HR experience
Next week we will issue further information and nomination forms. If you would like further information about the role, please speak to Mrs Hudson, who can arrange for you to speak to our Chair of Governors, Julia Simmonds or one of our existing parent governors.
Leave of Absence and Punctuality
If you need to request leave of absence, please ask for a form from the school office. You will be aware that we are unable to authorise leave unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’. Please be honest about your reasons for any request. There have been occasions where children have been reported ill but have been on holiday. We usually know because they want to tell us or their friends all about their trip! If you are not up front with us, the children may be put in the difficult position of having to tell lies, which goes against everything we teach children about the importance of honesty.
Lateness – punctuality is an important part of attendance. All children should be in their classrooms by 8.50 a.m. Those arriving after this time will be recorded as late. Please see our Attendance Policy for further information about what this means.
This Weeks attendance
Whole School - 97.84%
Reception - 100.00%
Year 1 – 94.83%
Year 2 – 97.33%
Year 3 – 98.00%
Year 4 – 98.57%
Year 5 – 98.67%
Year 6 – 98.00%
Well done Reception - what a great start!
Safeguarding
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, Miss Beddoes and Mrs Gledhill. Where child protection concerns are raised, the school has a statutory duty to refer these concerns to children’s social care.
Thank you for returning your emergency contact information to school. It is vital that you let us know if any of this information changes throughout the year. Telephone numbers especially can change and in case of emergency, we need to be able to contact you so they must be kept up to date. It is a requirement that we have at least two sets of contact details and more are ideal. If your child is not at school and a reason has not been provided, we will use the details you have provided to seek assurances that your child is safe.
What's Happening Next Week
| Monday | • |
| Tuesday | • Forest School for Years 5 and 1 |
| • Year 4 Whole Class Clarinet Lesson | |
| Wednesday | • |
| Thursday | • Year 5 Group Visit to Pens Meadow |
| Friday | • Year 4 Swimming |
Follow us on Twitter
