Dear Parents and Carers

December has arrived and the Christmas spirit is certainly becoming evident here at The Ridge. There is an air of excitement amongst the children (and the staff!) and preparations are in full swing for our celebrations. Over the coming weeks, we look forward to welcoming you to our performances and seeing you at our Christmas Fayre.

You may have seen a new face in our school office this week as we have welcomed our new School Business Manager, Mrs Jay Jones.  Despite the hectic time of year, Jay has ‘hit the ground running’ and is getting to grips with her new role in school. I am sure that you will join us in congratulating Jay on her new job and wishing her well. There are lots of new people for for Jay to meet so please introduce yourself to her when you see her around.

Best wishes,

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

Christmas Fayre

The RFA have been working hard in preparation for our Christmas Fayre on Friday 8th December. Thank you for all your support and donations. We look forward to seeing you: the fayre runs from 3.30 – 5.30pm and there will be a wonderful range of stalls, games and refreshments on offer. This is one of the most important fund raising events of the year so your support is very much appreciated.

Christmas Performances

Our school performances are an important part of our school life and we know that you enjoy coming along to see them. They are a collaboration across the year groups and the result of lots of hard work from the children and the staff.  

Whatever their role, every child matters and every voice matters. The singers in the choir are vitally important to the performance. We understand that Christmas is a busy time but please make every effort to ensure that your child attends the evening performance. We know that there is demand for evening tickets and that many of you can’t attend during the day, however we find it difficult to fill the last minute gaps and it is disappointing for those who are here, if the performance is affected by absence. Children will need to be back at school for 6.00pm. If your child won’t be attending the evening performance, please make sure that you let their teacher know as soon as possible. Thank you.

Tickets will be distributed in the middle of next week. If you have tickets that you are unable to use or exchange with other families, please return them to the school office so that we can give them to those on the waiting list for extra tickets. Please remember to bring your tickets with you when you attend the performance. Thank you.

Many children like to send Christmas Cards to their friends. To help with this we will have our red mail box in the entrance hall, where the children can post their card and have them delivered to others in school. Please make sure that any cards posted have the recipient’s full name and class written on the envelope.

Mindful of the cost of cards, we would encourage children to post one card to the class rather than feeling that they have to send a card to everyone.

After many years of taking children from The Ridge to the Crystal Leisure Centre for swimming lessons, this year we took the decision to change our provider to improve the quality of the lessons. Swimming now takes place at the Wordsley School where the lessons are taught by three qualified specialist swimming teachers (rather than one supported by school staff previously) and lessons last for an hour rather than 30 minutes. The comparative costs are the same however, and feedback from staff and pupils is that the new arrangements are much more effective in ensuring that children gain this vital life skill.

Because of the changes, children from Years 4 and 3 will swim for a term each. Year 4 have been this term and Year 3 will swim after Christmas. In the Summer term we will offer additional sessions to pupils who need them.

The costs for swimming have increased considerably and for a number of years the voluntary contribution we ask from parents has been heavily subsidised. Currently the weekly cost for each swimming session (travel, pool hire and teaching) is £210.  We continue to be very grateful for your financial support.

Thank you for your on-going support with attendance: we know that there are lots of illnesses doing the rounds at the moment, including some flu like viruses, sickness and diarrhoea. This has not only affected children, staff too have been unwell.

This Weeks attendance 

Whole School - 94.88%

Reception - 98.00%

Year 1 – 92.41%

Year 2 – 89.33%

Year 3 – 95.00%

Year 4 – 97.50%

Year 5 – 94.67%

Year 6 – 97.33%

Well done Reception!

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.

***SAFEGUARDING ALERT***

West Midlands Police have been made aware of a live Snapchat account where children in Dudley are actively encouraging other children to post graphic images and videos of themselves or their peers. Please could we ask parents and carers to pay extra attention to all social media accounts to ensure that the content viewed or shared is appropriate for their age. We are investigating this matter and will be dealing with any criminal offences identified in a positive manner.

For further support or advice, please refer to the Dudley Safe and Sound Website.

 Online Safety | dudleysafeandsound

If you are experiencing financial hardship, please contact school in confidence. We have a small amount of funding which can be used to support families with essentials such food vouchers.

Dudley Council has rolled out its ‘winter wellbeing’ campaign, with a range of services available to help people stay safe and keep well over the colder months.

Aimed at those in need of extra support, information is on the council website and through hardcopy booklets available from Dudley Council Plus and borough libraries.

The campaign includes tips on how people can look after their health, find information and advice on keeping warm and heating the home, details of useful contacts and services, and help to stay active and connected within the local community.

People who are unable to get out and about during periods of cold weather can also find out about help with accessing food and medicines.

Further details can be found at   https://www.dudley.gov.uk/winterwellbeing 

Full calendar dates for the academic year can be found here........  https://theridge.sch.life/page/detail/parent-dates-2023-2024 

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