Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that you have all had a good week despite the very unpredictable weather. Next week is our last in school before we break up for half term. Let’s hope there is some bright autumnal days lined up for the holiday!

This week’s newsletter is full of the usual updates on events in school, news about our school and wider community and some advice for parents and carers to help safeguard children playing Roblox. There is also a list of events happening next week, which is a busy one with children out on visits and the ever popular RFA Discos.

Best wishes,

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

Again, it was lovely to welcome so many of you in to school on Wednesday. Parents from Year 3 and 4 came to visit a reading lesson as part of our Family Learning programme. Next week we are looking forward to seeing parents of pupils in Years 5 and 6, who will also have the opportunity to share in a reading lesson.

OSCAR Club would like to offer a huge thank-you to Mr Smith – dad of Henry in Y4. We mentioned to the children that OSCAR was hoping to raise lots of money at the Christmas Fayre - and beyond - in order to buy a Nintendo Switch for the older children. The next day, Mr Smith emailed to offer us an Xbox One, controller and some suitable games. As you can imagine, we are absolutely delighted by this kind and generous offer! This means we can extend our fund raising ambitions to replacing old and worn out toys and games for the entire club.

Further details about OSCAR club and their fundraising efforts can be found on their newsletter within their page on the school website - https://theridge.sch.life/page/detail/oscar-newsletter-october-2023 

We have now set the remaining Inset Days for this academic year. The school will be closed to pupils on the following dates:

• Friday 24^th November 2023
• Monday 19^th February 2024
• Friday 3^rd May 2024

(Thursday 2^nd May 2024 will be a remote learning day as the school will be closed for voting.)

• Monday 22^nd July 2024

(School will close for the summer to pupils on Friday 19^th July 2024)

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

In our previous newsletters we invited nominations to stand as parent governor. We have now had someone come forward who is interested in fulfilling this role. Therefore, we are extending the deadline for expressions of interest and if no more are received by Wednesday 25^th October, we will appoint the person who has offered.

Next week we will start selling poppies and other items for the Royal British Legion. The following are available

• Snap Bands        £1.50
• Wristbands         £1.00
• Other selected items (e.g. stationary)         50p
• Poppies              Minimum Donation 50p

Year 6 will be selling these at playtimes. Any money should be brought into school in a named purse and will remain the responsibility of the child. Alternatively, money can be sent in an envelope labelled with the child’s name, class, amount and item requested and in put in the secure posting box. We only have limited supplies of each item and unfortunately, once they are gone, they are gone!

Dudley Parent Carer Forum are currently running their annual survey of SEND services. This is a completely independent survey, designed for parent carers of children or young people aged 0-25, looking at a range of education, health and social care services across the borough. Parent Carers are invited to share their views, letting us know about the services that are doing well, and those that may need to improve. They had a fantastic response last year and the results of this provided them with some very important data which has enabled them to push for change where this is needed.

The survey takes around 10-15 minutes to complete.

The RFA are hosting discos on Thursday 26^th October.  Tickets are available now. Please post your child’s money in an envelope, marked with their name, class and the amount included, in the secure posting box. Tickets will then be issued via the children.

• Key Stage 1 - 5.45 and 6.45p.m. (Tickets cost £3.00 and include a drink and a biscuit)
• Key Stage 2 Disco - 7.00 and 8.15 p.m. (Tickets cost £2.50, with refreshments available to buy).

Reception – Discos are very noisy and some children can get overwhelmed. We strongly recommend that this early in the year, parents delay this experience until next term’s event.

We are currently recruiting for a cleaner to work at The Ridge and have extended the closing date for applications to 10^th November. Please make this vacancy known to anyone that you are aware of who might be interested; family, friends, neighbours and colleagues.

https://www.wmjobs.co.uk/job/174129/cleaner/

Last Weeks attendance 

Whole School - 96.42%

Reception - 92.60%

Year 1 – 96.90%

Year 2 – 96.66%

Year 3 – 98.67%

Year 4 – 99.29%

Year 5 – 96.67%

Year 6 – 94.83%

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, 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.

How can I help my child stay safe while playing Roblox? This is the question that a lot of parents grapple with when it comes to the popular platform. To help ease those fears, tech journalist and games expert Andy Robertson sheds light on the game and how it can be played safely. 

https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/esafety-news/parents-guide-to-roblox-and-how-your-kids-can-play-it-safely/?gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1ZW5-7SEggMVCt7tCh24swX2EAAYASAAEgIbRPD_BwE

In addition this poster gives a useful summary - https://theridge.sch.life/page/detail/roblox 

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