Dear Parents/Carers

The weeks seem to have sped past and it hardly seems possible that we are about to start the Easter holidays! Thank you for all your support this term.

I hope that you all have a happy and safe break, that the weather is kind and you are able to enjoy some quality time with your children.

Term starts for everyone on Monday 8^th April and we look forward to welcoming you back. (There is no INSET Day at the start of the Summer term this year.)

Happy Holidays!

Kind regards

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

After Easter, the children have the option of wearing summer uniform

• Yellow gingham or striped dress
• The Ridge Primary School Sweatshirt/Cardigan
• The Ridge Primary School Yellow Polo Shirt (non logoed polo shirts can also be worn)
• White or grey socks or tights
• Sandals may be worn, with socks, but must be suitable for school (no trainers, beach/jelly shoes)

Please can we also take the opportunity to remind you of the uniform on days when children come dressed for PE.

• The Ridge Primary School Sweatshirt/Cardigan
• Plain white tee or polo shirt
• Blue shorts or P.E. skirt
• In colder weather, blue joggers or a track suit may be worn. These should be none branded or with an unobtrusive logo.
• Trainers for outdoor P.E. and Games lessons (Key Stage 2 pupils)

Please can we remind you that if your child has pierced ears, any earrings worn to school should be plain simple studs. These must be able to be removed by your child for PE. If you are considering having your child’s ears pierced please have it done at the start of the Summer holiday so that they don’t have to miss PE. (They are not able to take part wearing earrings, even if they are covered.)

Please can we also remind you that hair clips, bobbles and headbands should be simple an unadorned.

Thank you

After the Easter holiday we will be transferring to our new catering provider, AIP. To coincide with this we will also be moving our school communication and payments to parent Mail. Please make sure that you are ready for these changes.

Hopefully you have all received information about this change and an email and/or text message to enable you access the app to book school meals and make on-line payments.

If you need any additional information or assistance, please visit the help site:

https://www.parentmail.co.uk/help/parenthelp/  

If you have not received any contact from ParentMail by 22nd March please contact Mrs Jones in the school office.

Menus are now live to book school lunches on ParentMail. 

If your child follows a special diet, please select the option ‘my child has an allergy’.  Allergy menus will be sent to families who have completed the allergy forms early next week.  Please note there is a price increase for paid meals to £2.45

Please see attached letter and menu selector from AiP

We will continue to use Class Dojo for direct communication with class teachers. However, please can we ask that for urgent messages, you contact the school office.  We've recently had a couple of instances where parents have sent time sensitive messages to Class Dojo. If the class teacher does not get an opportunity to check before school or at lunchtime, or the member of staff is absent these messages may be missed.

As you are aware, Mrs McGivney is only available in school on a Friday. After Easter we will have a new ‘triage’ system in place.  If you wish to speak to Mrs McGivney or arrange a meeting, please email Mrs Brown jbrown@ridge.dudley.sch.uk  who will liaise with Mrs McGivney the next time she is in school.

This Weeks attendance 

Whole School - 95.00%

Reception - 94.67%

Year 1 – 95.52%

Year 2 – 99.33%

Year 3 – 93.01%

Year 4 – 95.17%

Year 5 – 87.24%

Year 6 – 99.67%

Well done Year 6!

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.

If you are concerned about a child or young person, please call the telephone numbers below.

• During office hours Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, call children's services on 0300 555 0050. Select option 3
• Out of office hours, contact the Emergency Duty Team on 0300 555 8574
• In an emergency call 999

When you contact Children’s Services, you will speak to a professional who will listen to your concerns. They may take a few details and might need to contact you again, but your concern will be dealt with quickly and appropriately. You do not need to provide your name or give contact details if you do not wish to do so. Anonymous calls will not be ignored.

Alternatively, contact the NSPCC on 0800 800 5000

School (including Kindergarten) will be closed for face to face learning on Thursday 2^nd May so that school can be used for voting. On this day, pupils will undertake the remote learning set by their teacher.

The school and Kindergarten will also be closed to pupils on Friday 3^rd May for an INSET day and on Monday 6^th May because of the Bank Holiday. 

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

Follow us on Twitter