A message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

The Christmas spirit is certainly evident here at The Ridge and there is an air of excitement amongst the children - and the staff! It is precious this year to be able to celebrate with many of our usual school traditions and we look forward to welcoming you to our performances and our Christmas Fayre. Foundation Stage have done a wonderful job of ushering in the spirit of Christmas with their two performances of ‘The Sleepy Shepherd’ and we look forward to Key Stage 1 and 2 sharing their songs and words with us next week.

We have been celebrating the on-going success of our Tag Rugby team who were at the district finals on Tuesday. They won all of their group games to make the final, where despite an energetic and hard fought game, they lost 5-3 to Netherton C of E Primary School. However the good news is that both the winners and runners up will be representing Dudley at the Black Country games in the summer! What a fantastic achievement for the team and their coach, Mr Lamb.

Kind regards

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

Staffing Update

At the start of next term, there will be some changes to our staffing.

  • Mrs Norgate will begin her maternity leave. We wish her all the very best and look forward to celebrating the arrival of her baby. From January, Year 3 will be taught by Mrs Sharon Murphy. Mrs Murphy is an experienced teacher having worked in a variety of schools since over the past 12 years, most recently being an English leader in a school in Worcestershire. We look forward to welcoming her to the staff team.
  • Mrs Burley will be leaving her post as Kindergarten Teacher to spend more time with her young daughter. We will really miss her – she has had such an influence on the education of our youngest children. We wish her well and hope that she will keep in touch. In January, Mrs Cole and Mrs Reynolds, who covered Mrs Burley’s maternity leave, will cover the Kindergarten teacher post.
  • We have restructured the way that our Teaching Assistants (TAs) are used across the school. Historically every class has had a TA every morning but moving forward this will no longer be the case. Every class will have TA support but TA’s may be timetabled across more than one class. We will let you know which TA will be working with which class, after the holiday. Arrangements for Reception Class remain unchanged and Mrs Hyde will continue to work with Mrs Melia.
  • We have recently welcomed Theresa Roberts to the Site Team. After Christmas she will be joined by Christina MacLennon, who will bring our cleaning team back to full strength.

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.

Please make every effort to ensure that your child attends the evening performance. They will need to be back at school for 6.00 p.m. if for any reason your chid is unable to attend, please make sure that you let their teacher know.

Please note that all tickets have now been distributed. If you have tickets that you are unable to use, 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.

Christmas Cards

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.

News From The Governors

This week some of the governors met with Mrs Hudson and our external School Improvement Advisor to discuss the progress made in achieving last year’s objectives in our School Improvement Plan. There were some pleasing outcomes, including the development of the curriculum and the introduction of the new Sounds-Write approach to phonics.  They have looked at our targets for the year to come and also had some training to further develop their understanding of school data. We are grateful for their commitment to being our ‘critical friend’ and supporting our on-going journey of school improvement.

Reminders

  • School closes for Christmas at 2.00 p.m. on Friday 16th December
  • There is an Inset Day on 3rd January 2023. The Spring Term starts for the children on Wednesday 4th January.

Attendance and Punctuality

Thank you for your on-going support with attendance: we know that there are lots of illnesses doing the rounds at the moment, including sickness and diarrhoea.

 

This week’s whole school attendance is  95.22 %

 

This Weeks attendance 

Reception - 94.00%

Year 1 – 95.33%

Year 2 – 97.00%

Year 3 – 96.79%

Year 4 – 96.00%

Year 5 – 94.14%

Year 6 – 93.33%

Well done Year 2!

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 Burley.

Parent Problem Solving Circles and Free Parenting Courses

Bringing up children isn’t always plain sailing! Sometime situations arise where it would help to chat to other parents about the challenges of parenting. Family Centres are now offering activities and ’Parent Problem Solving Circles’  to families at their centres. Our local Family Hub is Stourbridge, based at the Family Centre in Forge Road (DY8 1XF) and they are open on the first Wednesday in each month between 10.00 a.m. and 12 noon for a cup of tea and a chat. To book please email parenting@dudley.gov.uk .

The Family Hub also offers free parenting programmes such as Triple P.

Household Support Fund - help with cost of living during the winter time

This scheme is to help if you are struggling to pay your bills due to the cost of living increases. It is a one off payment made to eligible households in Dudley Borough. To apply, you will need to meet certain criteria and complete an application form.

Who can apply

You can make an application if you live in the Dudley Borough and:

  • You are the only adult in the household and your gross income, including wages and any other income (for example, pensions and all benefits), is less than £35,000 per year and your savings are less than £6000.

Or

  • You are a multi person household (this includes your partner, children or and anyone else that lives with you) and your joint gross income, including wages and any other income (for example pensions and all benefits), are less than £45,000 per year and your savings are less that £6000.

You will also need to tell us why you are struggling to pay your bills. People who are eligible will receive a minimum one off payment of £150.

How to apply

Once you have logged in to apply for the household support fund, you can either search through a drop-down list for Dudley Council or input a ‘quick code’ to take you directly through to our application form. The code for Dudley's household support Fund is 425BNP.

Online applications can be completed via the link https://grantapproval.co.uk/ full details are available on the Dudley Council Website https://www.dudley.gov.uk/council-community/cost-of-living/household-support-fund/

Counting Down to Christmas - Dates for your Diary

Friday 2nd December 3.30 - 5.30p.m. Christmas Fayre
Saturday 3rd December 9.30 - 11.30 a.m. Breakfast with Santa
Tuesday 6th December 2.00pm Key Stage 2 Christmas Production (Further information to follow)
6.30pm Key Stage 2 Christmas Production (Further information to follow)
Thursday 8th December 2.00pm Key Stage 1 Christmas Performance (Further information to follow)
6.30pm Key Stage 1 Christmas Performance (Further information to follow)
Friday 9th December School Christmas Lunch and Christmas Jumper Day
Tuesday 13th December PM - Kindergarten Party
Wednesday 14th December 2.00 - 3.20pm Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 Party
Thursday 15th December 2.00 - 3.20pm KS2 Christmas Party
Friday 16th December 2.00pm School Closes for Christmas

What's Happening Next Week

Tuesday • Forest School for Years 3 and Reception
• Year 4 Clarinet Whole Class Lesson
• 2.00 p.m. Key Stage 2 Performance
• 6.00 p.m. Key Stage 2 Children to arrive to prepare for their performance
• 6.30 p.m. Key Stage 2 Performance
Wednesday • Years 1-3 Christmas Craft Club (Group 2)
• Years 5 & 6 Tag Rugby Club
Thursday • 2.00 p.m. Key Stage 1 Performance
• Years 3-6 Football Club
• 6.00 p.m. Key Stage 1 Children to arrive to prepare for their performance
• 6.30 p.m. Key Stage 1 Performance
Friday • Year 4 Swimming

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