Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope that you all had a lovely half term and were able to enjoy some time with your family. Returning to school on Monday marked that start of the final half term of the year and a busy time of school events and activities. It was unfortunate that we had to postpone the Amble Ramble yesterday but we are always at the mercy of the British weather. Let’s hope that we are able to rely on it when we get around to our reserve date and for when our sports days are scheduled!

Over the next couple of weeks we will be welcoming a new member of staff and saying “good bye” to another. On Monday 16^th March, Mrs Gemma Peters will be joining the admin team as our newly appointed Admin and Attendance Assistant. We know that you will make her feel welcome and hope that she will be very happy in her new role. At the end of that week we will be saying “goodbye” to Mrs Maureen Rose who has been a lunchtime supervisor at The Ridge for the past 10 years. We wish her every happiness in her well-deserved retirement.

I hope that you have a good weekend.

Kind regards

Mrs D Hudson

Headteacher

Just a quick reminder that Friday 13^th June will be an INSET Day and school will be closed to pupils.

Yesterday a squad of sixteen gymnasts from Key Stage 1 & 2 competed in the Dudley Gymnastics Finals at Dudley Gymnastics Club. It is the first time that we as a school have ever reached the finals, to which we are blessed to have such a strong squad, both currently, and moving forward into the future.

Both of our KS1 and KS2 teams faced Dudley`s best of the best gymnasts. who were all representing their schools at the finals.

We are super excited and so proud to announce that our KS1 Team placed 2nd, and received their silver medals on the podium. Following the trend were our amazing KS2 squad, to which one of our teams placed an impressive third place and received their bronze medals competing in the extremely difficult `Active Gymnast` category. And to top up an already very successful day, Poppy from our KS1 Team received an individual first place gold medal, out of all of the children in her category. An amazing achievement for both Poppy and her teammates.

Every member of our squad gave their absolute all during their floor routine and vault routines, let alone their hard dedication in training, both in school, and at home. We are so proud of you all. And although we sadly lose our Year 6 Girls in July, the future looks very bright for gymnastics here at The Ridge. Keep up the amazing work everyone.

Could all decorated and filled bags please be returned to school by Thursday 12th June.  Thank you!

We are working with Dudley Performing Arts (DPA) to provide music lessons in school and enrolments are now open for lessons in school starting in September. The team at DPA have decades of experience and are the biggest provider of music education in our area. Students can start learning for as little as £9.00 a session. If you would like your child to start learning an instrument simply click on the link below to find out more and how to enrol.

Lessons can take place in school making it easy to fit in around your busy family lives, or at our music centre, Cable Plaza after school.

https://www.dudley.gov.uk/things-to-do/dudley-performing-arts/information-for-parents-and-young-people/music-lessons-in-schools/

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Mrs Hudson is the Designated Safeguarding Lead and any concerns should be shared with her or the Deputy Safeguarding Lead – Mrs Hadley.  Where child protection concerns are raised, the school has a statutory duty to refer these concerns to children’s social care.

We are pleased with the recent developments to improve site security at The Ridge.

As you may know, the school had been subject to a number of incidents including unauthorised access to the school site overnight, intruders on the school roof compromising the integrity of the waterproof felting, damage to the foundation stage and pre-school outdoor areas and an attempt to break in to the bungalow. This was not only distressing to children and staff, it also caused over £20,000 worth of damage. Dog walkers failing to pick up dog poo and littering of the field and forest school areas, sometimes with dangerous items, resulted in extra work and worry for staff.  As a result, our insurers, part of the Department for Education, agreed to fund replacement, higher fencing, CCTV and a new entry system.

At the same time, the school governors worked with the police and local authority to address the issues caused by the Public Right of Way, which ran across the school field: it seemed inconceivable that a Public Right of Way should run through a school when the safety of our pupils is of the highest priority! Happily, just before Easter, we heard the good news that the hard work of everyone had paid off and Public Right of Way was closed, under some relatively new Anti-Social Behaviour legislation. This will be reviewed in three years but in the meantime we all welcome these additional measures to safeguard our pupils.

As soon as the work on the gates is completed, for parents and carers of Reception and Key Stage 1 pupils we will return to the one-way system at the start and end of the day. I know that this will be welcome news to many of you. With the new access installed, we no longer need a staff presence at the vehicle entrance and Mr Rowley will be able to move to the rear gates to monitor the flow of adults and children around the site. We will let you know as soon as this becomes operational: probably at some point next week.

Please can we remind you for the need to keep an eye on pupils once they have been released into your care at the end of the school day.

• Children should not use the fixed playground equipment at the end of the day. It is especially concerning to see Reception and Key Stage 1 pupils on the Key Stage 2 equipment.
• Children must not play football at the end of the day. Our kind neighbours often return balls to the playground but these pose a danger, especially to young children, when football is played in this crowded space.

Thank you for your support with this.

Easyfundraising is a scheme which allows you to collect free donations for The Ridge every time you buy something online. Since the scheme was launched at The Ridge, we have had nearly £2000 in donated by major retailers. Only recently Mrs Hudson earned £12.00 for school when shopping online for breakdown cover and although not every retailer is as generous with their donations, the odd few pence here and there, quickly add up!

It won't cost you a penny extra so please help us in these financially challenging times by following these easy steps to start collecting.

1. Join

It's easy to get started, search for your cause and join in (or follow the link below.........)

Easy Fundraising 

2. Shop

From travel to toasters, finding insurance quotes or booking a holiday, every time you shop, do it the easyfundraising way

3. Collect

Help out when you check out - it doesn't cost you a penny extra

May is designated as NF Awareness Month to raise awareness about Neurofibromatosis (NF), a group of genetic disorders that cause tumours to grow on nerves throughout the body. The Childhood Tumour Trust is a charity which supports children and young people with this genetic condition, including those within our school community. The trust has provided support and information on NF1, as well as lots of social opportunities when the children can talk to and interact with others who have the same condition as them.

On Monday 9^th and Tuesday 10^th June, we are offering you the opportunity to support this charity and will be holding a bucket collection on the playground before and after school. Any donation, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated.

This Weeks attendance 

Whole School - 94.93%

Reception - 96.33%

Year 1 – 96.00%

Year 2 – 93.67%

Year 3 – 97.10%

Year 4 – 98.00%

Year 5 – 88.85%

Year 6 – 93.67%

Well done Year 4!

Follow us on Twitter