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Your Weekly Letter from the Head Teacher-Thursday February 2nd 2012 | Thu, 02 February 2012

Dear Parents and Carers,

As ever I am very pleased to tell you about the wonderful achievements and behaviour of our pupils this week. It is always a real pleasure to see children who have excelled in either their classroom work or an out of school activity. A number of our pupils represented the young people of the City at the 12th Holocaust Memorial Service at the Civic Centre on Sunday as part of Ouseburn Young Voices. I was so proud of their beautiful, passionate singing and it added a real emotional depth to the service. As a result of this we have been invited to sing for the inauguration of the new Lord Mayor later this year which will be a real event to see and be part of.

In a school of nearly 600 children there will inevitably be some disputes and disagreements and it is crucial that we teach our children to understand for themselves what is acceptable language, behaviour and actions however young or old they are. We are committed to our behaviour policy and will ensure that we constantly provide a safe, happy and respectful environment in which pupils can grow.

Mr Wallis-Clarke’s Young Achievers

A group of delighted Year 1 pupils, Shakiba , Gmar , Harry , Jasper , Ruby and Daniel came to show me their excellent independent writing describing Arctic Foxes and Polar bears. They were so proud to come upstairs to my office and receive a special sticker for their efforts.

There was musical success this week for Esme and Seth in reaching the final of the Avison Ensemble Young Musicians Award. The final will be later this year at the Shipley Art Gallery and we wish them success in their playing.

Gemma and Joseph also came to show me their descriptive writing completed as part of an end of term assessment. These had been very critically marked by the teacher in line with national examination criteria and showed excellent progress and use of different writing styles. The descriptions of a playground in Winter gave me the shivers!

Beth in Year 2 was pleased with her recent performances as a Cat and a ‘Cabbit’ in Puss in Boots at St Mary’s school – the photographs were lovely.

I continue to look forward to hearing from you and your children in the future so that we can share everyone’s success within our school community.

NATIONAL LIBRARY DAY
On Saturday, 4th February it’s National Libraries Day - a nationwide celebration of libraries, library users, staff and supporters which aims to showcase all that libraries have to offer and to encourage non-members to join. Newcastle Libraries will be marking this day and the week leading up to it with an exciting programme of activities, special events, prize draws, offers and giveaways across the service.
You are all invited to Jesmond Library where we will be marking the day by celebrating the re-hanging of our well-loved stained-glass panels. We start the celebrations with a coffee morning from 11.00 – 12.00. Bridget Jones the artist and creator of the artwork will join us and officially unveil the panels at 11.30am. The artwork was created as part of a joint project in the 1980’s with 9 and 10 year old pupils from West Jesmond Primary school. In the afternoon the celebrations continue with two creative workshops. Children will work with glass artist Sue Woolhouse and make their very own piece of decorative glass.

NEW AFTER SCHOOL CLUB
I know how important breakfast and after school club provision is for many families and how difficult it can be to secure good quality childcare within the area. Our provision is fully booked and we have a long waiting list so I was delighted to be approached by a new provider who will work in partnership with Newcastle City Council and wants to set up an After School Club in St Hilda’s Church Hall just over the metro line from us and very close to Starbucks. The intention is for this to open in September and a questionnaire will be circulated by the provider next week to gauge potential levels of interest. If this issue is important to you please can you complete the questionnaire to school after the half term holiday. I have met with the provider and I was impressed with their approach and business plan.

PARKING
We have had complaints from a number of rightly concerned parents that more cars are mounting the pavements around school when dropping off children, especially now on Tankerville Terrace. This causes a real danger to children walking safely on the pavement. Please can I ask parents NOT to do this.

SPORTING SUCCESS
I would like to make another regular feature in my newsletter of the sporting success of our children. There is often much more going on than parents always know about and this is a great way to share our success. Our football team were in action last week and I am delighted to say we beat Gosforth Junior High 1-0. Well done to the team!

CEREAL BOX TOPS
Thank you to everyone who has sent in Nestle Box Tops. We have already collected over 140 tokens from the top of Nestle Cereal boxes which means that Mrs Elliot will be able to choose up to 10 lovely new Dorling Kindersley books to boost our school library. We have until 31st March to collect as many tokens as we can. Could we make it 300? If you, your friends or family eat Nestle cereal, please bring us your box tops.
With my very Best Wishes to you all for another very successful week ahead at West Jesmond

Gary Wallis-Clarke

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0191 281 0000

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Thu, 02 February 2012