http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article News en derek.stuart@westjesmondprimary.org.uk Copyright 2012 2012-02-02T10:27:20+00:00 http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article/your-weekly-letter-from-the-head-teacher9/ http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article/your-weekly-letter-from-the-head-teacher9/ 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 DAYOn 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 CLUBI 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. PARKINGWe 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 SUCCESSI 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 TOPSThank 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 office@westjesmond.newcastle.sch.uk 0191 281 0000 News 2012-02-02T10:27:20+00:00 http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article/your-weekly-letter-from-the-head-teacher-thursday-january-19th-2012/ http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article/your-weekly-letter-from-the-head-teacher-thursday-january-19th-2012/ Dear Parents and Carers, It seems that hardly a day goes by this New Year without another new announcement from the Department for Education and the Education minister Michael Gove. I want to assure all parents that at West Jesmond we are keeping ourselves well informed of all new developments at this time of tremendous educational change and planning a future for us that is secure and bright. We will face many challenges in the coming year including the emergence of the new primary curriculum (though this now looks as if it has been delayed again), the consideration of academy or trust status within our partnership of schools, considering our response to the emergence of free schools within the City and aggressive competition and meeting the increased demands of a new inspection framework. All in all it will be a very changing and busy time ahead but I remain confident that together we can decide what is best for our school and our children. The school’s governing body is being very proactive in reviewing our needs and we will continue to keep parents informed and consulted as we move forward. If anything it makes me more determined than ever to put our children’s needs first. Mr Wallis-Clarke’s Young AchieversLola in Year 5 came to show me her excellent creative writing, retelling a fable and Arlo in Year 2 also did some excellent writing telling me about a spider hiding in a shop!Anna in Year 2 achieved her Badge 5 in the the Newcastle City Gymnastics assessment and Holly in Year 2 achieved her Rainbow 200m swimming badge. Donya in Year 2 also did an excellent piece of writing about a shopping trip! Well done to Mrs Hogan’s class this week!! Poppy and Bradley were sent certificates for their first performance in a NEMCO City music ensemble. (They are still in my office if they want to come and get them and get their special sticker from me too!) Ferdoes in Year 4 received a special thank-you letter from the Queen at Buckingham Palace after he had written to her to wish her a Happy Christmas. Dan in Year 4 also showed me his Stage 4 swimming certificate from Jesmond Pool and Sumayya in Reception was also delighted with her Stage 2 swimming badge and certificate.Toby and Jake were presented with a certificate from Mrs Reed for completing the second stage of their spelling and reading programme. Well done boys! And finally Robert in Year 5 showed me an excellent piece of work showing excellent mastery of using punctuation.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. PARENT CONSULTATION EVENINGSJust forward notice that our meetings for you to come and talk to your child’s class teacher about their progress will be held this term on Wednesday 22nd February, Monday 27th February and Wednesday 29th February. More details about booking appointments will be sent out this term but please get these dates into your diaries for these important meetings. During these open evenings governors will be available and we are going to be holding a consultation event in the main entrance so please come and tell us your thoughts and views of what you like about our school and how we can make it even better. RECOGNITION OF GOVERNOR SERVICEI was invited at the end of last term to a very special event at the Mansion House to recognise the achievement of Jane Edminson our Chair of Governors in recognition of her 10 years of service as a member of the governing body. It was a wonderful event and rightly celebrated this dedication and commitment to our school in the presence of the Lord Mayor. TASTE OF THE MANORIt was also wonderful to be invited along to a new musical, dance and media showcase event at Heaton Manor on Tuesday night. Students are now regularly performing in the intimate surroundings of the performing arts studio and it was great to see many ex-West Jesmond pupils playing, dancing, singing and having their media film-work shown. It was truly impressive event and can recommend it to any parents considering going in the future. The refreshments also created by the GCSE Food technology group were fabulous too! NEW CLOTHES RECYCLING BANKEagle-eyed parents will have noticed that we now have a new clothes recycling bank at school. It is in the small yard at the side of the school near the Year 6 entrance on Tankerville Terrace. This will be open to parents before and after school to drop off any unwanted clothes and other items. (Please can items be secured in a plastic bag).  (Items to be included: unwanted textiles including adult and childrens clothes, paired shoes – tied together with laces or elastic bands, hats, bags, belts, curtains, towels and bed linen). For each load the Friends receive a small donation so not only to you get to recycle old clothes you help to fund raise for the school at the same time. I’m sure children will love filling the bank so have a rummage and see what you can find that can be re-used. I’ve already managed to already make some space in my wardrobe by sorting through my work shirts and ties! All donations are gratefully accepted! With my very Best Wishes to you all for another very successful week ahead at West Jesmond Gary Wallis-Clarkeoffice@westjesmond.newcastle.sch.uk   0191 281 0000 News 2012-01-19T10:11:06+00:00 http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article/your-weekly-letter-from-the-head-teacher8/ http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article/your-weekly-letter-from-the-head-teacher8/ Thursday January 12th 2012 Dear Parents and Carers, Welcome back and a very happy New Year to you all! I do hope everyone had a lovely Christmas holiday and getting back into the routine of coming to school again on these dark mornings has not been too hard! We have a very busy and exciting term planned and the children have settled back into learning and working hard beautifully. We have had a number of new families join our school this term and I want to say a special welcome to them and I hope they enjoy making new friends. JANUARY TEACHER TRAINING DAYAs you will be aware we had our last teacher training day of the school year on Tuesday 3rd January. I always like to keep parents informed about these important days as they help to shape and improve the quality of teaching we deliver for your children. We all spent some time on the morning looking at our behaviour policy and thinking about more ways that we can reward children for outstanding effort and work and excellent behaviour. We also looked at the Nelson handwriting scheme which we have formally adopted across the whole school to improve consistency and fluency in joining letters! Teachers spent some of the day reviewing the progress of pupils in their class following the assessments completed at the end of the Autumn term and finally we reviewed our scheme of work for art and particularly checking progression in painting skills. The teachers then completed a number of art tasks some of which are on display outside of my room for the children to see. We have some very talented artists on the staff and this all helps to ensure the quality of teaching we deliver continues to improve. Mr Wallis-Clarke’s Young AchieversWe have a bumper crop of young achievers this week as this newsletter covers children coming to see me with their exceptional work in the last week of term before Christmas and the first week back! Firstly Daniel  and Toby came to show me their very well crafted and emotional pieces of writing based on a short film called ‘The Piano Player’. Toby came to show me his prize from a recent fencing competition in Durham.A big congratulation and well done to Max , Louis and Akinwumi for singing with Newcastle Cathedral choristers at Grey’s Monument to launch the Digital TV switch-over and being pictured in the Chronicle!Amy and William in Year 2 were sent by their teacher in recognition of excellent writing and completing the long story of ‘The King’s journey’. Tess in Year 4 was rightly proud of her 400m swimming certificate, as was Polly for being the most improved swimmer at Fenham Pool. Anna in Year 3 and Emma in Year 2 gained their 50m swimming badges and Abbie Nicole in Year 5 showed me her certificate gained for diving in a submarine in the Atlantic Ocean!Matthew in Year 2 showed me his wonderful plan for a house to protect the 3 little pigs from the big nasty wolf and Minnie in Year 3 brought her huge trophy for Irish dancing into school along with her photographs, crown and sash for being Champion of Champions in 2011. Lauren in Year 3 gained a distinction in her Grade 1 piano and Ruby in Year 3 has been celebrating her excellent dancing at St Hilda’s church.Dylan in Reception was so proud to show me his excellent independent writing about the sun and Finley in Year 2 was very proud of his excellent success in spelling tests. Kali showed me her certificate gained for taking part in a sports holiday camp and also her Elf certificate gained at the ‘Elf training school’.Finally a huge thank you to Ruby in Year 2 for making some wonderful sweets for me as a Christmas present! They were wonderful!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 PARENT CONSULTATION EVENINGSJust forward notice that our meetings for you to come and talk to your child’s class teacher about their progress will be held this term on Wednesday 22nd February, Monday 27th February and Wednesday 29th February. More details about booking appointments will be sent out this term but please get these dates into your diaries for these important meetings. During these open evenings governors will be available and we are going to be holding a consultation event in the main entrance so please come and tell us your thoughts and views of what you like about our school and how we can make it even better. RECEPTION APPLICATION DEADLINEIf you have a child ready to start our Reception classes in September 2012 please make sure your application form is returned to the Civic Centre by Sunday 15th January. We only have 90 places available and demand this year for places is going to be as great as ever judging by the number of parents I have shown around. WEST JESMOND’S GOT TALENTAs if we didn’t already know this! Our annual talent show event is taking place on Wednesday 8th February from 6 pm. Tickets will be available shortly but it may be another date for your diary. THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDSFinally I just want to say a huge thank you to the ‘Friends of West Jesmond’ for all their wonderful work in the run up to Christmas organising the Shopping Event and Christmas Fair. This fundraising is so important to us and has helped us to order a large ‘Activity Trim Trail’ for the Key Stage 2 yard which we are hoping will be ready for the Summer Term as well as supporting us with improving our reading stock and updating DVD players in certain classrooms. With my very Best Wishes to you all for another very successful week ahead at West JesmondGary Wallis-Clarkeoffice@westjesmond.newcastle.sch.uk  0191 281 0000 News 2012-01-13T10:58:01+00:00 http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article/your-weekly-letter-from-the-head-teacher-thursday-december-8th-2011/ http://www.westjesmondprimary.org.uk/news/article/your-weekly-letter-from-the-head-teacher-thursday-december-8th-2011/ Dear Parents and Carers, This will be my final newsletter this term as next week the teachers will be sending home the termly colour newsletter detailing all the wonderful events we have been participating in this term. Christmas events are now well under-way and as I write this I have so far seen two superb performances from Year 1 and 2. The comments I have had from so many parents have been so positive, expressing their pride in their child’s performance and genuine heart-felt thanks to all the staff for the hard work it takes to put on a show like these. The Reception nativity is tomorrow and I know there will be many tears in the audience! It has been wonderful to see parents and children come together to celebrate and to pause and reflect at this busy time of year. As I have said at the end of all our performances, whatever your faith or belief we can all take comfort from the emergence of light from the dark, warmth from the cold, hope in a time of struggle and conflict and a genuine belief in the good of all human beings. Merry Christmas to you all and have a wonderful, prosperous New Year. URGENT NEWS: EXTRA YEAR 3 and 4 PERFORMANCE We have been literally ‘overwhelmed’ by the demand for tickets for the Year 3 and 4 Family Christmas Sing-a-Long and so have decided to put on another performance on MONDAY 12th December at 9.15 a.m. We must ticket these events to comply with fire safety regulations which only permit us to have 200 parents in the Hall at any one time. To go beyond this, we would actually need to bolt the seats to the floor. We never want to see any parent disappointed and due to the high demand we have arranged this additional performance. If you were not able to get tickets for the Friday afternoon performance I do hope you can make the Monday morning instead. Tickets will be available from the Main Office and priority will be given to those parents not able to attend the Friday afternoon. Please could I ask all parents coming to either performance to make sure they have their tickets ready to present at the door. ROTARY CLUB AWARDIt was with great pleasure that I was invited along to the Jesmond Rotary Club lunch last Friday to be presented with a very special certificate in recognition of the outstanding citizenship, personal qualities and community spirit of our children in 2010. This is in light of the continuous work we do in terms of charity fund-raising, and participation in the Jesmond Community events. I gave a speech on behalf of the school (slightly impromptu but I managed!) talking about our strengths and plans for further establishing our school at the heart if this community. I look forward to a further partnership with this organisation and they are very willing to help and support us as the only state primary school in the Jesmond wards. Mr Wallis-Clarke’s Young AchieversAyesha in Year 6 did a wonderful report of her time in Radio Club in her own time, celebrating and advertising this important club which the children love. The report was beautifully presented and Mrs Hainsworth and Mr Stuart were delighted with her work. Advay in Year 2 came to show me his yellow belt in Karate. He is currently training at the David Lloyd centre and is enjoying this martial art immensely. Similarly, Antonio in Year 6  is working hard with his Taekwondo and won two gold medals in a recent event for his pattern work and sparring. Finally Louis and Fynn in Year 3 came to play their violins for me following their presentation of a Foundation Studio Award from the Sage, Gateshead. They beautifully played a combination of Christmas sings and Grade 1 pieces. 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. SCHOOL RE-OPEN TIMESSchool will re-open to pupils on Wednesday 4th January at 8.45 a.m. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday and has time to spend with friends and family and reflect on the important things in life. With my very Best Wishes to you all for another very successful week ahead at West Jesmond Gary Wallis-Clarkeoffice@westjesmond.newcastle.sch.uk          0191 281 0000 News 2011-12-08T08:39:38+00:00