Dear Parents/Carers,

         Welcome back, after what I hope was a very relaxing and peaceful holiday. I hope the rain at home didn’t spoil your fun!
I would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to all of our new children and their families. I trust that you will enjoy a long and successful relationship with the community of Ravenstone. We are all settling in and enjoying the first few days with your children. As ever, there is much to share:

GOLDEN AWARDS: The recipients for last term’s Golden Awards for consistently excellent work and behaviour were as follows:
Reception: Lucas D-S, Ru A, Eliot M, Samuel T
Y1: Devina P, Izzy R, Yasmina B, Harry C
Y2: Ani O, Viviana H, Kitty A-B, Sam N
Y3: Ryan L, Ethan B, Hawa S, Safiyah A
Y4: Isaac M, Natasha McK, Lia F, Joseph B
Y5: Francesca K-H, Josh H, Aaminah A, Ben N
Y6: Edith S, Tamzin D-B, Flynn R-S, Ezio C-B-C
Many, many congratulations to them all.
 

OWARE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Over 160 children entered the annual Ravenstone Oware competition run by Mary Hargreaves. The winners were as follows: Y1 Phoebe L, Y2 Jack B, Y3 Taryn VC, Y4 Toby L, Y5 Khinar P, Y6 Kofi O-A. The runner-up was Taryn and the overall champion was Toby after an exciting play off. Ravin R was awarded Player of the Year!

CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS: Over 80 children entered the annual Ravenstone Chess competition run by Ewa Stevens. The winners were as follows: Y1 Lauren McG, Y2 Joseph B Y3 Emile S, Y4 Olivier McL, Y5 Savannah S, and Y6 Jacques McL. Top girl player was Savannah and overall champion was Jacques who beat his brother Olivier, in a thrilling final.
 

GOLDEN BADGE: Josh H (now Y6) also received a Golden Badge last year for having 100% attendance. Let’s hope I give out even more this year.

EXTRA CURRICULAR CLUBS: We are busy organising the various clubs that will take place for different groups of children and separate notices will go out asap. NB To make things easier for everyone, all clubs will finish in the penultimate week of term i.e. no clubs in the last week.

SUMMER SHOW: ‘SOLED OUT’: As you may be aware, the summer show (including all current Y2-Y6) was professionally filmed on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th July and DVDs are available to order, a separate form was sent out yesterday. The children watched the DVD this week.

STAFFING NEWS: I am delighted to inform you that Mrs Domaingue is now the proud mother of baby Zac, born on 2nd September. Mother and baby are fine and I’m sure Emily will pop in with her son to see us all very soon. You will recall that Ms Fiona Hamilton (Y5) had a serious cycle accident at the end of last term. I am pleased to report that she is healing well and will be back at work fairly soon but unfortunately not for the first few weeks. In the meantime Ms Natalie Lesser returns to Ravenstone and will teach her Y5 class.

PARENTS’/CARERS’ SURVEY: They say timing is everything! In the last week I sent out a random sample of 150 questionnaires to parents and carers across the school. I only received about 20 back. I know how supportive you are and how keen everyone is to help us improve what we do at Ravenstone, so maybe it was just the end of term and there was too much going on. I will conduct a whole school survey early after Christmas.
The ones we did get back were very positive indeed. Areas to improve included: a) The website. This is already in hand. We were one of the first schools to have a working website and of course it is very old now. Our new website should be up and running very soon and it should be easier to access the various home guides and to print spelling lists etc. There will be clear separate year sections, governors and PTA pages and lots of space for photos and video. Watch this space! b) Y6 Secondary transfer meeting. We stopped this meeting a few years ago since the authority now hold two central meetings and also all of the information is in the very detailed guide given to Y6 at the start of term. However, we have listened and have reinstated this meeting. c) A couple of people asked for more sport. We can always do more, of course, but I believe that we do a fair bit of sport, both curricular and extra-curricular.

FRIDAY ASSEMBLIES: Every Friday 10:00-10:15am we hold our work sharing/celebration assemblies. All parents are invited to attend and whilst you may not necessarily see your child’s work you will see some from her/his class. We will be delighted to see you, and so will your children! Come along. If you have young children, they are very welcome, only please ensure that they don’t get restless and disturb the assembly. The timetable for this term is as follows:
(Reception will not be participating until all children have settled, possibly after half term. Look out for the notices by the reception classes)

Sep 10, 24 Oct 8, 22 Nov 12, 26 YEARS 6, 4, 2, R
Lower Hall: Mrs Furnell/Mrs Bolton Y6, Mrs Schulenburg Y4, Ms Waugh/Mr Huie Y2, Simon’s Rec
Upper Hall: Mrs Lynch Y6, Mr Westland Y4, Ms Pulling Y2, Felicity’s Rec

Sep 17, Oct 1, 15 Nov 5, 19 Dec 3 YEARS 5, 3, 1
Lower Hall: Mrs Hood Y5, Mr Van Brown Y3, Mrs Hine Y1
Upper Hall: Ms Hamilton Y5, Mr Friday Y3, Ms Westwood Y1

(Due to reasons of security, please arrive no earlier than 9:55 for these assemblies and ensure you are off the premises at 10:25. A member of staff will count you in and out. Thank you)

PTA SOCIAL/AGM: We are indeed fortunate to have such a talented and committed group of parents who contribute so much to the school, as well as having a lot of fun! This year’s AGM is on Wednesday 22nd September at 7:00 for a 7:30pm start. Please come along, staff look forward to meeting you.
CLASS NEWSLETTERS/INFORMATION/WEBSITE: Class teachers are finalising timetables and information about year groups will be available shortly. Instead of sending home letters we intend to use our (new) website, thus continuing to reduce our carbon footprint. Obviously we will still have paper copies available for anyone who would prefer this. However, we are still finalising the new site so for this half term teachers will send home paper copies of the homeguides. [A reminder that the old web address is: www.ravenstoneschool.co.uk.] The new site is not live, yet.

BIKES/SCOOTERS: We are delighted that so many children travel to school by bike or scooter. Can I remind all parents and children that you need to secure your bike or scooter with a decent lock. The school cannot accept responsibility for any bike or scooter on the premises.

DOGS: I would like to remind all parents that dogs (even little ones!) are not allowed in the playground (or tied up by the gates) at any time and obviously smoking is not permitted on the premises at all.

LOST PROPERTY/PACKED LUNCH ROOM: All unnamed lost property will eventually find its way to the coat racks by the packed lunch room. From time to time we move this out into the main playground. Please help your child look there for any missing items. In addition, could parents please help us ensure that the packed lunch bags are collected at the end of each day. On the first day of term a number of bags were left, complete with various items of half eaten food etc.

SCHOOL MEALS: I reported last term that Harrison’s the borough’s catering company have put up the cost of school meals from September to £2.25 per day, £11.25 per week. For the half term, from now, it is £67.50 (30 days) and for the whole term is £146.25 (65days). I must remind parents that you have to pay in advance. Cheques made payable to Ravenstone Primary School Disbursements A/C and MUST HAVE A BANK CARD NUMBER on the reverse. We are looking into offering you the option of paying on-line and hopefully this will be available soon, once our new office manager, Dorothy, is settled.

ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY: Please can you remember that school starts at 8:45am. The children should be in the line at that time. A prompt start to the day benefits all of us. We start early morning maths and English activities every day. Don’t let your child miss out! School finishes at 3:15pm. Please collect your children on time. In addition, please try to avoid taking holidays during term time. Any leave of absence needs to be requested in writing. This year we are aiming for 96%+ for our annual attendance. Look out for more information regarding our Attendance Policy which will be sent out next week.

FINALLY, PLEASE TALK TO US….We are not perfect, but we are here to help and we all want exactly the same as you: The very best possible education and range of educational opportunities for all of your children. If you have any worries or queries please arrange to talk to your child’s class teacher, first, or talk to me or Max Furnell (Deputy Head), or any member of the senior leadership team: Laura Lane (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator), Catherine Dowler (Literacy, MFL), Jo Lynch (Science, ICT) and Elaine Flanagan (Foundation Stage). I am usually around in the playground at the beginning and end of the day or please call to make an appointment.
Looking forward to a very busy, successful and exciting year!

With Best Wishes

Alan Millington