NewsletterSeptember 2023

We have been really looking forward to welcoming you all back to school. I hope you have all had a lovely break and had some time to relax.

Year group newsletters will go out imminently. In there you will find out about topics, PE days and homework expectations.

We welcome Ms Chris Allin to our team. Ms Allin will be our Forest School teacher and I am really excited that she will be working with us every day. At lunchtimes she will be running the ‘Grow Club’, her afternoons will be spent teaching Forest School and she will be working at Robert Miles Club each evening to run Forest School sessions for our children there.

We say thank you and goodbye to Mrs Sarah Willis, one of our midday supervisors. We will be recruiting her replacement so if you are interested or know of anyone who would be please contact the school office to apply.

Miss Justice is now officially Mrs Pilborough, having got married over the holidays, Congratulations to her and Mr Pilborough.

You may have seen that we have had a considerable amount of work done to the school over the summer. We have had a new ground source heat pump fitted to replace our old broken boiler. This will provide us with both heating and cooling which will make school much more comfortable. We have had our fence replaced and our outside play space for the Reception children extended. Many thanks to Eddy Ka Chun Tsoi, our caretaker, who oversaw the work and made sure we were ready for the start of term.

Good attendance and punctuality has a positive impact on children.

In the morning our gates open at 8.30am.

Teachers will come out to greet you at 8.40am.

The bell will go at 8.45am. Anyone arriving at 8.45am or later will need to take their child to the main reception.

Teaching starts at 8.45am.

We regularly monitor attendance and punctuality but if you are struggling, for whatever reason, please do come and speak to us so we can help you.

We know that kitting a child out ready for the new year can be expensive. We are committed to reducing this cost and doing our bit to upcycle uniform. As such we recommend passing on old uniform and buying non-logo uniform. Many supermarkets offer cheaper alternatives. Each half term we put out any uniform which has been passed onto us or not claimed from our lost property – please do take it. In the meantime, if there is anything you need, please ask us before buying as we may well be able to help. Next year we will be moving over to our new uniform but this will only start with the new Reception children. If you still have old uniform then please use this and only replace when necessary.

Thank you for your comments; the positive and the negative, with regards our new menu. We wanted to offer your child as much flexibility as possible so they can mix and match the menu if they don’t like the meal on offer. So, for example if a child wants a jacket potato with tomato sauce and cheese or the roast meat with salad and pasta rather than the vegetables then they can. John has replaced the sliced white bread that we used to buy with homemade bread. This is freshly baked every day and available to al children, in addition and regardless of meal choice. John is keen to experiment with different fillings as we get feedback from the children. The kitchen and midday staff get to know the children really well; what they do and don’t like to eat so we will work with them and you, to ensure they have a delicious meal.

I know I said that I would send out a survey about lunches at the end of the year and apologies that this did not happen. We thought it would be better to send this out when our new Reception children had started and we have all had a chance to try the menu out. Sorry that this was not communicated to you. Would you please try out the new menu and then let us know what you think when we send out the survey at the end of October.

We have a number of children with specific allergies, including nut allergies requiring EpiPen's. therefore, we ask parents not to send in packed lunches. This is the best way to keep everyone safe. Please talk to your teacher if you have any questions or concerns.

We run a number of lunch clubs:

Forest School with Mrs Towers, Mrs Walters and Mrs Hardy (daily)

Bible Explorers (Thursday, Year 2)

Poetry Club (Thursday, all years)

Friendship Club with Mrs Tilley (Wednesday and Thursday, KS1)

Sports Club with Mr Bourne (Tuesday, all years)

Unfortunately, we do not have space for bulky bags. Classes have trays to keep their book bags in and boxes for PE bags. Please don’t send back packs in as we just don’t have the space to store them. If you need to purchase a book bag we have them available in the office for £3.45. This is an increase of £0.20 due to cost rises. We are currently out of stock, however we hope to receive our new order at the end of this week or early next week and will email you. 

Have you checked if your child is entitled to additional funding? This money comes into school and makes a big difference to what we can offer. Please click on the link to see if you are eligible.

https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/education/school-meals/free-school-meals-and-milk

It should only take a few minutes. If you are successful then we will give you ten free sessions at Robert Miles Club and a free book bag!

We offer wrap around provision from 7.30am in the morning until 6.00pm in the evening. If you would like your child to attend and do not have a Schools Buddy account then please email office@rmischool.co.uk

We are in the process of uploading all our dates for the year onto our electronic calendar on the website. We hope this will help when planning your own diaries.

Our school piano is looking for a new home. If you would like it then please speak to the school office. We are asking for a donation to school in exchange for it.

Thank you for your continued support. A member of staff is out on the gate each morning so please do grab us (not literally!) if you want to discuss anything. Here’s to a great year!

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Sonja Adams

Headteacher