NewsletterJune Newsletter

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to come along to the meetings, respond to the survey or speak to me personally. We had over 80 responses from parents/carers and spoke to all staff and children.

It was a close call between the Buttercross design and the one that showed the front of the school building but in the end the school building won!

We considered all the responses and took them to the governing board. Thank you for all your comments, they helped us to consider tweaking the design, changing the colour slightly and making more of our link to the junior school. The children were very keen to have their uniform align with Robert Miles Junior School and liked having the logo that looked like our school. As stated we are committed to reducing landfill so will be running the new uniform from September 2024 starting one year group at a time. We will continue to use the current blue uniform while parents/carers still have them. Shoes, trousers, shorts, skirts and pinafore dresses will remain unchanged.

We have managed to source some cheaper ways to purchase school uniform and will publish the links on our website.

You said…    We did...

Maybe remove some of the wording on the logo - We are working with our design team to modify the design.

We don’t want clothes going to landfill - Please continue to use the blue uniform while you can. We are looking at ways to collect in any old uniform and upcycle.

I think in the world that we are in at the moment with the children having so much disruption it is a shame to change their uniform too - We surveyed every child and over 80% were in favour of the rebrand.

It would be great to carry uniform through to juniors my only worry is that the new head at juniors may want to change the colour so confirmation of this may be needed that they have no plans to change - I spoke to Mr Evelyn and he is not planning on changing the current uniform.

I like the idea of the colours being in keeping with RMJ. I’ve had children at the school since 2013 and it’s always felt they were separated by their uniform and it hasn’t felt until more recently that the schools work closely together - Thank you, this was part of our reasoning for the rebrand.

Yellow polos might be better at hiding stains but lighter jumpers and cardigans won’t!! - We decided to opt for a darker grey jumper so hopefully that will help!

I like the heritage colour scheme and idea, especially the second logo design with the yellow and grey colour scheme. I think it's important the logo reflects the school and with this logo you can clearly see the architecture of the school building. I think it would be nice to have a plaque with some information about Rev. Miles and the history of the building, as there is a lot of local history which could be learnt and shared with the community - I have spoken to our History subject leader and they are keen to make more of our local history so thank you for the suggestion.

Our uniform from September 2024 will be as follows:

• Yellow polo shirt (with or without the school logo)
• Dark grey V-necked jumper (with or without logo)
• Grey trousers or skirt
• Grey pinafore dress
• Yellow checked summer dress
• Black school shoes
• PE/Forest School kit – yellow t-shirt, plain black or grey shorts, jogging bottoms or leggings. (wellington boots/trainers brought in separately).

Unfortunately, we are unable to have a joint BBQ with the junior school this year as they had to change their date which now clashes with our Year 2 camp.  Myself and Mr Evelyn have met and planned a number of opportunities to work more closely together throughout the year and plan on having another joint BBQ the following summer.  We have decided to go ahead with an event on Friday 7th July as planned but this will now take place at our school.  We thought it would be an ideal opportunity to have a get-together anyway.  So, we would like to invite you all (extended family are also welcome) to bring a picnic on Friday 7th July from 3.30pm-5.30pm.  We will have a few stalls and games where we will be raising money for our allotment and Forest School area so bring some change with you!

We extend a warm welcome to Mr Evelyn as he takes up the headship at our feeder junior school.  Mr Evelyn is keen to continue to work closely with us to ensure that we have a smooth transition for children as they move onto the juniors. We are planning to have a link to the juniors on our website and vice versa.  Mr Evelyn has sent a letter out to our Year 2 parent/carers with a number of dates for visits.  As well as attending our Christmas performances we will also join up for community events, school council, and a joint summer BBQ.  He will also be available at our Spring parent/carer meetings so you can get to know him.

Every year we carry out questionnaires for pupils, parent/carers and staff. These surveys are delivered by a national organisation which ranks scores nationally. The results of the surveys are used by the leadership team to plan our priorities the following year. We are really pleased that our staff survey was the highest in our Nova trust as well as nationally. Some of our strengths were the strength of leadership and the vision for the schools development as well as the pastoral support we give to our school community. The areas we are looking to develop are to continue to develop our curriculum so that it meets the needs of all our learners and to develop our learning environment.  We recognise the importance of creating a school that cares for all its members so we are always looking at ways to improve. Our pupil survey showed that the vast majority said they enjoyed coming to school but we know that children have their worries. To support, Mrs Tilley & Mrs Axten oversee our ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support) as well as a friendship club run by the school council. Mrs Towers and Mrs Walters run a lunchtime nurture group and Forest School club.

We use some of our pupil premium money to pay for this. If you think you may be eligible for this funding (if you access income support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance, support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the guaranteed element of Pension Credit, Child Tax Credit provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, Working Tax Credit run-on or Universal Credit, provided you have an annual net earned income not exceeding £7,400 or £616.67 per month) then it would really help the school if you applied. It takes 5 minutes and once done is valid for 5 years. Anyone successful is able to access 10 free sessions at Robert Miles Club and a free book bag as well as free milk throughout their time here. This is worth over £100 so definitely worth doing. To see if you are eligible simply click on the following link  https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/education/school-meals/free-school-meals-and-milk  (you will need you National Insurance number to hand).

Our parent/carer survey opens on the 19th June and a link will be sent out. It takes approximately 10 minutes to complete and you have until 21st July to return it. Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill it in.

We have some exciting work happening at school over the next few months.

• A new fence is replacing the old one alongside our neighbours.
• We are extending Maple and Willow outside space down to the allotment.
• Our old boiler is being replaced with a ground heat and cooling source. This is a more environmentally sustainable option to gas and will ensure school is kept warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We are hoping this work will be complete over the summer holiday.
• To maximise space for children to work in the corridors for small groups and one to one teaching we are installing some pods.

All of this work is government funded to ensure schools continue to operate safely and efficiently.

The school council and myself would like to invite you to a meeting to discuss school lunches. We want to know what you like about them and what we could improve. All this information will be fed back to Aspens, our catering company to ensure we provide the best experience possible for children. This meeting will take place Friday 23rd June at 2.30pm. If you can make it please come to the school office. Refreshments will be provided and we will be finished by home time. We will also send out a very short questionnaire so if you can’t make the meeting you will still be able to feedback your opinions

Unfortunately, Mrs Wright has moved so is unable to run our Forest School sessions. We are currently advertising for a replacement and in the meantime, teachers are taking classes out on their Forest School day. Mrs Feng has been maintaining our allotment and grounds but there is much to be done so if you are green fingered or interested in helping out we would love you to join us on the first Monday of each month to help us keep on top of it all. No need to come every month, just turn up when you can. If you have any tools, please bring them with you and I will lay on refreshments. Our first session will be Monday 3rd July straight after drop off at 8.45am. We will finish with a cuppa at 10am.

For the really organised amongst us we have set the dates for our holiday club for the year, these are available to all children attending the infants and junior schools. You need to register on the app SchoolsBuddy to book your slot.  Please contact the school office by calling 01949 837422 or email office@rmischool.co.uk who can send you a link to the app. Remember you can use your pupil premium allocation for holiday provision too. We are looking at having some other providers running additional days so we can give Mrs Axten and Mrs Wallis a well-deserved break too and be able to offer more availability during the holidays.

DATES:

December: 19th & 20th

February: 13th & 14th

April: 2nd & 3rd

May: 28th & 29th

If your child is in…                          Next year your child will be in…

Willow                                              Cedar

Maple                                              Beech

Beech                                              Sycamore

Cedar                                              Oak

We have two transition days set aside for children to get to know their new teacher and explore their new classroom. The teachers have planned some lovely activities so we are sure they will have a great time. Please drop off and collect as normal. Robert Miles Juniors will be in touch about classes next year for our current year 2 children.

Monday 19th June – Parent/Carer Survey Opens

Thursday 22nd June & Friday 23rd June – Class Swaps

Friday 23rd June at 2.30pm - 3.15pm – School Lunch Consultation

Monday 3rd July 8.45am - 10.00am – Gardening Club for Parents/Carers/Grandparents

Friday 7th July from 3.30pm - 5.30pm – School Picnic

Monday 4th September – First Day Back for Children

Thank you for your continued support and helping make our school the amazing place it is. There is always someone from the leadership team out each morning so please do come and speak to us if you have any questions or comments.   

Mrs Sonja Adams