School Newsletter

Spring Term 2009
Newsletter No. 8 - 1st May

Dear Parents,

Parent contact details
If any of your details have changed, such as contact telephone numbers, please make sure you let the office know.

Swine flu
The Local Authority is working closely with NHS Warwickshire and other partner organisations in developing a pandemic flu contingency plan. That plan would be activated on the advice of the government.

Anyone who has recently returned from Mexico or the United States is advised to monitor their health closely for seven days after their visit to the affected area. If they develop a feverish illness accompanied by one or more of the symptoms - cough, sore throat, headache or muscle aches - they should stay at home and contact their GP by phone and a home visit will be arranged. This minimises the possibility of contact with other members of the public. They can also seek advice from NHS Direct on 0845 4647.  For most people this illness appears to be mild. Infection with this virus is treatable with the anti-viral drugs.

The single most effective way to stop or slow the spread of diseases like flu is to prevent the spread of germs.  Ensure you wash your hands regularly with soap and water and cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze. It is important to dispose of dirty tissues quickly and carefully.

Pre-school Job Vacancy
An assistant is required to support a child at Emscote Pre-school, for 3 afternoons a week this term, changing to 5 mornings from September 2009. For more information telephone Lesley on 01926 495619, or call in at the pre-school.

Cheerleaders
Last week the cheerleaders took part in a Warwick regional competition at Myton School where there were some 150 children taking part. You can imagine the noise! The children had a brilliant time and we came third in the competition. We are now through to the county final which will be taking place in June - well done cheerleaders.

Sustainable School
The Eco Team have been encouraging the school to save energy. We have purchased an OWL monitor which records how much electricity we are using throughout the day. The children did a survey around the school identifying where computers had been left on. Since starting the project the Eco team are turning off computers at lunchtime and at the end of the school day. We are confident that we have been saving energy this term. Please can you encourage your children to continue this at home.

Friday Sharing Assemblies
Sharing assemblies will be held at 9.15am as follows:
Friday 15th May Chestnut class
Friday 12th June Willow class
Friday 19th June Cherry class
Friday 26th June Oak class
Wednesday 8th July Year Two concert

I would like to remind parents that anyone is welcome to attend any sharing assembly.

Emscote Fun Run and Street Party
A special community day is being arranged at The Chantry, Emscote, on Monday 4th May 11-3pm. We are involved with All Saints’ Junior School, All Saints’ Church and the Gap. The event includes a fun run, stalls and presentations by local organisations. We will be running stalls to raise money for the school. The fun run is for adults and children and starts at 11am. Do come along to support this event in the community. If anyone can help on the day even just for an hour please come along and volunteer.

School Website
Don’t forget to look at the school website if you miss newsletters or need any other information. The site also features some brilliant photographs of the school and the work the children have been doing this term - www.emscoteinfants.co.uk

School Closures
Just to remind you school is closed on Friday 22nd May for a teacher training day, and we are also closed on Thursday 4th June as the school is a polling station.

New Parents Evening
Can you believe it’s that time of year already? A meeting for parents of children starting school in September will be held on Thursday 11th June at 7.30pm. Induction day, when all the children spend a day in their new classes for next year, is on Wednesday 24th June. That is also the day the new reception children visit Emscote and year two visit the junior school.

Walk to School Week
The school is participating in this health promotion week between 18th – 22nd May. The theme is ‘Walking Together’ and I would like to encourage as many children as possible to walk with parents, grandparents, carers, friends and neighbours to school together.  The promotion is linked with the Guide Dogs for the Blind and the children will be encouraged to raise sponsorship money for the charity. If they manage to raise £250 they can sponsor a Guide Dog puppy.

School Trips
We have a trip booked for all the children this term. On 1st July the whole school will be going to Twycross Zoo. We will have to ask for voluntary contributions from parents to enable the trips to go ahead. If you are able to help on the trip please speak to class staff. If you are intending to take your child on holiday around this time please could you fill in and return to school a holiday request form as soon as possible, so that we can work out the costs for our trips. I remind you holidays during term time can only be authorised if an application is made with the appropriate form, at least 6 weeks before the proposed leave of absence and your child’s attendance record is good.

Friends
I would like to thank the Friends of Emscote Infant for all the events they have organised this year. They have raised money for many things that are benefiting the children, such as: the pantomime at Christmas; crackers, cups and plates for parties; helping Santa with the cost of Christmas presents; blackout blinds for the classrooms; tree seats for the playground; cycle helmets for bikes; the projector in the hall; and contributions to the gardening budget. When your child joins the school you automatically become a Friend; I would like to encourage more of you to attend the meetings. The next meeting is on Tuesday 9th June at 7.30pm in the school. It would be really helpful if class reps could come along to discuss organising the Summer Fair.

School Disco
There will be a disco for the children on Friday June 5th between 4-5.30pm.

Curriculum Focus Week
Curriculum focus Week is 8th-12th June and the theme is history and ICT. There will be a sharing assembly on the Friday at 9.15am with an opportunity to look around the classroom at some of the activities the children have been doing.

Fire Safety Checks
Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service has asked me to let you know that they offer a completely free Home Fire Safety Check to all residents in Warwickshire. See the poster in the window of the entrance hall.

Home Reading
We undertook a reading survey in school recently, with the aim of understanding how often children read at home. Each reading diary was taken in and recorded if a child had been listened to read at home over a 3 day period.  We were shocked at the results – see the diagram below.  We are working in partnership with you - it is essential that you listen to your child as often as possible and record this in their reading diary to support this partnership.

Yours sincerely,

Debi Cossins
Headteacher