Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Blog
Fri 18 Oct 2019Good afternoon!
A fantastic week here at Dovedale starting with the PTA meeting on Monday. Our PTA work really hard to ensure our children get extra opportunities and we are grateful for their time and enthusiasm.
On Tuesday the children were treated to a Diwali assembly delivered by Erewash Community arts and the year 3 children spent the morning learning a Diwali dance. This was a great addition to our assembly focus for this week on Diversity and Equality.
On Thursday our year 4 children represented the school opening the Ilkeston Charter fair; as a school we have participated in many community activities and were chosen for this event because of our commitment to the local community and the arts in Erewash. We are proud that these achievements continue to be recognised.
Thursday was also the day for our cross country partcipants to take part in the Erewash School's sports partnership event at Wilsthorpe. There were representatives from each class with Ethan in year 4 coming 2nd in his race! Well done Ethan! The children did a brilliant job of representing the school.
After school on Thursday we welcomed 7 children from Shardlow Primary school to meet up with the Dovedale children who will be going to China in the Spring term. This exchange is the continuation of our commitment to ensure our children have wider global opportunities and we hope that it will be the first of many exchanges.
Parents in year 1 and EYFS were invited in to school this week to learn about phonics, an important part of the early curriculum. The event was well received.
Next week
- Our assembly theme next week is resilience.
- On Tuesday morning we have our parent's forum where parents are welcome to come in to school for a cup of tea and a chat. These are really important informal meetings where parents can share their thoughts, ideas or concerns. Mrs Tomlinson hosts this meeting and the actions from the meetings can be found under the parents tab - parent's forum, it does make a difference. We really do value your input and hope as many of you attend as possible.
- After school on Tuesday it is the new reception children's welcome party organised by the PTA and Thursday sees the Spooky disco.
- After school on Wednesday there will be a cake sale.
- Japan's class assembly is next Thursday morning.
- Don't forget Friday is INSET day and the school will be closed to children. Dovedale staff will be based at Sawley Junior school on this day for joint academy training.
- We hope you have a lovely weekend.
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Blog
Wed 09 Oct 2019Here we are again!
This week we received the great news that we have been awarded Silver Arts Mark status which is in recognition of all the hard work we have done to ensure the children engage with a wide curriculum in the arts. This has been a coordinated process ensuring that we represent the different aspects of art in our curriculum, engage with external arts providers and art in the community, encourage music and large scale artwork as well as ensuring cultural diversity. An especial well done to Mrs Biddles and Mrs Norton who have supported the staff with this and made it possible.
As part of this continuing Arts work we have been invited to open the Ilkeston Charter fair with a dance-extending our reach beyond our local area.
Wednesday was parent drop in, I hope that parents who attended found this a useful space to catch up with their children's work and class teacher.
Thursday this week was Mexico class assembly, this was by account a great presentation. Well done also for the enterprise cake sale- a great start to your year 6 year.
I have added some online safety fact sheets to the parent's tab on the website for your information, please check them out. On a safeguarding note can I remind all parents that once your child has been handed over at the end of the day it is your responsibility to ensure the children leave the premises safely. Staff are about at the end of the day but cannot supervise all children once handed to their adult. Older children accompanying parents also need to be supervised appropriately and abide by the general playground rules.
As the 31st of October looms can I ask any parent who may have concerns with regard to their status if Brexit happens to contact me to discuss this. The school is also aware that there may be some impact to services but we will negotiate these if they occur and plan accordingly.
It has come to out attention ( facebook) that some parents are concerned that children are being kept out of assembly. This has been school policy for some years now and is to support children who have not quite grasped the concept in the lesson or who need pre-teaching to access the challenge or the next stage of the lesson. This is always different children depending on individual needs and is purely for the benefit of the child. No child is routinely kept out of assembly. Any concerns please contact me directly.
We have a new Chair of Governors. Ellie Williscroft has taken up this position from Sarah Armitage who will continue to sit on the board. We thank Sarah for her dedication and support for the school. Information on Governors can be found under the Governor's tab on the website.
Happy weekend everyone.
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Blog
Fri 04 Oct 2019This week has been another busy week starting with more Early Years 2020 visits.
On Tuesday we held our first Governing body meeting and we are pleased to welcome Elaine Jones as our new community governor. Elaine is the Curate at Sawley and has already been in to school to deliver an assembly. Our Governing body work hard to ensure the school is complying with all policies and procedures as well as supporting all staff with curriculum initiatives. We feel very lucky to have such a proactive team.
On Thursday Switzerland class delivered the first class assembly of this school year - and what a spectacular event it was. The personality of the class was truly on display and everyone left the hall with a smile on their faces. Well done Switzerland! Next week it is the turn of Miss Aldis and Mexico class.
Next Wednesday is our parent drop in session from 3.30 till 5.00. This is an opportunity to pop in to school to see how your child has settled in and chat to the teacher about anything. This is a chance to check out if you need to know about your child's general progress or if you want to know how to further support your child at home with homework. They are not scheduled appointments so for any personal information an appointment for another time should be made. The 'formal' parent's evening is on December 11th; appointment letters for this will be sent out nearer the time.
Thank you to all parents who are remembering to walk through the side gate when dropping off and picking up for before and after school club-Mr Pitchfork is happy!
If you require a holiday club place either for the upcoming INSET day or for half term week please let the office know now as we need to ensure staffing numbers are appropriate. A month's notice is required for this.
Have a happy weekend.