Noticeboard

Happy Valentine's day!

And happy Friday.

 

This week started with our Open the book assembly and a lot of wind and some snow! Luckily the weather has settled and the children have once again had a lovely week.

 

On Wednesday and Thursday we were visited by the Heads and deputies from our Academy sister schools for a learning review. Thank you to those parents on the playground ( all who were questioned) for the lovely comments about the school. All the classes were visited and we felt very proud to show off all our hard work and wonderful behaviour.

 

Wednesday was the full Governor meeting. Amongst the many items discussed was the safeguarding action plan, the curriculum offer and several policies. Check out the governor tab to find out a little bit about our governing body.

 

On Thursday Greece class had their assembly. It was difficult to believe that this was a year 1 class. They spoke with confidence and shared a wide range of learning and skills. Well done Greece class you made us proud!

 

Well done to Great Britain class and Canada class who won the half term attendance award. I look forward to seeing what they will choose as their prize!

 

Remember that Monday 24th is an INSET day and the children return to school on Tuesday 25th February.

 

We wish you all a happy and safe half term. Emergency contact can be made with the school over the holiday period via the Head teacher's email.

 

 

Happy Friday everyone!

 

What a fantastic week we have had! It has been children's mental health week and we have all been 'finding our brave'. Starting the day with  wake and shake was a brilliant idea and one that I know the Mental Health Champions are hoping to continue in some way. The children, parents and staff all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and a huge thank you goes to Miss Gunnell for organising this.

 

Thursday was Miss Nadin's class assembly and by all accounts the children were a credit, sitting beautifully and sharing their learning. Well done China class!

 

Last night the year 5s attended the Nottingham playhouse to watch Holes. Although traffic was awful the children managed to quickly settle and enjoyed the performance. This morning I received an email from a member of the public who was sat in the theatre with our children. He stated 'Your pupils’ behaviour was – without exception – exemplary. In fact, they were far better behaved than many adult audiences with whom I’ve shared an auditorium! They are a credit to your school.' Well done year 5s - super proud. Thank you also to the parent's for transporting and the teachers for giving up their evening for this valuable experience.

 

Next week is safer internet week and we will be discussing with the children how to keep safe online. We know it can be difficult to monitor all activity in this digital age but need to remind parents that children should not be playing on age inappropriate games -specifically those which contain graphic violence or other unsuitable content as this can be deemed as a type of neglect and schools are being called to monitor these incidences.

 

Next Monday is the PTA meeting at the Soldiers and Sailors. -everyone welcome. 

 

We hope you all have a lovely weekend and look forward to next week. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Friday everyone!

 

It has been a busy and varied week this week.

 

Elaine Jones, our community governor came in and did her regular monthly assembly on Tuesday. The children always enjoy her enthusiastic stories and messages.

 

On Tuesday afternoon I met with Reverend Tony Street and Councillor Singh to hear about the fascinating George 3rd Coat of Arms painting at Sawley Church and the heritage fund application for its restoration. This painting is an amazing artefact in our local community. The school is happy to support Reverend Street with the heritage fund application as it will benefit our children to be part of the restoration process and we look forward to incorporating the Coat of Arms, and the other historical treasures at Sawley Church into our history curriculum. 

 

On Wednesday we had a fire drill with all 412 children and staff lined up on the playground and counted in 2 minutes. Well done all!

 

Also on Wednesday was the year 4 clarinet concert. All the children in year 4 have been learning this instrument and this concert was their mid way presentation. The children showed excellent skills and we look forward to seeing their end of year  performance!

 

Thursday was Miss Barrett's class assembly. The children presented all their achievements confidently and showed us all what a diverse curriculum they have; showcasing their geography and  Spanish skills, story writing and singing. Well done all.

 

Also on Thursday after school the year 2s presented their Chinese new year songs (sung in Mandarin) at a celebration involving Parklands school and Stanton Vale school. This event, coordinated by Erewash arts was concluded with a brilliant Dragon dance. 

 

Staff have also had a busy week after school this week attending history training with Mr T. at Shardlow Primary School on Tuesday and meeting together with their curriculum counterparts from our academy schools on Wednesday. Miss Martin also delivered a THRIVE showcase after school on Thursday. I would like to thank the staff for all their hard work and dedication.

 

Don't forget to check our twitter page for pictures of some of the above events.

 

For your information: I was told this week about The 'Google family' app which allows you to link your family accounts-including phones, so that you can supervise, monitor and add consent for children under 13. This may be an excellent way of keeping track of your children's online activity and ensuring online safety.

 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well those 2 weeks went quickly!

 

This last week we have had some work completed on the pathways and around the goal post area to try and combat the mud! We have plans for the far corner of the playground also which is prone to flooding and will carry out this work as soon as possible.

 

 As some of you  are aware we have some staff absences. We will of course endeavour to cover classes as consistently as possible but would ask parents to appreciate that illness and accident are something we have to deal with and we cannot predict. Our priority will be to ensure as much consistency for the children to ensure their continued progress and well being.

 

We are also aware that several children are catching colds and bugs and would like to remind parents that the policy is for 48hrs to lapse between the last vomiting to return to school so that we can try to contain this. Our attendance figures are naturally affected by all of this and we would therefore request that parents are extra vigilant in ensuring that if their children are fit and well they are in school. We will continue to decline holiday requests except in exceptional circumstances. Please contact the office if in doubt.

 

On a brighter note next week our year 5s are receiving first aid training and our Children's parliament representives will be attending a meeting at Sawley Junior school.

 

Parent's forum is on Wednesday 29th January at 2.30. This is an open event for parents to come along and have a chat and discuss any concerns or ask any questions. The feedback and actions from these can be found on the website under the parent's tab. We would much rather you let us know if there are concerns or questions so that we can do something to work through them. 

If you can't attend the meeting pass on any thoughts via the headteacher email or to Mrs Tomlinson.

 

We wish you all a lovely weekend!

 

 

 

Happy Friday everyone! and what a fun Friday it has been. The children and staff looked very festive in their Christmas jumpers and really enjoyed the Panto!

 

The week started off with a festive feel with the year 3 and 4 bazaar which raised £400 for their class funds! Amazing work by the team and thank you for all your support.

 

Parent's evening was very well attended with good feedback. If you were unable to make this date please get in touch with your child's teacher to arrange a suitable time. We really do value our parent - teacher communication and hope that you will speak to us if you have any concerns or queries.

 

Several families will have received attendance letters over the last 2 weeks. If your child goes below 95% you will get a letter just to let you know so you are aware. If your child's attendance drops below 90% this is classed as persistent absenteeism. Quite often we are aware of the reasons for this but we follow policy for all absences to ensure a fair and transparent process.

A child with below 90% will need an absence meeting and a 4 week period for improvement. Continued persistent absences, including lates will result in a fine. It is much better to call and have a discussion with me so we can think about solutions than get to the final stage.

 

On Thursday we had a delegation of Head teachers and a representative from the Chinese Education Bureau visit our school. They commented ( through a translator) how well the children behaved and spent some time talking with the 5 children who will be going to China in March. All the children joined in an assembly where gifts were exchanged. We also received letters back for the existing pen friends and new letters to be distributed to start new pen friends. As a school we feel this global connection is a great way to build our children's understanding of difference and diversity. 

 

Next week

Next week we have our year 1 and 2 Christmas performances on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday.

KS1 are having their Christmas party on Thursday afternoon with the Juniors having their Christmas party on Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are again! Another fast and busy week completed.

 

On Wednesday we had a visit from the Mayor who came into assembly to answer some questions posed by the school council. She also visited the year 5 classes as they busily prepared the Angel lanterns for the Light switch on next week. These look truly amazing and should make for an excellent parade! Well done year 5s.

 

On top of this Argentina class had their class assembly on Thursday. What a talented group of individuals they are. Each child shared their talent and came together as a whole group with their lovely class song-'somewhere only we know.' Well done Argentina!

 

We have had another set of parent look rounds for Reception next year-lots of interest in joining our school. If you are aware of anyone who needs to apply for next year make sure they are aware that they need to get their applications completed in good time.

 

Congratulations to Bohdan on receiving his ambassador award this morning, a great role model!

 

Don't forget to sign up for a parent evening slot, opening online later today.

 

Next week:

Flu jabs on Tuesday for all children with permission.

Full Governors on Wednesday.

Autumn book fair open to children on Thursday, come in to school at pick up time  for a browse round.

Thursday evening -Christmas light switch on in Long Eaton.

Saturday is the Christmas fair -opening at 10.00 till 12.00.

We have a box of Knit A Nipper brooches for sale from the school office on behalf of the Mayor if you are interested in purchasing one. 

Happy Children in Need day and happy Friday!

 

This week has been our Anti Bully focus week. We incorporate the anti bullying message across all of our values all of the time and this week helps us to reinforce and embed our expectations. The children have been learning about being resilient, how to respond to bullying and how to not be part of bullying behaviour. We've also been practicing our very own bully proof song, rewritten by Miss Aldis and sung by Mrs Middleton-Wooley-our senior midday supervisor. This can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9W6kW48KPI

 

Monday at 7.30 at the Soldiers and Sailors was the PTA meeting. This team of parents works tirelessly to create events for the children and it was good to see a new dad attending. The next big event will be the Christmas fair on Saturday 30th at 10.00, we hope to see you all there.

 

Today has been our Children in Need fundraising day and cake sale. It has been lovely to see all the children in their PJs and Pudsey outfits supporting this cause. The cake sale was of course very well received - thank you to Mrs Gunnell and the School Council for organising this. We will let you know how much has been raised once all has been counted.

 

Today was also our Governor visit day. Our Governors work behind the scenes to make sure our school is following policy and procedures, is financially competent and that the education the children receive is appropriate and challenging. They also like to get involved and see the school in action. As part of their work today they undertook pupil voice interviews; safeguarding training and discussed our curriculum developments as well as spending some time in classes. We are very grateful that we have such a committed, proactive team.

To find out more about the role of Governors see the Governors tab on this website.

 

Next week on Thursday it is Argentina's class assembly

 

 

 

 

Happy Friday everyone!

 

A lovely start back to the second half term this week, although its been a wet one the children have shown respect and resilience.

 

Our focus this week has been Remembrance with all classes learning about the different aspects of remembrance and showcasing them in our Remembrance service this afternoon which was attended by family representatives and Bart  from the Royal British legion. As a school we believe in the importance of giving our children a wide ranging knowledge of the world around them and ensuring they develop into responsible and thoughtful future citizens.

 

For parents information there is a tab under the parent tab on this website explaining what our THRIVE sessions are. As a school we believe in investing in our children's well being and this can be for a variety of reasons. THRIVE is an integral part of this.

 

Also under the parents tab I have added a link in the useful links tab for Qwell.io. This is an online counselling and well being service for adults. Within this site there is also a link to Kooth which is an online counselling service for teenagers. These are really good services for anyone who may need a little extra support.

 

Can I ask parents to be mindful when picking up and dropping off of children running about in the car park. This is a hazard as cars may still enter at this point and also cars may inadvertently be damaged by children racing around them. If possible we would ask that parents enter through the main gates and not cross the car park or be extra vigilant.

 

As I am hoping everyone is now aware the school will be open on Election day. The planning department have helpfully agreed to erect Heras fencing around the new classroom. This class will be rehoused for the day.Entry to this classroom alone will be through the side gate with no access to the playground or external doors. This will secure the school site to enable us to stay open. We will of course remain vigilant on these days as the safety of the children is and has always been our main concern. We will make arrangements for all children to enter and leave the site though the other gate and will let you know nearer the time how this will be managed.

 

Next week

Individual photo day is Monday and the PTA meeting is at 7.00 at the Soldiers and Sailors.

 

On Friday it is Children in Need day and we invite children to come in their PJs for a £1.00 donation, there will be a cake sale and our Governors are also coming in for this day. All proceeds will go to Children in Need.

 We hope you all have a lovely weekend

 

Good 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.