Noticeboard

Here 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.

 

 

This 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.

 

This week we had a fire drill- the whole school was out in record time with all the children reacting sensibly. Even our new Reception lined up beautifully for their first evacuation. Well done!

On Tuesday Elaine Jones the curate from Sawley came to do an assembly. Elaine will be coming in to school on a regular basis to deliver assemblys which I know the children are going to really enjoy if Tuesdays presentation is anything to go by.

On Wednesday we had our first look rounds for our 2020 EYFS intake. We had a lovely email afterwards from one of the visiting families congratulating all the children for their lovely behaviour. Well done Dovedale for showing everyone what we're about!

Today has been Stand Up Derbyshire day and the children have been extra active in support of this initiative. We are a healthy school and encourage our children to be as active as possible. In support of this healthy lifestyle can you please make sure that packed lunch boxes do not contain sweets or plain chocolate. Chocolate biscuit type treats are acceptable alongside a balanced selection.

I am a pasting a link below to the NSPCC website online safety web page which has some good ideas for parents about being vigilant with regard to their children's online presence. Please give it a look as there are some practical tips about how to keep your children safe in the digital world.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

Please check the September newsletter in the news section.

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Well that went quickly!

We have been so proud of our children this week, everyone is really focusing on our REACH value of respect and behaviour across school has been excellent!

Our mental health awareness ambassadors are now fully kitted out in their yellow hats and will be on standby to support any children who need a chat or a helping hand. As a school we are determined to reduce the stigma surrounding mental well-being so that our children can talk about their feelings and know where to get support if needed. Our message is that everybody has mental health-sometimes it is good and we feel fine and sometimes it is not so good and we should be able to ask for support at these times.

Another group that is about to take on their new role is the School council. We have had a record number of applications this year about a quarter of the a school and the classes have been busy blind voting for their favourite applications. Our school council, led by Mrs Gunnell, is an active part of our school team, a really important role. Well done to any children who have been voted onto this forum.

This week, Year 2 enjoyed a trip to West park as part of their local studies work. As a community minded school we wish our children to know and appreciate their local area. With that in mind a huge thank you to all the children and parents who have donated to our local food bank collection. We really appreciate your support and know that the families who receive this service will be grateful for you generosity.

A reminder that holiday requests must be made in advance of as per the school policy if consideration is to be given for exceptional circumstances. This should be 10 days notice. Therefore requests which do not allow sufficient or reasonable time for consideration may not be authorised. Events or scenarios which recur annually cannot be considered as exceptional by the very nature that they are recurring.

Don't forget to check out the Twitter page ( link is the bird at the bottom of the website home page) for regular snippets of what we are getting up to in school.

 

Next week

We have a 2020 EYFS look round scheduled for 9.30 on Tuesday morning, any interested parents can join us for this.

Friday is 'Stand up Derbyshire' day where we will be challenging ourselves with extra physical activities as part of our healthy body, health mind ethos.

Happy Friday everyone!

It's been a calm and productive week here at Dovedale Primary School.

The week started with the election of our new PTA committee! Lots of events already planned for the Autumn term so check out the PTA page. 

Assemblies this week have focused on extra curricular activities -Clay creators, guitar and Spaghetti Maths. There will be lots of clubs and activities over the year for your children to take part in some sporting, some creative, some academic. So watch out for texts and letters.

Can all parents remember to update their contact details in the office. We cannot contact you in an emergency or if we are just double checking who's picking up if your number is no longer in use!

All children in school this week have tried really hard to follow our REACH values and we are really lucky that we have such respectful children. Our new year 6s are really setting the behaviour standard and taking on the challenge of being the role models in school. Well done!

We have been advised that there wil be a police and crime commissioner election on Thursday 7th May 2020. We will endeavour to keep the school open for this through negotiation with the council. However if it is felt that the children will be at risk due to unsupervised adults around school then we will have to close. We know this is frustrating for you as it is for us and I will do my utmost to avert this.

Next week

Year 2 are going to West park as part of a local studies unit.

Welcome back!

It's been a lovely 2 days settling the children back in to school here at Dovedale.

This term we are welcoming 2 new teachers: Miss Hutchinson in EYFS and Miss Roberts who will be working across the classes. We are delighted to be welcoming them in to our team.

We also have 2 new student teachers who will be with us through the year: Miss Chaand in year 5 -Mr McCarthy's class and Miss Young in year 2 - Miss Tomlinson and Mrs Potter's class.

We also welcome Mrs Claire Kudryk who is our new family liaison officer. She will be circulating a leaflet explaining her role.

Our new reception children are an absolute delight, the teachers are very happy with how they have settled in and the lunchtime supervisors have commented on how polite and organised they all are - not to mention how well they eat! We feel sure this is going to be the start of a great year for them all here at Dovedale!

All classes have settled well and have already started on their new learning journeys. Check out the class pages under the children's section for information on these.

Can I remind all parents that after today we will expect all parents to drop their children off at the gates and allow them to walk in to school with their friends. It is important for us to monitor all adults accessing the school grounds and important for the children to build their independence and resilience. 

If at any time you need to speak with the class teacher, a good time is after school once all children have been sent off or make an appointment through the office or the class dojo system. They will be very happy to see you. No adult should be walking in to the classroom without prior arrangement whilst there are children in the building.

On Wednesday 9th October there will be our first parent drop in session where you can come and discuss how your child has settled in with the class teacher if you so wish. This will run from 3.30 to 5.00.

The formal parent's evening for assessment updates will be on 11th December. 

If you wish to discuss your child's progress before this please make an appointment to see your child's class teacher through dojo.

Next week on Monday is the PTA agm at the Soldiers and Sailors at 7.30- all are welcome.

Happy weekend everyone- see you all next week!

 

 

 

What a great week we have had here at Dovedale Primary School! 

Our week started with the arrival of 35 pupils and 7 staff from Hefei in China. For the next 3 days we treated them to a range of activities including quick cricket, Cookery, a visit to the long Eaton School observatory and a visit to the council house to meet the Mayor. I believe the Chinese pupils really learnt a lot from our pupils with regard to our REACH values and They should be congratulated once again for their outstanding behaviour. We look forward to our future exchanges.

On Tuesday we held a Forest school day for our Academy partner schools. It was lovely to share this practice with other schools and a big thank you to Miss Barrett and Mrs Tomlinson for organising this.

Thursday morning was the joint EYFS assembly - what a remarkable group of children they are! The team did an amazing job highlighting all of their strengths.

Thursday afternoon was Dovedale's got talent. The finalists performed confidently and demonstrated what a talented bunch they were. We thank our judges for the very difficult job they had, as they were all winners!

Today has been sport's day. What a competitive lot they are (and that's just the dads!) Well done to all the children for being so resilient. 

And after all of that ..the summer fair was a huge hit - massive thanks to the PTA for their ongoing efforts and support they really do make a difference! And to all the parents who continue to support us!

I would just like to use this forum to  also say a huge thank you to all the staff who have made this extra busy week so successful. They really do go over and above to make sure the children have so many special opportunities.

We wish you all a lovely weekend and will see you next week for the year 6 performances and the parent's evening drop in on Wednesday.

 

Happy friday! It looks like it's going to be a hot weekend.

 

Last Saturday we took part in the Long Eaton Carnival and came 1st in the walking party category! (3rd year in a row). It was a lovely event with a huge turn out, thank you to all who took part and a special thanks to the PTA for the organisation and amazing car! Looking forward to next year already although hoping it might be a slightly more glamorous theme!

 

On Monday our reception children went on their Manor farm trip and had a lovely day! Year 1 and 2 had their trip on Tuesday and what superstars they were! The weather was less than kind but all adults reported that the children got on and had a great time! Super resilient!

 

This week we have had 5 work experience students in various classes and a PGCE trainee. We are more than happy to support our community in this way and hope we can inspire some future teachers.

 

On Wednesday the Friends quiz at the Harrington arms was extremely well attended and a lot of fun. Although the staff table didn't win by a long shot we were delighted to support this fundraising event.

 

On Wednesday it was Mrs Ganguly's class assembly and it was brilliant! What a god idea to show us  a snippet of all they have done throughout the year. The Children were confident and knowledgeable-Well done Asters!

 

It has been a busy change round week too with year 6 doing their various transition days and the class swaps. The teachers take a lot of time to determine the best placing of the children using a variety of factors. We believe that the new class groups are in the best interests of all the children and the children all seemed happy!

 

Next week

Monday our Chinese visitors arrive and we have a full itinerary organised for them.

On Tuesday we are hosting a forest school day with visitors attending from other schools.

On Wednesday it is picnic day and the weather is looking promising!

Thursday is EYFS assembly and the Family THRIVE meeting after school. 

Friday is Sports day and summer fair. Please ensure your child has a hat for this!

 

A brilliant busy week here at Dovedale Primary school.

 

Today we had a fantastic career's fair attended by our year 6 pupils and also by year 6 pupils from Sawley Juniors and Shardlow Primary school. Thank you to all the parents and friends who volunteered their time to show the children a wide range of professions-some that the children had never even heard of!

Also a big thank you to Miss Aldis for organising this.

 

Thursday a group of year 5 pupils attended a primary team maths event between ourselves, Shardlow Primary and St Lawrence's and I am delighted to say that we won. Well done team!

 

Also on Thursday our Mental Health Champions held an assembly to talk to the school about mental health well being. These representatives will be organising events and training over the next academic year and ensuring our children are able to talk freely and openly about their own mental health and sensitively about the mental health of others. Thank you to Mrs Gunnell for guiding them through this.

 

Today our Governors were in school for a day visit. First they attended Lexia training which was very well received. We are now part of the  Lexia partnership. They also attended the careers fair ( Mr Cole Baker was also doing a presentation), conducted pupil voice interviews and spent time in classes. We are very fortunate to have Governors who are so engaged and invested in the day to day school life in the interest of our children.

 

Monday was Daddy's/grandfather afternoon in EYFS. This was really well attended and enjoyed by all.

 

On Tuesday, 15 children attended a special author event at Shardlow school and Wednesday saw the year 5 children visit the Yorkshire Sculpture park. 

 

Catch up on these activities on our Twitter page.

 

Tomorrow is of course the Long Eaton Carnival - I have my spotty dog costume ready! See you there!

 

Next week

Next week there will be some new faces around school as we welcome in some work experience pupils.

Monday the Early Years are on their trip to Manor park farm and year 1 and 2 go to the Tropical butterfly farm on Tuesday.

Tuesday is the eyfs new parent evening at 3.30.

There is a quiz at the Harrington arms on Tuesday in aid of the school so get your quiz teams ready!

On Wednesday year 6s are on a transition day to Wilsthorpe or Friesland and it is also Mrs Ganguly's class assembly.

Thursday is class change round day with a visit from our new Reception children with the year 6s at Friesland, Wilsthorpe or The Long Eaton School.

Friday Year 6 transition at The long Eaton School.

 

 

Exciting news this week-we are welcoming 30 Chinese pupils and 10 Head teacher delegates to our school on the 1st July for 3 days. This should be a great experience for our children and will further develop our children's awareness of the wider world.

Next week is Health week and you will have received a letter detailing all the exciting activities that have been planned. We want our children to be healthy in body and mind and will continue to present them with a wide range of opportunities to build their skills and resilience.

On Wednesday at 5.00 it is the parent's forum. All parents are welcome to attend this informal gathering to discuss school related issues. Mrs Tomlinson posts the actions from these forums on this website.

Unfortunately our Twitter feed has received some unwelcome attention this week. We have reported this and are looking to determine the IP address. We apologise for any upset this may have caused. The perpetrator has been blocked and reported to Twitter. 

We hope you all have a lovely weekend and that the sun manages to shine through!