Noticeboard

A fantastic end to the half term here at Dovedale. It's been a busy week as always and we are all ready for the holidays.

We welcomed in the Heads of our sister Academy schools and the CEO for a teaching and learning review on Wednesday and Thursday. This was a collaborative process to see the developments we have been making at our school and to review classroom teaching. We felt very proud of the positive feedback we received for our 'lovely' school so a big thank you to all the adults in school who showed off how brilliant they are! A huge thank you to the children too-their behaviour was outstanding; they wowed with their singing and signing in assembly and during the pupil interviews they impressed with their positive attitudes and knowledge about all things curriculum. We are very proud of them!

We were also very proud of Sweetpea class who presented their class assembly on Thursday morning. It was a Valentine's treat which bought a tear to several eyes as they sang and signed their class song 'True colours'. They spoke out clearly and confidently and showcased their learning. Super well done and thank you to Miss Bestwick and the team for coordinating them.

A goodbye to Calum in year 5 today as he moves on to his new school, we wish him all the very best for the future!

We are back to school on Monday 25th February. This week brings an assembly from Severn Trent water and anti bullying ambassador training. The MAT drop in session is on February 27th from 2.00. This is for any parent who wishes to talk confidentially about anything not related to school. This could be home behaviour concerns, personal support or just sounding out a problem. Please call the office to make an appointment for this.

We hope you all have a happy and safe holiday and look forward to welcoming you back for the next half term.

 

 

Happy Friday everyone!

This week was Chinese New Year and year 2 put on a great performance complete with Chinese dragon! Check out the twitter pictures.

We have updated our spelling system inline with our new spelling shed programme. This means that the children will be given a weekly list of spellings which follow a pattern. They need to learn this list each week  and will then be tested on them. Any questions please contact school to speak with Mrs Potter or Miss Berrington - our literacy coordinators.

On Wednesday we held our first China exchange meeting for current year 4 and 5 children and this was very positive. Details of this meeting can be found in the parent's tab. The feedback was very positive and we are hoping that this will be the start of an ongoing exchange programme for our children.

Candytuft's class assembly gave us information on all things Spanish and showcased the children's amazing geographical knowledge as well as their maraca skills! They spoke clearly and confidently. Well done Candytufts!

Next week we will be adding up the whole class attendance scores to see which class will be the winners for this half term. Our attendance % is good this term so thank you to all our parents for their support with this.

On Monday 11th it is the PTA meeting. If anyone is interested in joining the PTA please make contact. They are a brilliant team of individuals who help the school in lots of different ways.

 

It's February! The promised snow hasn't arrived but the cold has! we're happy to see the children coming to school well wrapped up ready for this weather. We have been making provision over lunchtime for our younger children to come out of the cold and for any older children who want to get inside also.

This week our year 1 children went on a trip to Wilsthorpe school to take part in some ball sport activities. The children walked there, took part and walked back. The teachers were so impressed how enthusiastic they were and that none of them complained about the walk. They also represented the school really well with exemplary behaviour. Well done children!

Mr Almeida's class assembly was a delight. The children showcased their learning through a range of styles including film making. Their class song 'Standing in the hall of fame' is certainly well chosen!

We are aware that the school closure day on the 2nd May for local elections is a nuisance for parents as it is for us. As a school we have voiced this but due to the footfall of such an event the council deem that the school building is the best place for it to be held.

Next week: China presentation for parents of current year 4 and 5 children at 5.00 on Wednesday.

C hinese New Year performance by year 2 children on Thursday at 

 4.30. They have been practising hard so I'm sure we're in for a treat.  

Have a happy weekend.

 

 

 

Last week 

We carried out a successful fire drill with all children safely evacuating the building in just over a minute. We regularly practice safe exiting at various times of the day.

All staff had meetings with their curriculum colleagues in the other Willows academy schools on Wednesday. These meetings allow us to share good practice across the 4 schools.

The school hall looked particularly colourful on Friday as the year 3 and 4s celebrated their Spanish topic. A great way to immerse themselves in another culture.

This week

Monday: there will be a full Governor's meeting. These meetings are held to ensure that the school's policies and practices are in line with expected procedures. The Governors are a valued team of volunteers who support the schools leadership to keep developing our school in the interests of the children. The Governor's section on the website has details of who our Governors are.

 

Thank you to all parents who have really considered the safe parking outside of school, there was a noticeable difference this morning. Can I ask that all parents think about where they are parking or turning for the safety of all our children.

 

A reminder for year 4 and 5 parents that we will be holding a China presentation at 5.00 on Wednesday 6th February.

 

We will be holding a curriculum evening for all parents on 3rd April at 5.00. This event will be to outline various strategies and activities we use in class to support and inform parent's with regard to their child's education. More information will be sent with regard to this nearer the time.

 

Due to circumstances beyond our control parent's evening has been moved to  3rd April. Parent's of Children with an Individual plan will have a meeting on the 10th of April or in negotiation with the class teacher.

Interim reports will come out to parent's the week before. 

This week has flown by with lots of busy activities taking place.

School council met to agree some child friendly policies and have their photos taken for their notice board. We really value this group as the children's representatives; a big thank you to Mrs Gunnell for organising these meetings.

A meeting regarding the new classroom build was held on Thursday and we are hopeful that works will be able to start on this much needed project soon-just waiting for the planning go ahead!

We received our Gold award plaque for our school games gold award. A great achievement. Super efforts by Miss Standring and Miss O 'Dowd who are working to ensure our children get a range of sporting and competitive opportunities on top of our weekly class allocations.

Our midday supervisors had a  training afternoon on Wednesday and judging by the laughter from the hall they thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to share with the children.

 

 

 

Well Christmas seems such a long time ago!

All children have settled back in with an 'I can do it attitude' and are well into their new topics.

Year 5 had an exciting America day on Thursday- complete with their own Donald Trump!

Year 2s had their first very exciting forest school's session; this is such a valuable part of the curriculum and we are very lucky to have our very own Forest school practitioner in the form of Miss Barrett.

Both Candytuft and Tulip classes have delighted their new teachers with their attitudes and behaviours so thank you to these children from all of us.

We hosted the Multi academy trust teaching assistant meeting, sharing good practice. All left highly impressed with the THRIVE system so a big thank you to Mrs Halford and Mrs Mathers for being such great ambassadors for this.

Other information

• On Wednesday 23rd January Reception are having a bike and scooter day.
• A reminder to log on to Home connect for accelerated reader so that you can keep abreast of your child's reading. (Year 2 upwards). If you have forgotten your log in please contact Mr Davies via email and he will provide you with the link. mdavies@dovedale.derbyshire.sch.uk
• We have reviewed the parent questionnaire and the results and feedback can be viewed in the parent's section of the website.
• Please make sure children's hair styles are appropriate to school policy.

 

 

 

Happy new year!

Monday 7th January sees the start of the spring term and we are looking forward to all the exciting activities that we have planned. 

Remember that you can make an appointment to see your child's teacher if you need to share or need any information with regards to your child's progress or well being.

Our next formal parents evening will be in March where you will receive an interim progress report. 

 

Merry Christmas!

A fantastic last week of the autumn term. 

Christmas parties all completed with very happy, excited children.

We are very proud to say that our behaviour records have shown an improvement in number of incidences this half term which is really positive as it's quite an excitable time of year.

Congratulations to Mrs Robinson's and Mr Almedia's classes for winning the whole class attendance award-they will select their whole class reward after the holidays.

Thank you to all the parents who took the time to complete the questionnaire, the feedback has been very useful and I will report on this in the new year with our actions. The questionnaire is now closed.

Below is an overview of the subject areas for next half term for your information. More details will be available on the class pages.

After Christmas

We start school on the 7th January-it is a 6 week term finishing on Friday 15th February.

We wish you all a happy and safe Christmas and look forward to 2019.

By using the clothes recycling bank ( located just inside the school gate) to collect 985KG of textiles in 2018 we have contributed to 3 lifesaving missions! Keep recycling those clothes-it really is making a difference.