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Newsletter March 2010

Dear Parents

I thought that you would be interested to know that the School Fund accounts for August 2008 to August 2009 have recently been audited, many thanks to Mrs McCormick for carrying this out for us free of charge.

During the year over £2000 was donated by parents through fundraising and 50p donations, and over £700 was received from Barclays Bank as matched funds. Many thanks to Mrs Rowan for organising this for us.

Some of the money received was spent on subsidising trips, the garden including wood for benches £240, non curriculum books for the library and extending reading (£230), and over £1000 was spent on “miscellaneous” items – baking ingredients, treats for the children, stickers, certificates, Easter Eggs, play costumes and materials and party food. Visiting plays, puppet shows etc., were also subsidised by £200.

Many thanks to all of those who have contributed their 50ps every week, without which we would be unable to provide all these “extras” for the children. If you’ve forgotten, its never too late to make a donation to school fund, cash or cheques made payable to “School Fund” are always gratefully received.

We are shortly looking ahead to next year’s Nursery. If you know anyone with a child who is three by 31st March 2011 please encourage them to get the name of their child down quickly. It is very important that the numbers in our Nursery are respectable. It will be a very exciting time for the Nursery with the new building extension happening during the Summer.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr Morrell, who came into talk to the children about his birds of prey.

Yoiurs sincerely

A Gavin

Two photographs taken on first day of term - 8th January 2010.

News has just been received that a major building project is to start next Summer at the school. A garden room is to be built at the front of the school which will enable the younger children to enjoy a larger indoor play space. This is great news as it will enable the school to look to the future with excitement.

Christmas play 2009

I thought you might enjoy some pictures of the children's Christmas party.

Mission Statement

The community of the school met last week to review and update our Mission Statement. Thanks to all those who contributed to the sessions. The following two statements were adopted as the mssion of the school.

Main Statement

With Christ at our heart, we grow, learn, laugh and love developing our potential whilst valuing and supporting the wider community.

Children’s version

With Jesus, we love, laugh and learn together.

SAFETY

The school works hard to keep your children safe and secure. If there is any area, within the school gates, that you feel needs improvement could you please bring it to my attention.

CHURCH/ SCHOOL LINKS

Please also realise that the school and parish are one community and therefore even if you are not Catholic or of any religious persuasion you are still welcome at any of the social occasions organised by the church e.g. quizzes (run on a Thursday evening once a month); dances; barbecues and also the Spooky Doo for children on 30th October. Do look in the windows around the school for posters.

ABSENCE

Can I remind you that we do need to know on the first day if your child is going to be absent. Please telephone the school by 9.30 am. If you are requesting permission for a holiday I do need the request in writing before the
absence. Please remember that the maximum number of days that can legally be granted is 10 working days. Any amount over is an unauthorised absence.

Policies

Safe guarding children

The school has recently done a comprehensive review of all its policies regarding the safe keeping of children including child protection; bullying etc., These are available on request at any time.

SEN

Could I remind parents that the school has a policy for SEN which is available to all on request. If you feel that you require more information on anything to do with special needs please do contact the school.

Race Relations Policy

The school has a Race Relations Policy. This is monitored by the Governors who assess its impact on the school. The policy is considered to be working well.

Religious Education

It is a legal obligation to inform parents that they have the right to request that their child is excluded from religious education lessons and acts of worship.

Sex Education and Relationships Policy

Parents might also like to know that the school has a sex education and relationships policy. The Governors have agreed that the school should teach only that required by the national curriculum.

The school has many policies including a Community Cohesion Policy and an Equality and Diversity Policy. If you wish to see any of the school’s policies please feel free to contact the office and we will print them off for a nominal charge.

St Teresa’s Travel Plan 2009/2010

We are currently in the process of producing a Travel Plan for the School.

St Teresa’s actively promotes more sustainable forms of travel through our School Travel Plan.

The objectives of the plan are to:

Reduce the frequency and severity of child casualties involved in road traffic accidents

Increase the health and fitness of pupils

Increase the health and fitness of pupils

Promote sustainable transport
Equip pupils with road skills
Address pupil and parent concerns relating to traffic and personal safety
Reduce congestion in the vicinity of the school

Discounts

As part of the Plan we have negotiated a discount with Birkdale Cycles on Liverpool Road.

Members of our School Cycle Club can obtain 5% discount on bikes and 10% on accessories on production of a Membership card. These are available from the School Office.

Actions

We are raising awareness of alternative methods of travelling to school by:

Regular Walk a Bit Wednesdays, where parents and children are encourage to park a little further away from the school.

2 A walking diary and toy for the children to take for walks in Year 1 and 2.

3 A walking club (commencing summer term09) which takes place on Thursdays during afternoon play.

For further information, please visit www.letstravelwise.org

For road safety please visit www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk

Rising to the Challenge

An illustrated history of St Teresa’s School

The school has had quite a varied history, at one time having three schools operating on the site at the same time with over 500 pupils! During the war years the pupils spent only half the day on site since it had to share the building with the evacuees from St Joan’s Bootle.

The booklet tells the story from 1869 to the present day and includes many photographs throughout. As well as parents it may be of interest to grand parents and even great-grandparents who attended the school in the past.

The cost of the book is £2.00. If you wish a copy please call into the office or fill in the form below.

Nursery

Further Ofsted News

I am very happy to be able to advise you to look at the standards page of the website to see our last Ofsted report. It is now in a far shorter version than previous ones but I feel that it does reflect the spirit of the school. I would like to say that the school would not achieve what it does without the support of parents, volunteer workers and the local community, so thank you to you all.

SCHOOL LINK NUMBER

If you are ordering books through the magazine the link number you will need is: 5228257

Thank you for your support.

Additional Notes

Can I remind you that we do need to know on the first day if your child is going to be absent. Please telephone the school by 9.30 am. If you are requesting permission for a holiday I do need the request in writing before the absence. Please remember that the maximum number of days that can legally be granted is 10 working days. Any amount over is an unauthorised absence.

Not sure if your child would like hot dinners—- try them for a week and see! (Menu is on display in notice board.) Please remember to send in the correct dinner money in a named envelope on a Monday morning—-£7.75 per week. Thank you.

School Improvement Plan

These are the new key areas the school is adopting for the academic year 09/10.

To embed RE Assessment
To review the Mission Statement
To review the Literacy and Numeracy curriculum
To build a garden room and thereby create a new Foundation Stage Department
Improving the exterior environment by building a stage for outdoor play

If you have any comments to make on the above, please feel free to contact me.