Summer 1 Newsletter and Diary Dates

Welcome back everyone! We cannot believe the Summer term is here already.  This is always an extremely busy term in school (although every term seems to be action-packed) and there is so much to look forward to. We thought it may be helpful to share with you some already scheduled important dates for your diary – more to follow as they are finalised.

Monday 15th April

School closed to pupils.  Teacher INSET day.

Tuesday 16th April

School re-opens for the Summer term.

Thursday 18th-Friday 19th April

Year 6 residential.  Mrs Holden, Miss Sinclair and Mrs Earl. Children to arrive in school via main office entrance at 8.30.  Return to school at 3pm Friday.

Thursday 18th for 6 weeks

Year 3 Pedestrian training.  Children to bring coats.

Tuesday 23rd April

Reception Visit to Whitehouse Farm. Packed lunch required.

Friday 26th April

Cricket coach in school all day running workshops with each class.  Children to wear PE kit.

Monday 29th April

Paralympian athlete in school working with each class.  PE kit to be worn.

Monday 29th April

Year 1 visit to St Mary’s Lighthouse. Packed lunch required.

Monday 13th – Thursday 16th May

Year 6 SATs.  Year 6 children invited into school from 8.20 for a special SATs breakfast each morning.

Monday 20th May

Year 6 Visit to Gibside National Trust – wellbeing day.  Packed lunch required.

Friday 24th May

KS2 Fun Run at Saltwell Park – Athletics Club.  Further information to follow.

Break up for Half Term

Monday 3rd June

School re-opens for final half term

Friday 7th June

KS2 visit to Gibside – Orienteering challenge, map reading and navigation skill will all be tested!!  Packed lunch required.

KS1 Outdoor day in school.

PE kits to be worn by everyone.

Saturday 8th June

Chase Park Fair.  Come along to Chase Park and support our Year 6 children who have secured a table there and have made lots of exciting products to sell as part of their ‘enterprise week’.  All money received will go towards our school fundraising target to install a MUGA within our playground.

 There is also an art competition and poetry competition which each class has entered into – winners to be announced at the fair.

Wednesday 12th June

Year 5 ‘Outdoor and Adventurous Activity’ day at Whickham Thorns.  Packed lunch required and school PE kit to be worn.

Friday 21st June

School closed to staff and pupils for our occasional day holiday.

School News

Welcome back…

We are delighted to welcome back Mrs Feeney to Year 3 and Miss Robson to Year 5 after their maternity leave break.

So long… farewell!!

This will be Mrs Scrafton’s last term with us as she has decided to retire in July. We are so sad to be losing such an amazing and dedicated member of staff (and good friend) who joined Clover Hill in 2007 and has now been with us for 17 years. I’m sure you will all join us in wishing her a happy retirement – she has certainly earned it!

 Ms Cable (who did a fabulous job in Year 5 this year whilst covering Miss Robson’s maternity leave) has been appointed to teach Year 1 from September.

Recruitment

We are advertising for a new Site Manager from September.  Mr Dagliesh has been so kind to step in and help out when Mr Lockey left – we cannot thank him enough for temporarily coming out of retirement for us.

We are also hoping to appoint a Teaching Assistant to work in Year 1: 8.45-1.15pm daily temporarily for a year.  The post will start as soon as possible ideally. 

Both jobs will be advertised through Gateshead Council jobshop but do not hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions regarding these posts.

Fundraising

As you know, we have amazing grounds and are so lucky to have the outside space that we do. However, the field cannot be used during the winter months or when it has been raining heavily as the ground gets saturated (as I’m sure some of you can confirm when your children come home filthy!!).

 This means that sometimes there are 204 children sharing the small tarmac playground area.  Ball games – basketball, cricket, football – often have to be stopped on these occasions as we worry about the children being hit with balls when we are all in the same confined space.

Our dream would be to have a MUGA (multi use games area) installed at the top end of the playground which would give us a safe space for ball games to be played all year round without impacting the other children who are playing. 

These are extremely expensive to purchase and install (despite only wanting the simplest and most basic version) so have decided that this would be an excellent project to fundraise for. 

We have a couple of companies coming to school over the next couple of months to provide us with quotes so will be able to share with you the target figure we’d like to achieve.  More information to follow when we have it.

Gentle Reminders…

Emails to class teachers

Please be aware that teachers do not have access to their email accounts during the hours of teaching  therefore messages may not be seen or responded to immediately.  Should your message be urgent or important, please contact the school office at cloverhillprimary@gateshead.gov.uk or 0191 4334056.

 Illness and absence MUST always be reported to the school office and NOT the class teacher.

School uniform

Please follow our school uniform policy:

-           Black shoes to be worn.  Black trainers are permitted ONLY on PE kit days.

-          No jewellery or smart watches

-          Shoulder length hair or longer (boys and girls) must be tied back

-          Summer dresses and tailored grey/black shorts can be worn

 Punctuality and Attendance

Our gates open at 8.50 for a prompt 9am start.  Please ensure your child is in class for the register and start of day at 9am.  Vital recap and revisit teaching takes place during this time and your child is missing out on crucial learning even just being five minutes late.

 Term time holiday cannot be authorised.  Please be aware that if a child misses school, the teaching taking place that week is also missed which can lead to gaps in your child’s learning.

 After School Clubs

The booking system for our afterschool clubs will go live on Monday 15th April. Places are limited and are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

 Allergies

Please inform the school office if your child has allergies. 

WE ARE A NUT-FREE SCHOOL.  Please ensure not products containing nuts are sent into school.