An exciting (and busy) term is in store FOR ALL!
Newsletter 9
Wednesday 12th January 2022
Dear Parents/ Carers,
First of all, I would like to wish all members of our school community a Happy New Year. We find ourselves in rather ‘interesting’ times once again and I trust you know that Tudor Primary looks forward to working WITH you again this year. Despite the difficulties at the end of the autumn term, I am proud how the school worked successfully during that period. The festive celebrations were well received and the children enjoyed the vast range of extras that we offered.
We now find ourselves in a new term (and year) and I think we should ‘allow’ ourselves to be excited about the future. The new themes of learning have already sparked huge interest in the children- Tudor DOES do things differently in respect of how the curriculum is delivered and I think that is one of our key selling points. Let’s INSPIRE them!
Year 1 and Year 2 are already loving their ‘From Field to Fork’ theme (check out Jamie’s work in year 1!) and by 9.05am on the first day in LKS2, the children of year 3 had found that their classrooms had become a crime scene and they were already on the case. The suspects for the crime include myself (!), Mr Denny and Ms Smith and we’ve already been grilled by the children. (I promise I didn’t do it- headteachers HAVE to be totally honest!) ;)
The rate of progress for children always accelerates during the spring term and we look forward to the children completing some awesome work. Efforts in class are being further supported by a range of interventions and additional learning opportunities- please ensure that your children are in school and on time so that they are not disadvantaged by missing the time that they NEED (and deserve) in school. Whilst school officially starts at 8.55am, we provide learning support for EVERYONE from 8.45am and the extra 10 minutes a day can mean the children benefit from over 33 EXTRA hours of learning over the year- that is sure to make a BIG impact on YOUR children.
Celebrating success and rewarding the children- The ‘Autumn Headteacher Award Assembly’ had to be postponed until the start of this term but it was still super to be able to share the awesome stories of success.
Do visit our website to find out which children had been nominated by classteachers to sit on the magical velvet thrones. They ALWAYS look SO proud! There are SO many great stories about how children are progressing academically and socially- recognising how well the children are doing is vital in any school.
Inclusion at Tudor Primary- a message from Miss Reading- our Leader for Inclusion:
This term ADD-vance are offering mini-consultations for parents/carers of children who have ADHD and/or Autism (diagnosed or suspected). This session will be with a trained ADD-vance coach to address one issue in your family life you would like advice/ support on. SEND Surgeries will also be taking place during the term. During these surgeries SEND School Family Workers are available to answer questions/ offer support and signposting for parents/carers of children with additional needs. To find out more information, please look at the DSPL8 Parent/Carer Support 2021-22 leaflet, located in the SEND/Family Links section of the school website. There is also information about 'Beezee Bodies'- free healthy lifestyles support for families. Finally, please join us on Fri 28th Jan 9-10am for our first coffee morning of 2022. This will be an opportunity to see friendly faces and have an informal chat and/or ask any questions you may have.
Our SPRING CLUBS are now being offered- we continue to subsidise a range of extra opportunities!
You have already been informed about the new after school clubs for this term. The deadline for applications is Thursday 13th January at 9am and the clubs will start w/c 17th January. Follow this link for more information- https://www.tudor.herts.sch.uk/page/?title=Extra%2Dcurricular+Activities&pid=39&action=saved
We are proud of the sport and activity we offer at Tudor and, whilst we remain frustrated at the limited inter-school opportunities we can access at the moment, the children get a good deal. Swimming in year 4 is underway again and I have just arranged a full skiing course for PE in year 6 at the snow centre later in the year. Yes- children at Tudor DO actually have skiing (on snow!) as part of our PE curriculum- I wonder how many schools offer that! Our Friday Freewheels will return later in the term once the weather improves and children can access the field on their bikes.
Finding out what is happening and remaining FULLY informed- please SUPPORT our office team
You may have noticed that we have returned to handing out paper copies of the newsletter again. This was in response to increased numbers of parents contacting the school with questions about things- the answers to which were on newsletters or on the website! The school office team in any school is vital and we are delighted with our ‘front of house’ at Tudor. We do request, though, that you commit to reading the newsletter and using the website as your main source of information. The office team’s capacity is also limited when parents arrive late (after 8.55am) and children have to be escorted to their classes. To encourage even more visitors to our website, we regularly update class blogs on there because we know parents LOVE seeing their children’s work- our twitter page is also useful for this. Important dates (events/ class assemblies) are also on there. Be confident that, in respect of information sharing, Tudor Primary really sets a high standard.
Parent consultation appointments will soon be available to book. The dates for the sharing of your child’s mid-year report are Tuesday 8th and Thursday 10th February. 2Q’s parent assembly is on Thursday 3rd February and 1P’s parent assembly is Thursday 10th February. The spring term is always the shortest of the year but it is certainly a busy one and there is lots going on- don’t miss out!
Thanks for your ongoing support- we really appreciate your positive feedback.. If you have time, #TeamTudor would appreciate it if you complete the online Ofsted Parent View for Tudor Primary- it doesn’t take long and it will be a source of evidence that an inspection team considers. The link is: https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results/survey/result/12606/12
We continue to pledge that we remain accessible to you so that we can swiftly respond to any concerns you may have. Even though it is pleasing to receive praise, our response to any concern you have is important.
One of our year 5 pupils presented the school with some art she completed at home in response to our value of EQUALITY- it really sums up our school. Thanks Peyton- you are clearly #TeamTudor!
Thanks for your ongoing support in what remains a challenging period for all schools. Reports in the national press recently shared that schools are under considerable strain due to staff absence. The teaching team at Tudor remain highly committed and we are keen to maintain the high levels of staff capacity that ensure your children can flourish in school. In fact, on the training day at the start of term, we had 100% staff attendance- long may this continue! Please do all that you can to make sure that your children are able to benefit from a full education- EVERY DAY truly counts…
Mr Weightman #TeamTudor
