Newsletter 8- Thursday 19th December 2019

Dear Parents/ Carers,

What a week we are having in school! The final week of the Autumn term always brings a different set of challenges and I hope you have been happy with what we have offered in this final festive week. As I have highlighted on previous newsletters we aim to get the balance right with offering the children a fun week to remember whilst maintaining the high level of organisation and standards we set for ourselves.

It was a big disappointment to have to cancel the outdoor performance for Key Stage 2. This was the third time we planned for such an event and on both previous occasions it has worked very well. We hired in sound equipment to help share the songs and readings but the weather is obviously a big factor. On a positive note, we did manage to record the performance in the hall and we will be sharing the outcome on the school website as soon as we can reduce the ‘size’ of the file so that it can go on the website- the children looked and sounded great!

Our other two ‘large events’ received good feedback and I know the parents and grandparents were almost as excited as the children on stage. We had a traditional nativity with our youngest children as well as something a little more ‘original’ in year 1 and 2. For the ‘Jolly Christmas Postman’ the complete script was written by Tudor staff and we aim to give EVERY child a speaking part- we hope you enjoyed the result. A big thank you for all the support with costumes too. It is certainly a special time in the school calendar…

An update regarding Inclusion at Tudor- Miss Reading to be interim Inclusion Lead from January

The last newsletter highlighted an important update regarding a new member of staff. Graham Hodgkinson had been successful at interview and had just started at Tudor Primary. At the end of the first week, Mr Hodgkinson suffered a personal setback which has meant that he has had to resign with immediate effect. Responding to this will be a challenge for Tudor but we are keen to ensure that this important aspect of our provision continues to be strong. We will be advertising again in the new year and we believe that a high quality field will want to lead ‘Inclusion’ in our school.

In the meantime, Miss Reading is excited to be the interim lead of Inclusion and she will be non-class based each week for the spring term. Miss Reading’s current teaching role is to be covered by Mrs Victoria Dickinson. What with Miss Scott’s return to the staff team now that she has recovered from her arm operation, we are really excited about the strength of #TeamTudor as we enter a new decade! A high quality staff team is so important for ANY school…

As mentioned in the last newsletter, we plan to have a clear section of each newsletter that highlights the key information about SEND at Tudor:

SEND at Tudor-

Change in SEND Friends Coffee Mornings 8.45 - 9.30am in the library for the spring term are:  21st January, 11th February and 10th March.  All are very welcome.

The school is purchasing emergency inhalers and epi pens for those who are known to us as having allergies and asthma - look out for paperwork in book bags, as we cannot administer these without written permission.  

Be advised that parents now have a contact line to Educational Psychologists for 'quick queries' regarding development, learning, emotional well-being - this is open on Wednesday afternoons- 2.pm to 4.30pm -01992 588574

Parents can also access physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy services at www.hct.nhs.uk and on a telephone advice line:  01992 823093

The new parent courses and support groups for January have been released and these are now on the school website on the SEND/family support pages

A review of Autumn Attendance

We were visited by the county attendance tem last week and it was pleasing to provide attendance data that shows Tudor is starting to be a school that can celebrate the level of attendance it has. In the not too distant past, Tudor Primary had attendance levels that were a real concern and this led to limiting judgements being made in the last Ofsted inspection. 

I am delighted that we are now a school that is ABOVE county average for attendance for this autumn term. HOWEVER, we are still a school that is below county and national average for the number of children who are persistent absentees. Over 10% of our children miss more than 10% of their schooling and this is something that we must challenge as a school. #EVERYdayCOUNTS

School Dinners- please make sure all meals are paid for in advance

To avoid any difficult conversations, can you please ensure that all school meals are paid for in advance. Do visit SchoolGateway to check your account. The prices for our school dinners are:

£2.60 per meal                     £75.40 for the half term                   £153.40 for the full spring term
 

Finishing off the term in the right way…

It was the Tudor Christmas lunch yesterday (Wednesday 18^th) and over 400 festive meals were served. The children clearly enjoyed this and the fun will continue with some special assemblies at the end of the week. The nominations have been received for the Tudor Headteacher Awards and it is so pleasing to see the written comments from the teaching team. I am sure the ‘winners’ will be thrilled when they are invited to sit on the coveted velvet thrones in the assembly on Friday. They should feel proud when their teachers share the news of their story this term- it can be quite emotional in fact!  And there are also LOTS of 100% attendance awards…

...and on into a new decade...

Please be assured that we are a school that will keep learning and we look forward to an even better 2020. The new themes are being planned and there is a lot of fun activities in store. You have already been given a letter about the new Spring term after school clubs and our first ever FOT panto will also take place on the 25^th January- we really want to be a school at the centre of the community…

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter. We finish at 2pm on the last day. Have a super Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Mr Rob Weightman/ Headteacher