Important news to share as we enter the second half of the school year...
Newsletter 12- Thursday 5th March
Dear Parents/ Carers,
It has been a week of school evaluation at Tudor Primary. A range of monitoring activities are taking place to help us understand how well we are doing and (more importantly) how to improve further. Interestingly, in one of my assemblies with the children, I asked them for their advice on ‘what to do’ to help work out how well our school is doing- they said we should be:
Talking to children, looking in books, making sure the classrooms have great work on display, asking the teachers what they are doing to make things better amongst other ideas too.
I have to say that these are the actual activities we are doing and it is a rewarding experience to see how committed the teaching team is in making each day memorable! However, some things will always be out of our control…
Coronavirus- Responding in the right way
Different years bring schools different challenges and who could have predicted the recent news of coronavirus. Tudor Primary remains highly pro-active with all national advice and guidance and we continue to work closely with local schools. The most up to date guidance is that schools remain open. Health and safety of children remains our number one priority and there has already been a number of ‘extras’ that we have put in place from assemblies about effective hand-washing to ordering extra supplies of cleaning products.
Be safe on the way to school…
Whilst we must take actions to keep children safe from illness, there is nothing more immediately dangerous to the lives of our young children than poor road sense. Please make sure you model the correct safe behaviours when transporting your children to and from school. The main areas of concern are St Albans Hill as well as the dual carriageway at the bottom of Wood Crescent. Please use the underpass: this will always be a better decision than ‘finding a gap’ between the cars and lorries going up and down the hill. Remember that PARENTS will ALWAYS be the main educator of their children and they continually look to you for guidance. Please make sure you do the ‘right thing’- even if it means it takes a little longer…
Giving children those ‘EXTRA’ experiences… let’s enjoy doing things differently!
Tudor has a staff team that naturally think of creative and imaginative ways to make the learning memorable and we always like to put our ‘own special spin’ on certain events. In the Summer term we will be having our annual Tudor Book Day and we are all excited about a number of other special events that will be delivered to the children. Incidentally, we have received more positive feedback about not going with the ‘normal’ world book day due to the potential for second hand/ reduced outfits- but we know we cannot please everyone.
From skiing experiences to Beach Days and from Teddy Bears Picnics to surprise pantomimes/ shows and renowned visitors to school, we believe the children of Tudor get a very good deal! I always consider the financial impact of certain trips that, whilst appearing great on the surface, can be rather underwhelming. Some primary schools are requesting over £30 for a day trip- for less than half that our year 5 and 6 will be having a ‘Day on the Alps’ in the near future! All decisions have the children in mind as well as the financial implications on home/school.
SEND at Tudor- Updates from Miss Reading- Tudor Inclusion Leader
- It was fantastic to see so many parents attend the 'Sleep Lite Bite' workshop this week. It was very informative and provided some great tips about how to create a good sleep environment and positive bedtime routine. If you would like a copy of the slides used during the presentation please contact the office team or myself at; inco@tudor.herts.sch.uk.
-Please add these dates of the SEND friends coffee mornings to your diary; Tuesday 24th March, 28th April, 2nd June and 30th June. It would be wonderful if you could come along!
Our ‘Mid-Year Review’ and PARENT VIEW update…
It was great to see the support for the children at our recent consultations. Whenever we have tried to enhance the experiences of the children through parental engagement the vast majority of parents are keen to help. The atmosphere at the start and end of each day remains positive too- believe me when I say that not all schools are able to enjoy such a situation. Taking the above into account, we continue to seek ‘official’ views on the school via ‘Parent View’. Looking at the feedback for other schools in Hemel Hempstead we appear to be ‘leading the way’ here and I would like to thank those parents that have shared their feedback. Most importantly though, I do hope that if there are any parents with any concerns, they would feel confident to approach the school to seek a solution. I pledge to remain visible on the playground each day and one of my aims each (and every) day is that EVERY child and EVERY member of staff will see me. There’s nothing better than seeing the children keen to share their super work- check out this ‘Extreme Environments’ inspired artwork:
If you would you like to find out more about how we present the curriculum, contact the school office and register your interest for a ‘Tudor Tour’. As well as experiencing what school life is like at Tuor you will have opportunities to ask questions and find out about plans for the future.
And we also must work together for ‘Effective Attendance’
The school continues to enjoy improved levels of attendance (we are above national average for the first time ever!) and this means that more children are able to enjoy a more consistent education. However, I am aware that we are approaching the time of the year when some parents may be considering taking their children out of school. A 2 week holiday before or after the Easter holiday means that children would be missing a complete month of learning at a time when they should be realising all the potential that they have built up in the first part of the school year. It is not surprising to note that those persistent absentee children are likely to be less confident in school. Please prioritise your children’s social and academic development over lower fares and cheaper deals on holidays. A huge thank you (on behalf of the children!) to all those families that work with the school. We continue to work alongside the county attendance team and we are proud of how we support families in enabling their children to be successful…
In other news, we have been enjoying success in sport recently including the school football team being victorious in a recent 2-0 victory. We are also about to enter our first dance show and the children are really excited. Tudor will also be the venue for a sports activity camp during the Easter holidays. Book via http://sport4kids.biz/holiday-camp/hemel-hempstead-holiday-camp
Use EARLYBIRD for a 20% discount if booking before 15th March.
For parents, the FOT have their next Bingo night on Fri 27th March and if you would like to help the group, you are warmly invited to their next meeting which is at Hemel Snow Centre at 7.30pm on Tues 10th March. We are ALL #TeamTudor…
Mr Rob Weightman/ Headteacher