Letters to Parents & Carers

This week's Headteacher Letter

4^th October 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

This term is flying by – let’s hope the sun stays with us a little bit, to warm us as we enter Autumn.

Congratulations to our weekly Celebration Worship Winners

Spain – Muhammad A & Mohammed J

Ireland – Adam & Aayan

Kenya – Rayyan & Oromidayo

Tunisia – Safa & Umair

Madagascar – Amanosi & Harvey

Mali – Amina & Moeez

Pakistan – Moyin & Amin

Thailand – Bailey & Musa

China – Kabou & Aroosh

Japan – Beatrise & Iqra

Jamaica – Oliver & Jasmeet

Mexico – Eshaan & Mahrosh

Argentina – Walihah & Fajr

Brazil – Donavan & Hibba

Chile – Zoraiz & Muneeb

Class Attendance Winners

Well done to Class China who have won this week with an attendance of 99.6%!

Class Visits & Visitors

We are proud of the offer we have to children for a broad and balanced and aspirational curriculum. As part of this we have hundreds of additional activities throughout the year. These come at a considerable cost to school and so to support us with offering these to your child, we are asking for a non-refundable voluntary contribution of £5 per child in Reception and £15 per child in Years 1 – 6. This can be paid in one go, in 3 instalments or in little bits across the year. All contributions go towards the visits the children go on and the visitors who come and work with the children.

This year school are planning to go to places such as Cliffe Castle, Cartwright Hall, Whitby, Harewell Hall Farm, Scarborough, Murton Park, Bradford Industrial Museum, Ponderosa, Saltaire, Clitheroe Alpaca Farm and many, many more. We are also welcoming in a storytelling team to boost children’s language skills, skipping workshops, road safety teams, cycle training, yoga and more.

Please make sure you respond to the information about the voluntary contributions when it is sent out next week. Your support is vital in bringing the children’s learning to life.

Road Closures

As everybody knows, both Northallerton Road and Westminster Road are closed to cars each day from 8.10 until 8.30am and from 2.50pm until 3.10pm. We try and staff this where we can, but this isn’t every day as our job is to be inside school for the children. We rely on our driving parents following the rules. It is sad to see so many of our driving parents ignoring the rules which causes huge safety issues for our children. Over the past 2 years we have had several near misses and a few occasions where cars have collided with children. For the sake of a parking a few metres closer to school, those drivers are putting our children at risk. This gets worse in the worse winter weather, so this is an early plea for everyone to sensibly follow the rules, including turning off engines whilst waiting.

If you would like to help us in keeping the street free from traffic in a morning or afternoon, then lease contact the school office. Supporting us by following the rules would be great, but supporting us by volunteering to help clear the street would be even better!

Diary Dates

Please go to our website for Diary Dates – they are all in there for the upcoming months, including our upcoming Parents’ Evenings just before half term.

National Poetry Day

The children have all written poems this week on the theme of numbers – they loved sharing their attempts in a whole school assembly on Thursday.

Holiday Requests

We have received a lot of holiday requests recently – please do not take your children out of school during term time. It will not be authorised and you could be liable to a fine of up to £2,500. We have worked so hard to increase our attendance and to improve the experience at school for your child – but they need to here!

Home Talking Tasks

Remember to check the weekly ‘Home Talking Task’ which provides some pictures and news stories for you to discuss and work on with your child. www.westminsterschool.co.uk/parents-and-carers/home-talking-tasks

No Nuts & No Bones

Please remember that we are a Nut Free School – we have children with severe allergies and we have to make sure they are safe. Also, please don’t send food with bones in, as these are a major choking hazard!

Enjoy your weekend and God bless,

Mr. S. Gallacher