News Letter Edition -1

NIFS-LogoThe New Islington News

Edition 1
Friday 7th September 2018

 

Click here to download a copy

Welcome to a new school year; it’s going to be a fantastic one!

 

Thank you to every one – staff, children and parents who have been so welcoming, smiley and encouraging.

I hope that you enjoy this first edition of The New Islington News.

 

This will be a weekly newsletter, giving information about future events, providing reminders as well as celebrating events at school.

Your feedback would be appreciated.

 

 

Diary dates: This newsletter will always have a ‘days and dates’ section. This will be updated on a weekly basis. Whilst we aim to stick to the given dates, there may be changes that are driven by necessity. We will always give as much notice of changes and additions as possible, but I know you appreciate the busy nature of a school. Please pop these in your diary! New dates will be added in bold on a week by week basis.

Communication: Clarity of communication is key to success. We intend to communicate in the main via email – paper copies of letters will be sent home occasionally, but we will send an electronic copy too. It is therefore essential that we have up-to-date email addresses. Please check your spam box initially.

There will be a flurry of letters at the start of the term as new projects are initiated; please look out for these and check amongst yourselves that you are receiving them all.

Safeguarding: Please can I remind everyone that we need to have up-to-date mobile numbers (ideally for both parents, and grandparents) and up-to-date medical information. Our fantastic office staff are on hand to take new details. For the safety of our children, parents are not allowed to use the staff car park.

Snacks: Please can I remind parents that children in Reception classes and in Key Stage One (Years 1&2) do not need to provide a mid-morning snack for their children; we provide milk and fruit for those in Reception, and fruit for those children in Years 1&2.

Children in Key Stage Two (Years 3, 4, 5&6) can bring a healthy snack in for break time; fruit, veg sticks, cheese strings. No crisps, biscuits, chocolate, bars. Thank you for your support.

Wrap- Around: High quality child care is vital for working parents – hours have been extended and the club now opens at 7:45 each morning.

Clubs: You will have received both a paper copy and an electronic copy of our clubs list. These will start week commencing 17th September. Please return the form as soon as possible – but by Wednesday 12th September at 9am at the latest. I know you will appreciate that organising the groups for so many clubs is a complex task.

 

PTA (Parent Teacher Association): As you will see in the ‘Days and Dates’ section, there are already several PTA events planned. A separate letter will be sent out with details of these events and how you can get involved. Please look out for this – your school needs you!

Lost Property: Mountains of lost property develop very quickly in every primary school. Please can items of uniform (including coats) be named. Sharpie pens do not wash off, whereas biro does. A quick check after each wash, to see if the name is still clear, is very helpful.

Parent governor: We need two new Parent governors to join the New Islington Governing Body. This is a very interesting, important and valuable voluntary role. I will send out information about the nomination and voting process so please look out for this. In the meantime do email me if you are interested.

Attendance: Our doors open at 8:50 and the school day starts then; the children have an important ‘Breakfast Challenge’ to start the day. Classroom doors and the gates will be shut at 9:00, so please ensure that your child is in school on time – every minute really does count and if children arrive after 9:00 they miss out on so much social and learning time.

You will have noticed that the Marina gate will be open in the mornings, staffed by our Site Manager, Mr McGillick. This gate will not be open in the afternoon as we do not have a member of staff to be on duty.

School must be notified of any absence – with a planned absence, eg for a medical appointment or examinations outside of school, our office staff need to take a copy of the letter/appointment details.

Holiday requests will not be authorised; our Attendance Protocol states that we are obliged to notify the Local Authority of all absences, and it is they (not us) who make decisions about any fines levied. If a holiday is unavoidable, please complete the absence request form

Car parking: We know that this is a real issue for many of you. It is being dealt with at a school and Governor level; we are in discussion with the council. In the meantime, please leave additional time to ensure you arrive at school on time.

Days and Dates:

 

Week beginningEvent
10th

September

Monday 10th: Term letters to go out – detailing key events for this term

Tuesday 11th: Year 6 pre-residential meeting @ 3:40 (invitation to this event was sent out in the holidays)

Thursday 13th: Year 4 start swimming lessons

Thursday 13th: We host some very special visitors who are coming to the UK to learn about excellent primary schooling. Three members of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education are visiting New Islington.

Thursday 13th: The start of a research project with Marie Charles, Years 5&6 (Letter sent out)

Friday 14th: City in the Community (MCFC) start their year-long project with us. Every Friday they will come in and provide high quality PE lessons for our KS2 children, as well as

 

lunchtime clubs and after school clubs. This is an exciting partnership!
17th

September

Teacher run clubs start this week

Friday 21st: PTA meeting @ 4:00 (see letter from Monday 10th)

24th

September

Monday 24th – Wednesday 26th: Year 6 Residential Tuesday 25th: Weekly KS2 Choir starts @ 8:00

Tuesday 25th: Royal Northern College of Music concert for KS2 children @3:00 to 3:30 – all parents welcome too.

Wednesday 26th: Secondary School Road Show 6:00 to 7:30 – for parents of children in Years 4,5&6 to get a flavour of your Secondary School options. (A letter was sent out in July about this event – I will send it out again next week)

Friday 28th: EYFS parent Forum @9:00 – a Q&A opportunity for our new parents who have children in our Reception classes

1st OctoberTuesday 2nd: Sign up goes live for EYFS parents evening – more details to follow Thursday 4th: National Poetry Day – we have the poet Dominic Berry coming in, who will work with our Key Stage Two children. More details to follow; we will be asking for a

contribution of £2:80 per child to cover his assembly and workshop costs.

8th OctoberWednesday 10th October: World’s Biggest Coffee Morning @ 9 – 10am

Friday 12th: Year 6 cake sale @ 3:30 (PTA event)

15th OctoberMonday 15th: Sign up goes live online for parents evening Years 1-6.

Monday 15th: Giant Turnip workshop for EYFS classes. More details to follow. We will request a contribution of around £11:00 per child to cover the costs

Tuesday: STEM event led by a Biomedical Imaging Scientist for 10 children and their parents in Years 5&6, from 3:30 to 4:30 (More details to follow)

Tuesday 16th / Wednesday 17th: EYFS Parents Evening

Thursday 18th: Year 4 to MGS for ‘AHOY’ – parents are invited to a concert at Manchester Grammar School in the early evening. More details and timings to come.

Friday 19th: Harvest festival @ 2:30

22nd OctoberHalf term holiday week
29th OctoberWHOLE SCHOOL AUTHOR STUDY

Friday 2nd: Disco EYFS and KS1 @ 6:00/ KS2 @ 7:15 (PTA event)

5th NovemberWednesday 6th/ Thursday 7th: parents Evening @ 3:30 / 5:00
12th

November

Tuesday 13th: Autumn Term Parent Forum @ 9:00 – a Q&A session for all parents

Friday 16th: Children in Need day – more details to follow

19th

November

Friday 23rd: Year 5 cake sale @ 3:30 (PTA event)
26th

November

3rd DecemberTuesday 4th / Wednesday 5th : EYFS nativity @ 9:30

Thursday 6th: Panto for whole school am/pm

10th DecemberNo teacher run clubs after school this week

Tuesday 11th / Wednesday 12th: KS1 nativity @ 9:30 Friday 14th: Christmas fair (PTA event)

17th DecemberNo teacher run clubs after school this week Christmas parties this week

Tuesday 18th: KS2 carols at Halle St Michaels @ 6:30

Friday 21st: Finish for the holidays