Dear Parent/Guardian

The children in Year 6 have been fortunate to be accepted for the Crucial Crew which takes place at the Nesscliffe Training Camp on Monday 22^nd May.  This is a very popular event which all schools in Shropshire would like to take part in but for which places are very limited.

Crucial Crew is run by the West Midlands Police Force and the aim of it is to give older children an insight in how to deal with safety hazards, such as fires and accidents, and also to make them aware of the dangers of drug/alcohol abuse.

The children will be transported by coach, leaving school at 8.55am sharp, so if they can arrive a little earlier than usual – 8.40am would suffice – that would be very helpful. They will return to school at approximately 3.00 p.m.

Please ensure that your child wears their school uniform – especially their sweatshirts/cardigans – as this will enable them to be identified more easily whilst there. As many of the activities take place outside, they will also need a waterproof, lightweight coas in case of inclement weather.

Children will need to bring a packed lunch. Those entitled to free school meals will be provided with a packed lunch by our caterers but you may want to supplement this with additional refreshments.

Crucial Crew request that parents ensure that their children have had something to eat before they embark on the day’s activities, especially if it is hot: children will not have a mid-morning break at this event so the earliest they will get to eat will be approx. 12.15pm. Over the years a number of children have had to attend the first aid centre because of feeling faint, which has usually been because of lack of food or dehydration. They are allowed to carry a bottle of water around with them during the day, which they will be able to top up during their lunch break.

The cost of the trip is £4.00 per child including transport, insurance and activities.  Payment should be made via your child’s ParentPay account, in the usual way prior to the date of the trip please.

This trip is covered by our annual consents procedure.

Yours sincerely,

Jane Hilbert

Administration Manager

Dear Parents,

During the next two weeks, we will be going through Pioneer arrangements with the children.  Here is some additional information and clarification to help you prepare your children for what we are sure will be a very positive and exciting experience for them.

Packing & Preparation – kit list provided separately

• CLEARLY NAME ALL CLOTHING AND PROPERTY
• If possible, choose a soft hold-all rather than a rigid case as this makes storage in the dorms easier and gives the children more space. Please DO NOT WORRY if this is not possible
• Please allow your children to be as involved in the packing of their bag as possible; this will help them to be more aware of what they have and where it is – it will also help them when packing for the return home
• Please help your child to practise putting on a duvet cover as this will be their first task when they arrive at the centre
• Include a NAMED plastic bag for the children to put wet clothes in as some groups will be doing a wet activity on the last morning
• Your child will need an easily accessible reading book in their bag
• Please provide a refillable plastic or metal water bottle
• If necessary, give your child travel sickness tablets for the journey and provide us with the return journey tablets

Packed lunch for Monday

Your child will need to bring their own packed lunch with them to school on Monday morning (Monday 15^th May) as the first meal provided by The Pioneer Centre will be tea on Monday evening.

If your child is eligible for Free School Meals, we can provide a packed lunch, plese order via the following link by 9^th May please.

https://forms.office.com/e/CfwSta7hLp

Medical Information and Medication

Please let us know as soon as possible if your child has any medical conditions that we may not already be aware of/ prescribed medication that is normally managed outside of school by clicking on the link below and completing the Medical Update form.

 https://forms.office.com/e/Fjk2TELLhW

 Any medication to be taken on the trip should be put in a container with your child’s name written clearly on the front along with clear instructions and dosage and handed to the school office or class teacher in advance of the day of departure.

Monday morning departure

• We will ask the children to do the ‘big’ hugs and goodbyes at home before leaving for school
• Please allow your child to bring their own bag into the classroom
• Only come into class if you have to provide us with your child’s medication or if you have to tell us some new information
• Please be aware that if you wish to wave off your child, the coach will not be leaving until 10.15 am at the earliest

Wednesday afternoon return

• The coach will return at approximately 3:30 pm and we will phone ahead if delayed for any reason. Please watch the noticeboard outside school for any changes
• PLEASE WAIT INSIDE THE SCHOOL GATES UNTIL ALL BAGS HAVE BEEN UNLOADED – you will be able to greet your children before collecting bags
• Be aware that your child’s wellies/wet clothes bag may have become separated from their main bag – please ensure that you collect ALL your child’s belongings

Please remember that the follow items are not permitted

• Mobile phones
• Electronic games/devices e.g. PSP
• Extra snacks/sweets
• Cameras – school will be taking plenty of pictures/videos

Hopefully, this information will help avoid any last-minute worries, questions or queries.  Your cooperation in these matters will be greatly appreciated and will contribute to the smooth running of the week.

Many thanks in anticipation,

Mrs Morgan, Mr Edwards and the Year 6 team

Transport for Sept 2023 letter

Dear Parent/Carer,

1) 2023 Key Stage 2 (KS2) national curriculum tests (SATs)

The KS2 SATs will take place during the week commencing 8th May 2023. Below are the SATs dates for each test throughout the week.

Please note that the 2023 KS2 SATs were originally due to start on Monday 8th May 2023, but this has been postponed by one day to Tuesday 9th May due to the additional bank holiday in honour of the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

Timetable for SATs week

2) All things SATs after-school drop-in session

 We are inviting parents to attend an informal drop-in session where we will be looking at a variety of SAT materials. The drop-in session will be on Monday 6^th February and we will be available between 3:30 pm and 5:00 pm to answer any questions you may have regarding the SATs.

3) Year 6 SATs revision/practice books

 In response to the large number of requests from parents for SATs revision materials, the school has purchased a reading, maths and grammar, punctuation and spelling practice book for each child. Your child will soon be given these and will have a schedule to complete the practice questions.  The schedule will be published on Dojo for reference each week.

4) Homework

Again, in response to parental requests, we will be providing weekly maths homework which will take the form of a link to access a specific challenge, found on the Mathsbot web site. If your child has no access to an electronic device, we will provide them with a paper copy of the challenge to be completed.

MathsBot is a great resource which we will be encouraging children to use as often as possible at home to practise maths skills which they find more engaging.

If you would like to have a look at the site and try some of the resources, here is the link to MathsBot.com:

https://mathsbot.com/

We will be focussing on the primary school maths skills.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Edwards and Mrs Morgan

We are very excited to announce that we have organised a residential trip for our Year 6 pupils and staff for May 2023 at The Pioneer Centre, Cleobury Mortimer. Children will leave school on the morning of Monday 15th May and return around 3.00pm – 3.15pm on Wednesday 17th May.

We are great advocates of the benefits a residential trip can give to those pupils who attend. These include:

• team building skills, co-operation and respect (through a series of safe but challenging activities);
• developing greater independence;
• learning new skills and taking part in new and enriching experiences;
• discovering more about themselves and their capabilities and becoming more motivated as individuals; and
• (last but not least) having fun!

The Pioneer Centre is a relatively new purpose-built activity venue, with excellent modern facilities, designed to meet the diverse needs of both staff and children alike, and we have stayed there on a number of occasions now. Each occasion has been very successful and, as such, we plan to take our Year 6 pupils there again in the Spring.

The centre provides a “home from home” atmosphere and offers a wide range of exciting activities, with experienced and qualified staff on hand at all times. To find out more about the Centre’s facilities and to see a plan of the site, please visit their website at https://activity-centres.naycacuk.co.uk/pioneer-centre/

The cost of the excursion is £212.00 per child, including transport, food, accommodation, supervised activities and equipment. We recognise that this is a large sum of money so have broken it down into four instalments of £53.00. We would be grateful if you could pay the first instalment by 17th February, sooner if possible, and the remainder of the trip balance by Friday 5th May. Of course, if you wish to pay this sooner that would also be appreciated.

If you are worried about making full payment by the given deadline, please do come and talk to me or contact the office: we can extend the payment schedule to give you more time to cover the cost.

If your child is worried about any aspect of the residential trip, please do not worry as class teachers have plenty of time to prepare the children.

An information evening for parents and Year 6 pupils will take place nearer to the trip to go over the finer details and address any outstanding queries you or your child may have.

This trip will be an amazing, once in a life-time, experience for our pupils and we hope very much that all our Year 6 pupils will attend. If, however, your child WILL NOT be attending the trip, please do let the class teacher know as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Jane Hilbert
Administration Manager