Call us: 0 1922 682583 Email us: postbox@st-francis-p.walsall.sch.uk

A* Stars ‘Walk to School Week’ If you would like to, you could join in on ‘Walk to School Week’ from 20th October. You should have

received a letter about this by now.

This is an initiative that encourages children to come to school ‘under their own steam’. For example, we encourage pupils to walk, scoot or cycle to school;

and to think about the physical and economic benefits of leaving the car at home.

If you would like your child/ren to take part, please complete, sign and return the slip at the bottom of

your ‘Walk to School Week’ letter.

Holiday Dates 2014 School closes for the half term holiday on Friday 24th October 2014 at 3.15pm. School re-opens for pupils on Monday 3rd November 2014.

Term Dates 2014/15

Fri 24th Oct –Fri 31st Oct 2014 Half Term Fri 19th Dec 2014 – Fri 2nd Jan 2015 Christmas Holiday Fri 13th Feb – Fri 20th Feb 2015 Half Term Fri 27th Mar –Fri 10th Apr 2015 Easter Holiday Mon 4th May 2015 Bank Holiday Fri 23rd May – Fri 29th May 2015 Half Term School closes for Summer Holiday - Mon 20 Jul 2015.

17th October 2014

Diary Dates PARENTS’DROP IN EVENING – Thursday 23rd

3.45 – 5.15 PM October

DIWALI DAY – Friday 24th October

CLJ WEEK – 8th December

THEATRE VISITS KS2 Monday 15th Dec

KS1 Wednesday 17th Dec Nursery Visit to Cadbury World Thursday 18th Dec

Message from the Acting Head Teacher WRITING POLICY (2)

In last week’s Tweet, you will have read about our new Writing Policy, and you will have seen the first of nine useful

points to share with your children to help them further to improve their writing skills.

These points are taken from Wrigley, S: National Writing Project (NWP), National Association for the Teaching of

English (NATE): http://www.nwp.org.uk/1/category/national%20curriculum/1.html

Here is the second point, which forms our focus at school next week:

2. “Model ‘having a go’ … sometimes from having ‘thought aloud’, sometimes from a basic plan or

drawing, sometimes through ‘free writing’… Children can see where you make choices, why you cross

things out, [and] how the writing flows more easily at times …”

Using this as a starting point, can you help your child/ren to write for fun at home this week?

Can you write with them? It would be great if you could write together, talking aloud about the choices you are making as

you go along.

Enjoy!

WORDS OF THE WEEK We started our ‘Word of the Week’ competition for all pupils

in Years 1-6 last week.

Pupils were given a word to use in a sentence; they wrote their sentences; handed them in; and the best ones will be

put on display. The writers of the best sentences were given awards in the assembly this afternoon.

The winners were: Lilly-Mae Lester (Key Stage 1); and

Zoe Tracey & Keira Carless (joint Key Stage 2 winners)

Next week, there will be three target words for Key Stage 1 (pupils should use all three to win). The 3 words are:

to, too, & two

The Key Stage 2 target word to use is: opulent

Good luck, next week, everyone! PLEASE SEE OVER

Parents’ Evening Arrangements

As you know, this term's drop-in Parents’ Evening is on Thursday 23rd October between 15:45 and 17:15.

We will send you an ‘interim report card' sheet on

Wednesday, which will show your child’s targets in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics.

Please come and talk to the teachers on Thursday evening if this report sheet - or anything else - raises questions for you.

There won't be any appointment slots on Thursday, but,

rather, parents will be given the chance to come into class and look at their child/ren's work, if they want to, as they

wait for the teacher to see them.

If you are unable to come along on Thursday, we would be happy to arrange another time for you to see your child’s

class teacher on an informal basis.

TOAST! Last week, we asked parents for help to make the toast for children

in the mornings.

Unfortunately, only one parent has been able to volunteer. I knew that it was a ‘big ask’ and that most people are too busy to do this.

But now I need to ask for your support, patience, and kindness as,

regretfully, we need to stop making toast for children after the half term holiday.

It is a good idea to have toast. I love the thought of pupils working

hard because they are well-nourished and not hungry. But, unfortunately, the process is time-consuming and unsustainable.

Instead, we have free fruit at break times for Key Stage 1 pupils;

and Key Stage 2 pupils can bring a healthy snack into school to eat each break-time. These should provide even more nourishment

than toast, and would have the same benefits otherwise.

Many thanks to the magnificent team of parents (and grand-parent), who have been making toast for the children every

morning break this half term.

Thanks go specifically to: M Barnes, Mrs Clarke, Mrs Moseley, Mrs Shelley and Mrs Thompson. They have been magnificent.

SECONDARY ADMISSIONS 2015

A REMINDER FOR PARENTS OF YEAR 6 CHILDREN

Applications for transfer to Secondary School in September 2015 must be submitted by online

application form by the 31st October 2014.

Junior Leadership Team

This week, the JLT short-listed and started interviewing for vacancies in the ‘Shadow Cabinet’. (This is a team of Year 4 and 5

pupils who will ‘shadow’ the main JLT team members, learning their roles before they

graduate to these jobs fully next year).

The JLT received 39 applications for posts, which is tremendous.

Also the quality of the applications was very

high. Pupils wrote persuasively about why they should be considered for a role. They used language effectively and respectfully.

Overwhelmingly, the applicants showed great generosity of spirit as well as clear

thinking about how to improve the school.

A list of successful candidates will be published in next week’s Tweet.

Thank you to the JLT and all concerned.

PiXL update

PiXL stands for ‘Partners in Excellence’, and this is a national organisation that helps

schools to improve.

Using PiXL resources, we now do regular PiXL-style spelling tests, for example.

Pupils have a spelling test each Monday morning. This test is designed to show

exactly which spelling patterns or spelling rules that each child understands – or needs

to work on.

Having identified each pupil’s gap in knowledge, we work all week on that

particular gap.

We then re-test the pupils every Friday to make sure that they have learnt – and can

apply – the week’s new knowledge.

For more information, please see www.pixl.org.uk