School Newsletter

In this issue: Please take time to read all of the

information in this newsletter.

o It takes a village…

o Important Dates

o 2016-2017 Class structure

o Swimming Galas

o Additional Lunchtime Supervisor

o Values for Life

o Reports and Parent Meetings

o After-School grounds timetable

o Final Parent Forum

o Transition into 2016-2017

o Bronze PE Mark

o School Facebook page

Page 1 Boxford CEVC Primary School Newsletter June 2016: Issue #5

I’m happy to send this, the final School

Newsletter of the 2015-2016 Academic Year, and

want to begin with a huge thank you to all those

within the school’s community. This has, obviously,

been a year of transition for the school and

further changes lie ahead. However, through the

support and challenge of the whole school

community, we have been able to achieve so

much in our work to develop and improve the

provision at Boxford Primary School.

I truly appreciate the engagement and

interest of the parent body in all aspects of

school life. Thank you to all who have

volunteered their time for countless events, trips

and special fundraising activities. Your

contribution makes a difference to our wider

provision and we know it would be hard to deliver

such variety without your support. We also want

to acknowledge the patient work of our

classroom volunteers in supporting a range of

curriculum areas. Every page carefully read,

every maths calculation explained and every

story listened to is a critical shuffle in a child’s

development and we thank you for making time

for it in your busy lives.

I especially want to thank the school

governors for their work this year. They have been

highly supportive of the school’s improvement

activities and all have been deeply engaged in

the process of restructuring to align their work

with new approaches being taken in school. The

impact of their work is so noticeable.

Similarly, we appreciate the work of the

FOBS this year to bring our community together

through small and large events that, in turn,

benefit the school with valuable funds. The

investment in reading this year has given the

school a platform to continue growing our

provision. I’m sure future contributions will be

equally valuable.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to take

a moment to recognise the immense work of the

Boxford staff team. In all roles, this is truly a

magnificent staff who work with all pupils with

empathy, care and professionalism. They push so

hard to enrich the curriculum with experiences

that resonate with their students and inspire the

sense of enquiry that leads to lifelong learning.

Whether leading our learning or supporting in

other areas of the school, there is a sense that

everyone contributes towards the aim of

maximizing the potential of all children. I take my

hat off to them all! Thank you.

I have always loved the traditional African

proverb that says…

…and, while I’m not suggesting that the school

‘raises’ its students, I do think this phrase works so

well in the context of Boxford. Whether parents

contribute though local football clubs or beavers

& rainbows; charity fundraising; special

community & parish council events; governance

and committee membership or simply as an

active participant in all of the above activities,

everyone seems to share in the vibrant provision

for local children.

Through school, I have been proud to be a

part of this for the past year and have loved my

time at Boxford Primary School. I shall treasure my

time here and wish every one of you a bright,

healthy future. ~ Mr Toby

Value for Life: Courage

We are pleased to share our final whole-

school Values for Life theme for this year:

Courage!

All assemblies will consider different aspects

of courage and its implications. All classes will

explore the idea at an appropriate level during

PSHE sessions.

So far this year, class discussions on the

themes of Perseverance, Friendship and

Truthfulness have been highly insightful. I hope

that you have been enjoying some

of these conversations at home as

your children explore these concepts.

Additional Midday supervisor:

I am pleased to inform you that we recruited a

new midday supervisor this term. We currently

have sufficient coverage at lunchtimes, but are

seeking to enhance our playtime provision and so

are still seeking to fill one additional position.

To work 1.25 hours per day at lunchtime as part of

a small, friendly team. Permanent, contracted

hours available and relief cover also needed.

We are looking to appoint 1-2 people to cover all

5 days. However, we would be happy to fill these

positions with people who are only able to work

part-time, on certain days.

If you are interested, please call into the office for

more information or contact us on (01787) 210332

and

Boxford Primary School is committed to

safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all

children and adults within our community. Our

staff and volunteers share this commitment.

As with all school positions, DBS checks will be

required for this post.

FG-Year 4 Swimming Galas: Our summer swimming lessons have been

coming along brilliantly and we appreciate the assistance of all parent volunteers in supporting these sessions. Mrs Howlett continues to teach both water confidence and swimming skills to all children in FG – Year 4 and we are excited to share this progress through our Summer Swimming Galas. I do hope that you will be able to join us for these exciting showcases:

Tuesday 5th – FG Swimming Gala (9:15-10:30m)

Tuesday 5th – Year 1 & 2 Swimming Gala (1:30-3:00pm)

Wednesday 6th – Year 3 Swimming Gala (9:30-11:00am)

Thursday 7th – Year 4 Swimming Gala (9:30-11:00am)

May I remind all parents that, in accordance with our Use of Photographs and Digital Images Policy, no photography of children will be permitted during swimming. Individual photographs may be taken by parents.

Many thanks, in advance, for your understanding and cooperation.

Page 2 Boxford CEVC Primary School Newsletter June 2016: Issue #5

Important Dates:

June: Monday 30th May – Friday 3rd June – Half term

Monday 6th – Teacher P.D. day – School closed

Wednesday 8th – Sports Day, Foundation - Year 6

Saturday 11th – Community Council Queen’s 90th

Birthday Street Party

Tuesday 14th – Year 1 & 2 trip to Felixstowe

Wednesday 15th – Foundation Class 2016-2017 Stay n

Play (10:45 – 11:45)

Thursday 16th & Friday 17th – Year 6 Evening

performances of 101 Dalmations

Monday 20th – Resources Committee Meeting

Thursday 23rd – Year 3-6 Parent Maths Workshop (4:30-

5:30pm)

Friday 24th June – Parent Drop-in with School Nurse

Friday 24th – FOBS Tuck Shop on the playground

Friday 24th – FOBS Quiz Night

Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th – Early Years’ Camp!

July: Friday 1st – Dress Down Day in support of RSPB

Saturday 2nd – Summer Fair: A Circus is coming to

Boxford!

Tuesday 5th – FG Swimming Gala (9:15-10:30m)

Tuesday 5th – Year 1 & 2 Swimming Gala (1:30-3:00pm)

Tuesday 5th – Music Evening (6pm)

Wednesday 6th – Year 3 Swimming Gala (9:30-11:00am)

Thursday 7th – Year 4 Swimming Gala (9:30-11:00am)

Friday 8th – End of Year reports sent out

Thursday 7th – Full Governing Body Meeting

Tuesday 12th – Parent Forum meeting (5:30 – 7pm)

Wednesday 13th – Year 6 Leavers’ Assembly (2pm)

Thursday 14th – Wednesday 20th – Year 6 Transition week

for Thomas Gainsborough School

Monday 18th – Transition Day: Foundation – Year 5

Thursday 21st – Last day of school year

Thursday 21st - FOBS Tuck Shop on the playground

Friday 22nd July – Wednesday 31st August – Summer

Holidays – School closed

Thursday 1st & Friday 2nd September – Teacher P.D. days

– School closed.

Monday 5th September – First day of new school year

Staffing and classes: Having put the final plans in place for the

new academic year in 2016-2017, I’m happy to

share our staffing plan with all parents.

We are very pleased with the teaching

appointments made during the year. The early

appointment of Mrs Davies as the school’s new

Headteacher from September means Boxford has

now successfully recruited for all key positions.

Mr Hood will assume the position of Acting

Assistant Headteacher for Teaching & Learning

during the period of Mrs Hammersley’s maternity

leave. We are excited to see him work in this role

and know that he will share his excellent

experience and insight during his work next year.

Many congratulations, Mr Hood!

I am also thrilled to confirm that Boxford

School has secured the services of Mr Pruden to

teach two days per week. Mr Pruden is an

outstanding practitioner and he will replace the

Premier Sports PE provision. All children will receive

one PE session with Mr Pruden per week.

Finally, the school will retain our County

Inclusive Music tuition and Years 5 & 6 will continue

to swim at Hadleigh Leisure Centre.

All in all, this staffing plan provides great

continuity while further enhancing our experience

and provision as a whole.

In terms of logistics, Foundation – Year 4 will

all continue to be taught in the same classrooms as

this year. Year 5 will be taught in the additional

classroom to allow both Year 6 classes to be taught

downstairs in the newer part of the building. The

current Year 5TB class will be taught by Mr

Wainwright, with Year 5H moving on to Mrs Eaton &

Mrs Bull.

As always, if you have any questions or

comments about the above, please do not

hesitate to contact us.

Page 3 Boxford CEVC Primary School Newsletter June 2016: Issue #5

Transition into 2016-2017: As we prepare to transition into the new

school year, many meetings are taking place in

order to prepare for a successful handover of

leadership roles and classes.

Mrs Davies, the school’s new Headteacher,

has already been in a number of times to begin

the transition process. She has met with Sally

Connolly to discuss school governance and met

with me to begin the handover of our school

improvement work. She will meet with Mrs Eaton

next week to begin planning the work of the Senior

Leadership Team and hopes to have time to meet

with parents in the playground. Further meetings

are planned to discuss finance and premises.

PE Bronze Mark award Many congratulations to Mrs Hammersley

and all staff at Boxford for the excellent provision

of PE, building on excellent foundations of work

over recent years. This week the school was

awarded a Bonze School Games Mark for our

commitment, engagement and effective delivery

of competitive school sports in 2015-2016.

The school was close to achieving the Silver

Mark, and we hope to build on our provision to

achieve more for our pupils in this area.

In Mrs Hammersley’s maternity absence, we

are confident that our PE provision will continue to

grow thanks to Mr Pruden’s expertise.

Well done all!

Page 4 Boxford CEVC Primary School Newsletter June 2016: Issue #5

Summer school premises

improvements: Over the summer, we plan to have some

building works carried out at the school.

Consequently, access to the school may be

limited and there may be some noise implications.

School Boilers!

Not the most exciting improvement, but long

overdue! The Local Authority has scheduled work

to begin on replacing our boilers and oil tanks.

Work is expected to last all summer.

New Front Entrance:

In order to make the front playground safer

and to improve our school’s entrance, we are

carrying out some fencing and building work

during the holidays. The school’s entrance and

main office will be relocated to the center of the

school, to the area that used to be the computer

suite. New fencing will ensure that all visitors to the

school are directed through the current

pedestrian gate. There will no longer be a gate at

the front of the school, to reduce risk caused by

the school busses and road.

All access to the school grounds will be

controlled by lockable gates, ensuring that visitors

report to the school office on arrival. The infant

playground will have gates to the side walkway

near to the car park. New fencing from the

pedestrian gate to the side of the school hall will

ensure there is no access to the car park or main

school playground while the gates are closed.

The new office & entrance will consist of

glass windows to welcome visitors. We will also be

installing an interior security door so that all visitors

must be ‘buzzed in’ to access the school building.

I am delighted that these changes should

dramatically improve our school’s security and

safeguarding.

New gates

All gates will be

locked

between 9am -

3pm, ensuring

there is no

access to the

school site.

New gates to the

car park will be

locked overnight

and during school

hours, to improve

security.

Page 5 Boxford CEVC Primary School Newsletter June 2016: Issue #5

Reports & Parent Meetings: We expect our end of year reports to be

ready to send home on 8th July. We await results

from the government SATs assessments and will

notify parents if this date needs to be pushed

back at all.

Reports will be sent home digitally, via

ParentMail. Therefore, we hope to ensure that all

reports are received on the same day.

If you feel that you would like to meet with

the class teacher regarding your child’s report,

please contact/approach them to arrange a

suitable time.

As Year 5H did not receive their Spring Term

parents evening, Mrs Mueller will be offering two

evenings for parents to meet with her now that

she has got to know the children and has

completed a cycle of assessment.

Of course, transition meetings between

teachers will be taking place in order to pass

information ahead of September.

Playground use reminder: Now that the weather is improving, I am

pleased to see children and parents using the

playground for after-school play sessions.

In order to make the scheduled sessions

clearer, I have timetabled times for our

neighbours at Sunflower Nursery. We want to

ensure that their use of the school grounds is as

secure as we would expect for ourselves.

I would therefore appreciate it if all parents

would continue to respect these arrangements in

the interest of all users.

However, once our after-school activities

finish on Thursday 7th & Friday 8th July, we invite

families to stay and use the playground and field

for these final two weeks.

* In fair weather. Will otherwise take place in the hall.

3:30 – 4:30pm Field Playground

Monday Free-play Field Sunflowers

Tuesday Sunflowers Free-play Wheels!

Wednesday Sunflowers Tennis *

Thursday Golf Athletics *

Friday Cricket/Rounders General Free-play

School Facebook

Page: It has come to my

attention that, at times,

confusion has arisen through

the various Facebook groups

that are associated with the school.

A school Facebook page has been

established to improve communication in this

area. Our Facebook page will serve as a direct

feed of information relating to current school

matters, including dinner menus, blog posts,

special events reminders and other updates. All

questions for the school, of a public nature that

will be of value to all, can be posted here so that

clarification can be given easily whenever

confusion arises.

You can ‘like’ our new Facebook page

here:

https://www.facebook.com/BoxfordCEVCPrimary

School/

The ‘Boxford CEVC Primary School – Official

Parents Group’ will be closed in the coming week

and we encourage all to receive notifications

about school activities through the new page.

The ‘Boxford School Parents Group’ will

continue as a closed group without any

involvement from the school.

We hope that this allows for improved

clarity of information and swifter responses where

any confusion arises.

Summer Term Parent Forum: Our final Parent Forum meeting of the

school year will take place on Tuesday 12th July at

5:30 - 7pm. In this meeting, I will share an update

on the school’s performance and improvement

activities for the past year.

It will give parents the opportunity to discuss

matters of interest with me and Sally Connolly,

Chair of Governors.

We will, as in other sessions, work

collectively on an area of the school’s

development. This will focus on the transition

between leadership – again, seeking to establish

as much continuity as possible over the summer.