Dear Parents and Carers,

I have been working with Mrs. Speigal to review our curriculum here in school and to ensure that we are taking every opportunity to offer a full range of opportunities to the children;

Sports and P.E.

All schools have been fortunate to receive the sports grant into the budget again this year and we have some plans to give the children some really good experiences with this money;
All children will have the opportunity to develop their orienteering skills here on the school site this summer as well as the opportunity to be considered for activities at more advanced sites in the Autumn term.

Gary West will continue to provide weekly sports coaching to all of the children and will help prepare everyone for the school Sports’ Day which will be held at St. Matthew’s this year on 7th July 2015.

On Monday afternoons there will also be cricket coaching for all children in Year 3 and 4. Children from Norwell Primary will join the Year 3 & 4 children at St. Matthew’s for a shared coaching session. We will then be able to enter a Norwell and St. Matthew’s joint team at the competitive cricket festival in the summer term.

Music

We are very keen to ensure that we are continuing Norwell’s strong music tradition;
All children in Year 3 will receive guitar lessons this summer term. Lessons will be provided through the schools’ music service and the small group size will allow for lots of individual attention and support.
The other children in Key Stage 2 will be learning to play the ukulele through the same service. These will be whole class sessions with instruments provided as well as tuition.
Individual tuition continues in school and Mrs. Bradley will keep everyone informed on the available options.

Extra Challenge Groups

We have identified a number of children in school who have a particular flair in certain subjects and so we will be running sessions to provide extra challenge for small groups of children;
Reading Challenge group every Friday run by Mrs.Ward – a joint group with St. Matthew’s with sessions to be held at Norwell primary.
Computing and coding, challenging sessions run every Monday afternoon by Mr. Ward.

The Rainbow Room
We are all very proud of our school and the lovely learning space that it provides but we are still looking to improve it. Mrs. Watkinson has been working very hard on plans transform the Study room. Refurbishment will take place over the Easter holiday. The Rainbow Room will be absolutely beautiful and will be used by children to work in small groups or for one to one tuition. It is also a nice calm area for children to spend time if they need a little time away from the busy classroom or playground.

Absence/ Social Media

Before we do finish for the Easter break I do need to remind you about any absence from school. We do request that you inform the school office of the reason for your child not being at school on the first day of absence and let us know when they are likely to return. If you are taking your child out of school for a family holiday you need to fill out a holiday request form. The current policy means that this is unlikely to be authorised but the form must be completed prior to the absence from school.
We have had some issues involving the use of social media. Some children are using instagram or snapchat outside of school. We do give guidance to the children on how important it is to use any social media carefully and with consideration for others but it can still lead to issues between children and affect friendships in and out of school. If your child has access to any of these social media it would be useful to discuss this with them. If you have any concerns or questions around this please call in and see me.

There is a lot to look forward to and I am sure that all the children will have a very enjoyable summer here at Norwell Primary.

Wishing you all an enjoyable and peaceful Easter break,

Best Wishes,
Diane Ward

End of Spring Term Newsletter