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FEBRUARY, 2008

1 New Parents
2 Parents’ Evening
3 Thank You
4 World Book Day
5 Healthy School Week
6 Staffing
7 Attendance
8 Eco Team News
9 Yrs 3/4 Production
10 Vouchers
11 Football Cards
12 Diary Dates

PLUS FOHF News

Dear Parents

We come to the end of Term 3 with a very exciting and informative theme week – Environmental Week. A big thank you to Mrs van Dijkhuizen and the Eco-schools group which is made up of children, staff and parents for organising many wonderful activities, visitors and events during the week.

1 NEW PARENTS
If your child is due to start school in September, 2008, please make sure you have handed in your green preference form to the school office. The East Sussex website also has an electronic form and access to the Admissions Booklet for further information. Please inform the school if you have completed the preference form online.

2 PARENTS’ EVENING
Parents’ Evening will take place on:
Tuesday, 11th March from 3.30 – 6.00pm
Thursday, 13th March from 4.30 – 7.00pm
Letters will go home on 25th February, asking you to sign up for an appointment by 29th February.

3 THANK YOU
We have received a letter of thanks for the Christmas donations from The Quicken Trust £162.44 and we were able to send a cheque for £124.95 to the RSPCA. Many thanks for your contributions which have gone to 2 very good causes

4 WORLD BOOK DAY
We will be celebrating World Book Day on Thursday, 6th March. Miss Bond is in the process of organising in-school activities. More information will be given at the beginning of Term 4.

5 HEALTHY SCHOOL WEEK
The Healthy School Team led by Miss Graves is busy putting together a packed programme for the summer term. The Healthy School week will take place the week beginning 23rd June. We are hoping for a better summer this year and have planned to run our sport days during this week.
Monday, 23rd June – 1.30pm Infant Sports Afternoon
Tuesday, 24th June – 1.30pm (back up date)
Wednesday, 25th June – 10.30am Junior Sports Day
Wednesday, 2nd July – 10.30am (back up date)

More information will follow nearer the time. If you are interested in helping, please let us know.

6 STAFFING
The following changes will take place during Term 4:

Midday Supervisors:
Ms Taiclet (Wednesday/Thursday/Friday)
• Mrs Lander (Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday)
• Mrs Reid (Thursday/Friday)
Cleaners:
• Miss Wells finished in December, 2007 and will be replaced by Mrs Whiteman in Term 4.
Teachers:
• Mrs Sweatman, SEN Coordinator has increased her hours and is in school all day Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
• Miss Westcott’s contract has been extended until the end of the summer term to cover maternity leave within the school. She will remain with Year 5 until the end of July.
• Mrs Harley is expecting her first child in June. When she goes on maternity leave from Term 5 she will be covered by Mrs Mans.
• Mrs Mans returns from maternity leave in March. She will provide extra release for teachers to fulfil their curriculum leadership role until she takes on 3MH later in the year.

7 ATTENDANCE
Our monitoring of attendance at school with the Education Welfare Services shows an increase in the number of unauthorised absences due to holidays in term time. Please do be aware that you might receive a letter from the Education Welfare Officer if you have a high level of unauthorised absences. Our records show that we have not issued the warning letters previously, but with the increase in unauthorised absences, this is likely to trigger a response from Education Welfare Services. If you do have any concerns regarding this, please come and see me.

8 ECO TEAM NEWS
The Eco Team would like to thank you for all the support you have given your children during the environmental week. There were a lot of activities planned to motivate and enthuse the children, but we appreciate that it required effort on your part too. It has been a great success, not only because the children have participated so enthusiastically but because the support you have given sends a positive message that environmental issues are important.

Our last request is to please return the COMMUNITY CHALLENGE PLEDGES, if you haven't already done so. The closing date is Friday 29th February.

9 YEARS 3 & 4 DRAMA PRODUCTION
This will take place on Wednesday, 2nd April. Further information will be available nearer the time.

10 SAINSBURY’S VOUCHERS
On 14th February onward ‘Active Kids’ vouchers are being collected once again at school. The collection box will be in the office area. This was a great success last year and we did manage to get lots and lots of extra play equipment.

11 ‘MATCH-ATTACK’ FOOTBALL CARDS
We are very happy to announce that the ‘Match-Attack’ Football cards have eventually reached the ‘dizzy heights for all’. As we have lots of play equipment on offer at school, children are asked NOT to bring in football cards after the February break.

Thank you once again for your continued support.

Yours sincerely

Mrs V Cobb – Headteacher

12 DIARY DATES
Fri 15/2 Last Day of Term 3

Mon 25/2 Start of Term 4
“ “ 6MB visit to Hailsham Library
Mon 3/3 6ML visit to Hailsham Library
Mon 10/3 Scholastic Book Sale week – Infant Hall
Tue 11/3 Parents’ Evening 3.30 – 6.00pm
Wed 12/3 Rotary Club Yr 6 Quiz – Marshlands School
Thur 13/3 Parents’ Evening 4.30 - 7.00pm
Fri 14/3 FoHF Disco
Fri 21/3 Good Friday (school closed)
Mon 24/3 Easter Monday (school closed)
Wed 2/4 Yrs 3 & 4 Production 9.30am & 6.00pm
Fri 4/4 Last Day of Term 4

Mon 21/4 Start of Term 5
Thur 24/4 Class and Team Photos
Fri 25/4 FoHF Race Evening
Mon 5/4 May Day (school closed)
Wed 7/5 Yr 6 meeting re: Blacklands Farm 6.00pm
Mon 12/5 Year 6 SATS test week
Tue 20/5 Year 6 Residential Trip – depart
Fri 23/5 Year 6 Residential Trip – return 4.00 pm
“ “ Last Day of Term 5

Mon 2/6 Inset Training Day (staff only)
Tue 3/6 Start of Term 6
Sat 14/6 FoHF Summer Fair
Mon 23/6 Healthy School Week
“ “ Infant Sports Afternoon 1.30pm
Tue 24/6 Infant Sports Afternoon (backup date)
Wed 25/6 Junior Sports Day 10.30am
Mon 30/6 New Reception Visit 1.30pm - Autumn born
Tue 1/7 “ “ “ “ “ “ “ - Spring born
Wed 2/7 “ “ “ “ “ “ “ - Summer born
“ “ Junior Sports Day 10.30am (backup date)
“ “ New Parents Meeting 7.00pm Infant Hall
Tue 22/7 Last Day of Term 6
Wed 23/7 Inset Training Day (staff only)

FOHF NEWS / DIARY DATES – February, 2008
• We are pleased to announce the appointments of joint chairs Georgina Sheppard and Mark Allen to fill the gap left by Jenny Seale, who so brilliantly held things together from October last year. We also have a new Vice-Treasurer, Claire West.

WE HAVE THREE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
• Spring Disco and Karaoke – Friday, 14th March -As usual there will be two discos, KS1 from 6.00 - 7.30pm and KS2 from 7.45 - 9.15pm. There will be a licensed bar and plenty of soft drinks for the children. With the added feature of a karaoke we hope the children will encourage their Mums, Dads and teachers on stage; now hasn't that got to be worth coming to? Tickets will go on sale the week commencing Monday, 3rd March (look out for slips in book bags). Email disco@helpfriends.co.uk for further information.
• Race Night – Friday, 25th April -The Jockey Club of Hawkes Farm Race Course welcome you to a fun night. Don't forget your tote money and you can even pay to be a race horse owner, with the chance of picking up the prize money if your horse wins. Tickets go on sale in early April, you can pre-book your tickets now by emailing racenight@helpfriends.co.uk Tickets will be £3 for adults and £1.50 for children and include your first drink from the bar.
• Calling plumbers, electricians, decorators, builders, shop keepers and all business people, for just £15 you can sponsor one of our twelve races. Your business name and contact details will appear on the race card and our host will announce the sponsor prior to each race. Call Mark Allen 01323 441576 for further details.
• Summer Fair – Saturday, 14th June -The big fund raising event is now in early preparation. Would you like to be part of the army of helpers that we will need? Please email summerfair@helpfriends.co.uk to offer your assistance.
• Please remember for insurance reasons children must be accompanied by an adult at all of our events. There are no entrance charges for children under 2. Alcoholic beverages and the tote are restricted to over 18s only.
• Teaching Awards - We have been asked by the National Teaching Awards to nominate a teacher, teaching assistant, governor or school for the 2008 Teaching Awards. Having visited their web site www.teachingawards.com we’ve discovered that anyone is eligible to make a nomination. This is your opportunity of showing your appreciation for the marvellous work that the staff and governors do for our “outstanding” school. Please visit the site before 1st March and start bombarding them with your nominations.

COMING SOON:
• Art Competition - We are planning an art competition to find a small team of children to form the Friends’ Art Department. All future designs for our tickets, posters and brochures will be made by these children.
• Website - We are developing a website which we hope to launch in the spring.
• Calendar - We will be looking into the possibility of creating a calendar for the 2008/9 school year, to include school terms clearly marked. During the year we will send out stickers for you to place on the calendar to highlight all the special days that the school and Friends arrange.
• Thank you party - Receiving help from you is fundamental to the success of our organisation. After the Summer Fair we plan to hold a special thank you party (no fundraising, just fun) for all those that have helped us during the year.
• Finally, if you have any ideas or comments, please drop us a line comments@helpfriends.co.uk

Mark Allen- Joint Chair