Latest news
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update 21.02.2024
Wed 21 Feb 2024Please note the following:
- St David’s Day is a week Friday, 1st March. We will have Eisteddfod celebrations in both buildings. Children to dress in anything Welsh themed (rugby shirts, traditional costume etc) or anything in the Welsh colours (red, green, yellow).
- Uniform shop – Year 6 will be running a uniform sale every Monday from 2:45 – 3:15 in the small room at the front of the site (on the way to the main reception area). We will not be charging for the clothes but you may want to, if you are able, give a donation. This is entirely up to you – any money we raise will go towards subsidising school trips etc. In terms of stock, we have already had lots of contributions (many thanks) but if your child is leaving the school or has outgrown their uniform, could you please wash it and bring it in to the school office (assuming it is in good condition). We’re hoping that this will not only help you financially going forward, but will help to make the school and community a little bit more sustainable and environmentally friendly!
- World Book Day is on Thursday 7th March this year and we will, as ever, do a range of literary based activities on this day. However, we are conscious that the ‘dress as a book character’ element of the day may involve you feeling pressured into buying a new outfit and, equally, we are fully aware that many of you are struggling financially at the moment with the current cost of living issues. As such, as an alternative, your child(ren) can come to school on this day in something ‘comfy’ that they could settle down in to read a book. If you are all set with an outfit then this is great, but if not, and you’d like to save some money, this may be a good option for you.
- The school are once again supporting the Marie Curie Charity (Marie Curie | The UK’s leading end of life charity). If you would like to contribute to this cause, we have daffodil badges available in exchange for a donation (children to bring in old style money on this one!).
Upcoming dates:
February
WB 26th Parent Consultations
March
1st Dress in Welsh costume (all pupils)
WB 4th Parent Consultations
7th World Book Day – Pupils and staff to dress as a book character! (or comfy outfit!!)
22nd Break up for Easter
All the best,
SB
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Mid-year report data explanation
Thu 08 Feb 2024Mid-term reports – a brief guide for parents
The reported results in the lower box (reading and maths) have been assessed as follows: Reading either a standardised score (SAS) or a Read Write Inc (RWI) group Maths a standardised score for pupils Y2 – 6 (SAS) and teacher assessed against year group criteria for Reception and Year 1 These three forms of assessment are as follows: Standardised scores (SAS) This measure compares your child against all the other pupils in the UK that have done the same test. The average score is 100. A higher score is above average and a lower score is below average. The majority of children score between 90 and 110 which should be regarded as the average band. Fewer and fewer children get a score that is towards the extremes of the scale (60 and 140) i.e. the distribution of scores reflects a ‘normal’ curve.
If you are interested in more detail, this is the information provided by our test provider:
https://www.renlearn.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Standardised-testing-wales.pdf
Read Write Inc (RWI) group
If your child has a number between 1 and 13 (rather than a value between 60 and 140) this relates to their Read Write Inc (phonics) group. Children progress from group 1 through to group 13 and then move onto Accelerated Reader (which generates the SAS scores, as above).
Teacher assessed against year group criteria
Along with all the schools in the local cluster (Croeyceiliog area), we have agreed expectations for each year group for various key skills, such as reading, writing and oracy. Children have been assessed against these year group expectations whereby, for example, a Year 1 child operating at our expected Year 1 level would be 1b, above this level 1a, and below this level 1c. A child may be in Year 1 but operating significantly above this level (Year 2) or below this level (Reception), in which case we will assess them in line with these expectations.
What does the school do with the outcomes?
We use the outcomes to help set appropriate targets and work for your child. Data is not shared beyond yourself and the school staff.
Please feel free to discuss these outcomes with your child’s teacher at parent consultations. Alternatively, contact me at school should you like any further clarification or wish to discuss our procedures in more detail. SB 08.02.2024
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Update 08.02.2024
Thu 08 Feb 2024Dear parent / carer,
Please note the following:
- Mid-year reports are going out tomorrow, Friday 9th Feb. Parent teacher consultations are currently being organised (WB 26th Feb and 4th Mar) and this will be an opportunity for you to ask questions about the report and discuss progress and targets. We assess pupils in many ways and the report refers to various numeric outcomes – in order to understand the numbers, you’ll need to read the attached document. (see above on webpage)
- Attendance – we’ve had a really bad run of illness recently, both staff and pupils. If your child is off ill, please contact the school office either by email (Katherine.rowlands@torfaen.gov.uk or kirsty.hughes@torfaen.gov.uk) or by phone (01633 624114) – please don’t use Class Dojo as these messages are not always picked up in time as teachers are getting ready for the school day.
The current attendance class competition is as follows:
see image below
- Measles – it’s terrible to report, but due to the awful misinformation pushed several years ago regards vaccination, there is now a serious outbreak in the UK spreading from the West Midlands. This could have serious implications for our school and community in the near future. We have received communications from Public Health Wales and we may well be targeted soon to boost our vaccination rates. You should be aware of this issue and growing threat and, if your child is unvaccinated, you may want to sort this yourselves at your local GP.
- Several clubs will be starting up again after half term – football, netball, ‘Glee’ club and chess. More to follow.
- Don’t forget that we break up tomorrow for half term (Fri 9th Feb) and the children are back on Tues 20th Feb (Monday is a teacher training day).
All the best,
SB
Upcoming dates:
February
9th Break up for half term
19th Teacher Training Day #4
20th Children return to school
WB 26th Parent Consultations
March
1st Dress in Welsh costume (all pupils)
WB 4th Parent Consultations
7th World Book Day – Pupils and staff to dress as a book character!
22nd Break up for Easter