Dear parent / carer,

 

Please note the following:

 

• A week on Saturday is the Coronation of King Charles III!  We thought that we would mark the occasion on the day before, next Friday 5^th May.  There will be various royal themed activities that we will run across the school.  If the children would like to, they can come in non-uniform – perhaps something sporting the Union Flag, a princess dress or red, white and blue clothes etc – anything goes really! (within reason!).  We also have a special menu from the caterers (attached) that they may wish to indulge in – if the weather is good, we may well move outside for a street party!
• Class photos are next Wed, 3^rd May.
• Mobile phones – in the past we have allowed children in the older year groups to bring phones in if they needed them before or after school, for example if they were walking home on their own or needing to meet someone.  This amounted to 1 or 2 phones across the whole school and was manageable.  However, what has happened in the last few months is that we are having a huge number of phones coming into school and this had led us to question whether the children actually need them or whether they simply want them straight away at 3:15.  We are also worried that we are looking after the phones during the day and some of them are quite valuable (most are certainly better than my phone!). As such, should your child need their phone with them after school, could you please email me with the reason why and with the following acknowledgement; ‘I understand that the school cannot take responsibility for my child’s phone and will not be liable for the loss of it, or any damage to it.’  Apologies about this extra level of bureaucracy, but I do think it is necessary.

 

All the best – remember next Monday is a Bank Holiday!

 

Simon Bates

 

Upcoming dates:

 

May         

Mon 1^st    May Bank Holiday

3^rd             Class Photographs

5^th             Coronation day at school!

8^th             Bank holiday – Coronation

10^th           Year 4 Class Assembly

17^th           3.30 Year 6 Croesy Comp meeting

Tue 23^rd 10:30 Foundation Phase (R,1,2) Sports Day

Wed 24^th 1.00 KS2 (3,4,5,6) Sports Day

26^th           Break up for half term

                 

June

5^th             Children return to school       

13^th           Year 5 Class Assembly

Fri 16^th  Teacher Training Day #5

Fri 23^rd     Teacher Training Day #6

28^th           10:00 Year 2 class assembly / production

 

July          

5^th             ‘Move up’ day

7^th             School reports sent out          

11^th           Paulton’s Park Year 6

12^th           Open Afternoon 1.45p.m.

19^th           Year 6 Leavers’ Concert

20^th           Year 6 Pizza Party

21^st           Break up for Summer

 

Dear parent carer,

 

Please note the following:

 

• The NEU strikes for the following two days (15^th 16^th March) have been suspended whilst the union members consider the offer made by Welsh Government.  As such, we are fully open as normal this week.
• Friday is ‘Red Nose Day’ run by Comic Relief – children at liberty to come in their ‘own clothes’.  Any contributions direct to the charity please:

 

https://donation.comicrelief.com/cart/1YsYOwm2pHZgBUhWr8ZL13

All the best,

 

SB

Dear parent carer,

 

Just to confirm that the school is closed today – the forecast is for heavy snow all day in Cwmbran.  I will keep you informed regards tomorrow.

 

All the best,

 

SB

Dear parent / carer,

The following classes will be closed tomorrow, Thursday 2^nd March due to NEU strike action:

Class RR

Class 1D

Class 1DW

Class 2F

The other classes will be fully open as normal.

Please note that the NEU has both teaching and support staff members and classes may be closed due to a teacher being on strike, a cover teacher being on strike or due to cover issues at other times during the day.

Regards,

Simon Bates

Dear parent / carer,

 

Just to confirm that the school will be fully open tomorrow (Tuesday) as usual – strike action by the NEU has been suspended.

SB

Dear parent / carer,

 

In line with the new Curriculum for Wales, we have revised our assessment and reporting arrangements and developed our own system.  National curriculum levels and Foundation Phase Outcomes are now a thing of the past!

 

However, it is just as important that you know and understand how well your child is doing at school and we have decided to continue to generate a mid-year report with some key assessment data on it along with targets for improvement.  These reports will be shared with you when you attend parent consultations.  If you can’t attend for whatever reason, we will send home the report on the last day of term, Friday 17^th Feb.

 

The new system is explained below:

 

Mid-year 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 06.02.2023

Dear parent carer,

 

Please note the following:

 

• We are running a health and wellbeing survey with the junior children (Y3 – 6) over the coming weeks organised by Cardiff University. The survey is entirely anonymous. I will assume that you are happy for your child to be involved unless I hear otherwise.  Information attached.
• We are running a pupil photograph competition across the cluster (Croesyceiliog cluster of schools) as part of our Eisteddfod celebrations. The theme is Welsh places. Please submit entries digitally to your child's class teacher by Tuesday 28th February. Information poster attached.
• We will once again be supporting the Marie Curie charity by selling small daffodils (in time for St David’s Day!).  If you would like to support this charity, please send a donation in with your child.
• We have now had confirmation that the proposed 6^th teacher training day for this year has been approved by The Senedd.  As such, as previously indicated, this day will be Friday 23^rd June 2023.
• Please avoid using football shirts for PE kit – it causes problems in school!  We have also had issues with fizzy drinks and ‘Prime’ drinks – can these not come to school either please. Thanks!
• School attendance – the local authority has started a new campaign entitled, ‘Not in school, miss out!’ and, as part of this, we are now introducing the use of fixed penalty notices for parents who fail to get their children to school without good reason.  The policy will be discussed at the next governing body meeting in March.

 

Have a lovely weekend!

 

All the best,

 

Simon Bates

Eisteddfod competition

Health and wellbeing parent information

Dear parent / carer,

The following classes will be closed on Wednesday due to NEU strike action:

Class 1DW

Class 2F

The other classes will be fully open as normal.

Please note that the NEU has both teaching and support staff members and classes may be closed due the teacher being on strike or due to cover issues at other times during the day.

If your child is eligible for free school meals (i.e. you are in receipt of the specified benefits, not the universal infant offer), the caterers will provide a packed lunch for them to go home with tomorrow (Tuesday 31^st).

Regards,

Simon Bates

 

 

Simon Bates

 

Head Teacher, Croesyceiliog Primary School (simon.bates@torfaen.gov.uk 01633 624114)

www.croesyceiliogprimary.co.uk

 

 

Dear parent / carer,

 

As you are no doubt aware, one of the main teaching Unions (the NEU) has balloted their members and announced 4 days of strike action over the coming weeks.  The first of these strikes will be taking place next Wednesday, 1^st February and I am writing to give you prior warning that this action is likely to affect the school and that your child’s class may be closed or, indeed, the whole school.  It is impossible, at this stage, to know the full extent of the disruption or which classes will be affected, but I will write to you again before 3:15p.m on Monday with more details so that you can make any necessary arrangements. 

 

All the best,

 

Simon Bates

 

Simon Bates

 

Head Teacher, Croesyceiliog Primary School (simon.bates@torfaen.gov.uk 01633 624114)

www.croesyceiliogprimary.co.uk