Dear Parents
As another academic year draws to a close I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the support and involvement you have given the school this year.
Those of you who came to Annie! last week will have seen the remarkable talent many of our pupils have on the stage. Their performances were outstanding and we were really proud of all of them.
I am delighted to be able to tell you that we raised £560.39 to be sent to The Hitchin Partnership for local vulnerable families and the National Deaf Children’s Society. Thank you all for your generous contributions. We were also delighted with the huge success of the Prokick Challenge. As a school we raised £2491.33 which is to be divided between the Nepal Disaster fund and the Prokick Charities in Burkina Faso and Malawi. Thank you to everyone who took part and contributed to this tremendous amount.
We will be sending home all inhalers held in school but I would urge you to remember to send them back in September. It is important that, if your child is an asthma sufferer, we have medication in school.
On a more personal level, if you are a split family and would like school correspondence sent home to both parents, please inform the school office and this can be arranged.
I would like to remind you I am not in a position to be able to authorise absences for family holidays or other circumstances. Although I do understand there are exceptional circumstances, I would ask that you come in and discuss these with me before requesting any absences in school time. Please remember that when your child is absent from school due to illness please remember to telephone the office or email admin@wransom.herts.sch.uk by 9.30 every morning they are absent.
The end of a school year is always a sad time as we see our Y6 pupils leave us and move on to Secondary school. I would like to take this opportunity to wish them all the very best. This year we are also losing Mrs Harpur, one of our kitchen ladies who is retiring after a number of years with the school, Mrs Avins, one of our Midday Supervisory Assistants, who is also retiring after a long association with the school, Mrs Mitchell, another MSA, who is moving on to pastures new and Mrs Easton, a Key Stage 1 Teaching Assistant who is pursuing a career in teaching. I am sure you will all join with me in wishing them all the very best.
We have had a challenging yet rewarding year. Clearly our Ofsted result was the highlight of the year and to maintain our outstanding status was no mean feat. I would like to thank everyone who works in school as well as the governors and all voluntary helpers for their amazing contribution and hard work.
The next 12 months look to be very interesting! Now that The Education Cabinet has approved our expansion we expect things to start moving in the Autumn term. If all goes to plan we will be admitting 60 pupils in September 2016 and any new building must be ready. I want to reassure you that I will be working exceptionally closely with Herts County Council to ensure any building work is completed on time. The school will continue to run in the normal fashion as best we can and we will endeavour to keep you updated on all proceedings as we receive details. If at any time you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to come and see me.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have helped with transporting pupils to various sporting fixtures during the year. We have had the most successful year ever with sport, entering more competitions than ever before and this is only possible because we have had such great support from parents.
As we are approaching the end of the school year and the holidays may be a time when you are purchasing new uniform, I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to give you a reminder of what we expect with school uniform:
Boys
White shirt
Classic styled grey trousers or shorts (Not cut offs or combats)
Red tie / Striped tie KS2
Black or grey shoes (not trainers)
Red Jumper
Dark socks
Girls
White blouse / shirt
Grey skirt or pinafore dress
Red cardigan / jumper
Red tie / Striped tie KS2 (optional)
Sensible shoes / sandals (no raised heels or soles, not open toed, must have a strap to secure fastening) in grey, red or black
Dress in red and white check in conventional school style
Classic styled grey trousers (optional)
White socks – not trainer socks
All of these items can be bought through the uniform shop at school at competitive prices and the jumpers and cardigans will all have the school logo on them. If in any doubt, please ask before you buy.
Hair should be clean and neat and cut in a reasonable style. ‘Hi-fashion’ styles are not allowed. Girls with long hair should tie this back for safety. Hairbands should be plain and in the School colours. Boys’ hair should be kept short and not longer than the base of the shirt collar. Please use the summer break as an ideal time for children to have their hair cut!
Indoor PE kit should include shorts and short sleeved t-shirt in red and/or white. Plimsolls are needed for walking to and from the hall and certain activities. These should be kept in a small drawstring bag.
Outdoor PE kit should include tracksuit bottoms and a sweatshirt/tracksuit. They need a change of socks and trainers, plimsolls are used for indoor lessons. All of this outdoor kit should be in school colours, but we include black as this is relatively easy to purchase. The children will work outside in cold and damp weather so these items of clothing need to be warm and they need to fit. If pupils are going out representing the school they will be expected to wear appropriate clothing. We are selling school sweatshirts and tracksuit bottoms which would be ideal.
Due to the severe shortage of space in our cloakroom areas we ask that large bags are not sent to school for any reason, including those for holding games kit. The smallest and most pliable bag suitable for items children regularly carry is the ideal.
All possessions, especially clothes and shoes, should be clearly marked with the owner’s name. This is vital. It is impossible for items without a name to be returned to the children and it wastes an enormous amount of our time.
A waterproof art apron is required for art activities. Elastic in the cuffs is advisable with Velcro at back.
The Health & Safety advice to all schools is that NO body jewellery should be allowed in school because of the inherent dangers to personal safety and also the safety of others. The medical advice to us is that pierced ears are perfectly safe to be left, without earrings, during the day and can be fitted with them on return home. Additionally we are advised that if any girl is going to have her ears pierced, then it is recommended that this is done at the beginning of the summer break to allow time for healing. I should add that there will be no exceptions to this rule.
Last week we had a great ‘High Flying Day’ with every child making a kite! I hope these kites are still in a ‘flying state’ as we would love to receive photos of where the children fly their kites over the summer! These can either be emailed or tweeted to me during the holidays or hard copies brought in after the holidays! I wonder who will fly their kite in the most unusual or exotic place? Who will be the hottest or the coldest?
I trust you all have an enjoyable break over the summer and look forward to seeing all the pupils back on Thursday 3rd September 2015.
Yours sincerely
Mary Driver
Headteacher