Clarence Road,Four Oaks,

Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands B74 4LD

Telephone: 0121 308 5392 Fax: 0121 308 5061

DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES Tue 8th Nov Free the Children Day / Launch of our Lead Charity

PTFA Meeting – 7.30 pm

Wed 9th Nov Year 4 visiting Bosworth Battlefield

Thurs 10th Nov Open Morning – 10.00 am to 12 noon

Robins’ Class Assembly – 2.30 pm – KS1 hall

Open Evening – 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm

Fri 11th Nov World Take Over Day

Year 3 visiting BMAG

Year 5 visiting Creperie

Robins’ Class Assembly – 2.30 pm – KS1 hall

Mon 14th Nov Book Fair in School - Time and Space Travel

Hedgehogs’ MATHS INSPIRE – 9.00 am to 11.00 am KS1 hall

Rabbits’ MATHS INSPIRE – 1.15 pm to 3.20pm KS1 hall

Tue 15th Nov Year 5 teams attending Science Quiz

Thurs 17th Nov Wrens’ Class Assembly – 2.30 pm – KS1 hall

Fri 18th Nov Wrens’ Class Assembly – 2.30 pm – KS1 hall

Children in Need / Dress Up as a Time and Space Traveller and show your spots

Mon 21st Nov Moles’ MATHS INSPIRE – 9.00 am to 11.00 am KS1 hall

Squirrels’ MATHS INSPIRE – 1.15 pm to 3.15 pm KS1 hall

Tue 22nd Nov Individual Photographs

Fri 25th Nov SRE for Year 5 – Puberty

Hill West Singers performing at Bishop Vesey, 7.00pm start

Wed 30th Nov Possible coordinated strike action

Thurs 1st Dec Christingle for Barnardo and Gandhi – 1.30 pm at All Saints

Fri 2nd Dec Christingle for Mandela and Pankhurst – 1.30 pm at All Saints

PTFA Christmas Fair

Tue 6th Dec Parent Council - 2.00pm

Wed 7th Dec Yr 2 Nativity – KS1 hall for Barnardo and Gandhi – 9.30 am and Mandela and

Pankhurst – 2.30 pm

Thurs 8th Dec PTFA Meeting – 7.30 pm

Fri 9th Dec Yr 2 Nativity – KS1 hall for Mandela & Pankhurst – 9.30 am and Barnardo and

Gandhi – 2.30 pm

Tue 13th Dec Christmas Lunch for Parents – Barnardo and Gandhi

Wed 14th Dec Christmas Lunch for Parents – Mandela and Pankhurst

Thurs 15th Dec 100% Attendance Assembly – KS1 hall Barnardo and Gandhi – 2.30 pm and

Mandela and Pankhurst – 3.00 pm KS1 hall

Fri 16th Dec Christmas Party and visit by Father Christmas - BREAK UP

Friday 4th November 2011

THANK YOU

Thank you to all those families who donated money for our Harvest celebrations this year. We made £365 which we have sent to Free the Children.

TAKEOVER DAY FRIDAY 11TH NOVEMBER

On Friday 11th November some of our pupils from Year 6,

along with many other young people in Birmingham, will

have the opportunity to work alongside and literally ‘take

over’ the roles and responsibilities of key staff within

school. The children will have the opportunity to become a

member of staff for the day including Miss Clarke, Miss

Marsh, Mrs Balla and Mr Botterill.

This will give them a taste of what it is like to be working in a professional

capacity. They will shadow that person for the day, and lead classes, make

telephone calls, add dinner numbers etc. depending on who they decide to

become.

POSSIBLE INDUSTRIAL ACTION

WEDNESDAY 30TH NOVEMBER

I am sure that you will be aware that the Professional Associations have been balloting their members about industrial action. This time the Unions have joined forces and are considering the potential of a coordinated day of strike action as a result of the Governments proposals to change Teachers Pensions. Although the strike is not yet confirmed if it was to go ahead it would involve the vast majority of Teaching Staff and the school would have no other option but to close to pupils for the day. I thought as much advanced warning of the potential closure would be appreciated but please bear in mind that this is yet to be confirmed.

TRIPS THIS HALF TERM

09.11.11

Year 4

Bosworth Battlefield

11.11.11

Year 3

Birmingham Museum and

Art Gallery (Ancient Egypt)

11.11.11

Year 5

The Creperie

DRIVEWAY SAFETY Please may we kindly ask you not to walk

on the driveway when dropping off or collecting your children. The drive is in use by vehicles at all times and we do not

want to see anyone injured.

Dinner Money

Thank you very much to all those who

have paid their dinner money this week.

May we remind anyone who has not paid

that dinner money is due to Birmingham

City Council in advance.

£9.50 per week

or £64.60 this half term.

BOOK FAIR - Theme Space

and Time Travel

Monday 14th November

to Friday 18th November

Please come and buy your Christmas gifts.

For every book you buy we get a donation for school.

The Fair will be open between 3.20 pm and 4.00 pm

every day during the week. We are all dressing up on

Friday 18th as spotty Aliens!!!

POPPY APPEAL The children in Year 6

and Year 2 are selling poppies If your child would like to buy

one we suggest a voluntary contribution of 20p.

CHILDREN IN NEED / SHOW YOUR SPOTS

ON OUR TIME TRAVEL THEMED DAY

FRIDAY 18TH NOVEMBER

COME DRESSED AS A TIME

TRAVELLER OR WEAR

SOMETHING SPOTTY

£1.00 DONATION

WOODPECKERS AND WAGTAILS PLACES

May we please remind you that because the numbers of children using Wagtails and

Woodpeckers has increased we are not able to take children on an ad hoc basis and all

places will need to be booked in advance. If you find you are unable to collect your

child you will unfortunately need to make alternative arrangements. We apologise for

any inconvenience this may cause.

Wagtails Woodpeckers

7.30am to 8.45am £3.00 7.30am to 8.45am £3.00

3.20pm to 4.30pm £3.00 3.30pm to 4.30pm £3.00

3.20pm to 6.00pm £6.00 3.30pm to 6.00pm £6.00

Hill West Singers Our Hill West Singers have a busy half term and will be performing at the

following events;

Bishop Vesey School on Friday 25th November

Hill West PTFA Christmas Fair on Friday 2nd December

Lichfield Cathedral on Wednesday 7th December

WET PLAY GAMES/TOYS

Suitable for KS2 classes

A request from your children. Do you have any items at

home that you could donate to your child’s class to use at

wet playtimes? If so we would be very grateful if you

would send these items into school with your child marked “Wet

Playtime Donations”. Even the smallest of items will

be gratefully received, i.e. playing cards, dominoes,

colouring books etc.

FORTHCOMING PTFA EVENTS

Christmas Fair

Friday 2nd December. We will be asking parents for help in various

ways but most importantly we need people who are prepared to help

run stalls on the night of the fair. If you are able to offer any help at all

please come and see Miss Marsh.

Mufti Days

There will be a mufti day on Tuesday 29th November when we would be very

grateful if children in KS1 would please bring in bottles for the Bottle Tombola

and children in KS2 bring in chocolates for the Chocolate Tombola.

Christmas Disco

Friday 9th December will be our Christmas Disco in KS2 hall. You will receive

more details about this nearer the time.

Please come along and support us at these events.

Voluntary School Fund Contributions An enormous thank you to the 115 families who have already sent in their donations of £10.00

(and in some cases significantly more) to help us provide all the little extras the children receive through out the year, such as Christmas trees, Easter eggs, party food and

theatre productions in school. With Father Christmas visiting school soon, now would be an excellent time for anyone

who has not made a contribution but would like to, to do so.

CHRISTINGLE

We are visiting All Saints Church again this year for our Christingle Services

Gandhi and Barnardo houses on Thursday 1st December at 1.30 pm

Pankhurst and Mandela houses on Friday 2nd December at 1.30 pm

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Church during one of the

afternoons. If you are able to walk with us to the church please let Mrs Balla know.

100%

ATTENDANCE

ASSEMBLY

We are celebrating pupil attendance at

the end of term on Thursday 15th

December as follows

Children in Gandhi and Barnardo at

2.30 pm and children in Pankhurst

and Mandela at 3.00 pm.

During this celebration we will award

all those children who have a 100%

attendance record this term with a

certificate. We will notify you if your

child is to receive a certificate.

CHRISTMAS

LUNCHES You are invited to join us for

Christmas Lunch as follows

Parents of children in Gandhi and Barnardo on

Tuesday 13th December

and

Parents of children in Pankhurst and Mandela

on Wednesday 14th December

Because of the number of children we now have

in the school we will need to strictly limit the

number of parents who can attend for lunch.

We will write to you shortly with details of how

you can apply for a place but will adhere to the

outcomes of our Consultation last Spring where

it was decided that all parents would be offered

a lunch on a first come first served basis.

NATIVITY

Our Nativity production led by children in Year 2 will take place as follows:

Children in Gandhi and Barnardo houses will perform on Wednesday 7th December at 9.30 am and Friday 9th December at 2.30 pm Children in Pankhurst and Mandela houses will perform on Wednesday 7th December at 2.30 pm and Friday 9th December at 9.30 pm

We will shortly be sending out letters giving you details of how to apply for

tickets. As per the outcome of our Consultation last Spring we will be supplying tickets in the first instance to parents in Year 2. The remainder will be issued to other

year group parents.

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS NEWS

If you are collecting your child from an after-school club may we kindly ask you not to

bring your cars down the drive. Many of the staff are still in school at 4.30 pm and as

you are aware, the car park is very small and there is no room for turning or parking.

All clubs will finish in the week beginning Monday 5th December except for

KS2 Samba Drumming, Eco Club and KS2 Circus Skills which will finish on Monday 12th

December.

Dance and Karate clubs are run by private individuals and they will let you know their

finishing dates themselves.

FORMS AND LETTERS COMING

INTO SCHOOL

Can we please re-iterate that it is

almost an impossible task in the

office to sort forms, cash and

cheques that are not put into

envelopes. We are sorry to nag you

about this but it really is vital that

different trip forms and cheques are

kept separate and in a labelled

sealed envelope.

To avoid long queues at the KS1

hatch in the morning please send

trip money forms etc. via your child

and their class teacher. All classes

have the same procedures for

receiving money, letters etc, and if

you remind your child that they

have something in their bag it can

then be handed in by them to the

class teacher then passed on to the

office by the teachers.

PTFA Meeting

We are holding a meeting of the

PTFA on Tuesday 8th November at

7.30pm.

The PTFA welcomes any parents who

would like to help make a positive

contribution to the school by helping

to fund raise and organise extra

curricular events.

We look forward to seeing lots

of new faces!

FLOWER FESTIVAL

We have received a letter of thanks from

Holy Trinity Parish Church, commending the

entries sent in from Hill West.

They enjoyed reading the pieces the children had

written about The Creation and commented that

the pictures and collages had been much admired

by their visitors.

The scarecrows that we made raised quite a few

smiles despite taking a bit of a battering in the

wind!

Over £5000 was raised and divided between the

John Taylor Hospice and repairs to the church

tower roof.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

Thank you to everyone who has already brought in a shoe box full of

lovely treats for children less fortunate than our own.

The last day for donations will be on Friday 11th November.

What do Ofsted Say about Outstanding Behaviour?

Guidance and grade descriptors for inspecting schools in England under section 5

of the Education Act 2005, from January 2012

Parents, carers, staff and pupils are highly positive about behaviour and safety.

Pupils make an exceptional contribution to a safe, positive learning environment.

They make every effort to ensure that others learn and thrive in an atmosphere

of respect and dignity. Pupils show very high levels of engagement, courtesy,

collaboration and cooperation in and out of lessons. They have excellent,

enthusiastic attitudes to learning, enabling lessons to proceed without interrup-

tion. Pupils are consistently punctual in arriving at school and lessons. They are

highly adept at managing their own behaviour in the classroom and in social situa-

tions, supported by systematic, consistently applied approaches to behaviour man-

agement. They are very calm, orderly and considerate when moving around the

school. There are excellent improvements in behaviour over time for any individu-

als or groups with particular behavioural difficulties. Instances of bullying, includ-

ing cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying related to special educational need,

sexual orientation, sex, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment or disability

are extremely rare. Pupils are acutely aware of different forms of bullying and ac-

tively try to prevent it from occurring. The school has an active and highly effec-

tive approach to identifying and tackling bullying. All groups of pupils feel safe at

school at all times. They understand very clearly what constitutes unsafe situa-

tions and are highly aware of how to keep themselves and others safe. It is likely

that attendance will be above average for all groups of pupils or will show sus-

tained and convincing improvement over time.

Our aim, as you know is to be outstanding at our next Inspection.

KS2 AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

In order to ensure safeguarding of children please note that

when collecting a child from an After School Club that takes

place in KS2, we would ask that parents wait either outside KS2

or in KS1 reception area.

Parents will not be allowed to wait in the KS2 entrance area.

Thank you for your support.

FREE Relate Public Workshops 2011

The Birmingham office of RELATE is currently offering free places for all Birmingham residents to attend a public workshop.

For further information please contact:

training@relatebirmingham.co.uk

or

0121 643 1638

OPEN MORNING / EVENING

We would like to remind parent’s of

children due to start Reception Class in 2012

that our remaining open day is on

Thursday 10th November at 10.00am presentation by the Head Teacher

followed by a tour of school

and 7.00pm presentation by the Head Teacher

followed by a tour of school

We look forward to seeing lots of

old and new faces alike.

TERM DATES 2012-2013

OPEN CLOSE

AUTUMN TERM 2012 Monday 3rd September 2012 Friday 19th October 2012

Monday 29th October 2012 Friday 21st December 2012

SPRING TERM 2013 Monday 7th January 2013 Friday 15th February 2013

Monday 25th February 2013 Thursday 28th March 2013

SUMMER TERM 2013 Monday 15th April 2013 Friday 24th May 2013

Monday 3rd June 2013 Tuesday 23rd July 2013

The Governing Body have now agreed the following

training days for 2012/2013

Friday 19th October 2012

Monday 7th January 2013

Thursday 28th March 2013

Monday 22nd July 2013

Tuesday 23rd July 2013

Extra Holidays Monday 7th May 2012 (Bank Holiday)

Thursday 10th May (provisional Local Election date)