Dear Parents/Carers,

I would like to extend a very warm welcome back after the summer break and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many parents for their words of support and encouragement as I take on my new role as Principal of Tregoze within the wider White Horse Federation. 

The children all looked very smart on their return to school and I would like to thank you for your efforts. Please remember to label all of your child’s clothes as this will greatly assist class teachers in finding owners for any items of clothing found around school. Each classroom has a lost property box and there is a small box in the school office for items unclaimed.

Our new reception children have now started to settle in well into the routines of the Early Years.  It was good to attend all the home visits with Mrs Roberts. It was great to meet the many new families that we have joining Tregoze and also to meet with current families that have their younger children joining us.

Staffing

Welcome to our new teaching staff:  Miss Emily Russell teaching in Year 1 and Mrs Samantha Stowe joining the teaching staff covering maternity in Year 4.  Miss Sarah Harries joins our teaching team as a Graduate teacher in training and is working alongside Miss Bowen and Mrs Collins in Year 3.  Miss Victoria Himple joins us as a teaching assistant in Year 1. Mr Shaun Preen has now joined our teaching assistant team and will now be known by the children as Mr Preen.  I am really pleased that Mrs Nicola Kutassy has joined our Early Years team as she will already be a face known to the children and by a lot of parents whose children attended Greendown Playgroup last year. 

 There have been a lot of activities started already this term and the children have been working really hard.  The Year 5’s are working with Swindon Art Gallery on an Arts Award project. Each child will submit a log of their work which will be assessed at QCF entry level 3. Their final pieces of artwork will be exhibited at the gallery.  Our Year 4 and Year 5 children enjoyed a day of activities around being ‘A Climate Cop’ and being more energy efficient.  African drumming lessons have started for our Year 4 and 5 children and the Year 6 children have started to learn to play the trumpet.  Children in Key Stage 2 enjoyed a rock and pop roadshow on Monday which went off with a bang and ended with Miss Sylvester singing.  Year 4 are very much looking forward to a trip to Warleigh Farm next week and I know that visits to the local church and Lydiard Park have been planned for the rest of the school.  The Year 6 children are very much looking forward to their residential trip to Pencelli and Miss Sylvester likes to ensure that the trip forms the basis for most of their follow up work which brings learning alive.

New Tregoze Baby

I am delighted to tell you that there is a new Tregoze baby.  Mrs Sahota had her baby girl ‘Sienna’ on Friday 14^th September weighing in at 6lb 13oz and we are pleased to announce that both mother and baby are doing well.  I know that most of the staff can’t wait for a little cuddle and I am sure that as soon as she is ready she will be in to visit the children. 

 Tregoze Website

Please note that there will soon be a new Tregoze website accessed from www.thewhitehorsefederation.org site.  On this site there is already the school calendar of dates which we will update regularly.  Please bear with us as we are currently designing our new site but we will endeavour to keep the old one as up to date as possible.  If there is anything that you would like me to ensure is on our new website then please do not hesitate to contact me.  All main policies are found on the White Horse Federation website including the absence from school policy. 

Term dates

End of term 1	19th October	Start of term 2	5th November	End of term 2	21st December
Start of term 3	7th January	End of term 3	8th February	Start of term 4	22nd February
End of term 4	22nd March	Start of term 5	8th April	End of term 5	24th May
Start of term 6	3rd June	End of term 6	24th July

 

I currently have one more teacher training day to put into the yearly calendar.  As soon as I have decided on this I will let you know.   

School Photos

Please be advised that the date for the first lot of school photographs is Monday 8^th October.  Snappers photography did a splendid job last year and through all their sales donated £197 to the school.  So thank you for buying your child’s photos. 

 

Health & Safety

Please continue to take extra care if you bring your child to school by car. Please ensure that you keep the area near the gates clear for pedestrians. Do not park on the yellow lines, even for a short time, as this area provides a safe crossing place.

 

Water Bottles

We continue to encourage the children to bring their water bottles into school to help keep their brains alert throughout the day. A small snack of fruit at playtime is also a good way of boosting energy levels. Key stage 1 will still receive free fruit or veg each day. We would like to see all of the children in KS2 participating as well by bringing in a piece of fruit or veg. However, can I remind everyone that children may have fruit, not fruit bars, etc at playtime. If it comes in a wrapper, it isn’t fruit!

 

 

Macmillan Coffee Morning (The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning)

Our Year 5 children will be organizing another coffee morning in school on Tuesday 9^th October, to help ‘Macmillan Cancer Support’. Invites will be sent out to parents with details of times and how to make a donation to this very worthwhile charity. Do watch out for fliers and your special invite and help us to help them.

 

Harvest Festival

We will be arranging a whole school Harvest Festival Assembly on Thursday 4^th October. More details will follow in a letter from our RE co-ordinator Mrs Collins. 

 

Swimming

Currently swimming has been postponed until reopening of the Link Centre.  Apologies for this but other venues are too far away and would take up too much of the other valuable curriculum time.  Please speak to Mrs Roberts if you require any further information about this. 

 

A few ‘Organisational Reminders’:

• Money - If you are sending money into school please ensure that it is in a sealed envelope, labelled with the amount, date and your child’s name and class.  Cheques needs to be made payable to The White Horse Federation and not Tregoze Primary school. 
• Attendance –Please remember to ring the School office if your child is absent from School due to sickness. A phone call should be made on the first day of absence and a letter sent to your child’s teacher on the day of their return. This will ensure an authorized absence is recorded.
• Start times – The children should be on the playground ready for the 8.40 am bell where they will line up and be taken into the school building.  For the time being the children in Mrs Roberts class will continue to be taken into the classroom by their parents until we feel they are ready to line up with the rest of the school. 

                                                                   

Admissions:

Please note that the closing date for admission applications for the academic year 2013 – 2014 is:

Secondary – 31^st October

Primary – 15^th January

All forms must be returned to the Admissions Team at Sanford House and not to the school. Forms can be accessed on line at – www.swindon.gov.uk then follow the link for Education and School Admissions.

 

FOTs

A huge thank you to Mrs Vanessa Harris for all the hard work she has put into the FOTs as their Chair in the last couple of years.  Having attended the FOTs meeting last week it was encouraging to see some new faces and also some regulars who are now prepared to take on new roles this year.  Mrs Alison Vitale has taken over as Chair this year and I am sure that you will be hearing from her shortly.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents who give up their time in order to support the school in areas that we do not have the budget for. 

 

Finally may I wish you and your child/ren a very ‘Happy and Enjoyable’ Term. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns regarding your child/ren.

 

Kind regards

 

Mrs Tudor

Principal