Flu Immunisation

Monday 12th Nov 2018

The NHS will be in school on Monday 12th November to administer the Flu Immunisation for pupils from Reception to Year 6. 

Please ensure you complete the consent form and return to school (it is important to return the form even if you DO NOT give your consent). 

For further information on the Flu Immunisation please visit:

https://www.nhs.uk/video/pages/flu-heroes-nasal-flu-spray-for-kids.aspx 

http://sharegoodtimesnotflu.co.uk/vaccination-info/

or the NHS Facebook Page - School Immunisation Team ABUHB

Parents and Carers Meeting with Inspectors.

Monday 22nd May

- After school. 

As part of our Estyn school inspection, just a reminder for parents and carers to come along on Monday after school. The inspectors would like to meet you to obtain your views. Your comments are important to us so please come along. 

Coming Up...

Red Nose Day - Friday 24th March

Children to wear red in support of Red Nose Day. Please send in a donation of £1 to support the cause.

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Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

Newsletters

27th February 2017 

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Thank you for your attendance at all the end of term Concerts and I hope that you all had a happy Christmas and that 2017 will be a good year for you. Once again, the Friends of Ystruth School worked very hard and produced a fantastic raffle which has raised a significant sum of money for us to use to purchase special items that we would otherwise be unable to buy. Thank you to them and to you for buying tickets!

In January the schools are categorised by colour again.  The colour given to a school shows how much support the school needs to keep on improving. As you know Ystruth is categorised as a Green because Mrs. Harris was very experienced and showed over a number of years that she, along with Mrs. Miller and me, was able to keep the school moving forward and the green categorisation meant that there was no support needed for this to keep happening.

I am a new headteacher and even though I know that we are continuing to improve and will keep on striving to improve, I have no track record as a headteacher. Also our senior posts [Deputy headteacher and Assistant Headteacher] have not yet been permanently filled. This means that we do not fit the profile of a green school at present. What it means for me and for you is that the Education Achievement Service will want to check that I am doing a good job and that I am able to keep planning to move the school forward. The colour they give us will indicate how much checking up on they feel I need so we’ll have to wait and see.

Let me assure you all that this school continues to be an excellent school. We have undergone two Local Authority [LA] reviews last term. The LA examined the provision for the well-being of all pupils and the provision for additional learning needs in the Special Needs Resource base. Both reviews were excellent and the behaviour of your children during their learning-time and break-time was described as ‘exemplary’.

Please make sure that your contact details are up to date in the office because it is possible that school could be disrupted by severe weather. You will get a text informing you of school closure. 

Dates: School closed for INSET 16^th and 17^th Feb 2017. Pupils break up for half term Wednesday 15^th February and we return on Monday 27^th February.

Kindest Regards

Mrs. G. Watkins

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27/02/17

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Thank you for your excellent attendance at Parent’s Evenings. Your continued support for your children and the work that we do at school is extremely important. Children make best progress when home and school work together in a partnership which encourages the youngsters to be the best that they can be!

This half term we will be opening our doors and ringing the bell at 8:55am every morning in order that the school day can start promptly at 9:00am. The doors will close at 9:05am and children arriving after this time need to come through the main entrance and sign a late book. The time of the school day remains the same but we have noticed that some children are frequently coming late into school. This needs to improve as teachers begin their teaching input at 9:05am. If your child is continuously late then they are missing vital parts of their learning. Please make every effort for the children to be on the school site at 8:50am. School staff will be on duty in KS2 from 8:50am but no earlier than this. 

Attendance at school is vital for good progress to be made. All children pick up bugs and childhood illnesses and need a little time off school to recover but think carefully before allowing your child to stay home when they may not really need to. You should encourage your child to strive for 100% attendance as we do. Excellent attendance is considered to be 95% and above.

In light of this we have noticed that a few pupils take family holidays during term time. We understand the financial benefits of this and, although we would discourage you from taking term time holidays, we still need to know where your child is during their period of absence. [Safeguarding]. If your child’s attendance is excellent [95% and above] then I can authorise the holiday if you complete a holiday form two weeks before they go away which is available at the office on request.

The Educational Welfare Officer will follow up poor attendance and frequent lateness with you.

From Wednesday 1^st March to Friday 3^rd March there will be a disruption to the catering payment machine. The Catering Service has chosen to use a different company to provide their computerised catering system. This will mean that the machine is installed and ready to be used again on Monday 6^th March. Be advised that:

• You can load the old system with payments for the week on Mon Feb 27^th or Tues Feb 28^th.
• Any credit that you have built up will be recognised by the new system.
• All pupils will be issued with a new pin number [sorry about this]!
• Gwent Catering Staff will be available for a few days following the installation to help resolve any difficulties.

Please be patient with the office staff because they do not work for the catering service; they work for the school and they are not responsible for the changes which are being made.

Hopefully this will improve the payment and booking system. I have also asked about the possibility of arranging an online facility to pay for dinners; which the service is seriously considering. I will keep you informed on this development.

Here are some dates for your diary:

• Wednesday March 1^st St David’s Day Celebrations [Pupils to wear Welsh themed clothing as for the St David’s Day Photographs]
• Friday March 3^rd World Book Day Celebration. [Pupils to wear pyjamas. Foundation Phase pupils to bring favourite bedtime stories to read. KS2 pupils to bring favourite books to discuss with their classmates and teachers.]
• Monday March 6^th: Miss Morgan’s Class to Tesco Ebbw Vale for the Farm to Fork Project.
• Tuesday March 7^th: Miss Wallwin’s Class to Tesco Ebbw Vale for the Farm to Fork Project.
• Wednesday March 8^th: Miss Hill’s Class to Tesco Ebbw Vale for the Farm to Fork Project.
• Thursday March 9^th: Year 6 go to Blackwood Miners Institute for ‘Wings to Fly’ as part of their transition work.
• Thursday March 9^th: The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama are coming to school to work with year 4. Pupils will be working on musical composition using tuned percussion.
• From Monday March 27^th to Friday March 31^st:: Aiden O’Neill will be coming into school to provide year 6 with Cycling Proficiency Training [More details to follow]

Last day of term is Friday April 7^th. We return to school on Monday April 24^th

Kindest Regards,

Mrs. G. Watkins

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Parents Evening Food Tasting Sessions- 6th and 7th February

Please remember to pop along to the school hall to sample some foods proposed for the school menu by Gwent Catering.

Our School Council have worked very hard to act upon and communicate suggestions, we would love to hear your views.