Headteacher Letter - start of Spring 2

Dear Parents and Carers of Glade Hill,

I hope you all had a nice half-term break. It has been so lovely to see all of the children back in school and ready to continue their learning.

This term we are excited to welcome two new Teaching Assistants to join our team, Mrs Speed who is working in Year 2, and Mrs Shafi who is working in Year 5. A warm welcome to both of them from the Glade Hill family.

As I shared in my last letter, we have lots of exciting curriculum activities planned this half-term, so just a reminder to check the MarvellousMe and Arbor app for updates, reminders and messages. Several year groups have trips and visits coming up, such as our Buttercups and Bluebells visit to White Post Farm, and we also have a number of sports events in which children may be selected to represent Glade Hill. Our Apps are our main communication tools so if you do not yet have them, or you are experiencing problems, please speak to a member of our Office team who will be happy to help you. The Arbor app is also how you book your children onto Breakfast Club and After-school clubs, so please ensure you are able to do this. Our new set of clubs is due to start next week.

Last half-term our Year 3s experienced swimming lessons and impressed everyone with their resilience and enthusiasm. The staff at Southglade Leisure Centre were very complementary about the children’s attitude and behaviour. Well done Year 3! Good luck to Year 4 who start their lessons this half-term. We know you will be super golden and SPARKLY.

Finally, as you know improving attendance remains very important to us. Your child coming to school as much as possible is an important way that you can support their learning and achievement. We will be presenting children with 100% attendance for the Spring term with BRONZE star badges to mark this achievement near Easter. If any children achieved 100% in the Autumn and Spring terms then they will receive a SILVER star badge! We have also been continuing to announce which classes have the best attendance each week in assemblies, which is still proving to be very motivating. The winning classes earn reward time and the phase attendance trophy for the week!

Mrs Raynor, our School Attendance Officer and Office Manager, will be closely monitor attendance and ensure we act following our policy. This is available on the school website and follows guidance from the Local Authority and the Government on how we can ensure good attendance for all. This includes us not being able to authorise holidays in term-time unless there are exceptional circumstances, and also meeting with parents where the attendance of children is of concern. Mrs Raynor will also be working with our Education Welfare Officer and other Attendance Officers in our local area to look at how to support attendance moving forwards. Please continue to ensure your child is in school as much as possible so they can get the best out of the great learning we have on offer.

Finally, our focus for this Half-Term is ‘The Love of Books’ and Mr Newell, our English Lead, will be sending out information about the class challenges and the family challenge. Watch this space! This includes World Book Day, next Thursday 6th March, where children are welcome to come dressed as a book character. We can’t wait to see how fantastic they all look! We are also having a Book Day themed costume pre-loved swap shop before then. Please send in any donations of good quality dressing up clothes or costumes that are in good condition. Remember reading with your child is an important part of supporting their academic achievement and at Glade Hill ‘Every Read Counts’. Make sure you are recording all reads in your child’s home school diary and help them achieve their reading awards.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and I look forward to seeing you all very soon.

Kindest regards,

Mrs Anna Stapleton

Headteacher