Huish Headlines - March 2004

01935 474984

March 2004

Dear Parents

We were delighted to see so many of you at the Art Exhibition last week. I think you will agree that we have many very talented artists, musicians and performers at our school. We have now had a visit from the Artsmark Assessor and she was very impressed by the quality of the Arts provision at Huish. We should hear in May whether we have been awarded 'Artsmark Status' but I am very optimistic!

Can I thank all the children who talked to her during her visit – they were a real credit to the school. Can I also thank Miss Stott for all her hard work in collating the very detailed application.

It was also lovely to see so many parents at the Mothers Day Assembly – what a pleasure that occasion was with many "tearful" mums!!

Have a relaxing Easter break!

Yours sincerely

V E CAMPBELL
Headteacher

School Meals

SCS are becoming increasingly concerned about the number of families who are failing to pay for their school meals on the correct day. This is resulting in large debts that are both difficult and costly to recover, plus additional administration for the school in sending out reminders.

SCS have decided that they will provide ONE unpaid meal (typically this would be on Monday) after which the school will be responsible for any further unpaid meals unless they choose not to provide the child with a meal. Regrettably, the school cannot finance unpaid meals and therefore children will not be provided with meals after the Monday.

May I please, therefore, remind you that meals are payable in advance, on Thursday mornings, for meals to be taken Monday – Friday the following week. Money should be sent to school in an envelope giving the child's name/class number and given to the child's teacher. Cheques should be made payable to Somerset County Council.

Should you prefer you may pay for meals 4-weekly/half-termly/termly in advance. This may help parents who sometimes forget to pay on Thursday mornings! May I also remind you that one week's notice, in writing, is required when changing from packed lunches to school meals or vice versa.

Before School

May we remind parents that the children are not supervised before 8:40 am. For the safety of the children, please do not bring them to school before this time. Thank You.

After School

As you will remember, we installed a third gate on the school drive to provide Key Stage 2 parents and children with a safe area after school. Please wait in this area and not near the parked cars as some staff leave the site at 3:20 pm onwards. Key Stage 1 parents wait on the front playground as normal. Thank You.

Some Important Dates

The school will be CLOSED for staff training (INSET Days) on 27th and 28th May 2004.

As part of a re-organisation of the school calendar across Somerset , may we inform you of the earlier start to the Autum Term 2004, which is:

Thursday 2nd September 2004

Football and Netball

Year 5 and 6 Footballers have had another very successful half term winning all their matches in the league!

Huish v. Parcroft	26 Feb 04	WIN	2 - 1
Huish v. Grass Royal	4 Mar 04	WIN	10 - 1

The Year 5 and 6 'B' Team did extremely well in their most recent match away to Birchfield winning 4 – 2.

Year 6 Netballers have made it through to the semi finals of the Cup after two very convincing wins.

Preston v. Huish	11 Feb 04	WIN	6 - 2
Ilchester v. Huish	3 Mar 04	WIN	12 - 0

Thank you to everyone who has given their time to come and help or support the teams.

Huish Chess Club

The children from our chess club have participated in the school-based 'British Land' Chess Tournament this term. All children managed to earn themselves prizes ranging from stickers to fridge magnets and mascots! We have now completed the tournament and although it was a very close final game, congratulations go to David Evans (Yr 6) who was the overall tournament champion with Pippa Howarth (Yr 4) as runner-up.

Following this, four of our highest scoring members – David Evans, Pippa Howarth, Luke Walters (Yr 3) and Henry Corner (Yr 2) have qualified for the regional Megafinal which is taking place in May.

Well done and Good Luck to these four!

Art at Huish

Our Art Theme Week was very successful with a wide variety of techniques and media used. Classes 1 and 2 painted some lovely watery landscapes using Monet as an inspiration. Years 1 and 5 concentrated on portrait drawing and painting using themselves and Tudor paintings as their subjects. Amazing sculptures were produced by the Year 2 children, whilst Year 3's theme on 'Ducks' inspired a variety of wonderful winged creations. Classes 9 and 10 used Andy Goldworth's work as the starting point for their artwork using objects found in nature. Finally, Year 6 completed observational drawing and painting to create a montage on the theme of 'The Sea'.

All the children's effort culminated in a sharing of their artwork through an assembly and a very impressive exhibition, which I am sure the parents who visited after school would testify was very impressive.

Visits to the local Community

This week Year 5 will be visiting Cannons Gym as part of their work on 'The Healthy Body'.

Also we are hosting a visit from Horsington Primary School as part of an Art Project which is focusing on buildings and landscapes in differing localities. We are pleased to be part of the partnership which also includes the National Trust in Stourhead.

Easter Fundraisers - Key Stage 1

All the children will be given a tube of smarties which they can eat!! Once empty the children are asked to fill the tube with loose change and return it to school by 1st April. Every child who returns the tube will be entered into a prize draw with one prize per class.

Easter Fundraisers - Key Stage 2

Please see enclosed leaflet for their challenge!

Easter Bingo

Our Easter Bingo will be on Tuesday 30th March 2004, 7pm for 7:30 pm eyes down. No unaccompanied children please. Loads of prizes to be won and lots of fun taking part! Refreshments will also be available.

May Fair

The May Fair will be on Saturday 22nd May 2004. Lots of fun to be had by all!! Volunteers will be needed for various things. Please keep your diaries free because the more money we make, the more our children benefit! A few hours of your time are all that is needed..

Plant Stall – get the children to plant some seeds now to sell on the stall.
Tombola – donations on Friday 23rd April please.
Toys and Books – donations on Thursday 29th April please.
Cakes and Perishables – donations on Friday 21st May please.

'ChatGuide' from the BBC

From Monday 22nd March at 12:20 and 12:30pm, BBC Schools will be broadcasting "ChatGuide – How to keep safe on the Internet and Mobiles".

The programme will go out every day at the same time for 5 days. It is designed to help children learn how to chat safely on the internet and mobile phones.

The school will also be recording the programme and will be used as part of an assembly in the near future.

Dates for your Diaries...

March	30	PTFA Easter Bingo
April	02	Theatre Group Performance - Year 3 / Year 6 - "The Little Princess"
	03-18	Easter Holiday
	19	First Day of Summer Term
	23	Non-uniform day – donations for Tombola Stall
	29	Non-uniform day – donations for Toy Stall
May	03	Bank Holiday
	10-14	SATs Week
	22	PTFA May Fair
	27	Teacher Training Day - School Closed
	28	Teacher Training Day - School Closed
	29-31	Half-Term Holiday
June	01-06	Half-Term Holiday
	11	PTFA Family Disco
July	16	PTFA Leavers Disco
	23	Last Day of Summer Term

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