Communication

Don't forget the Blog is a two way communication medium, please feel free to add your comments to any posts.

Leigh

Tell us what you think.

I'm going to start using the survey 'gadget' a bit more on this blog, every few weeks there will be a different statement on the right-hand side of the page, you have the option of stating whether you agree or disagree and whether you do so strongly.
It'll be a really useful exercise for us to measure opinion and consider areas for development.

Incidentally, there is a new element to the OFSTED web site that allows you to fill in a survey of your child's school, why not have a look:

http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results/survey/result/13723/1

Celebrating Achievements

I had to share a couple of things with you...

First, an amazing video by Poppy, made during the holidays with an iPhone and a stop-motion app:
http://youtu.be/KlsSLnK3JQo


Secondly, a breathtaking poem written by Dominic:

THE MAGIC BOX

I will put in my box,

The slither of a ravenous green Anaconda.

The hissing steam of a crystal waterfall.

The feathers from a handsome hyacinth Macaw.

I will put in my box,

The whisper of a falling snowflake.

The  whirl of a raging hurricane, in the middle of a thunderstorm.

The blazing heat of the scorching sun.

I will put in my box,

The shimmer of a silver, smooth tetra.

The salty spray from the greeny-blue sea.

The melodious song of a barnacle encrusted Whale.

I will put in my box,

The slyness of a hungry, red Fox.

The beautiful yellow from a healthy spring Marigold.

The silky feel of the Eucalyptus’s under bark.

I will put in my box,

The amazing blackness of the never-ending cosmos.

The unimaginably huge size of a supergiant star.

The brightness of each glittering galaxy.

My box is fashioned from dark matter from the furthest reaches of the known universe.

I will use my box to travel through time to the dinosaur era.

By Dominic

Latest Newsletter

Y6 Rockets!

We've just uploaded some more videos to our You Tube channel, you can now see the result of a Y6 project before Christmas to design and make their own water powered rockets!

Enjoy!

YouTube Channel

Our school YouTube channel is called WRPSVideos, we hope to gradually share lots of videos through this media.


Please note that while we control the content uploaded to our channel, we cannot be responsible for any external links clicked upon. Parents should supervise their children's use of the Internet and at very least ensure that they know what to do if their 'surfing' leads them to a site which they do not feel comfortable with.

iPads

We have now been running our iPad pilot for a few weeks and I have to say we are all very impressed with the positive impact. Children in Y6 and some in Y5 are being given opportunities to use the iPads as a tool to enhance their learning experiences across the curriculum. They are using them in such wonderful creative ways including recording science experiments through video, using the iPads to film and then editing with iMovie, finally uploading finished films to our new school YouTube channel.

The first of such videos can be seen here:
http://youtu.be/fkc6da0GrGU

Drama Academy

The Helen O Grady Drama Academy who have been running clubs here for the local community for three years now are starting an exclusive club for our Year 5&6.

Happy New Year!

Welcome back to a very wet and windy Spring term!

I hope you all had a wonderful break and enjoyed the time with friends and family, the children certainly seem refreshed and raring to go.

As always we have an exciting year ahead, with lots for the children to look forward to. In particular, I’m sure we’re all looking forward to being the host nation for this year’s Olympic Games and we will be doing lots of work to celebrate this with the children between now and July. This will probably be the only opportunity in a lifetime for many of us that we see the Olympics taking place in our own country, so we all need to encourage the children to make the most of it.

We are very excited to announce that former British Olympic swimmer and Commonwealth Gold Medalist and Record Holder Chris Cook is coming to spend the day with us at the beginning of February, I will send out further details nearer the time.

I am also liaising with many other local schools to ensure as a community we do lots to mark the Olympics.

As you know Mrs Bird has now started her secondment at Darenth School, her class is being ably covered by Miss Christine Daniels this term.

Unfortunately, Mr Sheehan continues to be unwell, his class will be covered by Mrs Lisa Whatley until he is well enough to return. Mrs Whatley has spent a lot of time with us before covering various classes and is an excellent teacher, so we know that the class are in very good hands. 

Slovakia Bound

Hi all,

I'm sitting in a transit van heading across Hungary to Slovakia at the moment, should arrive in Slovakia at about 3.30pm UK time.

I'll try and post some photos if I get time but am only here for a couple of days.

See you all Thursday.

International Links

We are always keen as a school to build links with other schools around the county, country and world! Next week I am visiting Slovakia for 3 days to speak with some Headteachers and visit a school, with a view to forming some exciting links. Sadly I'll be too busy to publish a blog as I did when in India, but will certainly try and get a few photos to share with the children.
In my absence the school will be in the very capable hands of Mrs Green.

Book Fair

The Book Fair is still running and will be in the canteen tonight and tomorrow, if you haven't had a chance to visit please pop along there are some wonderful titles available with some really good offers.

The Craft Fayre.

A huge thank you to our wonderful PTA who did such a great job organising another successful Craft Fayre, thanks also to all the families who came along and supported the event. Over £1400 was raised for the school, we will ensure the money is spent wisely to get some nice extras that will really benefit all the children.

Don't forget the PTA discos next week, posters are around the school with all the info.

Strike Action

If you have been following the news you will know that many of the trade unions that represent public sector workers have voted for industrial action on November 30th (next Wednesday). These include: Unison, NAHT, NUT, ATL, NASUWT. Between them these unions represent the majority of school staff across the country.
As a result we will have a significant number of staff not in work next Wednesday, and to ensure that we are Health & Safety compliant we will need to be shutting some classes for the day.

It is with great regret that I do this, but non-striking staff are advised by their unions not to cover the duties of striking staff, equally Supply Agencies will not offer cover teachers on these days.

For your information the following classes will not be open next Wednesday and the children should stay at home:
Nursery- Morning and Afternoon
Year 1- Venus (Mrs Fox)
Year 2- Galaxy (Mrs Grant)
Year 4- Both classes
Year 5- Both classes

All other classes are fully open and the Year 3 Chatham Dockyard trip will be going ahead as planned.

I apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Kind regards


Leigh

Mrs Bird

We are thrilled for Mrs Bird, who has just been given the opportunity to work as Acting Deputy Head at Darenth School from January. This is to cover the maternity leave of their Deputy and she will return to us at the end of this temporary period. In the meantime her class will be ably covered by Mrs Daniels who we appointed last week. This is a great career opportunity for Mrs Bird and we know she'll really enjoy the role.

November Newsletter.

Numeracy Newsletter

Harvest

Thank you so much to all of you who donated produce to our Harvest celebration, the assembly was lovely with a wonderful range of presentations from the children including singing, dancing, acting, poetry and artwork.
The House of Mercy came to collect the produce at the end of the day and were overwhelmed by your generousity.

Gravesend library

It is fantastic that the refurbished library in town is now open, we are particularly pleased that some of our children's artwork is on display-

Another example of our children really working to support its local community.

Improved security

Our new security systems should be up and running very shortly.
Essentially it will mean that our front and rear gates can only be accessed by being 'buzzed-in' via the intercom. Of course they will open freely during normal drop-off and collection times, but other times during the school day they will be magnetically locked.

Parents making use of the car park when dropping at Breakfast Club or collecting from After School Club can buzz the canteen via the intercom.

I'm sure you will agree this is an important further step to ensure the security of everyone using the site.