Castleside Primary School Dear Parents and friends,

This is the first newsletter of the academic

year and we would like to welcome all of the

new families to our school.

It seems to be a long time since the Summer

holiday and we are already arranging events

for our Christmas term.

Here is a list of events for your diaries.

Football 02.10.13

Hedgehogs Cake Sale 03.10.13

Cross Country Catchgate 10.10.13

Jet and Ben Assembly 11.10.13

Cross Country Lanchester 17.10.13

Harvest Festival 2.00 p.m. 23.10.13

Cross Country Leadgate 24.10.13

Autumn Disco 25.10.13

Half term holiday 25.10.13

Friends of the School meeting TBA

Foxes Cake sale 07.11.13

Teachers Training Day 13.11.13

Parents Evening 14.11.13

Children in Need 16.11.13

Governors Meeting 20.11.13

Forfeit Day 22.11.13

Y5 Residential visit begins 25.11.13

Christmas Fayre 29.11.13

Badgers Cake Sale 05.12.13

Nativity 2.00p.m. 11.12.13

Nativity 6.00 p.m. 12.12.13

Nativity 10.00 a.m. 13.12.13

Christmas Party, Key Stage 1 16.12.13

1.00-3.15p.m

Christmas Party, Key Stage 2 17.12.13

1.30-4.00p.m

Y5 Academy visit 18.12.13

Christmas Cabaret 19.12.13

Christmas Lunch 20.12.13

Christingle Service a.m. 20.12.13

School reopens 06.01.14

Theatre Royal Pantomime 15.01.14

VISITS, VISITORS and EVENTS

Children from Classes 2, 3 and 4 had a very

interesting visit to Beamish and took part in

the Annual show.

The children entered many categories and

won prizes for their scarecrow, Art work,

handwriting and flowers. We were very

pleased with our achievement.

Key Stage 2 children helped Mr Bell to plant

some wild flower seeds which will be grown to

attract rare butterflies to the area. The

children worked hard and will be involved in

planting the seedlings later in the Spring.

Year 5 children have an exciting residential

visit to Dukeshouse Wood planned for later

in the term and I’m sure this will be a valu-

able learning experience.

SPORTS and ACTIVITIES Our ’Sports Day’ last term, was a highly en-

joyable experience. We have a mixture of

competitive events and a mini-Olympic cir-

cuit and this year our parents races were

more popular than ever. I’m sure the

healthy competition developed by our

‘Family Learning ‘ sessions contributed to

the success. Thanks to all who took part and

helped in the success of the event.

Seven-a-side fixtures continue to take

place and we are very pleased with the atti-

tude of the team. Indoor Five a side

matches will be taking place at Belle View

later this term.

The Cross Country fixtures are being held

in October, with events for Key Stage 2 in-

dividuals as well as the usual team events.

We hope to extend our sporting provision

this year as schools now receive extra fund-

ing from the government.

Please ensure that school team sports

equipment is returned promptly after the

team event to make sure that it is available

for future events.

Football, Cross Country and Athletics kits

do not need to be ironed.

This term we are able to offer Recorder lessons

to all of Class 3. These lessons are taken by a

music teacher from the County team.

We hope to continue the chess sessions which

we started last year and to help other children

enjoy this opportunity, with tuition from a

‘Chess in Schools’ tutor.

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES Clubs are held after school and these continue

to be provided by both commercial organisations

and by school staff. We are delighted to be

able to offer a great range of clubs and activi-

ties to enhance the education and experience of

our children.

The clubs available include Computers, Maths,

Guitar, Football, Karate, Recorder, Gardening

and later in the term, French club.

We’re sure you will agree that this is a marvel-

lous range of subjects and appreciate the extra

effort which all staff are making to enable

these clubs and activities to take place.

With the exception of Football Club, children

will be dismissed from clubs from the KS1 door,

not the main doors and we would appreciate it if

parents could collect their children from this

area, waiting under the canopy in inclement

weather.

Parents may watch their children playing foot-

ball at Football club but we ask that they remain

in the hall at the end of the session and their

children will return to them when they have

changed out of their football kit.

Our School Council, pictured above, have

weekly meetings and discuss issues related to

school. They work hard for the other members

of their class.

OUTDOOR PLAY AREA We would be very grateful for any

outgrown wellies or waterproofs which

would be suitable for Class 1 children

so that they can use the outdoor area in all

weathers.

BOOK FAIR We held a very successful book fair

during September and as a result of

the commission gained we will be order-

ing an extra £200 worth of books for

our school. Each class also held a competition

and books will be presented to the winners in

assembly during October.

CHRISTMAS FAIR This will be on the Friday 29th November

details, about the event and how you can

help, will be sent out soon.

UNIFORM and P.E. KIT All children must have a P.E. kit in school.

This should include a pair of black shorts,

white short sleeved t-shirt and a pair of

gym shoes.

It is essential that the shoes are named so

that time is not wasted trying to identify be-

longings. This kit should be kept in their school

P.E. Kit bags and kept on pegs in the porches.

It is particularly important that children have

a pair of indoor shoes in the coming months.

These can be their gym shoes or an alternative

pair of shoes specifically for indoors - no slip-

pers please.

Some items of uniform are kept in stock and

further items can be ordered from Mrs Curry

or by using the form on our website.

Please ensure that all items of

clothing are named.

CHARITY EVENTS Our Macmillan Coffee Afternoon, was

held on the 27th September and we

raised the fantastic sum of £165.44

for the cause. We are very grateful

for your support towards the charity appeals

we make.

We will be taking part in a Poppy collection

later in the term.

We will also be having a fund raising event to

support ‘Children in Need’ in November. Cakes

will be gratefully received for this event.

This year we will not be taking a direct part in

the ‘Shoe box’ campaign but if parents want to

take part and are having difficulty finding a

drop off point, we will gladly assist you.

Our two Shelterboxes have now been sent to

Niger and are helping to make life a little eas-

ier for victims of flooding and unrest.

We are collecting tokens from Morrisons to

supplement our school gardening resources.

Our increasingly popular Gardening Club are

very grateful for your help and are looking for-

ward to developing our school grounds.

SCHOOL FUND School Fund is used to provide many

extra resources for the children,

which otherwise would not be avail-

able, £1 per week is an appropriate sum, pay-

able on a weekly or termly basis.

The money also goes towards the subsidy of

transport for all school visits, without

this subsidy all visits would be much more ex-

pensive.

Cake Sales 3rd October Hedgehogs

7th November Foxes 5th December Badgers

Harvest Festival

23rd October Tea, Coffee and Soup

available

Autumn disco 25TH October

Children in Need

Coffee Afternoon

and

Cake stall

November 15th

If you can assist in any way

with these events please let us

know.

‘Many hands make light work’

BREAKFAST CLUB

and

AFTER SCHOOL CLUB

Our Breakfast Club, every morning from

8.00a.m, is increasingly popular but we are

still able to accommodate more children.

The children enjoy a breakfast of toast,

cereals, fruit and fruit juice and can then

socialise with friends and play small games

or outdoors in the Summer. The cost of

this activity is £1.60 per day with subsi-

dised rates for other family

members.

We still have places at our After School

Club which runs from 3.15—5.15pm every

evening. Please contact Mrs Charlton for

more details.

You do not have to book in advance for

these clubs. We are able to accommodate

more children and can be used for individ-

ual days or on a regular basis.

PARKING Thank you for your compliance

with the new road markings out

side of school. It is now much safer for

children to cross the road at the school

gates.

Please remember that no cars should be

parked on the zigzag lines at the begin-

ning and end of school.

‘Friends of the School’ Details of a ‘Friends of the School’

meeting, to discuss the Christmas

Fayre arrangements will be sent out

soon,

All parents and friends are welcome to

these informal meetings.

Thank you for your continued support.