mps monday memo · supported the day by wearing their uniforms into school which was wonderful to...

MPS Monday Memo

MIDHURST C.E. PRIMARY SCHOOL | Tel: 01730 813526 | e-mail: [email protected]

Monday 18th November 2019

Date Event /Activity Details

Mon 18th Nov Woodwind lessons Lunchtime Cross country club

Don’t forget your instruments! 12.00 – 12.30 Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 welcome.

Tues 19th Nov Governor meeting Piano & Brass lessons Aspire Multi Sports club

Ethos committee – 9.30 am at school Don’t forget your music & instruments! Years 2 – 6 – 3.30 – 4.30pm

Weds 20th Nov Eco club Rother Valley school council meeting 1pm Aspire football club

12 – 12.50pm with Miss Hurrion Held at MPS – our Y5/6 school councillors involved. Reception and KS1 – 3.30 – 4.30

Thurs 21st Nov PTA CAKE RAFFLE – 50p a ticket

Karate club Eco trip to recycling centre Violin lessons Forest Schools am Forest Schools pm Church friendship tea Arts and Crafts club

7.45 – 8.45 am – info below and in the office 8.45 – 12.30 – Eco warriors from all year groups Don’t forget your instruments! Year 1 group 2 Year 4 group 2 3.15 – 5pm – a few Y6 chn involved 3.30 - 4.30pm

Fri 22nd Nov PTA CAKE RAFFLE – 50p a ticket

Year 3 & 4 out and about Forest Schools pm Aspire football club

Walking on Midhurst Common – coats please! Year 6 Group 2 KS2 children – 3.30 – 4.30

Mon 25th Nov XMAS DINNER DEADLINE

VOTE DAY for KS2 Woodwind lessons Lunchtime Cross country club

Y5’s political parties’ final event! Don’t forget your instruments! 12.00 – 12.30 Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 welcome.

Tues 26th Nov Governors meeting Piano & Brass lessons Aspire Multi Sports club

Finance committee – 10am at school Don’t forget your music & instruments! Years 2 – 6 – 3.30 – 4.30pm

Weds 27th Nov Eco club Aspire football club BAND

12 – 12.50pm with Miss Hurrion Reception and KS1 – 3.30 – 4.30 6.45 – 8pm in the school hall

Thurs 28th Nov PTA CAKE RAFFLE – 50p a ticket

Karate club Violin lessons Forest Schools am Forest Schools pm Arts and Crafts club Governors meeting

7.45 – 8.45 am Don’t forget your instruments! Year 1 group 2 Year 4 group 2 3.30 - 4.30pm Full governing body – 7pm at school

Fri 29th Nov PTA CAKE RAFFLE – 50p a ticket

Forest Schools am Aspire football club

Year 6 Group 2 KS2 children – 3.30 – 4.30


Last week's news! A slightly quieter week in school with less ‘out and about’ than last – a bit of a relief for me and my newsletter as it means fewer publishing skills are needed! Phew! Read on for the week’s events.

On Monday we welcomed Sempai Sam into our assembly. He demonstrated some karate moves, with the help of Ben Y6, Amelie and Lewis Y4 and talked about the discipline of the sport. We are lucky enough to have Sam in school every Thursday morning before school starts, 7.45 – 8.45am, leading a club purely for children at MPS. The cost is £5 a session and initially, while children are trying it out, no specialised kit is required.

Children can just turn up in sensible PE kit and have a go! More information in the flyer below – also available at the office. At 10.30 on Monday our Y6 children were accompanied by Mrs Hulbert, Miss Austin and myself to the memorial outside the church to take part in the 2 minutes’ remembrance silence led by Dave. The children were incredibly well behaved and marked the occasion with humbling respect and solemnity. Before the final prayer they placed wooden crosses, which they had marked with the names of brave soldiers from Midhurst who had given their lives during the world wars, into the flower tubs on each side of the memorial. It was interesting talking to the children on the walk back to school, many had found this small service powerful and they clearly had a greater understanding of the purpose of remembrance. Back at school children in our other year groups also marked the 2 minutes silence by gathering round the poppies displayed on the school bank. Our children that belong to the guiding and scouting worlds also supported the day by wearing their uniforms into school which was wonderful to see – photos below!

On Tuesday the Y6 children were out again – this time by minibus to Easebourne Primary to take part in an Interfaith morning. Year 6's from across the Rother Valley joined with representatives from the Jewish, Islam, Buddhist, Christian and Sheikh faiths. Our children were armed with brilliant questions, which they asked confidently during a series of workshops during the morning; they quizzed the speakers on everything from how they pray, to what food they can/can't eat and about the similarities and differences between each religion. This is

the third year that this event has been held and by all accounts it gets better and better. Thanks to Mr Culley and the staff at Easebourne for organising and hosting the event – we look forward to attending again next year! Tuesday evening was the first of our two parents’ evenings and by far the busiest night - many thanks to everyone who came along to see children’s work and chat to the teachers on either evening. These are planned events where we encourage parents to come into school once a term. However please do remember you are welcome to pop in at any time, especially if you have concerns about your child’s learning, please don’t think you have to wait for a parents evening. Thanks to Mrs Springthorpe who was available to meet with parents on Tuesday and to Miss Channon who joined me for a lot of Tuesday, despite not having parents to see in the usual way. A great team! Karate club started on Thursday with a small group of 5 children eager to

start the day with some exercise! Please do think about joining them next week – the more the merrier! Year 6 had a lovely afternoon in the woods and managed to keep a fire going despite it being so damp and they even managed to cook and enjoy some delicious damper bread.


And then it was Friday and children turned up in all sorts of outfits from ‘full yellow bear’ to characters from Disney films and favourite books; there were spots galore and tutus and high heels a-go-go in Year 6! I love the way our children and adults embrace these fundraising days and join together to have fun raising money for such a good cause. The children got in the mood with a special Joe Wicks Pudsey Workout in the hall during the morning and then waited eagerly for the Live Stream

Duck Race at 1pm! Thankfully the technology worked and the children cheered on their entries. The winning Duck was Beakwell Tart who managed to complete the course without mishap - which was not the case with all of the entries! We had just three winners, Brooke, Faye and Janet Rose. We had some delicious and beautifully decorated entries for the MPS Bake Off and the winners all received a Pudsey Bear: Best Cupcake/Biscuit was Ivy in Year 5; Best Chocolate Cake was Josie Y6; Best Lemon Cake was Sam Y6; Best Decorated KS1 was Sebbie Y2; Best Decorated KS2 was Matilda. Judges from each class were randomly selected and they joined Miss Austin, Susi Drummond, Jane Cain and Zoe Mepstead to taste, discuss and then decide on the winning entries. The result sheets were impressive and showed how many of our children clearly watch and enjoy the real Bake Off on TV. We definitely have one or two Paul and Pru's in the making! Year 6 whittled the Pudsey Colouring Competition entries down to the best 3 from each class; then Mrs Clarke and Mrs Hulbert made the final judgements. This was very tough as the standard was so high. The KS1 winner was Faye Y1 and in KS2, making it a full family affair, was Amelie Y4. The Cake Sale at the end of the day was incredibly busy - every slice, cupcake and cookie was sold. Many thanks to Susi Drummond and Miss Austin for helping at both ends of the day and to all of the children, parents, grandparents and carers who supported Year 6's fundraising efforts this week - you were all amazing! We will be counting the money on Monday afternoon and hope to announce the total on Friday in our Achievers Assembly.

Useful performance dates– to help everyone at this hectic time of year!

Reception children school performance: Friday 6th December at 2.30pm in the school hall Years 1, 2 & 3 school performance: Wednesday 11th & Thursday 12th December at 6.30pm

Years 4, 5 & 6 school carol service: Monday 16th December in church at 6.30pm

**DON’T FORGET TO ORDER YOUR CHILD A Christmas Dinner (Menu below)**

Chartwell’s hot Christmas dinners need to be ordered by Monday November 25th. If your child would like a hot Christmas dinner on December 19th and is in Year 3 or above please send £2.35 into the office in a named envelope by Monday November 25th (Or order online as usual if that is what you usually do by Sun Dec 8th) Children in Reception, Year 1 & 2 entitled to free school meals, please let the office know if you intend to have a hot Christmas dinner ESPECIALLY if you don’t usually take up this option. This will ensure we get the numbers right on the day. If your child is a vegetarian, PLEASE mark the envelope with the word Quorn so that the kitchen can order enough of the vegetarian option in. Please be warned, due to budget implications, we are no longer able to order extra meals ‘just in case’. Many thanks.

PLEASE THINK – do you HAVE to drive your car right up to school? Sadly, on Friday morning Mrs Cain received a phone call in the office from a distraught parent who had experienced a very near miss with a car reversing down the school road onto Ashfield Road, which had almost hit her son. Fortunately, the child was unharmed and unaware of the danger he had been in, BUT it doesn’t take away the shock of this near miss for the parent AND the inevitable, horrific ‘what if’ thoughts that follow. I cannot understand why it is ever necessary for parents to drive up the fairly inaccessible, crowded road directly up to the school to drop off or pick up children. This road is not an especially safe road, with residents’ cars regularly parked on both sides making it tricky to drive up at any time of the day, let alone at the beginning and end of the school day. Equally I cannot understand why parents park along Ashfield road when we are lucky enough to have the Grange car park just a 5-minute walk away. PLEASE, I implore you to consider the safety of others when dropping off and picking up your children from school and consider parking at the Grange and walking safely round the road to drop off and collect your children – thankyou.


Attendance update The traffic light attendance letters for the first half term will be wending their way home to you today and you may notice some changes. Attendance of 95%+ remains green, Amber is now 90% to 94.9% and below 90% is now red. These changes have taken place in response to our attendance data being lower than the national average over time and is an area we wish to work hard to improve in the future. The change in the bandings for amber and red enable us to track attendance that causes concern more closely and work with families to support persistent absence more quickly. If you have any questions regarding this change, please don’t hesitate to pop in for a chat.

Messages from the office staff Due to the fact that many of our parents now pay for trips and clubs online the office staff have much less cash to deal with in school. Consequently, they are now less likely to be able to provide change for parents who are trying to pay for things in cash, but don’t have the correct money. I know that our office staff will bend over backwards to help parents whenever they can, but in this situation if the change is not available, we can do little about it. If you are having a clear out and have any old smaller size girl’s tights that are in need of a new home, please consider bringing them into the school office for spares. I gather that we have spare tights available for the older children but not for the little ones. Many thanks.

MESSAGE FROM WEST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL ADMISSION TEAM School Admission Appeal Panel Members Required

If you are a current Headteacher, recently retired, serving Governor, parent, grandparent or just interested in education, West Sussex County Council needs you. We need new Independent Panel Members to hear school admission appeals. This is a vital role ensuring that all school admission appeals are transparent, independent, impartial and operate according to principles of natural justice. Full training will be given by our Legal Services Team and all volunteers will be paid travel expenses. If you are interested and would like more information, please email [email protected] with your details

Our Y6 children at the memorial on Monday – also in the local paper – page 8 & 9

Our beavers, rainbows, cubs, brownies, scouts and guides

on Monday!


Pudsey fun last Friday – huge well done to all winners and thanks to everyone for joining in

with Y6 to raise money!

mps monday memo · supported the day by wearing their uniforms into school which was wonderful to...

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