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together Everyone Achieves More

Walter Evans CE Primary School

www.walterevans.derby.sch.uk email us at - admin@walterevans.derby.sch.uk

Tel. 01332 557139

Newsletter – June/July 2016

Following an intensive two day interview process, we are delighted to announce that from January 2017 our new Head Teacher will be David Brown, the current Head at Kirk Langley Primary School. The interview panel found the decision very taxing, as all candidates were of a very high standard. We are sure you will join us in welcoming Mr Brown in January, and in supporting Mr McBeth, who will be an admirable Acting Head for the first term. The end of the Summer term is always frantic, and leaves little time for reflection, but we would just like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support this year. Without you, many trips would not be able to take place, and our teachers really value the time that parents and grandparents take to come in and help in the classroom with reading, making dinosaurs, reception lunches, topic display afternoons, musical assemblies – the list goes on! The children love seeing their families in school, and having the opportunity to showcase the work they have done – your proud faces are their best reward!

Dates for your Diary

13th July – Swaziland Fundraising day – see below for details

14th July – Second hand uniform sale, 3.30pm at school

15th July – Reports to Parents

18th July – Drop in Parent’s evening

19th July – Leaver’s Service at St Matthews, 2.15pm

19th July – Transition evening for parents – see info below

19th & 20th July – Transition days for children

22nd July 2016 – Last School day of Term. Clapping out from 3.15pm

8th September 2016 – Back to school!

Upcoming INSET DAYS – Monday 25th & Tuesday 26th July 2016

Wednesday 7th September 2016 Monday 31st October 2016

Children will receive their reports on Friday 15th July. Test results for Year 2 and 6, and phonics screening for Year 1 will be included with your report. There will be an opportunity to speak to your child’s current teacher about their report at our drop in session on 18th July from 3.45pm. You can then meet their new teacher and find out about next year on 19th July at the following times –

Year 1 / 2 - 3.45 to 4.10pm

Year 3 / 4 – 4.15 to 4.40pm

Year 5 / 6 – 4.45 to 5.15pm

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Uniform Looking smart and ‘uniform’ really helps children to focus and to feel a part of the Walter Evans Team. Recently we’ve noticed that uniform standards have slipped a little, and so we would like to take this opportunity, before new uniform is purchased over the summer, to remind all parents of the correct uniform to be worn in school. Boys –

Royal blue sweatshirt (Navy blue sweatshirt in Year 6 only)

White shirt or polo shirt with collar, or royal blue school polo shirt.

Grey trousers (short or long).

Grey or black socks.

Girls -

Royal blue sweatshirt/ royal blue V-necked cardigan. (Navy blue sweatshirt/cardigan in Year 6 only)

White blouse or polo shirt or royal blue school polo shirt.

Grey skirt or pinafore dress /trousers/shorts.

Royal blue and white checked gingham dress (summer term).

White, grey or black socks/ grey or black tights. For girls and boys, shoes should be sensible, dark coloured (leather or similar). No trainers, pumps or similar are allowed. Please send your child with appropriate outer clothing, as we spend time outside regardless of the weather, so sun hats, rain coats, gloves and hats are necessary depending on the time of year. Physical Education - It is important that the children have a complete change of clothes for all PE, stored in a SMALL drawstring bag as follows:

Boys and Girls White or school logo house colour T- shirt (red, blue, green or yellow) Royal or navy blue shorts/PE Skirt Black plimsolls Navy or black plain tracksuit (for colder weather) Outdoor trainers.

For all children, hair longer than collar length should be tied back. Water Bottle – essential every day! Please name all items of uniform and PE kit. Jewellery - should not be worn in school. Any child with pierced ears should wear studs only and these will need to be taped or removed for PE. Watches will need to be removed for P.E. and should be named or be easily identified.

Art and Craft – From year 1, it would be helpful if an old shirt or suitable overall could be sent to school to protect your child's clothing during these activities.

Book bags – In Key Stage 1, we ask that children ONLY bring a school book bag for their belongings, rucksacks are not allowed, unless for specific activities such as a sport after school. From Year 3, we would still prefer children to use a book bag, but they may bring a SMALL rucksack instead. Please no Smiggle or other large rucksacks, as they take up too much space on pegs.

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New PE Shirts

In response to requests from parents, from September we will be selling PE T-shirts in house colours with the school logo, to be worn during PE lessons, sports days, and when representing school. This T-shirt will be a voluntary piece of uniform, and if you choose not to purchase one, then plain white T-shirts may still be worn for PE. An order form has been sent home to all children in Key Stage 1 and 2 with the option to purchase a shirt at cost price (£4). We have samples of all the colours and sizes for you to try at the office now, so if you’re unsure, please pop in and have a look. If your child is moving into Year 1, we will let them know what their house colour is once they have been assigned in September. From October, the price will rise to £4.50, so the PTFA makes a small profit on each sale, and as with all uniform, we will aim to carry a small stock of spares.

Parentview – have your say! We would really value your opinion on our school, via Ofsted’s Parentview page. Registering your view takes only a few moments, and all submissions are confidential and anonymous. To submit your opinions follow this link to the Parentview website, https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/ and click on the jigsaw piece ‘Give your views now’. Search for Walter Evans Primary School and enter your email to set a password, then select your answer to the 12 quick questions. Your input will help us to address any areas of concern, and gives other parents valuable information when they are choosing a school for their children. Many thanks.

FS2 have been having a wonderful time finding out about rockpools and the seaside. We have enjoyed making our own rockpools with stones and tyres and we had a lovely day putting on our diving masks and seeing what we could see in the water! Safety at the

seaside has been a recent focus and also learning how we should look after our seashores. We’ve been learning about the Art of Andy Goldsworthy and having a go at it ourselves – take a look at some of the beautiful natural creations your children have produced! Excitement is in the air for our seaside fun day that will round off the topic and the year nicely!

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Year 1 and 2 have been enjoying our Beachcombers topic. We all had a great time going to the beach at Skegness. While there, the children paddled in the sea, explored the beach and enjoyed an ice-cream. At school the children have been reading The Lighthouse Keeper's lunch. They have created clay invertebrates. The

crabs look especially good. We have also been investigating the properties of bird feathers. The children found using magnifying glasses to examine the feathers very interesting. As you can see from these photos, their work on this topic has been vibrant and enthusiastic!

It has been a very busy and varied half term! We have had lots of opportunities to shine at lots of different activities. As part of our topic we have been spray painting - graffiti style! We have represented the school at the Cathedral 'Sing-a-long' event and have even played with famous Halle

orchestra at Derby Arena. After all of that we are certainly looking

forward to our Summer

break!

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This half term Year 5/6 children have been finding out about Mexico, both modern and ancient. We started with a trip to South America, joined in with some traditional Mexican dancing and

sampled a glass of the local specialty, (which looked suspiciously like limeade!). As well as investigating the ancient Mayan civilisation, we have also been finding out about one of Mexico's most celebrated festivals: Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. We've designed and made our own Day of the Dead masks, and they're looking great!

Our “Out Of School Club” is now in its 7th year, and due to the huge popularity, we are now full in September. We would like to thank all the parents for their ongoing help and support this year and look forward to exciting changes in September. In order to meet the demand for places, we have made the decision to open a new EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) club. Miss Arnott (Becca) will be running the club with Miss Eaglesfield. The new club will be run from the Nursery and will enable the younger children to have access to all the wonderful play resources and full use of the newly refurbished outside space. It has been a fantastic year for the club and great fun has been had by all (including the staff!)

At Walter Evans we sponsor two Swazi orphans, Sihlangu and Gcinile, who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. On Wednesday 13 July the Year 5/6 pupils are doing a FUNdraising afternoon to raise money for this, in memory of our much missed teacher Mrs Suter. As she said at last year's event, "I want this to be my legacy." Children can bring up to £3 to spend. Please let us know of any allergies as we may have

facepainting, tattoos and lots of edible goodies! Thank you for your support. Please see Mrs Munday for more information or visit CMSwazi.org

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Sporting Round up from Mrs Williams June has been a very busy month on the sporting front, both inside and outside of school. Road to Rio Challenge

To mark the forthcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, we have embarked on the ‘Road to Rio’ challenge in school. Each class, in addition to their two hours PE lessons each week, are taking part in additional bursts of physical activity on a daily basis. The length and intensity of activity converts into kilometres; our aim is to travel the 9281km to Rio. Activities include running a mile (a course has been laid out on the top field); skipping for 10 minutes; doing an aerobic routine; and putting physical activity into curriculum lessons. So far we have travelled just under 8,000km, so we should arrive in Rio before

breaking up for summer. Road2Rio Festival Last Thursday, 30 Y4 and Y6 children attended the ‘Road2Rio’ Festival on Darley Park, organised by Derby City SSP. The festival gave the children the opportunity to try a number of Olympic and Paralympic sports, in the build-up to the summer games in Brazil. All the children had a great time competing against each other in a variety of activities, including golf, handball, volleyball, football and athletics. Archery Year 5 children were fortunate in being given the opportunity to have an afternoon being taught archery by Derbyshire Archery Club. Derby Rugby Club gave permission to use their fields and all the

children were shown how to hold a bow and fire arrows. All the children had a great time – thanks to Peter McCrea for helping to organise the event. If anybody would like further information on the Derbyshire Archery Club, go to www.dacarchers.co.uk. The club will be holding its next beginners’ course in the Autumn. Children will need to be year 5 upwards, and the course is open to parents too. To add your name to the waiting list, email coaching@dacarchers.co.uk

Club Links

If your child is interested in any of these sports, the following clubs are available:

Allestree Netball Club (Woodlands Community School) : 07595295230

Darley Abbey Cricket Club (Darley Park) : 07968503104

Derby Athletics Club (Moorways) : 01332 290679

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Celebration Picnic

Thank you to all the parents and Grandparents who came to celebrate the Queen’s 90th Birthday and the 40 year Anniversary of Walter Evans School, we were so lucky with the weather, and it was fabulous to see so many families together on the field! We were also fortunate to have some ex members of staff and a governor in attendance for our special assembly, and each child was presented with a commemorative bible.

Second hand uniform sale – Thursday 14th July, 3.30pm at school Stock up for the new term at our final sale this term – all items only £1! If you have any uniform you would like to donate, we’re always happy to have it handed in at the office. Thank you.

AGM – Thursday 22nd September, 8pm in School Our next meeting will be the AGM, which will consist of a formal presentation from the Committee, chance to ask questions, followed by cheese, wine, and a chance to chat and buy second hand uniform. Recent spending The new picnic tables are now in situ on the school playground, and are being well used at break and lunch times. Thank you for your support in enabling us to buy them! Mad Hatter’s Summer Ball, Saturday 16th July, 7pm – 1am This is your last chance for a table! We have a few spaces left, so whether you have a couple of friends or a small group, please get in touch with organisers Sally Frost and Tanya Marsden this week. Tickets are priced at £42, which will include dinner and all the evenings’ entertainment. Gold and Silver Raffle If you can’t attend the Ball, but would like a chance to win a fabulous prize, please see the separate email sent out today to enter our Gold and Silver raffle. Tickets are £20 for entry into both raffle draws, or £5 for the Silver raffle only.

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Thought for the Month from Sandra Hinds (School Chaplain)

Proverbs 3v5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

There are times when we do not know what decision to make, what answer to give. When we ask the Lord for wisdom, he delights in giving it to us as we trust in Him.