Celebrating over 60 years of serving the West View Community

November 2015 Newsletter

STAFF NEWS We said goodbye to Miss Horrigan last week, who left us on Friday for a new post nearer to home. We thank her for all her hard work over the last 6 years as first a teaching assistant and then a teacher. Miss G Allen is now teaching in the Y5 class as Mrs Taylor returned from maternity leave and is working in Y3/4. Miss Jorgenson has joined our Reception teachers in Early Years as an additional teacher.

The children throughout school have been

busy baking and decorating treats, and de-

signing fun games for our Christmas Fairs.

Early Years and Key Stage One are selling

on Wednesday 2nd December from 1.30pm,

and Key Stage Two will be selling on Friday

4th December from 1.30pm.

Please collect children from their class-

room doors at 1.15pm.

Entrance to both fairs will be through the

KS2 garden and the entry fee is 20p which

entitles you to one entry into our raffle.

Please bring plenty of change with you if

you can as we always end up struggling to

change £10 and £20 notes.

We hope to see you there this week!

Do not forget that all newsletters are placed on our website alongside other important information! Visit: http://wvps.hartlepool.sch.uk/

2

ENRICHING THE CURRICULUM

FAMILY OF SCHOOLS: Countdown!

This year’s Countdown event went very well for West View. The competing children achieved their highest ranking to date: runners up in both the letters and numbers challenge. The children were extremely well behaved and did a fantastic job representing the school. Well done to Aiden Draper, Oscar Garty, Fin Smith, Bethany Garty, Emily Robson, Reece Blackwood, Kieran Garty, Natasha Wright, Kiarra Mirrow, Maddison Rennie, Alex Griffin and Tyler Foster.

A Christmas Carol

Years 5 and 6 got into the festive spirit early, watching a musical adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol, at Bil-lingham Forum Theatre. This exciting experience will inform the children’s learning in English over the coming weeks, in the run up to Christmas.

Glee Club Christmas Singing

Glee Club have been invited to sing at St. Hilda’s Church on the Headland along with 10 other schools on Tuesday 8th December. The concert starts at 6pm and finishes at 7.30pm. If you fancy a bit of singing before Christmas it would be lovely to see some friendly faces in the audience. Tickets cost £2 and will be available on the door.

Maths in Action - Sedgefield Races

Years 5 and 6 pupils spent a day at Sedgefield Race-course applying their maths skills in a range of chal-lenges. From the jockeys’ weighing room to the pa-rade ring and even the course itself, the children had to work together to solve maths problems and puzzles. Former Grand National jockey Carrie Ford also gave the children an insight into the sport of horse racing before they enjoyed watching some of the races in the afternoon.

FRIENDSHIP WEEK:

LEARNING HOW TO PLAY TOGETHER AND

SHOW RESPECT!

This year to support Anti Bullying Week we have turned our focus on friendship and respect, renaming it Friendship Week. Staff have taken video clips and pictures of the children having fun in the classroom and on the yard. Miss Clarke and Mr Hughes will use the footage to make a video that will be shown in assemblies and in the main entrance for all to see when they enter school. This is to celebrate the children’s lovely behaviour and how much fun they have playing with their friends.

Paul Weller and West View Pupils

With the current Year 3/4 topic (Playlist) which involves studying both the history of modern music and the creation of digital music, an opportunity for some children to meet Paul Weller was too good to miss! The winners of the challenge to create a musical instrument received behind the scenes access to the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle as Paul Weller and his band prepared for the evening’s concert. Darci Robin-son, Alex Griffin, Damion Lancaster and Henry Grant, pictured with Paul Weller and drummer Steve Pilgrim, attended the sound check and got to chat to technicians, crew and the band.

3

At our Harvest Festival on Wednesday 21st October, the school presented our filled shoeboxes containing the kind donations that families and staff brought in. Mrs Todd, Mrs Tidball and Miss Allen have since delivered these to the drop off point, and the boxes should now be on their way to deserving children. The school would like to thank everyone for giving generously.

Have your jumpers at the ready for Friday 18th December. No donations required as the school is donating on everyone’s behalf!

Children in Need

This years’ Children In Need fundraising was largely organised by our own Y6 children. During the day on Friday 13th November, children came in dressed in costume and non-uniform, bought baked good, tackled the penalty shoot-out, and enjoyed the talents of West View Primary school in our talent show. Despite being without our Y5 children due to trips to Carlton Outdoor Education Centre and Wynyard Forest, we managed to raise a magnificent £340. Well done everyone, and thank you for your kind donations.

Take Over Day Friday 20th November marked the annual ‘Children’s

Commissioner’s Take Over Day’. The year 5 and 6

councillors were fortunate to take part in a fantastic

event at the Civic Centre where they were able to have

their say about our town. Children throughout the rest

of the school took part by ‘taking over’ various areas of

the school; from delivering parts of lessons, to helping

the lunchtime staff set up the dining hall, and every-

thing in between. We even had ‘mini Mrs Haylock and

Mr Brown’.

CHARITY EVENTS

Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Appeal

4

School Website

The school website has been getting updated over the last few weeks with important infor-mation for parents and the public. We also have the Twitter feed on there which lets everyone know more of the goings on with pupils and staff. If you haven’t been on for a while, why not have a browse and let us know what you think. The contact email to send your comments is on the website.

Visitors to school also look out for the updated screen in the main reception. Again, thoughts welcome.

Follow us on Twitter: @WestViewPrimary

Dates for December 2015

PLEASE NOTE SOME IMPORTANT DATES HAVE CHANGED!

Wed 2/12 Christmas Fair EY and KS1 (pm) Fri 4/12 Christmas Fair KS2 (pm) Tue 8/12 Holly & the Ivy Roadshow (am) Tue 8/12 Nursery Christmas activities with parents Tue 8/12 Glee Club concert (evening) Wed 9/12 Reception Christmas concert for parents (am) Wed 9/12 Y3/4 Christmas concerts (pm & evening) Thu 10/12 Y3/4 Christmas concert (am) Thu 10/12 KS1 concert for Y1 parents (pm) Fri 11/12 KS1 concert for Y2 parents (pm) Fri 11/12 Reception Christmas concert (am) Mon 14/12 Y5/6 carols in the community (am & pm) Mon 14/12 Christingle Service at Church Mon 14/12 Reception visit to Space 2 Learn (pm) Tue 15/12 EY/KS1 disco (am) Tue 15/12 Y5/6 carols in the community Wed 16/12 KS2 disco (pm) Thu 17/12 Christmas lunch—option to pay for a day Thu 17/12 Christmas pantomime (pm) Fri 18/12 Christmas jumper day: Save the Children Fri 18/12 School breaks up for 2 weeks Mon 4/1/16 Children return to school

HEALTH & SAFETY Staff Car Parks

Can we kindly ask parents not to use the staff

car parks when dropping off or picking up

children as stated in our Health & Safety

Policy. To reduce the number of vehicles

entering school and to minimise the risk of

accidents, please park outside of the school

grounds. Taxis should not be entering either

as there is nowhere to turn round when the

carparks are filled with staff cars.

Thank you for your support in this matter.

INCLEMENT WEATHER

If, due to adverse weather conditions, the school is forced to close in the coming months, announcements will be made via BBC Tees (on air or on their website) as well as through our school text messaging service. It is essential we have your most up-to-date contact number so that you receive regular information updates. Please call in to the school office if you need to inform us of a new number. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16153650