As we approach the festive season, we are looking forward to welcoming you into school to help us celebrate in true Warren Park style. We have a very busy couple of weeks ahead so please do keep these dates to hand and don’t forget that you can always check information on the school website or by calling the school office.

Thank you

Thank you so much for supporting our recent charity events so generously. We raised a fantastic £162.05 for the British Legion Poppy Appeal and a truly amazing £345.27 for Children in Need.

Christmas dates

Tuesday 5th December:

Infant Christmas lunch and Christmas Jumper day
Year 4 Ukulele concert 2.15pm

Wednesday 6th December:

Year R Singing Concert 2.30pm
Outdoor choir concert 4.15pm

Thursday 7th December:

Junior Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper day
Infant Christmas disco 3.15 – 4.15pm
Junior Christmas disco 4.30 – 5.45pm

Friday 8th December:

Wear what you like to school in return for a donation to the Christmas Fair

Tuesday 12th December:

Year 1 & 2 Christmas concert 10am
Junior Christmas concert 2pm

Wednesday 13th December:

Junior Christmas concert 10am
Year 1 & 2 Christmas concert 2pm

Thursday 14th December:

Christmas Fair 3.30 – 5pm

Friday 15th December:

Christmas parties / Year 6 reward trip

POST BOX: We will have a post box for the children to post Christmas cards from Monday 4th December – please ensure that cards have the full name of the recipient and their year group.

CHOIR CONCERT: The children involved in the concert will remain in school until their performance. The gates will be opened at 4pm for anyone wishing to attend the performance which will take place on the playground in front of the Year 4 classrooms. Hot chocolate and mince pies will be on sale.

CONCERTS: Please make sure that you have ordered your tickets via the online form. Please contact the school office if you have any difficulty with this. Entrance will be via the Library entrance (just before the Year R classrooms). There will be a charity collection bucket at the end of the concerts to raise money for The Rowans Hospice.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH: We hope the children will embrace the Christmas spirit by wearing anything festive – jumpers, dresses, outfits, hats and headwear on the day of their Christmas lunch. We will have festive music and crackers as well as our fantastic kitchen team spoiling us with an amazing lunch.

CHRISTMAS DISCOS: Year R, 1 and 2 children can wear their disco clothes to school and their teachers will take them to the school hall at the end of the day. The infant children do not need to bring any additional money as they will be given a drink and some sweets. Parents will collect their children from their child’s classroom door at 4.15pm.
The junior children will be admitted through the main school entrance at 4.30pm. There will be a tuck shop selling sweets and drinks if the juniors wish to bring some money (£1.50 maximum). The children can be collected via the main entrance at 5.45pm. Children must be collected by an adult as it will be dark.

CHRISTMAS PARTIES: The last day of term will be a wear what you like day for all children. Years R to 5 will have Christmas parties which will include lots of fun and games but the children will not need to bring in any food items. Year 6 will have their reward trip on the last day of term.

CHRISTMAS FAIR: We are really pleased to be holding our traditional Christmas Fair on Thursday 14th December from 3.30 – 5.00 pm in the school hall and we are hoping that you will be able to come along for some Christmas fun! We are asking for donations of bric-a-brac, toys, games, books and any other items that you may have as well as sweets, chocolates and biscuits for our Chocolate Tombola and anything in a bottle. Donation day is Friday 8th December but you are welcome to send in donations at any time before the day.

We are really looking forward to seeing you over the festive season!

With very best wishes,

Elizabeth Cooper

We are looking forward to another busy and exciting half term. There are a number of important dates for you in this letter which can also be found on the school website.

Poppy appeal

We are pleased to be supporting The Royal British Legion once again this year with their poppy appeal. We will be selling poppies in the school office for a donation as well as a number of additional items which are priced between £1.00 and £1.50.

Children in Need (CiN)

On Friday 17th November we will have a wear what you would like day (suitable for school) which could include pyjamas to support the BBC Children in Need appeal or super hero outfits to celebrate the launch of our Monster Phonics super hero themed spelling scheme– donations for CiN will be very gratefully received on the day. As the children will still go outside for break and lunch time, it is really important that they are warm and have sensible footwear. From Monday 13th November we will have some Children in Need merchandise such as pens, wrist bands and Pudsey ears for sale at the school office priced between £1.00 and £2.50.

Christmas dates

Tuesday 5th December: Infant Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumper day Year 4 Ukulele concert 2.15pm
Wednesday 6th December: Year R Singing Concert 2.30pm
Outdoor choir concert 4.15pm
Thursday 7th December: Junior Christmas dinner and Christmas jumper day Infant Christmas disco 3.15 – 4.15pm
Junior Christmas disco 4.30 – 5.45pm
Tuesday 12th December: Year 1 & 2 Christmas concert 10am
Junior Christmas concert 2pm
Wednesday 13th December: Junior Christmas concert 10am
Year 1 & 2 Christmas concert 2pm
Thursday 14th December: Christmas Fair 3.30pm
Friday 15th December: Christmas parties

We will have a post box for the children to post Christmas cards from Monday 4th December – please ensure that cards have the full name of the recipient and their year group.

Water bottles

Please ensure that your child brings in a water bottle every day which must only contain water. Children can bring in a carton or bottle of juice as part of their packed lunch.
Parking near to the school
Neighbours have shared their concerns regarding some inappropriate parking at the beginning and end of the school day where driveways and access to properties have been blocked. They have informed the local council and police. They have advised us that they have been told to photograph any inconsiderate parking and send this information to the local council.
Please support us in maintaining positive relationships with our neighbours by parking considerately.

Breakfast Club

Please ensure that places for Breakfast Club are booked in advance using the Arbor system.

Inset days 2023 / 24

Friday 24th November 2023, Monday 22nd July and Tuesday 23rd July will be inset days and school will be closed for the children.

Book and uniform shop

We will have our book shop and pre-loved uniform shop open in the school hall at 3.15pm on Thursday 23rd November. Both books and pre-loved uniform will also be on sale at our Christmas Fair in December. This is the perfect opportunity to pick up some books for Christmas presents at the very reasonable price of £1.50. Pre-loved school uniform is available with items starting at 50p. Please do make sure that you have cash for this event.
Donations of pre-loved uniform are always very gratefully received. Please send items in with your children or drop them off at the school office.

With very best wishes,

Elizabeth Cooper

Welcome back to a very exciting new school year and we hope that you have had an enjoyable summer break. We are really looking forward to welcoming the children back to school on Tuesday 5^th September (Monday 11^th September for our new Reception children).

School Office

We are delighted to welcome Mrs Jo Winslade, our new School Business Manager, to the Warren Park team. She will be joined by Mrs Lynne Lewis who will be working with us for two days each week as our finance assistant. We are also currently in a recruitment process for additional roles within the team. While we complete this process, you will be greeted by other friendly members of our staff team who will all be happy to support and assist you in any way. Although Mrs Winslade has a great deal of experience working in primary schools, it will take a little while for her team to get to know all of our Warren Park systems so please do bear with us in these early weeks of the term.

Uniform

Parents who have already placed orders for uniform for children in Years 1 to 6 will be able to collect these from 1.30pm on Monday 4^th September. Orders can be paid for in cash, card or bank transfer at the time of collection. Those that have been pre-paid will be ready for collection. As we have a large number of orders for collection, paying in cash is likely to be the speediest option and we will endeavour to make the collection process as smooth as possible.

Orders for Reception children will be ready for collection from Thursday 7^th September.

We are planning to continue with children wearing PE kit to school on PE and Games days. Please make sure that jogging bottoms are plain black, blue or grey and are worn with a white tee-shirt and blue school sweatshirt. Appropriate trainers or plimsolls must be worn. Football kits, colours other than blue/black/grey bottoms / white tee-shirt and clothing with motifs or labels are not acceptable PE kit. Children will be expected to be wearing appropriately coloured PE kit and we will ensure that each year group has some spare kit for any child who does not wear PE clothing fitting with our policy on their PE day.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club and Kids Club will begin again on Tuesday 5^th September. Please ensure that places are booked in advance using the Arbor system.

Absence messages

If your child is unwell, you will now have the option to leave a message on the school answer system rather than needing to speak to a member of the office team. Please remember to leave your child’s name, class and the reason for absence. We hope that this facility will make this process easier for everyone.

Inset days 2023 / 24

Friday 24^th November 2023, Monday 22^nd July and Tuesday 23^rd July will be inset days and school will be closed for the children.

Literary Festival

On Friday 29^th September we will be celebrating our Warren Park love of reading with a special day of events that will enable children to share their favourite books as well as hearing from authors and poets. More information will follow shortly.

We are very much looking forward to working in partnership with you again this academic year to make sure that your children have the very best possible educational journey that we can provide. Please remember that Mrs Lofting and I are available if you have any queries or questions.

With very best wishes,

Elizabeth Cooper

We are looking forward to the remaining exciting events in the school calendar and I have also included some important dates for next year in this letter.

Sports Days

We are keeping a careful eye on the weather for our infant sports day tomorrow. If the weather holds, we hope that you will bring a picnic along and join the infant children for lunch on the field at 12.30pm. Please make sure that you check the text messaging service regularly as we may need to postpone if it rains or if the track remains slippery following rain. In this event, the infant sports day will take place on the reserve date of the morning of Thursday 20^th July.

Reports

Children in all year groups, except for Year 6, will be bringing home their annual Reports today 13^th July. Year 6 children will be given their reports on Tuesday 18^th July once their SATs results have been included. We do hope that you enjoy reading your child’s report and celebrating their achievements.

Sports Team Carousel

Please ensure that your child comes to school in their PE kit on Tuesday 18^th July as they will be participating within their monkey team on a range of team sports challenges. If they can wear something in their team colour that would be fantastic and add to the atmosphere of the event.

Team colours are:

Charity non-uniform day

One of our Year 2 children is currently fundraising for The Little Princess Trust. This charity aims to ‘give hair and hope to children with cancer’. The organisation is also one of the largest charity funders of childhood cancer research in the UK. He is intending to donate his own hair to the charity as part of his fundraising so that they can provide wigs for children who need them.   The last day of term (Friday 21^st July) will be a non-uniform day and the children can choose what they would like to wear to school. Please make sure that tee-shirts cover shoulders and that your child is wearing appropriate footwear. We will be collecting donations on this day to put towards his fantastic fundraising effort so any donations will be very gratefully received.

Inset days 2023/24

The new school year will begin on Tuesday 5^th September for the children as Friday 1^st and Monday 4^th September will be Inset days.

New Reception children will begin school full time on Monday 11^th September.

Friday 24^th November 2023, Monday 22^nd July 2024 and Tuesday 23^rd July 2024 will also be inset days and school will be closed for the children.

Parents’ Evenings

Tuesday 3^rd October and Thursday 5^th October will be Parents’ Evenings. This will be an opportunity for you to meet your child’s new teacher, discuss how they are settling into their new year group and discuss the areas that home and school can support them with during the forthcoming academic year.

We do hope to see you at our events before the end of term. On behalf of everyone at Warren Park, I would like to say thank you for the support that you have given the school this year. We really value working in partnership with you to make sure that your child’s journey through Warren Park is the very best it can be. We hope that you have a wonderful summer break and we look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday 5^th September.

With very best wishes,

Elizabeth Cooper

We are set to have a very busy and exciting end to the school year. We do hope to see you at some of our events.

Photo Day

The school photographer will be visiting on Thursday 22^nd June for individual, sibling and class photos. Please ensure that you have returned the letter to the school office with your permission to have the photographs taken. Sibling photos will only be taken where it has been requested so please do ensure that you have sent the consent letter if you would like this to happen.

Open afternoon drop in / Reports

On Wednesday 28^th June you are invited to visit your child’s class at any time between 3.30 – 4.45 pm to see their workbooks for this year. The teachers will be available for general discussion but if you have a particular matter regarding your child, please arrange a separate appointment through the school office.

Before the end of term your child will be given their school report for you to read. We hope that you will enjoy celebrating their achievements with them.

Industrial action / Infant sports day

The National Education Union has voted to take further industrial action on Wednesday 5^th July and Friday 7^th July. It is likely that some or all classes will be closed on these days. We would advise that you make plans for these days and we will confirm school arrangements as soon as we are able to do so in an additional letter.

To ensure that this does not have an impact our Infant Sports Day, we are changing the date from Friday 7^th July to the afternoon of Friday 14^th July. This will still include a picnic between 12.30 – 1pm with the races beginning at 1.15pm.

Multiply maths events

We have recently had the first of our Multiply events which was well attended by our KS2 families. Multiply is a government funded organisation that offers adults free maths courses with opportunities to gain qualifications, and build confidence in using numbers at work or in everyday life. As part of their work, they are offering games nights for families to show how maths skills can be developed at home through play. They will also be providing parents with children in Year 3 and 4 with an opportunity to attend a workshop which will support in helping children with their maths homework. If you would like to book a place on the remaining events please do so through our Arbor system.

Scooters and bikes

It has been lovely to see so many children riding and scooting to school in this fine and dry weather. Please make sure that scooters and bikes are walked on and off the site at the beginning and end of the school day. We have recently had an injury caused by a collision at this busy time so please do support us in keeping everyone safe and reminding the children about this important rule.

Electric scooters are not permitted on the school site. Anyone dropping off or picking up children with an electric scooter must remain outside of the school gates.

Hot weather

We are expecting some more hot and sunny days before the end of term so please do make sure that your child is well covered with sun block before coming into school. Adults in school will remind children about using sun block but cannot take responsibility for applying it.

Farewell

It is the time of year where we say some sad farewells to valued members of our Warren Park family as they move on to new adventures. This year we are saying farewell to some longstanding members of the team. Anna Evans and Nannette Froggatt are both retiring after many years of dedicated service to our school community. Mrs Evans has supported Warren Park staff and families for more than three decades as our School Business Manager and during this time she has got to know so many of you well and in many cases watching children grow and become parents themselves. Mrs Froggatt has been a Learning Support Assistant for 16 years and supported so many children to succeed and thrive within her time at Warren Park. We will also be saying a sad farewell to Donna Carter who has supported Warren Park children and families as a Learning Support Assistant over the last 25 years and most recently, enabling our Reception children to settle, flourish and achieve as they begin school life. It is difficult to capture in words the contribution that these amazing colleagues have made to the lives of your children and our school community – they will be very greatly missed.

I would also like to say an enormous thank you and wish the very best of luck to those colleagues who are embarking on new adventures at the end of this term.

Disco / Summer Ball

We will be having an end of year disco on Tuesday 4^th July. The Infant disco will take place directly after school until 4.30pm. Those children who are attending will simply stay behind at the end of the day. The infant children do not need to wear school uniform on this day and can choose an outfit that is suitable for both school and the disco. The disco for children in years 3, 4 and 5 will take place between 4.45 – 6pm. Year 6 children will have their very special evening of dancing and celebration at their Summer Ball on Monday 17^th July. Further details about these events will follow in an additional letter.

Non-uniform day

The last day of term (Friday 21^st July) will be a non-uniform day and the children can choose what they would like to wear to school. Please make sure that tee-shirts cover shoulders and that your child is wearing appropriate footwear.

With very best wishes,

Elizabeth Cooper