Denby Dale Nursery School and
Gilthwaites First School Federation

 Newsletter 2

21 February 2012

Dear Parents

Welcome to the second Federation newsletter. Since the previous letter there have been various events but one in particular calls for a real celebration! An Ofsted inspection of both the education and the daycare settings was undertaken at Denby Dale Nursery.  The outcome is that both settings have received an outstanding grade under the new framework. We are all thrilled and I would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff and governors for their hard work and to you and your children for the support you provide. Can we also say a special thanks to those brave volunteers who worked in nursery during the Ofsted.
Those of you who have a child in nursery will have a report attached. Anyone else who would like to read a copy can find it on the nursery or the Ofsted website or can ask for a copy through nursery or school.

Governors
Governors have supported nursery through Ofsted and are continuing to move the schools forward, looking for opportunities to improve the way the schools work together.
A joint training event with staff and governors proved very useful and some priorities were identified as part of the schools development plan. These are:
  1. The development of maths to raise standards and provide challenge.
  2. Developing the Federation.
  3. Improving the marketing and raising the profile of both settings.
If you want to see more details of this the plans will shortly be available on the websites or through the nursery or school office

Staffing
We welcome back to Nursery Amy Spink, who is shortly to resume her position as Daycare Coordinator after a period of maternity leave. We wish Liz Senior luck as she is undertaking her first teaching practice during this half term and will be returning to nursery at Easter. CatWalkerwill be retaining her position as Acting Deputy Daycare Coordinator until Easter.

School/Nursery Events
Children in Need. Nursery children wore their pyjamas and Gilthwaites children came dressed in spots! The day proved very successful and we raised over over £400.

Barnardo’s Assembly Thank  you to those of you who collected for Barnardo’s last year, the total raised was £151.28

Reading Meeting YR Parents This meeting was very well attended and we hope it has helped parents with ideas of how you can support your child when they are first starting to read.

Class Photos The class photos taken atGilthwaitesFirstSchool should soon be available to view on line. More details of how to do this will follow shortly.

Children’s Events
Denby Dale Nursery
During the next half term children throughout nursery will be beginning to find out about Spring and seasonal change and some of the traditions associated with Easter. We are also having a mathematical focus on Shape, Space and Measure and are inviting parents and carers to join us on World Maths Day, the 7th March.
Gilthwaites First School
Reception have had great fun acting out the story of the ‘Snow Queen’ in their ownIcePalace. They have been doing lots of writing and are very proud of themselves.
Year 1 have been finding out about ‘Toys’ and enjoyed the story of ‘Traction Man’.
Year 2 have thrown themselves into the topic about the circus. They really enjoyed the visit from some Blackpool Circus performers who taught them circus skills.
Year 3 have made their own volcanoes and tried science experiments to make them erupt!
Year 4 have been looking at imaginary worlds and have enjoyed performing scenes from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. They ended the half term with their class assembly which included a touch of magic as well as some drama!
Year 5 have been studying Ancient Greece and spent a whole day going back in time to attend a Greek Day. Amongst other things they attended a Greek market and tasted Greek food.
Please look on theGilthwaitesFirstSchoolwebsite for details of this half term’s topics.

Friends of Denby Dale
The Friends of Denby Dale Nursery have recently purchased a whole set of “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends” engines for the Discoverers room. We have engines with numbers 1 to 11.These toys are great to help children learn their colours and numbers as well as being very popular characters! We have also bought new home furniture for the Explorers which is already in use and very much appreciated by the children. This has been made possible by your generosity in supporting our fundraising events over the last year.  We are now raising money for new outdoor equipment including sand pits and planters. The Friends of Denby Dale Nursery is always looking to recruit new people to help with fundraising. It is not a big commitment, and it is a great way to meet other parents. Look out for the date of the next meeting and come along! All welcome.

Spring Raffle and Hat Parade
In the run up to Easter the Friends of Denby Dale will be selling raffle tickets for ourbig springraffle. There will be lots of spring prizes including themed hampers and Easter Eggs! We will be drawing the raffle at our Easter coffee morning on Wednesday 28th March at 9.00am, when the children will be taking part in an Easter Hat Parade.  The children will be making hats in nursery, and you can also bring your child to an Easter hat-making workshop in the afternoon of 21st March in the community room. More details to follow. The Hat Parade was a great success last year so we will be looking forward to seeing this year’s creations! We are also asking for parents to bring in donations for the Spring Raffle.  There are lists up in nursery, please sign against the item you would like to bring in.  

Gilthwaites School Association (GSA)
Christmas Fair
The Christmas Fair was very successful, and raised a total of £1,057.00. Thank you for all your support.
We will keep you informed of future events.

Token Collections
Active Kids
Both settings are collecting Sainsburys’ Active Kids vouchers again this year so please encourage family and friends to collect them too. Last year we used the vouchers to obtain cookery equipment and outdoor play equipment.

Morrisons Vouchers
Thank you to everyone who collected Morrisons vouchers last year. Nursery have ordered wheelbarrows, trugs and other outdoor equipment and are hoping that they will soon arrive.
Gilthwaites have ordered equipment for Gardening Club.

Box Tops
We also collect Nestlé Box Tops for books in school.

Upcoming Events
Monday 27th February    Gilthwaites Roman Fort Trip Year 3

Thursday 1st March    Gilthwaites Shibden Hall Trip Year 4
 ”        ”        ”        World Book Day Nursery parents and carers are invited to stay and read stories to   children in the Discoverers (3s-4s) during the morning and afternoon sessions and children in the Explorers (Under 3’s) are invited to bring in favourite books.
Gilthwaites children will undertake actitivities within school.

Wednesday 7th March    World Maths Day – Nursery children are invited to wear patterned clothes in both the Explorers and Discoverers e.g. stripes, spots, checks or hearts. Parents and carers are invited to participate in mathematical activities in the Discoverers during the first hour of the morning and afternoon sessions on the 7th March.
Gilthwaites children will have a day of activities and parents are invited to see a display of their work in the hall from 3.00 till 5.00pm.

Tuesday 13th & Wednesday 14th March   Gilthwaites Parents Evening

Monday 19th & Tuesday 20th March    Gilthwaites Bikeability Training Year 5

Wednesday 21st March    Nursery Easter Bonnet Making Workshop run by the Friends of Denby Dale in the Nursery. Come along and make a bonnet with your child.

Friday 23rd March    Sport Relief

Monday 26th & Tuesday 27th March    Gilthwaites Bikeability Training Year 5

Wednesday 28th March    Nursery Easter Bonnet Parade, Sing Song, Coffee Morning and Raffle Denby Dale Nursery. Gilthwaites’ Reception Class children will also attend this event. (More details to follow).

Thursday 29th March    Gilthwaites Class Assembly Year 1.

Saturday 19th May    Nursery Sponsored Walk and Bike Ride – At Pugneys Country Park in Wakefield followed by a picnic. Keep the date free in your diaries!

Yours sincerely

J Wood
Executive Head Teacher