Lane End
March - Newsletter 17 (13th March 2017)
Dear Parents/Carers,
Thank you for all of the best wishes following my letter last week – as I said I am going to really miss Lane End and the whole school community but am proud of everything we have achieved together. It is the right time for me and my family to move on to a new adventure. I am happy that I will leave the school with a great staff and governing body team, a supportive parent body and, of course, brilliant children and I know that everyone will continue to work together to keep further improving our lovely school!
As I said in my letter, we still have a great deal planned this year – not least the 50th Anniversary celebrations. We’ve started to get more past staff and pupils interested in coming to our assembly about the history of the school on Tuesday 28th March and staying to talk to the children about their memories and experiences. The whole school community is invited to come and see the timeline we will have on display in the hall after school on Monday 27th March. Please also put Friday June 23rd in your diary – we will be burying our time-capsule which will have been created by the children in a special assembly/ceremony outside at 9:30am and then the children will be taking part in a sponsored jog that morning (fingers crossed for good weather that day!).
Mrs Carol Frain, who was in the first cohort of children at Lane End, has been in touch and we’ve posted a video of her first journey to school on our twitter account; do have a look – when I showed the video clip to the children in assembly they particularly liked the Lane End beret which was part of the uniform at that time!
A Couple of Red Nose Day Reminders:
PJ Day – children can wear their PJ’s / Red Nose accessories in a special Comic Relief non-uniform day on Friday 24th for a suggested donation of £1 – please can children bring in the money on the day to put in our collection tin.
Noah and Timothy spoke about their plans for a bake sale in assembly today and have asked as many children as possible to bring in cakes to sell for Comic Relief on Friday 24th March – please do help if you can. Children can bring in some extra money to buy some cakes that day and any cakes which haven’t sold during the day will be on sale after school. Website for cake ideas: http://www.rednoseday.com/kids
It is also the PTA Red Nose Day Disco on Friday 24th March – tickets are still available via ParentPay.
Petition - Thank you to everyone who signed our petition to Mary Robinson MP to pursue increased not reduced funding for Lane End Primary School. School and parental voice is getting louder across the country on the important matter of school funding and I am pleased that we are making our voice heard. We already have over 160 signatures and I will put the petition in the school entrance during parents’ evenings for anyone who hasn’t already signed – thank you for your support.
Parents’ Evening – thank you for signing up for an appointment. Please support your child at home with the targets they are given by their teacher – these should be stuck in your child’s homework book and have been written so that you are able to work on the target together at home.
Country Dancing – Good luck to our country dancers who are at the Country Dancing Festival at Stockport Town Hall with Mrs Chamberlain later tonight. Our Country Dancers did a great job showing the rest of the school what they could do on Friday afternoon and I am sure they will enjoy the evening and do really well tonight too.
Parent Governor Nominations – a message from our Governing Board
It's an exciting time to get involved as a governor, but a busy one too. With schools facing challenges around the budget - as reported in the national press and communicated from school - we're thinking big, looking at different sources of funding, as well as getting into the detail of decisions around spending. And with the announcement of James' departure, we need to appoint a new Headteacher, supporting them as they step into the role and working with them and the team in setting the long term vision for Lane End. Above all, you’ll be providing valuable support and insight to help ensure the school continues to deliver a fantastic learning experience for our children in an environment where they can flourish and grow. You'll need to represent parents on the governing body, but we're also looking for individuals with energy and enthusiasm and some specific skills - if you have financial and/or operational management skills and experience (for example if you run your own medium-sized business) and/or are a good strategic thinker then joining the governing panel could prove both incredibly interesting and rewarding. Please do consider stepping up to the role.
Nomination forms were sent home last week and nominations need to be in school by Wednesday 15th March. Thank you.
Powerleague – our Year 5 and 6 teams represented us very well last week at the Stockport Powerleague Tournament with Mr Toyne. Everyone played well and our Year 6 team got to the semi-finals – a great achievement as there were 30 different school teams taking part.
Sponsor a brick! We have written to some local businesses asking whether they can support school through sponsorship of our time capsule. If you have a business or work for a company which would be able to help, then the details we have sent out are shown below – thank you!
Lane End Primary School is commemorating its 50th Anniversary this year. As part of the celebrations, we are burying a time capsule created by the children. This will have a purpose built brick surround and we are looking to local businesses to ‘sponsor a brick’. Your business name would be put on display and, if you are available, you would be invited to our time capsule ceremony at 9.30am on 23rd June 2017 – exactly 50 years since the official opening of the school in 1967. We are asking local businesses for a donation of at least £150 or more to sponsor a brick. You will be helping to support the school and as a thank you business names will be put on a special plaque/sign which would be permanently viewable by the whole school community - the more you donate the higher up the list you will go!
If you can support the school in any other way, please also let us know.
If you would like to help us in our celebrations please contact the school office, in the first instance. Thank you for your consideration and generosity. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
We aim to be approachable and work in partnership with parents, so if there is anything you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to come and talk to us.
Yours sincerely,
James Twigg