Last night Year 6 performed with the Choral Society at the Crickhowell Community Carol Concert in St Edmund's Church. Singing with the choir as well as performing songs from their own Christmas production the children were, once again, fantastic ambassadors for the school.

Christmas Performances

Our Christmas productions have been a great success this year and we have been very grateful for all the positive comments and the thanks that we have received from parents and grandparents. Thanks too, to the Friends of the School for their work in fund raising to pay for the new stage lights which made such a difference to the quality of the productions this year.

Weekly Diary Sheet for 19th December

School Clubs are now cancelled until the week of 16^th January

Monday/Dydd Llun 19^th

Carol Service at St Edmunds, 10am – all welcome

Year 6 singing at Greenhill residential home

Tuesday/Dydd Mawrth 20^th
Last day of term – school finishes at the normal time of 3.20pm

Monday/Dydd Llun 9^th January/Ionawr 2012

Children return to school

School Dinners this Week (Please note that the cost of school dinners is now £2)
Monday – mini-grill
Tuesday – chicken pie

Weekly Diary Sheet for 12th December

This Week’s Diary

School Clubs are now cancelled until the New Year.

Monday/Dydd Llun 12^th

Year 5/6 Christmas Party

Tuesday/Dydd Mawrth 13^th
Open the Book Assembly

Infant Party

Wednesday/Dydd Mercher 14^th

Year 6 singing at Maes-y-Ffynnon

Years 3/4 Christmas Party

Thursday/Dydd Iau 15^th

Christmas Dinner

Friday/Dydd Gwener 16^th

Non-Uniform Day in aid of the School Council

Grounds afternoon
Saturday/Dydd Sadwrn 17^th

Year 6 performing at the Community Carol Concert in St Edmunds

School Dinners this Week (Please note that the cost of school dinners is now £2)
Monday – Pasta bolognese                 Thursday – Christmas dinner
Tuesday – Roast turkey                       Friday – Salmon and chips
Wednesday – Casserole

Bottle Tops…We only need 170 more plastic bottle tops to be able to claim our free sports kit. If every child brings in one on Monday morning we will have enough!

Please can we have!...Mrs Anthony would welcome the donation of a small fridge-freezer for use in the Nursery/Reception classes. She is also looking for donations of buttons, ribbon and wool. If you can help with any of these items please get in touch.

Community Carol Concert…Year 6 will be taking part in this year’s event at St Edmunds which takes place next Saturday at 6pm. Tickets are available from the school office at a cost of £5.

Christmas Dinner…takes place on Thursday. Please let us know if your child will not be wanting a Christmas dinner. No other meal options are available on this day.

News from the Friends… The Friends raffled one of the Class Hampers at each of the concerts this week, thank you for your contributions and congratulations to all the winning families! Year 4's 'Going for Gold' hamper won the 1st prize at the Christmas Fayre and this hamper is still available to be won. McCarthy's hair salon in Crickhowell have kindly agreed to help us raffle the last hamper, so if you would like another chance - please pop in and buy a ticket. All the money raised has gone towards the new stage lighting in the hall.

Weekly Diary Sheet for 5th December

This Week’s Diary

School Clubs are now cancelled until the New Year.

Monday/Dydd Llun 5^th

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday/Dydd Mawrth 6^th
Foundation Phase dress rehearsal in the morning

Foundation Phase performance 6pm

Wednesday/Dydd Mercher 7^th

Year 3/4 dress rehearsal in the morning

Foundation Phase performance 2pm

Year 3/4 performance 6pm

Thursday/Dydd Iau 8^th

Year 5/6 dress rehearsal in the morning

Year 3/4 performance 2pm

Year 5/6 performance 6pm

Friday/Dydd Gwener 9^th

Nursery/Reception taking part in the under-five’s Christmas service at St Edmunds

Year 5/6 performance 2pm

School Dinners this Week (Please note that the cost of school dinners is now £2)
Monday – Pizza                       Thursday –Roast beef
Tuesday – Sausages                Friday – Fish and chips
Wednesday – Chicken curry

Bottle Tops…please send in any remaining plastic bottle tops by Monday. If we collect enough we can claim a free set of team kit for the school.

A message from the Fun Factory…School doesn't start back until 9^th January so the Fun Factory Holiday club will run from 3^rd – 6^th Jan, 8.30 am - 3.00pm for children aged 2yrs - 10 yrs at a cost of £12 per day. All children welcome.

To book tel 07840328292, email funfactory.asc@live.co.uk or pop in to see Emma Williams or Charlotte Williams at Allsorts Playgroup

Arrangements for Christmas Concerts

In order to ensure that the Christmas productions run smoothly and that the safety of the children is maintained there are a number of points parents can help us with:

For the evening performances:

·      Infant children should be delivered to their classes via the infant entrance on the main playground at 5.30pm (not before, as there will be no members of staff to supervise them)

·      Junior children should enter the building via the main entrance at the front of the school.

·      Doors open at 5.30pm (not before!) and entry will be via the external hall doors only.

·      For child protection reasons only staff and pupils are allowed in the main building.

Collecting children following both the evening and afternoon productions
Parents should remain in the hall following the end of the performance. Your children will be brought to you when they are changed and ready to leave. As always, children will only be allowed to leave with a parent or known carer.

Concert Tickets

Additional tickets will be available on a first come, first served basis on the morning of the relevant concert.

Photography and Videoing
To comply with Powys County Council guidelines parents/grandparents and other members of the audience must have completed a form to seek permission to take photographs or video during the performances. This form was sent home with your child’s tickets. More forms are available from the school office.

Due to a specific child protection issue no videoing will be permitted at the Y5/6 afternoon performance and photography will only be permitted at the end of the performance when the children will be on stage at the end of their finale. The school will take photographs during the performance which will be available to parents electronically, free of charge. Please feel free to contact Mr Wright if you have any concerns over this.

Younger Children
We do ask that parents have consideration for others, use their judgement, and don’t allow younger brothers and sisters to spoil the production by becoming noisy or disruptive. Children of school age will already have had the opportunity to see their brothers/sisters perform during the dress rehearsals.

With so many children to organise and supervise it would help us greatly if parents would adhere to these requests. Many thanks.

Possible Industrial Action - 30th November

Proposed Industrial Action on Wednesday 30^th November

You will be aware from press coverage that a number of public sector unions including the NUT, NASUWT, NAHT and UNISON are planning industrial action for the 30^th November.

Whilst at this stage we are unable to confirm the exact impact that the action will have on the school, we are suggesting that parents should make provisional arrangements for childcare for this day. If the action does proceed, it is likely to result in the school being closed for the day.

We will update parents as soon as we have further information.

Yours sincerely,

Jon Wright, Headteacher               Helen Rhydderch-Roberts, Chair of Governors

Weekly Diary Sheet for 21st November

Raising money for Children in Need with MAD HAIR!

Saturday/Dydd Sadwrn 19th

‘Captain Noah’ performance for Y6 – Rehearsals at 4pm, Performance at 6.30pm

Monday/Dydd Llun 21^st  

~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday/Dydd Mawrth 22^nd
~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday/Dydd Mercher 23^rd

Choir for years 3 to 6 at lunchtime with Miss Joyce

Year 3 swimming

Running Club for years 3 to 6 with Miss Joyce after school

Football Club for Years 3 to 6 after school with Miss Jones

Thursday/Dydd Iau 24^th

Welsh Club at lunchtime

Year 3 visiting St. Mary’s in Abergavenny

Year 4 swimming

Netball for years 5 and 6 after school with Miss Jones

Friday/Dydd Gwener 25^th

NON-UNIFORM DAY in aid of the School Council

South Powys Youth Music will be running their ‘Strings Workshop’ for children from all over South Powys in the school hall

Rugby at lunchtime for years 3 to 6 with Ian Morgan and Mark Rhydderch-Roberts

School Dinners this Week (Please note that the cost of school dinners is now £2)
Monday – Pasta bolognese                         Thursday –Roast pork
Tuesday – Roast Turkey                                Friday – Salmon and chips
Wednesday – Casserole

Recycling – The Rag Bag Bin and Newspaper Collection…Thank you to everyone who has supported the Rag Bag collection. To date we have raised over £420. Please continue to support this. Don’t forget that we are also collecting newspapers which can be left in the green bin at the front of the school.

Plastic Recycling…We need every child to bring into school 20 plastic bottle tops! Once we have 20 per child we can send them away to receive a free sports kit of our choice made using recycled plastic. We don’t need the bottles themselves; they can be recycled in the normal way.

Cello Lessons…Would your child like to take up the cello? We are now able to offer weekly cello lessons delivered by Mrs Emma Archer. Please send a note into school if you would like to take up this opportunity. A number of the children have expressed an interest following a cello demonstration given in assembly by Emma.

Breakfast Club…Don’t forget that Breakfast Club now opens 15 minutes earlier at 8am with a £1 charge for the period 8am to 8.15am.

Arriving at School…A reminder that children should not be on the school premises before 8.50am unless they are attending Breakfast Club.

Photos by Wednesday…All photo orders and payment need to be returned to the school by next Wednesday.

Fields in Trust…is a scheme set up to coincide with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next year - it is a programme to protect 2012 outdoor recreational spaces in local communities. The park at Oakfield Drive is one of those listed and I know many local children and their families would be interested in safeguarding it for the future. If you would like to support the campaign you can do so by visiting www.qe2fields.com and voting appropriately. The last chance to vote is TODAY!

Packed Lunches…It would greatly assist the canteen staff if parents of our youngest children could ensure that they peel and cut up fruit before it goes into their child’s lunchbox.

School Council Sponsored Walk…has raised £531 for the IT for Tomorrow fund. However, only 38 children have so far returned the sponsor money. This is an average of £14 per child. If each child has managed to obtain that level of sponsorship we will have raised  £2000 in a single event.  Please return any outstanding sponsorship money on Monday.

Weekly Diary Sheet for 14th November

Roger Williams MP being interrogated by Year 6!

Children in Need theme this year will be MAD HAIR!!!

Sunday/Dydd Sul 13^th
Bag packing at Morrisons to raise money for the Friends

Monday/Dydd Llun 14^th

~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday/Dydd Mawrth 15^th
Steve Marshall from Crickhowell Choral Society working with Year 6

Wednesday/Dydd Mercher 16^th

Choir for years 3 to 6 at lunchtime with Miss Joyce

Year 4 swimming

Running Club for years 3 to 6 with Miss Joyce after school

Football Club for Years 3 to 6 after school with Miss Jones

Thursday/Dydd Iau 17^th

Welsh Club at lunchtime

Year 3 swimming

Netball for years 5 and 6 after school with Miss Jones

Rehearsal for Y6 children taking part in the ‘Captain Noah’ performance, at St Mary’s Abergavenny, 6.30-7.30pm

Friday/Dydd Gwener 18^th

Children in Need Day – Mad Hair!!!

Rugby/Football at lunchtime for years 3 to 6 with Ian Morgan

Saturday/Dydd Sadwrn 19th

‘Captain Noah’ – Rehearsals at 4pm, Performance at 6.30pm

School Dinners this Week (Please note that the cost of school dinners is now £2)
Monday – Pizza                       Thursday –Roast beef
Tuesday – Sausage                  Friday – Fish and chips
Wednesday – Chicken Curry

Breakfast Club…A number of parents have asked if Breakfast Club can begin at an earlier time each day. From Monday parents will have the opportunity to drop their children at the club from 8am. To cover the additional wage costs there will be a charge of £1 for each child that attends the club from 8am to 8.15am. From 8.15am the regular, free, Welsh Government funded breakfast club will operate. The following rules will apply:

·         There will be a £1 charge, payable on the day, for any child arriving between 8am and 8.15am

·         A sign on the Breakfast Club door will indicate when the paid for club ends and the free club opens.

·         Before 8.15am children will not be able to attend Breakfast Club without payment.

We will run this on a trial basis until February half-term to evaluate its take-up and cost effectiveness.

Arriving at School…A reminder that children should not be on the school premises before 8.50am unless they are attending Breakfast Club.

Bagpacking at Morrison’s…The Friends still only have ten people who have volunteered so far to help with bag packing at Morrisons on Sunday. They need twenty-five volunteers if they are to maximise the benefit from this fund raising opportunity. Please ring Heidi on 810123 if you can assist.

Morrison’s ‘Let’s Grow’ Vouchers…have to be redeemed by the end of the month. If you have any at home, please send them in.

New Admissions…If you have young children born after 1 September 2008 who will want a place in our school, please call the school office to check that we have your details. This will help with our forward planning and ensure that an admissions pack is sent to you at the right time. Please pass on this message to people you know that have young children who are not in school yet.

The 'Cool Seas' Workshop

Weekly Diary Sheet for 7th November

Monday/Dydd Llun 7^th

Roger Williams, MP visiting the school

Cool Seas workshop for all the children

Dance Club at lunchtime for Years 3 to 6

Tuesday/Dydd Mawrth 8^th
Bookrunner van in school

Steve Marshall from Crickhowell Choral Society working with Year 6

Wednesday/Dydd Mercher 9^th

Choir for years 3 to 6 at lunchtime with Miss Joyce

Year 4 swimming

Running Club for years 3 to 6 with Miss Joyce after school

Football Club for Years 3 to 6 after school with Miss Jones

Thursday/Dydd Iau 10^th

Welsh Club at lunchtime

Year 3 swimming

Year 4 at St Mary’s, Abergavenny

Netball for years 5 and 6 after school with Miss Jones

Friday/Dydd Gwener 11^th

Tempest photographer in school

Rugby/Football at lunchtime for years 3 to 6 with Ian Morgan
School Dinners this Week (Please note that the cost of school dinners is now £2)
Monday – Mini-grill                Thursday –Roast turkey
Tuesday – Chicken Pie                        Friday – Fish fingers
Wednesday – Lasagne

Friday 4 November - Bonfire Night

The fun begins at 6pm. Come along and enjoy the fireworks plus hot dogs, soup, hot & cold drinks, chocolate apples and glow sticks. As in previous years sparklers and other fireworks are not to be brought on to the school site.

Bagpacking at Morrisons…The Friends have nine people who have volunteered so far to help with bag packing at Morrisons on Sunday 13^th November. They need twenty-five volunteers if they are to maximise the benefit from this fund raising opportunity. Please let us know if you can assist.

Sponsored Walk…many thanks to everyone who took part in our school sponsored walk before half-term – children, staff and parents. We would be grateful to receive any outstanding sponsor money by this Friday so that we can give the children an idea of just how much they have managed to raise.

War Child…Our very own Abigail Fisher is completing a charity challenge to celebrate her 11^th birthday (details overleaf). Abi has already raised £2700 and is aiming to raise £3000 for the charity War Child. Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/11-11-11.

Clarence Hall Twmpath…will be held on Friday 18^th November from 7pm to 10pm. Live music by the Fast Parts Ceilidh Band. The event is sponsored by St Edmund’s Church. Tickets £5 for adults and £1 for children. More information from Helen (811289) and Gill (812318)

Weekly Diary Sheet for 17th October

This Week’s Diary

Monday/Dydd Llun 17^th

Dance Club at lunchtime for Years 3 to 6

Mrs Parker (Head at Crichowell High School) to speak to parents, 6.30pm

Tuesday/Dydd Mawrth 18^th
Steve Marshall from Crickhowell Choral Society working with Year 6

Year 3 walking into town to visit local businesses

Wednesday/Dydd Mercher 19^th
Dental talk for years 3 and 4

Running Club for years 3 to 6 with Miss Joyce after school

Year 6 swimming

Thursday/Dydd Iau 20^th

Harvest Festival, 11am at St Edmunds

Harvest Performance for Crickhowell’s Senior Citizens, pm

Welsh Club for years 3 to 6 at lunchtime with Miss Jones

Netball for years 5 and 6 after school with Miss Jones

Year 5 swimming

Halloween Disco for Infants 4pm to 5pm

Halloween Disco for Juniors 5pm to 6pm
Friday/Dydd Gwener21st  

Non-Uniform day for the School Council

Sponsored Walk for the IT for Tomorrow fund
(More sponsor forms available from the school office)
School Dinners this Week (Please note that the cost of school dinners is now £2)
Monday – Pizza                       Thursday –Roast Beef
Tuesday – Sausage                  Friday – Fish and chips
Wednesday – Chicken Curry

Mrs Jackie Parker, Head of Crickhowell High School…Mrs Parker has kindly agreed to talk to pupils and parents about the High School and transition arrangements. This meeting is for all parents but would be of particular relevance to year 6 pupils and their parents who I would urge to attend if at all possible. The meeting is at our school at 6.30pm on Monday.

Harvest Festival…will be held at St Edmunds at 11am on Thursday. Parents, grandparents and other relatives are warmly invited to attend. For the first time this year we will also be holding a Harvest Festival in school on the same afternoon. We are not asking parents to come to this but will be inviting senior citizens from the local community to join us. Each class will be putting together a ‘Harvest hamper’ to be distributed to good causes. Please send in a donation for the hamper with your child at the beginning of the week; fruit, vegetables, tinned and packet goods would all be suitable

News From ‘The Friends’

Thursday 20 October - Halloween Disco

Infants 4pm - 5pm, Juniors 5pm - 6pm.

Entry - £1.50 which includes a drink, biscuit and a treat. All pupils must be collected by a parent/guardian, children will not be allowed to walk home alone.

Friday 4 November - Bonfire Night

The fun begins at 6pm. Come along and enjoy the fireworks plus hot dogs, soup, hot & cold drinks, chocolate apples and glow sticks. We still need volunteers - please get in touch if you can help. Tickets will be available after half-term.

 Sunday 13 November - Bag Packing in Morrisons, Brecon

From 10am until 4pm. We need volunteers to spend a few hours bag packing. Children are encouraged to help but need to be closely supervised, so we're suggesting that children helping/bag packing should be over 7. This is a great way to raise funds for the school in a relatively short amount of time. So please help if you can.

Please contact Heidi Purnell, Wendy Lock, Gail Milsom or Susie Keylock if you can help or leave a note in the red 'friends' box in reception.

Bag Packing Fund Raiser!

Advance notice that the Friends have managed to secure a day of bag packing fund raising at Morrison's supermarket in Brecon on Sunday 13th November. This is a fantastic way to raise large sums of money quite quickly. They now need some volunteers to give some time to help out. Please get in touch with one of the Friends if you think you can assist.

Diary Sheet for 10th October

Monday/Dydd Llun 10^th

Year 3 taking part in the tag rugby festival at the High School

Dance Club at lunchtime for Years 3 to 6

Parents’ evening

Tuesday/Dydd Mawrth 11^th
Steve Marshall from Crickhowell Choral Society working with Year 6

Parents’ evening

Wednesday/Dydd Mercher 12^th
Running Club for years 3 to 6 with Miss Joyce after school

Year 5 swimming (please note different day!)

Open Afternoon 1.30pm to 3.00pm

Thursday/Dydd Iau 13^th

Mr Harris, our brass teacher, will be running taster sessions for Year 4

Welsh Club for years 3 to 6 at lunchtime with Miss Jones

Netball for years 5 and 6 after school with Miss Jones

Year 6 swimming (please note different day!)

Friends meeting at the Dragon Hotel, 7pm
Friday/Dydd Gwener14th

Rugby Tournament in Brecon

Friends meeting in school, 2pm

Meeting for parents about Read, Write, Inc. 3.30pm

School Dinners this Week (Please note that the cost of school dinners is now £2)
Monday – Mini-grill                                        Thursday –Roast Turkey
Tuesday – Chicken Pie                                                Friday – Fish Fingers
Wednesday – Lasagne

Parents’ evenings for children in Years 1 to 6…will be held on Monday and Tuesday. Please remember that we are only able to allocate a 10 minute slot per child. Teachers are, of course, willing to meet parents at another time if there are further issues to discuss.

Parents’ evenings for children in the Nursery and Reception classes….will be held later in the term once parents have received a written report from the class teacher which describes the outcomes of initial assessments. This is part of new assessment and reporting arrangements for the Foundation Phase introduced by the Welsh Government.

Swimming lessons this week…have been swapped to allow Year 6 to help with the Open Afternoon. Year 6 will swim on Thursday, Year 5 will swim on Wednesday for this week only.

Read, Write, Inc…We will be holding an information meeting for parents about Read, Write, Inc. on Friday after school. Mrs Lisa Wilkinson, who has been involved in training staff and assisting us with the development of RWI will be there to help parents find out more and answer any questions. Please come along if you can.