Stepgates Community School Headlines

Stepgates Community School
Headlines
Issue 3: 3rd Oct 2014
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Dear parents, carers and friends,
Staffing
I am pleased to be able to confirm that we have appointed Mrs Lord to our staff team, teaching 4
days a week providing support teaching in years 3 and 4 on Thursday and Friday each week and in
different classes as necessary across the school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I am sure she will
soon feel part of our Stepgates community.
In January we will sadly be saying ‘Goodbye’ to Mrs Milner Brown as she is expecting her first baby
and will be taking maternity leave prior to her baby’s arrival sometime in February. Whilst it is an
exciting time for her we will be recruiting a new teacher for Grasshoppers Class this term so that
we can ensure a smooth handover and continuity for the children in Grasshoppers Class. I will inform
you as soon as an appointment is confirmed.
Attendance
This year we are aiming for whole school attendance above 94%. Congratulations to Grasshoppers
Class who had excellent attendance over the past two weeks.
15th – 19th Sept
22nd – 26th Sept
WHOLE SCHOOL
77.8%
87.0%
Butterflies
90.3%
87.7%
Grasshoppers
95.9%
97.1%
Falcons
87.0%
89.9%
Hawks
93.7%
89.3%
Owls
86.6%
90.0%
Kites
90.0%
87.9%
Any requests for Authorised Absence from school should be made, well in advance of the intended
absence, to the School Office. Your child may only be absent from school for non-medical reasons
including holidays for up to 5 days in exceptional circumstances.
We are pleased to announce that the total raised for the NSPCC by the children
at Stepgates Community school is £1444.43.
Well done to everyone for such a huge effort.
STEPGATES JUDO COACH BECOMES COMMONWEALTH
CHAMPION!!
‘Our Judo coach, Owen Livesey, won a brilliant gold medal at
this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow’. Owen
beat a string of tough competitors and faced fellow Team England member & British Number 1 Tom Reed in the final. Owen
prevailed in a really tight match to upset the odds and win in
front of a noisy crowd. Owen commented ‘’I’ve been training really well, but at the end of the day it is a normal tournament.
There is a lot of pressure on us. Normal events we don’t get much attention but fighting here is
the most that I have had in my life. All my family are here, my mum, my dad, my sisters. All my
coaches from S.KK. I’ve never fought anywhere with atmosphere like this. Now I have witnessed
it with the crowd behind me it is just fantastic. When I moved to Camberley the Olympics was the
only thing I have wanted to do. Hopefully, now I have the confidence and I will keep training hard
and hopefully qualify.”
GREEK DAY
The Totalizer
The Digital
Classroom
Stepgates Community School announced that
they have raised a further £5000 towards
Stepgates School are
building the new community swimming pool in
pleased to announce that the
Chertsey. A significant amount was donated
Yr.6 digital classroom is now not
by BP, through their employee match-funding
only equipped with a tablet for
scheme, where they make a donation for eveeach child, but also
ry hour spent by their employees volunteering.
10 chrome books
Chertsey resident James Taylor and brother of
which they share
Daniel and Ellen, who is currently a postwith Yr.5.
graduate at Bangor University, also recently
raised over £1000 for the appeal by running a
Samsung DVD
50 mile sponsored
Samsung have produced
ultra-marathon in
a short film about the “Digital ClassSnowdonia.
room” at Stepgates. If you would like
to take a look, please follow the link on
our school website.
Whiteboard Markers
We have received some complaints that ink from the whiteboard
marker pens is not washing out of the children’s shirts. As the Drywipe pens are water based they should wash out easily. If you have noticed
this, please let us know and we will investigate.
Swimming Helpers
We are delighted by the number of parents
who wish to help out at the swimming lessons. However, we are unable to accommodate large numbers of spectators at the
swimming pool. In order to make it fair, the
class teachers may need to draw up a rota for
those parents wishing to attend. Please let
your child’s class teacher know if you would
like to come along. Please also note that
younger siblings are not able to attend due to
Health and Safety.
INFECTION CONTROL
New guidelines have been released by Public Health England, advising how long your
child should stay at home during and following illness. If your child is sick or suffering from Diarrhoea, they must stay home for
48 hours after their last episode..
For details on required absences during and
following other illness, please go to
www.gov.uk/phe
Twitter:@PHE_UK
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
PublicHealthEngland
Training to Teach in a Surrey Primary School
At the beginning of a new school year it may be a good time to re appraise
your career and vocation. Have you ever considered being a teacher? It is a
really great job, shaping young people’s lives, great variety each day, opportunities to be creative, and much more.
In Surrey there is now a one year post-graduate primary school-based teacher training, a programme known as the Surrey-South Farnham (SSF) SCITT.
This is a partnership of primary schools all over Surrey, working together to
provide high quality teacher training. In March of this year they were awarded an ‘outstanding’ grade by Ofsted for this work. Such will be the demand
for new primary school teachers in Surrey in September 2016, there will be
increased opportunity for both recent graduates and mature career changers
to apply for teacher training places with SSF SCITT.
Throughout the academic year 2014/15, SSF will hold a number of information seminars for individuals considering initial teacher training. These will
be opportunities to gain a better understanding of the routes into becoming a
teacher and specifically what SSF can offer. The list of those coming up is
shown below, including the one to be held locally. I would be really pleased to
chat to anyone interested in making this career change. Entry requirements
are an honours degree and grade C or above in English, Maths and Science at
GCSE.
Date
Time
Venue
Tuesday 7th October, 2014
5.00pm - 6.30pm
Holy Trinity School, Addison Road,
Guildford, GU1 3QF
Saturday 11th October,
2014
10.00am – 11.30am
Holiday Inn, Egerton Rd, Guildford, GU2 7XZ
12.00pm – 1.30pm
th
Tuesday 14 October, 2014
5.00pm - 6.30pm
New Haw Junior School, The Avenue, New Haw, KT15 3RL
Thursday 16th October,
2014
5.00pm - 6.30pm
South Farnham School, Menin
Way, Farnham, GU9 8DY
Wednesday 22nd October,
2104
5.00pm – 6.30pm
Yattendon School, Oakwood Road,
Horley, RH6 7BZ
Wednesday 12th November,
2014
5.00pm – 6.30pm
Lingfield Primary School, Vicarage
Road, Lingfield RH7 6HA
Anyone interested in attending should contact
eukaria.finch@babcockinternational.com in order to reserve a place.
DATES
October
November
December
1st Ladybirds visit from Police
3rd School opens
5th Inset Day – School closed
8th Yr5&6 WW1 Workshop at Chertsey
Museum
Open Evening 5-7pm
5th Individual Children’s photos
3rd Parent Teacher Consultation
Meetings
6th Foss Meeting 7pm All welcome
1st - 4th ‘Christmas Week’
10th Foss Mufti Day—Pyjamas
11th Yrs5 & 6 visit to Guildford Cathedral
13th Harvest Festival
21st Foss Mufti Day—Multicolours
17th Christmas Lunch & Pantomime
16th Ladybirds photo for Herald
24th Book Fair this week
19th Carols Assembly 9.05am
21 Open Morning
28th Yr2 visit to Polka Theatre
19th School finishes for Christmas 1pm
22nd FOSS Disco—Superheros and
Villans
29th Foss Christmas Fair
st
24th Year 6 Junior Citizen
School finishes for half term
16th Full Governing Body meeting