Newsletter 1 - Warrender Primary School

Newsletter 1
Spring Term
03.02.2015
Dear Parents/Carers,
First of all I hope it is not too late to wish you all a
very Happy New Year. I hope that 2015 is both
enjoyable and successful for you and your children.
Everyone seems to have settled back into school
quickly – well established routines mean that the
Christmas break already seems a long, long time
ago…
Staffing news
Welcome back to Mrs Isaac, who returned yesterday
from her maternity leave. I am sure you will join me
in wishing her the best of luck on her return to
school.
From now on, Miss Harrington (Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday) and Mrs Isaac (Monday and Friday) will
share the running of the Nursery.
I would like to thank Miss Harrington, who has done
an excellent job in the Nursery. As always, the whole
Early Years team - Mrs Tucker, Mrs Zammattio, Mrs
Keane, Mrs Arnell and Miss Taylor - has worked really
hard to provide excellent learning opportunities for
our youngest children.
In the news
You may have seen Education Secretary
Nicky Morgan apparently getting tough
with primary schools over the weekend.
She said that children will have to know
their multiplication tables to 12x12 by age 11, with
a new test at the end of Y6.
Interestingly enough, at Warrender we are following
the new National Curriculum, which expects children
to know all their multiplication facts to 12x12 in Y4!
The number work we do in Y5 and Y6 – including
fractions, decimals, percentages, factors, prime
numbers, ratio, proportion and algebra – requires
children to have an excellent working knowledge of
their times tables.
Abacus Maths pupil world
Whilst on the subject of mathematics, we are
about to introduce your children to a new
online world of maths games and challenges. In
Abacus pupil world, children can log in to watch
videos, play games and complete activities set by
their teachers.
You will soon receive a letter explaining how it
works, and we will give children a bookmark
for them to keep with their login details on.
Once children have logged on successfully,
they will have access to online maths homework
activities. It all looks very exciting – watch out for
the letter!
Website: www.warrender.hillingdon.sch.uk
Staying online for a moment, Mrs Bhamra has asked
me to remind you all that the teachers have all
updated their Fronter classrooms for the new term.
Do make sure your children log on to keep up to date
with the latest features – information, pictures,
useful links and reminders, etc.
Sports news
If your children take part in any of our sports clubs,
please remember that in the cold weather they
should wear suitable clothing – a track suit or fleece
with jogging bottoms is ideal.
One event that has not been stopped by
bad weather is the Sports Hall Athletics
event at Uxbridge Sports Centre, which
took place last month. Our squad trained
very hard, and performed to the very best
of their ability: in a very challenging
group, we finished fourth. Well done to them all!
Eco-School news
Mrs Mountain has convened a new Eco-Committee,
which will meet every half term and carry out a
range of environmentally friendly tasks around the
school. Committee members are:

Luca Martin McKevitt (Y6)

Samantha Connolly (Y5)

Evie Haynes (Y4)

William Lammas (Y3)

Arya Patel (Y2)

Josh Jukes (Y1)
One of their first jobs will be an Eco-Newsletter –
coming soon!
Friends of Warrender news
The new Friends of Warrender committee is busy
organising a wide range of events – some old
favourites and some brand new ones!

Next Thursday (12th February) sees our first ever
Zumba Disco – tickets are going fast, so please
return your letter if you don’t want to be left
out…

The annual Mothers’ Day Secret Shop will be in
school on Friday 13th March

Saturday 21st March is the date of the Friends’
Spring Fair – this is a new event for us, and I
hope you will give it your full support
Watch out for a Friends Newsletter giving further
details of these and future events. Not only are these
events hugely enjoyable, they also raise money which
is absolutely vital to the school. I can assure you that
the support provided by the Friends will become
increasingly important as public funding for schools
gets tighter and tighter…
e-mail: office@warrenderschool.org.uk
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Most “eggciting” of all (I promise
you, that is my only chick-related
joke) is the Happy Chick event after
half term. Every class will host a
mini-henhouse, with the prospect of
watching up to 10 chicks emerging
from their eggs – we then get to look
after the chicks in their brood box
for a week or so.
It is a fascinating project, and well worth
investigating further with your children. More
information is available from the following web-links:
http://www.thehappychickcompany.co.uk/chickhatching-at-schools.html
http://www.poultryhub.org/embryo/
http://www.crackingeggs.co.uk/
if you would like to offer up to 10 fluffy chicks a
foster home for the weekend they are with us, please
complete the reply slip on the Friends’ letter from
last week. Conditions are:

Your home must be cat- and dog-free

Your family cannot have pet allergies
We will draw names from a hat for each class: you
need to be in it to win it, so please reply soon if you
wish to be considered…
…and finally
To mark the season of New Year’s Resolutions, I have
three reminders for you:
1. We are all suffering from
the terrible coughs and
colds which are around at
the moment – if your child
has a cold, please make
sure they are equipped
with enough tissues to get
them through the day.
2. I have recently been alarmed by the number of
children who are arriving late for school – we
take the register promptly and start work straight
away, so children who arrive even 5 minutes late
do miss out. Children should be in the playground
from 08:30 – school begins at 08:40, so they
must be in the playground by then. If you are a
regular latecomer, please get yourself organised:
we are proud of our excellent attendance figures
at Warrender, and I would like to improve our
punctuality to the same high standard!
3. I know I mention this regularly, but we continue
to have difficulties with inconsiderate parking,
which causes our neighbours serious
inconvenience. I appreciate it is hard to park
near the school – this is why we encourage
walking, or at the very least parking further away
and walking the last part. If this applies to you,
please think about making a change: walking
part-way to school is good for your health, helps
classes win the monthly Walk to School trophy,
and keeps us on good terms with our neighbours –
what’s not to like?
As always, thank you for supporting Warrender
School. Here’s to a happy and successful year for us
all!
Yours faithfully,
Paul Lake - Headteacher
Diary dates
 Monday 2nd to Wednesday 4th February:
 Thursday 12th February:
 Friday 13th February:
 Monday 16th to Friday 20th February:
 Monday 2nd - Friday 6th March:
 Wednesday 4th March:
 Tuesday 10th and Wednesday 11th March:
 Friday 13th March:
 Friday 13th March:
 Saturday 21st March:
 Friday 27th March:
 Monday 30th March to Friday 10th April:
 Monday 13th April:
 Tuesday 14th April:
Lifebus visit
Friends of Warrender Disco
Award Assembly
Half term holiday
Creativity Week
SATs meeting for Y6 parents
Parent Consultations
Mothers’ Day assemblies
Red Nose Day
Friends of Warrender Spring Fair
Award Assembly
Term ends at 1:00 p.m. (No afternoon Nursery)
Easter holiday
SCHOOL CLOSED – staff Training Day
Children return to school
Website: www.warrender.hillingdon.sch.uk
e-mail: office@warrenderschool.org.uk
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