Issue 1 - 4th September 2019

Headteacher's Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you back after the summer holidays. The start of the school year is always a wonderful time in school when the children come into their new classes keen, eager and excited about the year ahead.

This September is particularly exciting for myself as I become the new Headteacher of Parkfield. After almost ten years as the Deputy Head at the school, it will be a priviledge to lead the school and continue to build on its strengths. One particular area I want to continue to develop is our fabulous curriculum. I believe that primary school should be full of memorable moments, inspirational opportunities and rich learning experiences and I'm passionate about ensuring every Parkfielder's journey prepares them fully for their next stage in education.

The children and staff at Parkfield are fantastic and make the school the wonderful place it is. I have the very highest expectations of the staff and all the children and it is my intention that by working together we can make our school the best it can possibly be.

The partnership we have with our families has been a strength of the school that I am keen to continue. We have a number of events throughout the year where you can support your child with their learning, meet school staff and get involved with the school community. I do hope you are able to take these opportunities as support from home is vital in a child's education. Our first event is next Wednesday 11th September (Tuesday 10th for Y6) where you are invited to come and meet your child's new class teacher at 3.15pm.

To close, I'd like to wish Year 5 the best of luck at Robinwood this weekend. They have a fabulous few days ahead of them where they will have to be brave, persevere and work collaboratively but they'll remember the experience for many years to come.

As always, thanks for your continued support,

Mr Kemp

Latest News

  • RE-DESIGNED NEWSLETTER AND WEBSITE You may have noticed that we have re-designed our parent newsletter to make it easier for you to find all the important information you need. We have also refreshed the design of our school website, updated many of the pages and made the menu organisation easier to navigate.
  • WELCOME Welcome to the parents and carers who have children joining us in Reception. Whether your child is feeling excited or apprehensive about starting school, the staff at Parkfield will do their best to ensure they settle into school quickly. Thanks to those parents that are joining us for dinner this week - I hope you enjoy!
  • CURRICULUM Our teachers have been working hard on a new website to share details of how our curriculum is organised at Parkfield, the objectives for each subject and overviews of what each class will be learning about each half-term. You can access the site here - https://curriculum.parkfieldprimary.com/home (we are just starting Autumn 1 of Cycle B). This will be regularly updated and replace the curriculum overviews we have previously sent each half term.
  • KNOWLEDGE ORGANISERS A new addition to the curriculum site are knowledge organisers. There will be a knowledge organiser for each topic and they detail the vital information and key facts that children across the school are expected to learn.
  • PARKFIELDER CHARACTER We believe in developing Parkfielders both academically and personally so that they're ready for their next stage of education. As a result, this year we are introducing 12 character qualities that we'll be explicitly teaching through our curriculum. All 12 qualities (see below) will be taught over a two year cycle with 'Listening' as the focus for the first half term.
  • NEW STAFF A warm welcome to the new staff that are joining the Parkfield team this September. Mrs Price is the new teacher in Y1 and Mr Howson is in Y4. Mrs Redikin will be helping the children at dinner whilst Miss Ayrey will be joining Y2 as the classroom teaching assistant. Welcome also to Miss Dippnall who is joining our Early Years team.
  • NEW STAFF ROLES Mrs Whalen is the new Deputy Headteacher and will happily assist with any queries or issues you may have. Mrs Whalen will still be continuing her role as the school SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator). Miss Steele is now the school's Designated Safeguarding Lead. Her role includes supporting families and working with outside agencies (such as social services and the NHS).
  • LEARNING LOGS will be sent home to children in Y1-6 this week. We've tweaked the design so that there is now one main, focus task (that should take priority), along with a few others. In the last week of this half-term, teachers will be letting children in their class share the work they've completed for them and those who bring in their books will each receive house points and a certificate from Mr Kemp.
  • EXTRA CURRICULAR CLUBS Children in Y1-6 will be able to sign up for this term's clubs from 3.15pm today. Please keep an eye on your emails and twitter for the sign up link.
  • PUNCTUALITY A reminder that doors will be open at 8.45am for children to come in and close at 8.50am, after which time they will have to use the main entrance. We hope to improve punctuality by doing this - especially as children are learning from the moment they come into school with their Start Of the Day Activity.
  • PE KITS PE lessons start from Monday across the school. Please ensure your child has their PE kit with them everyday in school. Although PE is planned on particular days for each class, this can change from week to week.
  • SCHOOL DINNERS We now run the kitchen ourselves and have created some new menus for this term based on feedback from the children and kitchen staff which we would like lots of our children to eat - see below for more information.
  • PTA There will be a PTA meeting on Friday 13th September in the Blue Room - Miss Steele would love as many parents as possible to come along so we can discuss our fundraising ideas for the year ahead. Click here for more information on the PTA.
  • BEHAVIOUR At Parkfield, we constantly praise and reward children for their effort, behaviour and work they produce. Your child might be: given house points, put into a half-termly prize draw for their attendance, allowed to sit on the 'top table' at dinner if they receive the Merit Award, be given a 'positive postcard', have their photo tweeted or given a special sticker by Mr Kemp or Mrs Whalen. Every child matters at Parkfield and all of our staff try hard to ensure that every child has the opportunity to shine and be noticed.
  • CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs Roworth who gave birth over the holidays to a gorgeous little boy. Best of luck to the whole family.
  • MRS BRADWELL Congratulations also to Mrs Bradwell who is due to have a baby in the new year. This does mean that Year 3 will have a change of teacher in the new year but I will update you as soon as I have more information.
  • EARLY BIRDS AND BUSY BEES There are limited places available for our before and after school club. Please click here for more information. Please note that for health and safety reasons, we have to close the gates at the back of school at 4.15pm each night. This will mean that children attending Busy Bees will have to be picked up through the main gates.
  • DIARY DATES and holiday dates for the year ahead are now online. Note that the early May bank holiday when school will be closed has been moved from Monday 4th May 2020 to Friday 8th May 2020 due to the national VE Day celebrations.

📅 Calendar

🐦 Twitter

🍴 School Dinners🍴

  • In line with local authority guidance, the price of school meals has increased to £2.20 each day, £11 per week for KS2 children. All monies will be collected using 'School Gateway'. Please note, if school meals are 2 weeks in arrears you will be asked to provide a packed lunch.
  • The school provides healthy and nutritious school meals that are cooked onsite. The contents of each school meal is in line with Healthy Eating Guidelines which is a requirement for all schools.
  • All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are entitled to a Universal Infant Free School Meal (UIFSM), irrespective of family income and family circumstances. If your circumstances change in future and you then receive benefits, you will need to apply for a Free School Meal (FSM). The number of children entitled to a FSM affects the funding we receive as a school. Therefore, we kindly ask all parents that believe they may be entitled, to apply for FSM. These forms can be collected from the school office or downloaded online from http://www.rochdale.gov.uk/schools_and_children/free_school_meals.aspx

🔗 Useful Links 🔗

Find out about how our curriculum is structured and the objectives children learn in each year group and subject. We are currently in Autumn 1 Cycle B.

A range of activities are set each half term related to the learning taking place in the classroom. The tasks are set as consolidation and enrichment activities. Learning Logs are handed out at the beginning of each half term. Children must do the main task followed by any of the extra tasks to complete over the half-term. The learning log is to be returned to school on the final week. However, teachers may ask children to bring them in at regular intervals to check progress children are making.

Payments for dinners, trips and other activities can be made online using the School Gateway.

Would you like the opportunity to win £25,000 each week and support the school? If so, please join the Parkfield school lottery where one person from our school is guaranteed a prize each week. A percentage of the money raised goes towards school funds.

🔔 Reminders 🔔

✅ Please read as much as possible with your child. Just 10 minutes a day can make a huge difference.

✅ There is a spelling test each Friday for Y1-6 and new spellings to be learnt are also given out on a Friday.

Library days: Mon – 5/6, Tues – 3/4, Weds – 1/2, Thurs – R.

✅ Mathletics tasks are set online each week to consolidate and extend learning.

✅ ‘Plain black’ shoes or trainers with no other colours on them

✅ Information about school uniform can be found on the school website here.

✅ All after school clubs finish at 4pm. Please let us know if your child doesn’t want to continue as we usually have long waiting lists.

✅ School water bottles are available for £1 from the school office. No other water bottle is allowed.

✅ All equipment is provided by school. Please don’t send pens, pencils, pencil cases…etc.

✅ Remember to check your emails, we like to send plenty!

⏰ Attendance and Punctuality

  • If your child is ill you are required to inform school by telephone by 9.30am on the child’s first morning of absence, giving a reason for absence and an indication of when your child will return to school.

⚠️ Health and Safety

  • Please DO NOT bring dogs into the school grounds.
    • A dog may bite when confronted by a pupil.
    • A few of our children are scared of dogs.
    • Faeces have been found on the school grounds where children play.
    • We have found faeces recently on the path leading up to the back gate of the school. Please make sure if this is your dog, any mess isn’t left for our children to stand in.