WEST DOWN SCHOOL NEWSLETTER May 2016 NEWS RNLI LIFEGUARD TALK – 18th April The RNLI made their annual visit to our school to talk to the children about beach safety. They discussed how to keep safe in and out of the water and what to do if they find themselves in trouble. The children learnt about the role of a lifeguard and what the beach safety flags mean. PAINTING PARTY – 7th May Another BIG THANK YOU to everyone that helped transform our school at the Painting Party. Your support was incredible and helped us achieve so much. The children have loved the new environment and I think you will agree that the school looks much smarter. The new library area has been a great success already! Thank you also to the PTFA who donated money to purchase accessories for the boy’s and girl’s toilets. A special thank you goes to Faye Poynter and Rebecca O’Rourke for organising the event! TARKA TENNIS - 11th May 2016 A group of school children from Year 4 took part in the Tarka Tennis tournament in Barnstaple. The children played extremely well and showed great sportsmanship throughout. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite make it through to the final but had a great time anyway! Well done! Thank you to Rosie Smith for organising the event. AQUATHLON – 20th May Many children from year’s 3,4, 5 and 6 competed at the Aquathlon at Ilfracombe Swimming Pool. They did amazingly well and showed great determination while competing in their combined swimming and running races. Well done! Thank you to all staff that helped organise the event. CATHERINE ORMANDY’S PERFORMING ARTS CLUB The children who attend Catherine's club had a wonderful opportunity to go to a recording studio and record a selection of songs they have been learning. CD’s will be available to buy for £2 each which will be donated to the PTFA! Thanks Catherine! WAKE AND SHAKE ON TOUR! Mrs Poynter has been taking groups of children out to help other schools start wake and shake. The children represented our school fantastically and their enthusiasm certainly rubbed off on Woolacombe and Georgeham Schools. We also went to visit the West Down Women’s Institute where we showed them some of our routines and got them to join in! They had such fun that they now want to regularly include music and movement into their meetings! CLUBS Guitar, Keyboard, Woodwind, Drums and Violin lessons will continue next term. Recorder (Steph Harvey) – Lessons will continue to run after the holiday. Football club – Dates and information on the letter attached. Cost - £3 per session, please pay Rosie direct. Cricket Club – Every Monday, £2.00 per week starting 1st week back on school field, if raining it will be in hall. Running Club KS2 – Every Tuesday starting 2nd week back, payment must be made up front to Emily Adams, £1.50 per wk. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Fri 27th May Last Day at School Mon 6th June Back to School Tues 7th June Year 5 & 6 Tag Rugby Fri 10th June Sports Day Tues 14th June Reserve Sports Day Wed 15th – Fri 17th June Yr’s 3 & 4 Beam House Thurs 16th June Yr 6 Lifeskills Mon 20th – Fri 24th June Yr’s 5 & 6 Rock & Rapid Wed 22nd June Cherry Class - Exmoor Zoo Thurs 23rd June Yr’s 3 & 4 Arlington Court Cross Country Run Thurs 30th June Half Price Scholastic Book Fayre Fri 1st July Whole Race for Life at West Down Field for Cancer Research (Emily Adams) Wed 6th – Thurs 7th July Yr 6 Bikeability Fri 8th July Whole School Essex Dance at Landmark Theatre Fri 15th July Yr’s 5 & 6 Production Fri 22nd July Leavers Assembly – am Last Day at School Thurs 1st Sept Back to School E-SAFETY TIP - Downloading Be careful about what you are downloading, including emails and software. Attachments sometimes contain viruses, never open an attachment from someone you do not know. Download executable files (.exe) with extreme caution. These are files used by programs to run on your computer. However, they are also commonly used in viruses. For useful tips go to: www.getsafeonline.org/protecting-yourcomputer/downloading Beam House and Rock and Rapid Residential May we remind parents to pay any outstanding residential money to the school office or by ParentMail by Monday 6th June. Please ensure that your child’s consent form is returned to the school office asap. Thank you. PTFA DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 8th June 9.00 -10.00am Coffee and Cake morning in the school hall 24th June 3.15 - 4.30pm approx. Rounders on the school field, PTFA and Rosie Smith £2.50 5th July 3.15 - 6pm approx. Picnic in the Park, bring a plate (West Down Community Field) 8th July 5.30 - 6.30pm KS1 and 7.00 – 8.30pm KS2 School Disco £2.50 per ticket includes unlimited drinks, there will be sweets to buy - suggested amount to bring £1 18th July 3.15 - 5.30pm Hairdressing afternoon in the school hall 22nd July 5.30 - 7.30pm Yr 6 Leavers Skate and Dinner, North Devon Arena, Mullacott, no cost 25th Sept School Autumn Fayre Catherine Ormandy - Performing Arts Club Tuesday’s Performing Arts Club will start again on Tues 14th June and run for 5 weeks at £3.50 per session 3.15-4.30pm Wednesday’s Performing Arts Club will start again on Wednesday 22nd June and run for 4 weeks at £3.50 per session 3.15-4.30pm. Tap will be from 4.45-5pm and cost an extra 50p per session. SCOOTERS AND BIKES Please ensure that your child parks his/her scooter or bike around to the side of Willow Class. We have noticed that quite a few children are riding them in the playground, this nearly resulted in an accident last week. Thank you for your co-operation. DINNER AND BUN MONEY – Please ensure your child’s dinner and bun money is up to date over the holiday. Bun money for next term will be £10.50 Thank you!