1. TheSchoolRun.com is a great website for parents. It offers a complete guide to all the concepts children are taught in the EYFS KS1 and KS2 English. You will find basic definitions of important Primary School literacy terms. WEST DOWN SCHOOL CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER December 2014 CLUBS Guitar, Keyboard, Woodwind, Drums and Violin lessons will continue next term. Due to other commitments Laura Martin will not be running Tag Rugby in the New Year. Football club – Danny will be hopefully running Football Club in the New Year, dates to be confirmed after Christmas. Film club will continue in the New Year starting the SECOND week back. Craft Club – Due the remarkable success of the Christmas Club Sarah Hutching’’s will hopefully be running a craft club in the New Year, dates to be confirmed. KINDLES A MASSIVE THANK YOU GOES OUT TO WEST DOWN PTFA FOR PURCHASING OAK CLASS 7 NEW KINDLES! SWIMMING Years 1-6 will be swimming in the new year. Lessons will run weekly for 10 weeks starting on Thursday 8 TH January 2015, although dates will be confirmed during the first few days back. as the pool is not yet complete. GOODBYE’S We wish Stanley White from Willow Class the best of luck at his new school and every success in the future. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Fri 19th Dec Last day at School Mon 5th Jan Back to School Fri 30 th Jan Class group photo’s Fri 13 th Feb Last day at school Mon 23 rd Feb Back to School Fri 27 th March Last day at School Mon 13 th April Back to school E-SAFETY TIP – ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CHANGE PASSWORDS REGULARY. DO NOT USE THE SAME PASSWORD NUMEROUS TIMES. NEWS FIRE SAFTEY VISIT – 5 th November At the start of the term KS1 and KS2 were visited by Devon and Somerset Fire Service, who taught the children about fire safety. They learnt to plan an escape route, how to test smoke detectors, steps to take to avoid a fire and what to do if there is a fire. Remember to check your smoke alarm!! SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR – 26 th November Thank you to all parents who purchased books from the book fair. You spent a fantastic £411.65!! The school benefited from new books purchased from out of the commission. FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT – 26 th November Selected children from Oak class attended a football tournament at The Ilfracombe Academy. They played extremely well and are through to the next round. Well done! FULLABROOK WALK – 2 nd December Oak class enjoyed a lovely winter walk up to Fullabrook to select a Christmas Tree for our foyer. The children had great fun decorating it. The tree was kindly donated by Nick Williams. STAYING SAFE – 2 nd and 9 th December Colette Hudson from Childline Services visited Oak Class. The visit was to provide children with an understanding of abuse, knowledge of how to protect themselves and an awareness of how and where to get help. The mornings were very informative and we are hoping that Colette will return every other year to visit. CHERRY AND MAPLE CLASS NATIVITY – 4 th December A Tale of Two Birthday's was performed by Cherry and Maple Class. The children performed with enthusiasm and they sang and spoke beautifully. Parents were amazed at the children's confidence and enjoyed their performance immensely. A big thank you to Mrs Fowler, Mrs Hutching’s, Mrs Poynter and everyone else that helped. CHRISTINGLE – 9 th December Christingle afternoon was enjoyed by all. Children made their own Christingle and learnt about it’s associated symbolism, they then walked to church to take part in a Christingle service. SENIOR DUDES (Senior Residents of West Down and Year 6 Grandparents Christmas meal) – 13 th December WOW what an afternoon! Year 6 children planned, prepared and cooked the Senior Dudes Christmas meal. Help was provided from Sue Bond and Angie Hazlehurst. The meal was a great success and everyone who came had a really lovely time. The food was excellent – thank you to Mark O’Halloran. The children received lots of positive feedback and it will definitely go ahead next year. What a great afternoon! PTFA CHRISTMAS FAYRE – 17 th December Thank you to everyone who came to support our school and thank you to all of our helpers. A special thank you goes to Debbie Hayes for organising the Fayre and all the hard work she put into it. We will up date you in the New Year with the amount raised. KS2 CAROL CONCERT – 18 th December St Calixtus Church was ringing with the beautiful voices of our KS2 children. Thank you to all who attended to support our children and special thanks to Mr Spelman, Ms Bond and Miss O’Rourke. A wonderful way to start the holiday festivities! WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! BOOKANEERS BOOK CLUB – Barnstaple Library Every other Tuesday in term time at 4.15pm to 5.15pm pupils aged between 8-11 meet at Barnstaple Library to read and review books chosen by the children, they also play games and craft. For more information please call Barnstaple Library. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOUR CHILD’S BUN MONEY IS UP TO DATE E-SAFETY TIP Ensure that passwords are changed on a regular basis. Do not use the same password for a number of logins.