Dear Parents and Carers,
The first few weeks of term have flown by very quickly but I'm pleased to say that although the nights have started to draw in, the sun continues to shine. Let's hope that continues for the weeks to come. Please find below my latest school news post.
The Hub
I'm delighted to say that our new wraparound care and inclusion space - The Hub @ Saltaire, is now up and running. Children and their parents have been pleased with the new environment which provides a welcoming and homely setting for our children to attend before and after school care. In addition, Mrs Liddle, our Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion, uses the space for nurture provision throughout the day. This is a fantastic addition to the Saltaire Primary School offering and we couldn't be happier.
New Class Names
We have been thinking for a while about good ways to celebrate prominent people who represent aspects of our varied and interesting curriculum. One way in which we have decided to do this is to give each class in school their own name, rather than the traditional 3N or 6ES we have used in the past. We think this is a really exciting way of paying tribute to these influential people and give each class a unique identity. Please see the document below to find out who your child's class is now named after. You will also find the name of the governor linked to your class in this document. Class names are linked to the room your child is based in so they will move into a differently named class next year.
School Dinners
Many of you will know that we have been working hard over the last few months to reform lunchtimes at our school. We have made many changes - from the timing of lunches to the food provided by the kitchen. We are very close to having a perfect model now but I wanted to let you know about a new system which is helping to make lunch times even more organised.
We have now introduced a band system to help the kitchen make sure there are enough portions so that children get the food they would like. Each morning, children are provided with a coloured wrist band to indicate which type of meal they would like. We are reviewing the system as it is implemented but are already finding that it is making meal times more straightforward. For your information, the bands are organised as follows:
Red: Hot Meal
Green: Vegetarian
Purple: Halal (if requested by parents)
Yellow: Cold option (Jacket Potato, Panini or Sandwich)
We will continue to look at ways to improve our lunch service and I would be interested to hear any suggestions you might have about this.
Meal Patterns
Please can we ask that moving forward, meal patterns (the days your child has a school dinner) are amended on a half-termly basis. This will help to ensure that we have an accurate record of those children who require a meal each day. If you would like to change your child's meal pattern, please let the school office know before the end of the half term and we will change the pattern starting after each holiday.
Before and After School Clubs
Now that The Hub is open, our other clubs can now run as usual. Please note that after school clubs now finish at 4:15pm. Children should be brought to the upper Key Stage 2 entrance underneath the shed.
New Office Opening Hours
Please note that due to staff working hours, the office will now open at 8:30am each morning and close at 4:15pm.
Parking
We have recently received a number of complaints about parking outside local properties during the morning and afternoons. Please can I politely ask all parents to park considerately when bringing or collecting your children from school. Although you may only be there for a few minutes, some of our neighbours may have urgent reasons for wanting to drive out which has sometimes been prevented by cars parking in front of their drives.
The Saltaire Walk
You might have heard your children talking about 'The Saltaire Walk'. This has been a fun way to introduce to children our expectations about moving safely around school. I just wanted to clarify that, although there might be times when we expect children to move around the school silently (generally if moving as a whole class), at other times we are happy for them to talk quietly as they walk, as long as it does not disturb others' learning or is excessively loud. We want this to be a positive approach to good behaviour and are encouraging children to make good choices as they move around the school.
New Library Opening
We would like to invite parents and carers to join us at the grand opening of our new library, which is located in the Key Stage 1 building. This will take place on Tuesday 24th September at 3:30pm and will be opened by Susannah Lloyd, one of our parents who is a children's author. We are really excited about our new library space. In particular I would like to thank Mrs Abbott and Miss Garnett who have taken the lead on organising this great space in school.
That's all for now - lots there to think about, I'm sure you'd agree.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Rob Whitehead
Headteacher